Dear Parents/ Carers
Welcome
A very warm welcome to all of you, in this exciting start to the new year.
In Years 3 and 4 we aim to build upon your children’s skills and encourage them to become more independent in their learning and organisation. As a team we have high expectations of your children and are already impressed with their enthusiasm, great ideas, effort and learning attitude.
Our Curriculum
We follow a thematic approach to the curriculum, as we feel that this approach enables us all to be more creative in both our teaching and learning.
The topics covered this year are:
Autumn
- Aye! Aye Captain - British Pirates
- Myths and Legends
Spring
- A Blast From the Past – Famous British Battles
Summer
- I’m from Cheddleton, Get Me Out of Here!
English: Reading and Writing
We believe that being exposed to excellent texts promotes the use of rich language, excellent grammar and perfect punctuation in children’s own writing. Reading is therefore an essential part of this. Reading regularly, discussing events in texts together and accessing the library are all ways in which you can do this.
In Key Stage 2 we expect:
- Children to read little and often - 5 minsa day is better than half an hour at the weekend. (A reading challenge incentive is in place to promote reading at home- a letter with more information has been sent home to parents).
- Practise their spellings. These will be given out each Friday to learn for the following Friday
- Complete talking homework as required.
Maths
Maths is a focus in Key Stage 2 and we are completing additional mental maths for ten minutes each afternoon to support this. The focus of this session will mainly be multiplication but we will work on the associated division facts.
To support us with this, please practise your target addition, subtraction, multiplication or division fact.
AND… There will be a mental maths test each week to check progress. Achievements from this will be recorded in the homework book.
Finally, Maths homework will be sent home throughout the term which relates to work done in class. This will be given out on a Thursday and needs to be returned on the following Tuesday. Please write a comment or mark your child’s work and we will sign to acknowledge we have seen it.
PE
Is on the following days:
- Foxes – Tuesday & Thursday
- Spiders – Tuesday & Thursday
- Squirrels –Monday & Tuesday
Tuesdays is on a rota basis.
Year 4 will also have the opportunity to swim on Fridays on a rota basis.
Please ensure that your child’s PE kit is in school at all times. If they fail to have it in school, they will make up some of the time missed within free time.
Full PE Kit (all labelled)
- White t shirt
- Black or blue Shorts
- Trainers
- Track suit/ fleece (for the winter months)
Outdoor Learning and Forestry
Please ensure that children have a pair of wellies in school at all times so that they can access the outdoor environment at all times. Your child can bring them into school on a Monday and take home on a Friday.
Behaviour
We have very high expectation for behaviour both in and out of school. Our 5 tier reward system reflects this expectation.
It consists of 5 levels –Gold, Green, Yellow, Amber, Red. Children move up and down this ladder as necessary and receive rewards and sanctions relevant to their age/class. We will let you know if they reach gold or red .
Other rewards:
- Achievement cards
- Gold award
- Duck award
- Attendance certificates
- Helping hands, kind hearts and good manners award
Our house Point System will soon be in operation!
Classroom Support
If there are any parents/carers who could help hear children read, even if it was just for an hour a week, then you are very welcome. Please contact your child’s class teacher or the office.
Additional Information
- Please label or clothing and items in school.
- Ensure a coat is available in school at all times.
- Bring reading records, reading books, homework books, spelling books and library books into school every day as we might need to send out messages and/or additional homework.
Please remember we are always here to help. DO NOT hesitate to contact us whenever you have concerns or worries. We want to work with you to ensure that your child continues to enjoy school, develop their confidence and self-esteem and ultimately enjoy the challenges of new learning.
This is the start of another very exciting year for the children and with your support; we can all look forward to making this year a great success.
Thank you,
The Key Stage 2 Team
Mrs Clifford (Squirrels) Mr Carter (Spiders) Miss Bills (Foxes)
St Edwards Academy Cheddleton
End of Year Expectations for
Years 3 and 4
This booklet provides information for parents and carers about the end of year expectations for children in our school. These expectations have been taken directly from our Leek Partnership assessment documents and link directly into the National Curriculum (2014)
All the objectives will be worked on throughout the year and will be the focus of direct teaching and homework. We will however, still differentiate according to the needs of each child. Any extra support you can provide in helping your children to achieve these expectations is greatly valued.
If you have any questions regarding the content of this booklet or want support in knowing how best to help your child, pleaser talk to your child’s class teacher.
