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This is our Virtual Class Timetable during Remote Learning. Lessons in the morning will be LIVE with Miss Piponides on Microsoft TEAMS. The afternoon Topic Lessons will be completed by the children independently. All the work is set for the morning and afternoon for each day can be found in the Assignments section of Microsoft TEAMS - work to be completed for each day will appear there.

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Year 4 – Spring Term 2 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers,

I would like to give everyone a warm welcome back after the Half Term break and the outgoing difficulties and disruptions of the Coronavirus pandemic. Rest assured once we return, school will continue to follow all safety guidelines to ensure all children and adults are staying safe. Despite some continuing uncertainty, we are awaiting to be back soon and as always, we strive to make learning as enjoyable and as routine as possible!

This half term, our Year 4 topic is based around Natural Disasters but also looking at global warming. I have called it 'Extreme Earth’. In Geography, we will be learning in depth about volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and flooding. Children will discover that natural disasters occur frequently and that we are fortunate in the UK to not be in a geographical region of the World, which is susceptible to such phenomenon, which pose extreme threats to life. Children will be made aware of previous natural disasters and the impact they have had on the people who were affected by it.

In English this term, we will be reading ‘Fairy Tales’ by Terry Jones. Children will learn that Fairy Tales are many times shared across cultures with slight variations. We will be reading different versions of the same fairy tale to help children understand other cultures. Our end goal is to develop the skills required to confidently write our own Fairy Tale. Skills that we will be developing this half term are writing simple, complex and compound sentences with fronted adverbials and expanded nouns, exploring various conjunctions whilst adding glorious punctuation marks. Furthermore, developing our vocabulary is always as the forefront to our English lessons.

In Maths, our unit will be Geometry. We will be learning how to measure the mass, volume and length of various objects in a wide range of contexts. As always, we strive for children to be able to rapidly recall their times tables. If your child is not secure in their times tables then they will need to work extra hard to learn them. TT Rockstars is still available to use at home, and it is a more interesting way for them to practice their times tables. All children have access to this resource offered by our school.

In Science, we will learn all about electricity. Children will learn about what electricity is and how it was discovered. They will identify which appliances use electricity in their homes and how to keep themselves safe. Children will construct circuits, start pictorial circuits and conduct an investigation into how easily different types of switches can break and connect in a circuit.

Once we return to school, PE will be on a Monday and Thursday. Please make sure your child has their PE kits on these days. For the time being, it is helpful if you only send PE kit only on the day of the PE lesson since our cloakrooms are not in use due to COVID safety measures.

We would really like the children to read every day (either independently or to an adult). We will be monitoring reading diaries and rewarding the children who do read frequently and regularly. We would like reading books and reading diaries to be in school every day so that adults in school can also hear them read.

If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. My email address is zpiponides@firbeck.org.uk.

Kind regards,

Miss Piponides

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Year 4 – Spring Term 1 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers,

Happy New Year!

I would like to give everyone a warm welcome back after the Christmas break. I am super excited to be working with the Year 4s this term and I look forward to building on the fantastic progress that children have made over the last term.

As we have now move onto remote learning, we are using MS Teams as a primary method of accessing lessons. This is also the platform for pupils to ask questions and to communicate with each their classmates. Click here to access MS Teams.

Below is an outline of what we will be studying remotely:

This half term, Year 4 are learning all about ‘chocolate’. In Geography, we will be looking in depth at the three main continents - South America, Africa and Asia that have wide areas of land with tropical climates, which provide the perfect conditions for cocoa trees to grow. We will learn all about global trade and its impact upon people, and recognise the value of fair trade goods.

In English this term we will be reading ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl. Our end goal is to develop the skills required to confidently write our own diary and newspaper article. Skills that we will be developing this half term are writing simple, complex and compound sentences with fronted adverbials and expanded nouns, exploring various conjunctions whilst adding glorious punctuation marks. Furthermore, developing our vocabulary is always at the forefront of our English lessons.

In Maths, we will be learning all about fractions, including decimals. Children will understand improper and proper fractions, they will be able to simplify and find equivalent fractions as well as subtract and add fractions together with the same and different denominators. To be confident in all the above exercises children must be able to recall all of their times tables. If your child is not secure in their times tables then they will need to work extra hard to learn them. TT Rockstars is still available to use at home, and it is a more interesting way to practise times tables. All children have access to this resource offered by our school.

In Science, we will learn all about the differences between solids, liquids and gases, classifying objects and identifying their properties. The children will work scientifically and collaboratively to investigate the weight of a gas. Furthermore, they will have a chance to find the ideal temperature to melt chocolate. They will explore in-depth how water changes state, exploring melting, freezing, condensing as well as a particular focus on evaporation. Finally, they will learn about the stages of the water cycle, creating mini water worlds and an interactive water wheel to represent the different stages.

We would really like the children to read every day (either independently or to an adult).

If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at zpiponides@firbeck.org.uk

Kind regards,

Miss Piponides

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*UPDATE-7th JANUARY 2021**

SCHOOL CLOSURE

Dear Parents/Carers

*If you haven’t already please come and collect your child's Y4 Home Learning Pack from the school office ASAP - before 3pm Friday 8th Jan*

We are working hard on setting up virtual teaching to ensure quality Y4 remote learning. As I'm sure you can imagine this is taking considerable organisation with such short notice, but I will be able to teach your child virtually every weekday morning- starting on Monday 11th January,

I will be teaching roughly 3 hours every morning via live video on Microsoft TEAMS - Maths and English (with breaks). I will be confirming more details via the emails/phone calls and the website this week so please keep your eyes peeled on this webpage.

What the children need for remote learning :

• A Y4 Work Pack (containing pencils, exercise books and our class reading book) to be collected from school before Monday 11th January. Within this pack is also your child's individual email address and password to log into www.office.com - Microsoft TEAMS - the website they need to view and participate in lessons. TEAMS is also available as an app for phones and smartphones.
• A quiet work space and with room to work.
• A laptop/computer/tablet/smartphone or any device that can access the internet and www.office.com - the lessons which will be streamed live on our class channel every morning through Microsoft TEAMS.

The children will need to log into Microsoft Teams. Please note the Y4 key worker children in school will be receiving the same lessons whilst in school on school computers. They will be provided with everything they need in school but will need a packed lunch everyday.

Please let me know if you will struggle to arrange any of the above for your children or if you have any other questions. My email address is zpiponides@firbeck.org.uk

Thank you for your understanding and support during these very challenging times.

Miss Piponides

Year 4 Teacher