The Year Four Team

Curriculum Overview

This Week in Cumbria

Week beginning Monday 5th January

Welcome back! Cumbria have settled nicely into Term 3 and we have definitely hit the ground running! A fire drill surprised us all on the first morning of being back but the class were sensible whilst lining up on the playground (even if they were a bit chilly!). We warmed up quickly after coming back into the classroom and continuing with our maths lesson.

In maths, the class have been learning about factors and have done well finding the factor pairs for a variety of products. We have also started learning to multiply by ten using counters and place value charts and the class have shown their confidence by answering a range of questions.

In English, we have moved onto our new book. 'How the Stars Came to Be' has some incredible illustrations which the children have been enjoying so far and they have lots of predictions about how the fisherman and his daughter might play a role in how the stars will finally appear in the sky.

In Geography this term, we will be learning about mountains, valleys and rivers. Our lessons this week will introduce some key vocabulary and we will look at the Thames to see how it varies in different locations

In Science, the children enjoyed sorting materials into solids, liquids and gases based on their properties. Some of the materials were unusual such as shaving foam and epsom salts and were quite difficult to group. 
 

Mrs Shrimpton, Mrs Cheeseman and Mr Nunn.

Cumbria's spiritual tree.

Sharing home work.

Freeze frame drama! Acting parts of the story from Beetle Boy. 

Christmas fun! The children enjoyed the afternoon. The competition winners will be announced tomorrow. So many creative ideas!

Class Timetable

This is an example timetable of what a typical week in Cumbria will look like.

PE is on Tuesday and Wednesday this term.

Home Learning

All of the children will have an investigative topic-linked learning task to complete, which is rotated over a three-week cycle. The children will focus on one of their three current foundation subjects each week.   
To support this, the children are split into 3 groups, which you can see above.  
This will be set on a Thursday and due by the following Tuesday.  
In class on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the children will then share the outcomes of their research, and the knowledge they have retrieved, within their own group.

Reading

Children should bring their Accelerated Reading Book to and from school each day. When they have finished reading, children are asked to complete a quiz before changing their book. 

https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6704864

Parents please log your child's reading on the BOOM reader Parent Portal or by using the BOOM reader parent app on your tablet/mobile no more than once a week.

boomreader.co.uk/parents

Spelling

Spellings will be set each Wednesday and tested on the following Tuesday.

The next spelling test is on Tuesday 13th January 2026

Times Tables Rock Stars

To keep practising the multiplication taught in class, and challenging yourself to keep the ones you already know fresh, don’t forget to log into your Times Tables Rockstars account. 

https://play.ttrockstars.com/

Challenge yourself to beat your score and build your knowledge as you become a Rockstar!

Please ask your class teacher if you need replacement log in details.

This week we are focusing on the multiplication tables for x3, x6 and x9.

If you know them well, maybe challenge yourself with the corresponding division facts. For example:

6 x 7 = 42

42 ÷ 6 = 7

In preparation for the national multiplication tales check in June 2026, the children have been introduced to the link below.

Maths strategies

Please see below attachments for examples from White Rose Maths including the four operations, (add, subtract, multiply, divide) and how we extend learning using reasoning style questions. 

Music Knowledge Organiser