Year 4
Class 4K are taught by Cameron Kirk and 4O are taught by Mia O'Donnell. Y4 are supported by Katrina, Beata and Danielle.
Y4 class teachers can be contacted via year4@earlsfield.wandsworth.sch.uk
Spring 2026 Update
Welcome back! We hope you had a lovely winter break and managed to take advantage of some quality family time.
We’re excited to be back and get cracking with our brand new topics. In English, we will kick off the term with the fantastic book The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf. The story follows four friends as they welcome a Syrian refugee into their class, leading them on an unexpected journey. We know this book is widely popular, and some children may have already read it, but they are sworn to keep it a secret! Our creative writing activities will explore the themes and plot of the book, allowing children to experiment with various genres, including writing in role, newspaper reports, and poetry. Please continue to foster a love of reading by listening to your child read regularly and discussing the books they are enjoying. Be sure to record their reading in the front of their handbook. Regular practice of spelling words will also greatly benefit your child, so please encourage them to keep up with their spelling revision. All the children still have access to Doodle English https://doodlelearning.com/english-app which has lots of short, fun activities to help test their spelling and grammar. The children’s logins remain the same. Please contact your child’s class teacher if you need these again.
As you are aware, at the end of Year 4 the children are expected to know all their times tables up to 12x12, recalling them at speed. The Multiplication Table Check will be held in June, featuring 25 multiplication questions. Children will have 6 seconds to answer each question. All the times tables have now been assigned as homework, so it’s essential that your child practices regularly to commit them to long-term memory. Your child can use Times Tables Rockstars to help with their practice. https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth. The ‘Jamming’ section is great to target tables which they are less confident in, while the ‘Studio’ is brilliant for practise in jumping between different tables. There is also the ‘Soundcheck’ which mimics the official times table check. Children can start to use this to get them used to the timed element of the check. All other Maths learning can be consolidated using DoodleMaths https://www.doodlemaths.com/. This is an intuitive programme that will set the tasks for your child based on their abilities.
This term, we are kicking off with a trip from winter to sunny Brazil, where we will explore what life is like there. To launch the topic, we will embrace the carnival spirit by creating carnival masks as part of DT, and we will spend the rest of the term becoming experts on Brazilian life. As part of this geography-focused study, we will examine living conditions, rainfall, and the connection between Brazil and its rainforests, comparing this to life in the UK. This smoothly leads into our second topic of the term - Rainforests. Here, we will explore the geography and structure of rainforests, as well as how humans interact with them. To bring this to life, we will be visiting Kew Gardens and will be able to experience the rainforest firsthand!
This term in Science, we will focus on teeth and digestion. We’ll explore the different types of teeth and their functions, as well as take an exciting journey through the human digestive system - it could get a little messy! We will also learn how animals' teeth are adapted to suit their diets. If you know of any vets or dentists who would be willing to visit and talk to us, please let us know - we would love to meet them! Year 4 scientists will develop their skills in observation and categorization, and will even have the chance to become palaeontologists!
We will continue with our Brass lessons this term. We’ve been so impressed with the children’s progress so far and are excited to showcase their musical talents in the summer term. Please support your child by encouraging them to practice at home to enhance their skills and passion for music.
Swimming lessons will begin on Mondays and will continue weekly until the Easter holidays. Our PE days are now Mondays (swimming) and Fridays (AM Sports) so children should come dressed in PE kit on both those days and bring their swimming kit along with warm layers on Mondays.
Thank you for your continued support. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out - we are happy to help. Wishing you a wonderful Spring Term!
Year 4 Team
Key Learning
You can find out about our approach to all our subjects through the curriculum page but the headlines for the year group are below.
