Hello Woodpeckers.
Welcome to term 2! One of my favourites as there is so much to look forward to.
Our first day of term is Monday 30th of OCtober 2023. We had such a good start to Year 4, I cannot wait to see you progress this term.
We have a very exciting theme this term and we have called it: What are the features from Source to Coast? In our geography theme, we are going to study the journey of a river and look at all the amazing features along the way. Humans have always been fascinated by rivers and rightly so.
We have lots of Art and Design Technology planned for this term. We will look at the great artist, Vincent Van Gough and how he was influenced by water in many of his paintings. Weather permitting, we will study our own local body of water, Urchfont pond and use some of Van Gough’s techniques to capture its beauty.
In Design and Technology, we are going to try our hand at cross stitch. There will be a Christmas theme to this but I don’t want to give too much away to your grown ups so we will talk about this in class.
Our class story this term will be 'The Land of Roar’ by Jenny McLaughlan. We will share this book in class in our RED TED sessions (Read every day, Talk every day).
If you would like to listen to the book at home, here is a free link. Please ask your child questions about the story to encourage discussion about this wonderful book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_25DJCd4WH0
BBC 500 Words, the UK’s most successful children’s writing competition has now opened for submissions and will run till Friday 10 November. If you would like to enter, please ensure your stories are emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 9th of November. Remember, spelling and grammar don’t matter, it is all about your imagination!
This term, our PE days have changed and are Wednesday and Friday. Our Wednesday session will be Hockey with Mr Herring. Wednesdays have been nicknamed ‘wet Wednesday’ at school so please ensure you come to school in suitable attire for the weather. Friday, we will be doing gymnastics in the hall. Please come to school on P.E. days in your kit.
Please ensure that you have the correct PE kit and it is all labelled.
A paper copy of your home learning will be handed out at the beginning of term. Quality not quantity is the key! A quick reminder that the presentation in your home learning book should be of the same standard as that in the class. Homework is due on Thursday.
Spellings for the term will be handed out and children should practise these weekly ready for our spelling quiz, to check progress, on a Thursday.
Times tables are very important in Year 4. We will do daily practice in class to ensure we have speedy recall of multiplication and division facts. Please ensure this is also practised at home.
500 words submission closure date - 9th November 2023
Odd Sock Day for anti-bullying week - 13th November 2023
Mental Elf Welly Walk - 16th November 2023
Children in Need Dress Up Day - 17th November 2023
Book Look in classroom - 22nd November 2023
Christmas Story Morning - 12th December 2023
Christingle Service in Church - 14th December 2023
Celebration assembly and End of Term - 20th December 2023
Reading is a passion of mine and the children will have lots of opportunities to read in school, however, nothing beats reading little and often at home. Woodpeckers are all fantastic readers, the skills they are improving on now are their comprehension. Reading improves spelling, widens vocabulary and promotes creativity in writing. Being a skilled and well read Woodpecker improves learning across all areas of the curriculum. We have a fantastic reading reward system called 'Read-opoly' in Woodpeckers which many of the children have already been lucky enough to win a reward on. Remember to read 4 times a week in order to move around the board.
If you have any questions or worries, please do not hesitate to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will get back to you as soon as we can. We always welcome your ideas, questions and feedback. Good relations between school and home ensure the children get the best experience from school so please do feel free to contact us with any of your questions or concerns. If you are able to help in any way, reading to the children, class trips or general support in the classroom, please email Mrs Adams.
We can't wait to see you on Monday!
Mrs Adams and Mrs James.