Chesham Primary School
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Class 6 - Peacocks
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Welcome Back To School! 
Spring Term 2020 Newsletter
Dear Parents, Carers and Pupils,
Welcome back to school! We hope you all had a lovely holiday. Below you will find a curriculum overview for the term ahead, as well as information about our class.
MUSIC will be taught by Miss Hudson 
FRENCH will be taught by Madame Binns. 
On Wednesdays, the children will be taught by Mrs Barker.
Teaching assistants: Mrs Lee, Miss Crane, Mrs Penny and Mrs Thompson
ENGLISH
In Literacy, we will be reading a new book titled 'The Children of Winter' by Berlie Doherty. This book is a fictional story based upon the time of the Great Plague. We shall base our language and creative writing around this text.
On Wednesdays, the class will have a grammar focus and complete activities with Mrs Barker.
On Fridays, the class will be tested on their weekly spellings. Spellings are given out on Friday in their homework books and are based on the statutory spellings required for individual abilities. Each week, the spelling list follows a particular spelling pattern in order to help the children learn a bank of words with certain spelling rules.
Year 4 is also the year that children earn their ‘pen licence’ — that peak of handwriting neatness that allows your child to write in pen at school. This can be a big thing for your child. However, don’t worry if your child is not writing with a pen straight away. They will get there eventually.
I have my pen license! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reading
Reading activities will take place daily - individual reading, small group reading and whole class reading activities.
Carry on reading together
For English, the single most important thing that you can do to help your child progress, is to hear your child read. Good readers make good writers because they are exposed to a greater variety of vocabulary, syntax, grammar and style. When you listen to your child read, there are a number of things to remember:
- Make it fun! Use silly voices and read to each other as well as just listening.
- Ask questions about the text, the characters, the plot, the setting, the style of writing, the words. Anything to get them to think about what they are reading and understand the language and the deeper hidden messages in the sub-text.
- Read a wide range of writing — from comics to newspapers; from novels to Pokemon cards; and even the children’s own writing!
- Look up individual words in a dictionary or thesaurus together to find out what they mean.
- Stop if they or you are tired!
- Be a good role model for reading yourself. This is the perfect excuse to curl up on the sofa, forget the chores and read a good book yourself!
Of course, children in Year 4 are perfectly capable of reading to themselves as well, and independent reading (and writing) must also be encouraged. However, it is important that those comprehension skills are regularly checked and reading aloud is perfect for that. We therefore ask that you continue to support your child’s progress in reading at home by making time to read with them and to talk about the books they read on a daily basis. Please sign and date your child’s reading log book to confirm they have read with you each day. We will check the log books and the children will be rewarded with house points for reading at home.
MATHS - we will be covering:
Division of whole numbers, division with remainders and division using the 'bus stop' method.
Fractions - Equivalent fractions, fractions of numbers, addition/subtraction of fractions.
Decimals - 1/10, 1/100, multiplication/division of decimals, rounding decimals to nearest whole number, decimals involving money.
Time - telling time, time problems.
Please continue to encourage and support your child’s mathematical progress by helping them to master the times tables to 12 x 12 and learning to tell the time on digital and analogue clocks. In maths there is an expectation that by the end of Year 4 all times tables are known and learnt fluently. Anything you can do to help that knowledge go in and stay in is fantastic:
- Practise regularly and go back and repeat tables, previously practised
- Sing tables in the car; at mealtimes; before bed; walking the dog; at any spare minute!
- Put a poster at the end of their bed or give them tapes to listen to in the car
- Download an app to practise on a laptop or tablet
- Times table rockstars
SCIENCE
Topic 1 - 'States of matter'
Topic 2 - 'Electricity'
GEOGRAPHY - 'Maps'
HISTORY - 'Ancient Greece'
ART - Studying a well-known artist (Steven Brown)
R.E./PSHE - Friendships/Relationships
P.E./GAMES This half term, PE and Games will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday will be dance with Alex (specialist dance teacher). Thursday will be outdoor games (netball).
Outdoor and indoor PE kits are required. Trainers are important outside and black PE pumps for inside. Thank you!
HOMEWORK
- Daily reading
- Multiplication/Division facts to 12 x 12
- Spellings
- Learning to tell the time using digital and analogue clocks
- Additional homework tasks linked to work in class
Please encourage your child to establish good routines for completion of homework activities by getting involved and supporting and praising their efforts. If your child is unsure about what they have to do, please tell them to ask us for help at school and reassure them that it is perfectly fine to do so.
If you have any questions about the curriculum or your child’s learning, please come and speak to us. We are looking forward to working with the children and making this an enjoyable and successful year for everyone.
Thank you for your support,
Mrs Oxley and Mrs Barker
Upcoming events for the 1st half of the Spring Term:-
Monday 3rd February - 'Children's Mental Health Awareness Week' starts.
Tuesday 11th February - 'Safer Internet Day'.
Friday 14th February - School closes for the half-term holiday (3.30pm). 'Fairtrade Fortnight' begins.
Monday 24th February - School reopens for the 2nd half of the Spring Term.
