Welcome to Year 4  

Summer Term 2025

Welcome back to school. I can't believe we are going back into our final term together. This year has been truly fantastic and I am so excited to see the children flourish and become ready for Year 5.   

English

This first book that will inspire our writing this term will be this picture book version of Oliver Twist. This will link well with our learning about the Victorians in history. 

Grammar 

We will continue to learn grammar through our English lessons as well as one skill-focused lesson a week. The grammar features that we will focus on in Year 4 are:  

• Using direct and reported speech including using inverted commas to correctly punctuate direct speech 

• Using commas following fronted adverbials 

• Using subordinate clauses, punctuating them correctly by using commas when the subordinate clause starts the sentence 

• Using apostrophes for singular and plural possession

• Using prepositional noun phrases

• Appropriate use of nouns and pronouns 

• Precise use of paragraphs

• Understand and identify suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, homophones and all four categories of nouns.  

Spelling

We will have three spelling lessons a week plus a weekly spelling test on Fridays. Each week, the children learn a new spelling rule and the focus words have been sent home for the half-term. 

Maths

Throughout the Summer term in maths, we will develop our learning in the following topics:  

Decimals:​

• round decimals with one decimal place to the nearest whole number
• compare and order numbers with the same number of decimal places up to two decimal places
• solve simple measure and money problems involving fractions and decimals to two 
  decimal places

Measurement:

• estimate, compare and calculate different measures, including money in pounds and pence 
• read, write and convert time between analogue and digital 12- and 24-hour clocks
• solve problems involving converting from hours to minutes; minutes to seconds; years to months; weeks to days

Shape, Position and Direction: 

• compare and classify geometric shapes, including quadrilaterals and triangles, based on their properties and sizes
• identify acute and obtuse angles and compare and order angles up to two right 
  angles by size
• identify lines of symmetry in 2-D shapes presented in different orientations
• complete a simple symmetric figure with respect to a specific line of symmetry
• describe positions on a 2-D grid as coordinates in the first quadrant
• describe movements between positions as translations of a given unit to the left/right and up/down
• plot specified points and draw sides to complete a given polygon.

Statistics: 

• interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs
• solve comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and other graphs

Times Tables

It is vital that the children practise their times tables at home, daily. In the first week of June, Year 4 will complete the statutory multiplication tables check. On an Ipad or laptop, the children will complete 25 multiplication (no division) questions, with 6 seconds for each question. Once the 6 seconds has passed, the next question will load. 

Do please encourage the children to keep practising on Times Tables Rockstars or the free websites linked below:  

Hit the Button - Quick fire maths practise for 6-11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)  

Times tables Speed Test X - Timestables.co.uk  

For those who prefer a more practical approach, why not try the following ideas?

• Times tables songs on Youtube. 
• Quiz children on different questions - maybe even get them to quiz you!
• Set up a treasure hunt of the questions and answers.
• Use water or chalk to write out the tables on the floor outside. 
• Make art out of the times tables facts eg. putting the answers on flower petals.  

Science 

In science in the Summer term, we will investigate the following two topics:  

Electricity  

• identify common appliances that run on electricity
• construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers
• identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery
• recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this with whether or not a lamp lights in a simple series circuit
• recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors

Sound   

• identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating
• recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear
• find patterns between the pitch of a sound and features of the object that produced it
• find patterns between the volume of a sound and the strength of the vibrations that produced it
• recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases 

We will develop our scientific skills through the five types of scientific enquiry: 

• Observation over time 

• Pattern seeking 

• Identifying, classifying and grouping                           

• Comparative and fair testing 

• Research using secondary resources 

No Outsiders

Year 4 will use these books to consider and reflect upon the following ideas in PSHE: 

  To look after my mental health. 

 To show acceptance. 

History

In history this term, we will be learning about the Victorians. We will consider the following questions as we learn about the lives of Victorian people, particularly children. 

• What were the main changes in the Victorian times?
• What were Victorian towns like and why did people leave the countryside? 
• What was it like to work in a Victorian factory? 
• What was life like for a Victorian child? 

Geography

In geography in the Summer term, we will focus our learning around settlements, linking this to our history enquiries so far this year. We will consider the following questions: 

• What is a settlement?
• How is land used in my local area?
• Can I explore the location of features in my local area?
• How has my local area changed over time?
• How is land used in New Dehli?
• How does land use in New Dehli compare with my local area? 

PE 

We will have PE on Tuesdays and Fridays, this term. Please send your child in with the correct PE kit on these days and ensure that long hair is tied back and any earrings are covered or removed.  

Useful information 

Snacks: Please send your child in with a healthy snack for their morning break. 

Water bottles: Please send your child into school with a named, filled water bottle, with a secure lid. 

Homework:  

• Times tables: please encourage your child to use Times Tables Rockstars, Hit the Button and Speed Challenge to practise all of their times tables.  
• Maths: Set weekly through Mathletics.
• Accelerated Reader: it is so important to listen to your child read every day.
• Reading comprehension: A reading comprehension text and questions will be sent home weekly. These should be returned on a Monday and a new copy will be sent home on Tuesdays.  
• Spellings: please encourage your child to practise their weekly spellings in preparation for their Friday test. The half-term's words have already been sent home.   

As ever, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me on Seesaw, at the end of the school day or on contact@excalibur.cheshire.sch.uk. Please note, Seesaw is not checked daily so anything urgent should go to this email. 

Miss Steele