Gorseybrigg Primary School and Nursery

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info@gorseybrigg.derbyshire.sch.uk

Hello Everybody!

Welcome to the Year Four page. Please note... A weekly newsletter/update will be sent on a Friday through Parenthub.

Autumn term- Geography and DT

The Autumn term promises to be packed full of exciting and challenging content that will hopefully inspire your children and allow them to demonstrate their wonderful skills!

Our key question this term is How can we protect our homes? Within this, we shall be examining key themes of land use, pollution, being eco-friendly and equality.

English

We shall be reading a number of excellent texts this term, including:

These rich texts will provide us with lots of opportunities to write innovations, practise building the quality of our narratives and expand our vocabulary. We shall also write letters, poetry, our own stories, non-chronological pieces, including a tourist guide for Castleton and a description of an eco-friendly house (which the children shall design.)

Spellings

Our statutory spelling words to learn this term are...

accident, accidentally, possess, possession, strange, imagine, actual, actually, exercise, pressure, suppose, certain, experience, experiment, occasion, believe, thought, notice, natural, guide.

Maths

This term...

count in multiples of 6, 7, 9, 25 and 1000
backwards through zero to include negative numbers
identify, represent and estimate numbers using different representations
read Roman numerals to 100 (I to C) and know that over time, the numeral system changed to include the concept of zero and place value
find 1000 more or less than a given number
recognise the place value of each digit in a four-digit number (thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones)
order and compare numbers beyond 1000
round any number to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000
solve number and practical problems that involve all of the above and with increasingly large positive numbers
add and subtract numbers with up to 4 digits using the formal written methods of columnar addition and subtraction where appropriate
solve addition and subtraction two step problems in contexts, deciding which operations and methods to use
multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up to 12 × 12

Science

The first half of this term we shall be studying Electricity:

Identify common appliances that run on electricity.
Gathering, recording, classifying and presenting data.
Recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables.
Construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts.
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.

Vocabulary: battery, bulb, switch, wire, materials, metal, plastic, wood, glass, fabric, paper appliance, cell, components circuit, electricity, mains electricity, electrical conductor, electrical insulator, buzzer, motor, current

The second half of this term we shall be studying Living things and their habitats:

Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways.
Explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment.
Recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.

Vocabulary: Classification, classification keys, environment, habitat, human impact, positive, negative, migrate, hibernate

Geography

This term...

We shall begin this term by improving our place knowledge by focusing on countries, capital cities and major landmarks in the UK.

We shall also take a look closer to home and focus on pollution in the local area and how Dronfield has changed over the years. This will give us opportunity to complete some field work and get the children out of the classroom. Finally we shall look at Castleton, sketching and scrutinising tourist maps and establishing why it has developed as a key tourist destination in the region.

PSHE

First half of the term will be...

Second half of the term will be...

Computing

This term...

PE & Swimming

Our PE day is Wednesday so please come dressed for PE on that day.

The children will continue to develop and apply their footwork, one leg balances, sending, receiving, and stance skills through healthy competition, cooperative games and Personal Best challenges.

For safety of the children please no jewellery. (Remove or tape up earrings)

Mr Cupit will be taking your children swimming on Tuesday mornings (Autumn term only, this is a 10-week programme).

The starting date will be 15th September 2026, please remember those all important swim kits!

Swimwear must be suitable for the purpose and preferably of a dark colour to enable the swimmer to be seen clearly underwater.
One-piece swimming costume
Swimming trunks
No jewellery, no tape

French

French lessons will be taught by Mr Cupit and this term he will focus on: Greetings, calendars and celebrations.

This term we shall be exploring the following questions:

What does it mean to be a Hindu in Britain today?
How do people from religious and non-religious communities celebrate key festivals?

Spring term- History coming soon...

Summer term- Creative art and music coming soon...

Equipment and uniform reminder...

All children will be provided with standard equipment, although children sometimes want to bring in their own. This is fine but it must all fit in a small pencil case that will need to be kept in their individual desk trays.

No toys from home and please label all items of clothing, thank you in advance for your support with the.se

Home learning in Year 4...

The Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check is a statutory online test held in June, designed to check if pupils can recall times tables up to 12×12 by heart. Students answer 25 questions in under 5 minutes, with only 6 seconds allowed per question, which requires swift, fluent recall. Please practise as often as possible.

At least 3x per week, please sign and write a comment in your child’s diary when they’ve read. Reading diaries to be brought to school every day and will be

checked on a Friday (Reward system at the end of each half term for children that read at home 3x per week or more)

Weekly homework sent on a Friday and will need to handed in by the following Thursday.

Every Friday a list of spellings will be sent out on the weekly newsletter, sent via parent hub. The test will be carried out the following Friday.

The weekly newsletter will be sent on Parent hub.

Click here for more information on the multiplication-tables-check. gov.doc