Year 4’s Curriculum Newsletter: Summer 2025

English

This term’s writing has included persuasive texts about endangered animals (linked to our previous Science unit), writing our own portal-style stories set in the Ancient Maya civilisation and exploring explanation texts linked to our Geography work on rivers. We have continued to develop our knowledge and understanding of spelling, punctuation and grammar and have strived to improve the overall presentation and impact of our writing in terms of its organisation and style, whilst also focusing on handwriting.

Maths

Our Maths learning this term has included lots of work on fractions. Comparing and ordering, adding and subtracting fractions and learning about improper fractions and mixed numbers has featured.

We have also learnt how to use coordinates and to describe position and direction.

Recently, we have been practising methods for multiplication and division and working on our reasoning skills in order to apply these methods in a range of contexts.

The children worked hard to improve their learning of the times tables up to 12x12 off by heart and, while this remains a target for some as they move into Year 5, pleasing progress has been made by all children with this. TTRS really is a brilliant resource for practising at home as well as in school.

Science

This term, Year 4 have been learning all about Electricity in Science. They have explored how electrical circuits work and learned to identify and name different components such as bulbs, switches, wires, and batteries. Through a range of exciting experiments and practical lessons, the children built their own simple circuits, tested which materials are conductors or insulators, and investigated how switches control the flow of electricity. These hands-on activities helped deepen their understanding of how electricity powers everyday devices, while encouraging teamwork, problem-solving, and safe handling of electrical components.

Geography

This term in Geography, Year 4 have been learning about Rivers. They studied the journey of a river from its source to its mouth, exploring the features of the upper, middle, and lower courses. The children learned key vocabulary such as meander, waterfall, tributary, and estuary, and discovered how rivers shape the land over time. As part of their practical work, the class created models of the three different river courses, helping them to visualise how rivers change as they flow. This creative activity supported their understanding and made learning about rivers both engaging and memorable.

Other curriculum areas have touched on how Sikhs live and worship according to their beliefs, learning vocabulary relating to animals and vehicles in French, listening to and appraising many different styles of songs and musical compositions and learning more about the body’s changes and how to look after ourselves in PSHE. Our visit to The British Wildlife Centre was an informative and fun-packed day and the Virtual Reality workshop proved to be a real hit as we travelled back in time to support our work on the Ancient Maya! Forest Skills with Mr Ward has been a recent highlight for the children, too.