The Year 4 Team

Curriculum Overview

This week in Devon

Week beginning 2nd February

In maths, we have moved onto our next unit: Length and Perimeter. The class have been learning about centimetres, metres and kilometres and deciding which units of measurement are most appropriate for measuring different things. There was some discussion about running races (which we decided could be measured using metres or kilometres) and how a race measured using centimetres might be over extremely quickly!

In English, we have been using our imaginations to write our own 'pourquois' stories about how giraffes got their long necks or how porcupines got their spines. The children have worked hard to create their narratives and include descriptive language.

This week, we had a particularly exciting RE lesson in Church about the roles of church leaders and baptisms, including watching a pretend baptism of a doll. The class suggested a few names and a vote was taken. The results were unanimous and, with help from some members of the class, Bob was baptised. The children were given information at each step, considered what the water represented and why the family and godparents might have been invited to take part and spotted some key vocabulary in the prayer. The class had lots of questions about baptism which Jamie kindly answered.

Thank you to those who completed the home learning this week. The class had a good time showing off their work to their peers and it was lovely to find out so much information about Snowdonia and the River Medway!

Class Timetable

This is an example timetable of what a typical week in Devon 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 below.
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.

Times Tables Rockstars! 

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.

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

Below is a list of the 100 most common words that your child is expected to know how to spell by the end of Year 4 (please see attachment).

The spelling strategies document below shows what strategies are used in class, and can be used at home to aid learning new words: 

Spelling

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

Our next spelling test will be on the 10th February.

We are consolidating the spellings in the table.

The link below will take you to the spelling scheme we are working from in school.

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/english/primary-spelling/

This document contains spelling strategies that are used in class, and can be used at home to aid learning new words:

Southborough's Spelling Strategies

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

Below is a link to help prepare for the National multiplication tables check in June 2026.

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