Class 4 Letters
Dear Parent and Carers,
Happy New Year!
Class 4 have already made a great start to 2025 and have quickly settled back into being at school. We have an exciting term ahead with many learning opportunities and experiences.
In Science we will be learning about electricity followed by life cycles and changes to living things from birth to adulthood. The children will be working scientifically to develop their knowledge and understanding in these areas.
In history, we will be finishing off our Victorians topic and after half term we will be learning about Ancient Egyptians. As well as this, we will start a geography topic called ‘Enough for Everyone’ which explores energy sources and links well to the electricity topic.
In art and design, we will be designing lino tiles and printing using these. In DT the children will be using their knowledge of electricity to make a switch or a game and will be designing and making shadufs linked to Ancient Egyptians. As well as this the children are doing a STEM Lego workshop which involves Lego programming.
In music, the children will continue to learn to play the ukulele. They will explore structure and form, they will do a composer study and will learn new songs.
Our writing will be linked to the topics and the class story. The children will have the opportunity to develop different writing genres with a focus on organisation of writing, vocabulary, and punctuation.
We use the White Rose small steps as a basis for maths teaching. The children will have opportunity to revisit and practice previous concepts covered and to develop fluency and accuracy when calculating, problem solving and reasoning.
In RE, we will be exploring the questions: Why do Christians Celebrate the Eucharist? and Who is Jesus? The children will also take part in a whole school Islamic Week when they will learn about Islam and Muslim beliefs.
The children continue to be involved in preparing for collective worship and class prayer.
In PE, the children will be developing their dance skills and composing a dance in preparation for Dance Platform. As well as this, they will be swimming for 6 sessions starting on Wednesday 15th January. On Wednesdays the children will need to come to school in their school PE kit and school sweatshirt with their swimming costume underneath. Tracksuit bottoms or leggings can be worn in colder weather.
In ICT, the children will be doing block coding and using databases to order data and create charts. In French they will continue to develop vocabulary and speaking through games and song.
Spellings will be set each Wednesday and tested the following Tuesday. The children are expected to spend time each day learning spellings at home, to consolidate work done in class. Topic/Science homework, Reading, Maths and Grammar homework will also be set throughout the term with clear ‘hand-in’ times indicated.
We know the children will enjoy the term ahead and will keep doing their best, building on the great work they did last term. Many thanks for your continued support. Please contact me if there are any problems or worries that your child may have.
Thank you for your continued support,
Mrs Carr and Mrs Fletcher
School Swimming Sessions
Dear Parents and Carers,
As part of the National Curriculum for PE, children in Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be starting a series of six swimming lessons at Kendal Leisure Centre. Lessons will take place on Wednesdays, starting on 15th January and continuing most weeks until the final session on 5th March (please see the full schedule below).
The lessons will be led by the staff at the Leisure Centre and children will follow an in-house swimming programme to ensure they reach National Curriculum expectations and beyond. Children will be assessed and grouped accordingly during the first swimming session. Those who have already reached National Curriculum level will work on developing their skills further.
Children will travel by coach each week at 10.40am and return to school for lunch by 12.30. Swimming sessions run 11am-12pm.
On swimming days, children will need:
- To come to school wearing their swimming costume (trunks or full piece costume) underneath their uniform.
- They must bring a bag containing their underwear and a towel (all clearly named).
- If they wear goggles, they may wear them for the swimming lesson but must be able to put them on and take them off independently.
Here is a full schedule of dates:
- Wednesday 8th January – NO Swimming Lesson (first week back)
- Wednesday 15th January – Swimming Lesson 1/6
- Wednesday 22nd January – Swimming Lesson 2/6
- Wednesday 29th January – Swimming Lesson 3/6
- Wednesday 5th February – Swimming Lesson 4/6
- Wednesday 12th February – NO Swimming Lesson (Dallam PE event for Class 3)
- Wednesday 19th February – HALF-TERM
- Wednesday 26th February – Swimming Lesson 5/6
- Wednesday 5th March – Swimming Lesson 6/6
Please note that children in Class 3 will NOT need to wear their PE kits on Thursdays while we have Swimming on Wednesdays. They should still wear PE kit on Tuesdays as usual.
If you have any questions, please speak to Mr Cunningham, Mrs Carr, or contact the school office.
Thank you for your continued support,
Mr Cunningham and Mrs Carr
Dear Parent and Carers,
Welcome Back!
Class 4 have already made a great start to the new academic year and have quickly settled back into school; they are enjoying learning and being with their friends. We have a busy term ahead re-visiting previous learning and gaining new knowledge and skills.
For the first half term we will be focusing on a geography topic about rivers and after half term we will move onto ‘The Victorians – a time of change’ this will enable the children to develop their skills and use of different historical sources.
In Science, our topic is, ‘Earth and Space’. The children will be working scientifically to develop their knowledge and understanding in these areas.
The different topics will give us the opportunity to teach in a cross curricular way and to develop the children's skills in art and DT. The children will have the opportunity to explore different mediums including pastels and paints and will be recreating their own artwork in the style of artists including Peter Thorpe and Hokusai. In DT they will be designing and making Mars Rovers/Lunar buggies.
Our writing will be linked to the topics and to our class story ‘The River Singers’ by Tom Moorhouse and ‘Street Child’ by Berlie Doherty. The children will have the opportunity to develop story writing, non-chronological reports, diary entries and newspaper reports in a meaningful way.
In RE, we will be covering the following units of work: Harvest, Life is a Journey, which will provide the opportunity to explore different beliefs and journeys in different religions, and Advent.
We will continue to follow the Twinkle spelling programme which is linked to National curriculum requirements and provides a structured programme to develop children’s strategies for learning to spell. The children will have weekly spelling which will be given out on Wednesdays; they will have a spelling test on the following Tuesday.
In Maths, we will continue to follow the White Rose small steps and teaching will be adapted to suit the needs of individual children. The topic at the start of the term is place value but we will continue to revisit past learning through Flashback maths. Times Table Rockstars will be used at school and as part of homework to further improve quick recall of multiplication facts and related division facts.
In PE, the focus will be on basketball netball skills and the children will take part in small-sided games. As well as this, they will work on stamina and fitness and next half term we will start a gymnastics unit. PE will be on Mondays and Fridays and children will need to come to school in school PE kit (in cooler weather tracksuit bottoms or legging can be worn with a school sweat shirt). The ICT learning will focus on online safety and sharing information safely and video editing. Recorder lessons will be on Monday afternoons, whole class ukulele and guitar lessons will be on a Tuesday afternoon and other woodwind instruments will be on Wednesday mornings.
We will set regular homework in spelling, reading, maths and grammar. As well as this, a piece of work linked to the geography/history topic or to the science topic will be set as and when is appropriate. It is important that children hand homework in on time so it can be marked, and class work planned to support areas of difficulty.
I know the children will enjoy the term ahead and will do their best. Many thanks for your continued support. Please contact us if there are any problems or worries that your child may have.
Mrs Carr and Mrs Fletcher
English Glossary