Reading
Year 3 / Year 4*read books that are structured in different ways & retell some of these orally
*Begin to identify themes and conventions
*Prepare poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform, and begin to show understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action
*Recognise some different forms of poetry
*Begin to use dictionaries
*Ask questions to improve their understanding of a text
*identify main ideas and begin to summarise these
*Begin to draw inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justify inferences with evidence with support
*Predict what might happen
*Discuss words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination
*Begin to identify how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning
*Retrieve and record simple information from non-fiction / *Read books that are structured in different ways & retell some of these orally
*Identify themes and conventions
*Prepare poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform and show understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action
*Recognise some different forms of poetry
*Use dictionaries
*Discuss their understanding of texts and explain the meaning of words in context
*identify main ideas and summarise these
*Draw inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justify inferences with evidence
*Predict what might happen
*Discuss words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination
*Identify how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning
*Retrieve and record information from non-fiction
Writing
Year 3 / Year 4*Use an increasing variety of sentence openings.
*Uses a variety of conjunctions - e.g when, while, so, because, soon, therefore, before
*First, third person and tense are used consistently.
*Punctuation to mark sentences is usually accurate – full stops, capital letters, exclamation and question marks, Capital letters for proper nouns, apostrophes for contractions, commas in lists.
*Begin to use inverted commas to punctuate direct speech.
*Main features of story structure are present – beginning, middle and ending
*Starting to use paragraphs
*Uses layout appropriate to text type
*Inclusion of details in order to engage the reader, e.g. description of setting, characters’ feelings/motives
*Words are chosen for variety and interest – including adverbs and adjectives
*Spelling is usually accurate including that of common, polysyllabic words (Year 3 & 4),
*Handwriting is mostly joined and legible. / *Use a varied range of sentence openings
*Begins to form complex sentences using subordinating conjunctions, e.g. because, but, when, so, which, while.
*Use pronouns to avoid repetition.
*Uses fronted adverbials (e.g. later that day, I heard the bad news)
*Choice of tense is usually accurate
*Punctuation marks are accurate - Capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks, beginning to use commas to mark phrases and clauses, as well as separating items in lists, inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech, apostrophes for omission and to mark singular and plural possession, commas used after fronted adverbials.
*Stories are written with a clear beginning, middle and ending and an awareness of the need for a complication.
*The ending is developed and of an appropriate length.
*Use of paragraphs to organise ideas
Events are developed and commented upon.
Wider range of adjectives, powerful verbs, adverbs, noun and adverbial phrases. *Attempts to spell unfamiliar polysyllabic words
*Handwriting is joined and legible
Maths
Year 3 / Year 4*count from 0 in multiples of 4, 8, 50 and 100; find 10 or 100 more or less than a given number.
*recognise the place value of each digit in a three-digit number compare and order numbers up to 1000
*read and write numbers up to 1000 in numerals and in words
*add and subtract numbers mentally and using formal written methods e.g. columnar
*recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 3, 4 and 8 multiplication tables
*count up and down in tenths;
*compare and order unit fractions, and fractions with the same denominators
*recognise and show, equivalent fractions
*recognise, find and write fractions of a set of objects and numbers.
*add and subtract fractions with the same denominator within one whole
*measure, compare, add and subtract: lengths, mass, volume/capacity
*measure the perimeter of simple 2-D shapes
*add and subtract amounts of money to give change
*tell and write the time to the nearest minute.
*know the number of seconds in a minute and the number of days in each month, year and leap year
*Identify horizontal and vertical lines and pairs of perpendicular and parallel lines
*draw, recognise & make 2d & 3d shapes
recognise & identify angles
*interpret and present data using bar charts, pictograms and tables / *count in multiples of 6, 7, 9, 25 and 1000
*count backwards through zero to include negative numbers
*recognise the place value of each digit in a four-digit number
*order and compare numbers beyond 1000
*round any number to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000
*add and subtract numbers using formal columnar written methods
*recall multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up to 12 × 12
*multiply two-digit and three-digit numbers by a one-digit number using written methods
*count up and down in hundredths
*recognise and show equivalent fractions
*solve problems involving harder fractions
*add and subtract fractions with the same denominator
*recognise and write decimal equivalents of any number of tenths, hundredths, 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and 3⁄4
*Convert between units of measure
*Estimate, compare and calculate different measures, including money in £ and pence
*measure and calculate perimeters of a rectilinear figure
*find the area of rectilinear shapes by counting squares
*Convert between different units of measure (e.g. Hours to minutes)
*compare and classify geometric shapes, including quadrilaterals and triangles
*identify lines of symmetry in 2-D shapes *identify acute and obtuse angles
*describe positions on a 2-D grid as coordinates
*interpret, present and compare data using appropriate graphical methods