Walnut Class

WALNUT CLASS 

Teaching Assistants - Mrs Lennard and Mrs Burgess

Thanks for visiting our Class pages! We are very excited to welcome you to Year 4 and encourage the children to be more independent and responsible for their learning as members of our wonderful school community, consolidating learning from Year 3 and moving into the harder Year 4 Curriculum! 

Of course it’s important that we have LOTS of fun as we learn, and our Cornerstones Curriculum offers a range of exciting topics (starting with Rocks, Relics and Rumbles!) to help us to do so as well as a range of engaging subjects to broaden our knowledge. Throughout the year, we aim to collaboratively learn, share and explore the world around us. We continue to build friendships, make good choices and set high expectations both inside and outside of school. 

Reading: 

Destination Reader is our approach to teaching reading in KS2. It involves daily sessions incorporating whole class modelling prior to the children applying these skills through partner work and independent reading. Children deepen their understanding of the texts and vocabulary using a series of strategies and language stems. Destination Reader allows children to access real books of a high quality that are engaging and exciting. To encourage respective communication, children are taught to use sentence starters to support them in actively listening and participating and discussing and explaining their ideas.

The program covers seven key skills identifies within the national curriculum to support the reading and understanding of a wide range of texts. These are:    Predicting    Making connections      Asking questions         Evaluating            Inferring

Summarising     and     Clarifying

WRITING  - The Talk for Writing approach is a method of writing we use in school. This approach enables children to read and write independently for a variety of audiences and purposes within different subjects. A key feature is that children internalise the language structures needed to write through ‘talking the text’, as well as close reading. The approach moves from dependence towards independence, with the teacher using shared and guided teaching to develop the ability in children to write creatively and powerfully. We cover a range of genre from fiction and non fiction, including letters, information texts, diaries and poetry.

MATHS In Year 4, we aim to ensure that pupils become increasingly fluent with higher numbers and the four operations, including number facts and the concept of place value. We want to develop curious mathematicians who can spot patterns, make connections, whilst also be able to express their justifications.  Therefore, we aim to equip all pupils with the skills and confidence to solve a range of problems through fluency with numbers and mathematical reasoning. The three aims of the National Curriculum (fluency, reasoning and problem solving) are addressed during every mathematics lesson. We promote a growth mindset and believe that all children can get better at Maths when they put in the effort and work at it.  Our teaching focuses on depth of understanding and we ensure that learning always builds on prior knowledge. We believe that our approach to teaching Maths will enhance understanding, enjoyment and achievement for every child.

We recently piloted Maths No Problem Scheme to support our delivery of the National Curriculum objectives: we wholeheartedly believe that this method will provide a consistent approach to teaching Maths across our school as it is underpinned by a methodical curriculum design that spirals and builds upon prior learning. Crucially, ideas are revisited at higher levels as the curriculum spirals through the years.

Please see our timetable for a guide to what is happening in Walnut Class each week. It can be subject to change, depending on different celebrations and extra curriculum activities. Can I also remind the children that we have P.E on Monday afternoons, and Forest School sessions in our lovely new woodland area on Tuesday afternoons.

Please can you send the children into school in their P.E kit on Monday and with old clothes (a long sleeve top with trousers and leggings), a waterproof coat and wellies on Tuesday.

Water bottles are really important everyday so that the children stay hydrated and coats are also needed now the weather is more changeable.
 

🏠 Homework:  Reading is key to all of our learning, and reading for pleasure is celebrated throughout the year. Our expectation is that children are reading at home with an adult every day. Reading records are checked each morning, so please ensure they are completed and signed 📚

Please see below a range of spelling strategies that we use in class; the children already have their favourites, so I am sure they will be happy to show you at home! 

Home learning each week consists of:  Reading (minimum of 15 mins per day); Doodle Maths (10 mins per day; Times Table Rockstars (10 mins per day) and topic grid homework (one piece each week). Thank you already for your support in ensuring that your child completed their homework on time and to a good standard – this is such a valuable addition to their learning in school.

Uniform: A quick reminder too about school uniform. Smart school uniform should be worn with polished black school shoes (leather upper) and not with trainers please. All children need to wear a tie to school every day. We have talked in class this week about taking pride in our school and in our school uniform and the children are very keen to ensure they are doing both. Hair should be tied back for school if it is long enough and should be fastened with plain green, navy or black hair fastenings.

Top Tips for Year 4 Parents:

• Encourage your child to be independent and take responsibilty for their learning and behaviour.
• Schedule a regular time for reading and visit the library as often as possible
• Look for opportunities to rehearse times tables. By the end of Year 4, children take the standard timed Year 4 tables test so they need quick recall of all their tables. They can practise the related division facts if they want to be challenged further.
• Let your child handle money, work out how much things cost and work out change. Practise telling the time!
• Board games can be a great way to practise  Maths and English skills.
• Encourage correct joined letter and number formation when writing at home.
• Encourage your child to question the things they see, to wonder how and why things happen, so that they can become deep thinkers. Research together to find answers.
• Talk as a family about your day. Take turns to share something you learnt and the best bits.

As a team, we are always here for you. If you need to discuss anything, please don’t hesitate to send a Dojo message, or we can arrange an appointment so we can discuss your child without feeling rushed. 

As always, thank you for your continued support. 

Mrs Tyrrell, Mrs Lennard and Mrs Burguess. ️