Reading
Children can maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding by:
- I can listen to and discuss a wide range of texts including fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction, reference and textbooks
- I can read books that are structured in different ways and read for a range of purposes
- I can use dictionaries to check the meanings of words I have read
- I can read a wide range of books and re-tell some of these orally
- I can identify themes and conventions in a wide range of books
- I can recognise different forms of poetry e.g. free verse, narrative poetry
- I can prepare poems and play scripts to read aloud and perform
Children can understand what they read in books they can read independently by:
- I can check that the text makes sense and discuss my understanding (and explaining the meaning ) of words in context
- I can ask questions to improve my understanding of a text with increasing complexity
- I can draw inferences such as inferring characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justify inferences with evidence clearly taken from the text
- I can predict what might happen from details stated and implied
- I can identify main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise these
- I can identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning including paragraphs, use of pronouns for cohesion, inverted commas for speech, apostrophes to mark possession and fronted adverbials
- I can retrieve and record information from non-fiction over a range of subjects
- I can participate in discussions about both books that are read to me and those that I can read for myself, taking turns and listening to what others say
Writing
Writing
- I can create more detailed settings, characters and plot in narrative pieces to engage the reader
- I can write narratives with a clear beginning, middle and end and a coherent plot
- I can write non-fiction pieces using appropriate structures
- I can organise paragraphs around a theme.
- I can proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
- I can use standard English forms
- I can use the correct tense consistently
- I can use expanded noun phrases (modifying adjectives, nouns and prepositional phrases) E.g. The strict teacher with curly hair
- I can use fronted adverbials E.g. As quick as a flash, Last weekend: usually demarcated with a comma
- I can use appropriate pronouns or nouns within and across sentences to aid cohesion and to avoid repetition
- I can use conjunctions, adverbs or prepositions to indicate time, place or cause
- I can extend the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions E.g when, if, because, although
- I can use inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate speech
- I can use apostrophes for singular and plural possession
- I can use correct punctuation to demarcate sentences : capital letters and full stops , question marks and exclamation marks
Spelling
- I can spell most of the year 3 and 4 spelling words correctly
- I can spell all words with prefixes and suffixes correctly
- I can spell homophones correctly
Handwriting
- I can produce legible, joined handwriting
Greater depth (working above the national expected standard)
- I can write well-paced and well-structured narratives
- I can proofread consistently and amend my own writing, correcting errors
- I can use commas after the reporting clause and all end punctuation within inverted commas
- I can expand noun phrases with the addition of ambitious modifying adjectives and prepositional phrases E.g the heroic soldier with an unbreakable spirit
Statutory spellings
| Autumn 1 | Autumn2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|
accident believe strange reign interest various possible grammar |
woman women promise therefore opposite ordinary although pressure |
particular calendar popular position possess possession complete potatoes |
straight favourite strength suppose surprise bicycle business medicine natural naughty |
straight favourite strength suppose surprise bicycle business medicine natural naughty |
peculiar occasion occasionally probably knowledge experiment experience question disappear important |
Maths
In Maths we follow the White Rose Hub. You can find out more about White Rose through our dedicated maths page
Science
Living things and their habitat
Topics
Did life in Britain regress under Anglo Saxon Rule?
Did the Vikings deserve their violent reputation?
What is happening to our rainforests?
Homework
We set homework in Key Stage 2 in the following ways:
- Spellings - bring handbook to school as usual
- Guided Reading - bring handbook to school as usual
- Literacy and Topic - Google Classroom
- Talking Homework - Google Classroom
- Maths - TTRS (Times Tables Rock Stars) and Mathletics
Students without digital access will get paper copies (need to return book)
You can access our guide to google classrooms for further information.
Days to remember
| Day | Activity |
| Monday |
Spelling test
New spellings sent home
Swimming - wear your PE kit and bring your swimming kit in a bag
Daily Times Table Rockstars |
| Tuesday |
Brass - bring instrument to school
Homework completed via Google Classroom
Daily Times Table Rockstars |
|
Wednesday
|
Daily Times Table Rockstars |
| Thursday |
Homework set in Google Classroom
Daily Times Table Rockstars |
| Friday |
PE taught by AM Sports ( Wear PE kit to school )
Handbooks in school for weekly reflection - please make sure an adult has signed the handbook.
Times Table Quiz |
| As frequently as possible |
Reading Times Tables Rockstars (Optional) Doodle (Optional) |
Other things you need to know
| School Uniform | Packed Lunches & Snacks | Contact Us |
