Welcome to Cheetah Class

September 2023

Welcome to Cheetah Class and the beginning of an exciting year of learning. The adults working in
our class will be myself (Mr Farina) and Mrs Rogers. Mrs Dilleigh will teach the class on a Monday.

This newsletter aims to set out the key information to be shared about this half term. Apologies, as the first newsletter of the year it is rather long and comprehensive. I will keep you up to date on any extra information on our class page and through text messages.

On our first morning back from the summer holidays, the children have chosen the names for our class mascot.

Meet …. Captain

Our learning in September and October:

Our new topic this term is a Geography unit ‘Africa’ and will focus on Geography and trade within the continent. Children will be learning the following:

•   To identify the position and significance of the equator,
      Northern and Southern hemispheres.

•   To describe and understand key aspects of human geography,
      including: types of settlement and land use.

•   To gain an understanding of economic activity including trade links
      and the distribution of natural resources including energy,
      food, minerals and water.

Class Book:

Our first class read will The Cheetah’s Tale by Julia Johnson. We will review the book when we have finished it!

English:

During this half term, we will be taking part in a whole school writing activity

based on a short film called Trouble in Paradise. This will involve writing our own stories to retell the story of a crab who gets disturbed on his desert island.

Following this, we will explore ‘The Chocolate Room’ from the story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl with a focus on setting descriptions. Finally, we will write an
explanation about how chocolate is produced.

Spellings will be in the same format as in Year 3, the children will be given spellings to practise in class, where they will learn the rule and use these spellings for handwriting practise, too. They will have a weekly test on the spelling, on a Monday, to see how well the children have retained their knowledge. An overview of the spellings patterns this half term has been added to the class page for any parents who wish to explore spellings further with children at home.

Maths:

Our focus for this half term will be Place Value and Number, including:

•   Roman numerals

•   Counting in 100s, 1000s,50s, 25s

•   Read and write numbers up to 1,000 (or 10,000) in numerals and words.

•   Compare and order numbers beyond 1000

•   Round any number to the nearest 10,100 or 1000.

•   Add and subtract numbers with 3 or 4 digits

Children are expected to know their times tables, up to 12 x 12, by the end of year 4. In May 2024

there will be a multiplication check of all year 4 children across the country. There will be a particular focus on the quick and accurate recall of the times tables through the year.

Other curriculum areas include:

•   Science: Living things and their habitats

•   PE - Athletics

•   Art - Pattern and printing, linking to Africa topic

•   Music - Mamma Mia (with Mrs Dilliegh)

•   PSHE - Think Positive

•   French - Tuesday afternoon (With Madam Duncan)

•   Computing - Computer systems and Networks

•   Religious Education - What does it mean to be a Christian in Britain today?

Supporting learning at home:

• Spellings:  Spellings will be taught in school and lists will not be sent home to learn. A spelling
     overview with some example words is available on the class page.

• Reading: Every child needs to read every day; including weekends. In Year 4, children should

aim to read for at least 15-20 minutes and talk to an adult about what they have read. Children will
be given a reading journal to record their reading. During this half term, children will be supported
in setting up and organising this journal and they should be in school every day. As the year
progresses, children will become more independent in organising their own journal. I appreciate
parents support in checking and encouraging children to update their reading regularly and
listening to children read.

•  Times Tables: Children will work on our times table challenge with a test on their individual focus
     table on a Friday. This challenge follows a similar style to year 3, with some slight adaptations.
     Therefore, all children will start the challenge at Year 4 Bronze and progress through the challenge
     at their own pace.

-     Please ensure children to practise using TTrockstars (login in back of reading journal), hit the

button (https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button) or maths frame MTC check
(https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check )

•  Homework: Children will be set weekly homework on a Wednesday which will be due back the
     following Monday. It will follow this Wednesday-Monday pattern throughout the year. You may
     support your child in tasks but please ensure if they are struggling that they know they can ask me
     for help.