Year 4

Welcome to Year 4

Mrs Warren            Mr Clark

Mrs Capaldi - Teaching Assistant           Mrs O'Rourke - Teaching Assistant

swarren@chickerell.dorset.sch.uk          e.clark@chickerell.dorset.sch.uk

Summer term 2024

Mrs Warren PE days - Wednesday and Friday

Mr Clark PE days - Wednesday and Thursday

Our Curriculum

As of October 2021, we began using 'Cornerstones' curriculum throughout the school so that we can ensure a solid progression of skills and knowledge acquisition in the foundation subjects, and particularly Science and English.

What is the Cornerstones Curriculum? 

The Cornerstones Curriculum is a creative and thematic approach to learning that is mapped to the 2014 primary national curriculum to ensure comprehensive coverage of national expectations. It is based on a child-centred pedagogy called The Four Cornerstones and is delivered through Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs) and Knowledge Rich Projects (KRPs), which provide a rich menu of exciting and motivating learning activities that make creative links between all aspects of children’s learning. We believe children learn better when they are encouraged to use their imagination and apply their learning to engaging contexts. Our curriculum provides many learning challenges throughout the academic year that require children to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively. Cornerstones also provide a rigorous skills and knowledge framework that outlines the end of year expectations in all subjects. These skills and knowledge are tied to activities and are age-related .

Contacting the Year 4 Team

We are more than happy to receive emails on the above links. Please bear in mind that we may not be able to respond until the following day due to teaching commitments. 

At times, you may prefer to arrange to speak to us over the phone.  You can do this via email, again using the addresses above, or by calling the school office on 01305 783876 and leaving a message.

The School Day

Children can enter from 8:30 to be settled for registration at 8:40am, after which teaching will begin.

Leaving times have changed slightly so that pupils with surnames beginning with A-M will leave school at 3.05pm. The remaining pupils will leave at 3:10pm. 

Spellings

Spelling lists will be sent home in children's Blue Spelling Book.  This is to support learning the vocabulary to be tested on a Friday.  Pupils will be taught the vocabulary through stand-alone Spelling lessons, and as part of their daily English lessons.  Our pupils are already responding brilliantly to the new lists.

Reading

We encourage all pupils to read widely with a grown-up at home, discussing the content of books they read so your child becomes fluent in vocabulary, grammar, inference and comprehension skills, promoting their enjoyment of reading.

Children should bring in their book bags every day, along with their Reading Record. New books will be issued when handed in with a signed record. 

Maths

Year 4 pupils are expected to know their times tables up to 12 x 12 by May 2024, when they will take part in the Multiplication Tables Check. This is a series of 25 questions with 6 seconds to answer and with a 3 second gap between questions. It is hard, requires maximum concentration and the multiplication facts really do need to be known ‘off by heart’ in order to pass. To this end, we encourage all students to practise these at home and school, as well as participate in TT Rockstars.

There are links below to some sites that may support additional learning at home.

Uniform

Children should wear full school uniform to and from school with black outdoor school shoes, which should be suitable for field play and wet weather. A warm, waterproof or water-resistant coat should be provided in wet and cold weather. When the playing field is muddy, pupils are encouraged to have indoor shoes to change into to wear in the classroom, rather than their muddy shoes, when returning from outside breaks.

P.E

Our PE lessons will take place on Wednesday afternoons for both classes and Thursdays for Mr Clark's class and Fridays for Mrs Warren's class.  Pupils are asked to wear their proper PE kit to school that day. 

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