Welcome to Year 4! 

In Year 4, the year 4 teaching team is: Mrs Fuller, Mrs Lees and Mrs Atef.

If you have any questions, please come and speak to Mrs Fuller. If she is not around at the beginning and end of the day, you can contact the school office and request an appointment. 

Keep referring back to this page for regular updates about the children's learning. 

PE DAYS
Thursday
Friday

Curriculum Newsletters

Below are our half-termly newsletters which provide detailed information about what the children will be learning about in class. 

Update - Monday 26th January 2026

Reading

During our daily reading lessons, the children have continued to enjoy reading about Loki and his chaotic antics. We have been developing our reading fluency this week by thinking about a smooth read. We completed a task in our books on Thursday which was all about using the text to justify our responses. We finished the week by using ‘Reader’s Theatre’ to rehearse and perform a fluent read to the rest of the class. 
 

Science

This week in science is our penultimate lesson of our current project ‘Grouping and Classifying’. We investigated how scientists have discovered new species of animals and which kingdom they belonged to: animal or plant.  We wrote a science report about these new discoveries. 
 

RE

As part of our current unit of work about ‘Buddhism’ and the key theme of ‘Wonder’, this week the children put their Buddhist knowledge to the test. They read a range of scenarios and had to identify how a Buddhist may respond to these. 

Update - Monday 19th January 2026

English

This week in our English work, the children have been finishing their final piece writing about Marcus Rashford. The children drafted and edited their reports using a range of subheadings and sentence structures. 

Maths

In our maths lessons this week, we have continued to look at multiplication and division. We have used the partitioning method (that we first learned in year 3) to begin with multiplying 2d x 1d numbers using the times tables we know. We then progressed onto 3d x 1d multiplication and looked at the more formal method of column multiplication. 

Science Centre Trip

We visited the QMC Science Centre Trip where we took part in a range of investigations about 'States of Matter'. This was as a hook to our next science unit of work that we are completing next half term. 

Update - Monday 12th January 2026

Times Tables

As we know, the teaching and learning of times tables is vitally important for all children. The year 4 children shall be sitting the DfE multiplication tables check in June of this year therefore many preparations are being made in school to support them with this. To give them a flavour for what the check will be like, this week they logged onto TTRS and used their OUMTC (a practice check similar to the real thing) to give the children and understanding as to what the test will look and feel like. Please continue to help your child with learning their times tables at home. 

Reading

During our Reading lessons we have been reading our new class text 'Loki: A Bad God's Guide'. We have been learning about the antics of Loki who loves to cause chaos and play pranks. During our reading lessons we have been working on our reading fluency including: expression, automatic word recognition, rhythm and smoothness. 

RE

During our RE lessons this half term, we are exploring Buddhism and the key concept of 'Wonder'. The children have begun thinking about what the concept of 'Wonder' means to them and we have explored the different wonders of the world. We have also started to learn further about Buddhist teaching and stories including 'The Buddha and the angry elephant'. This story has helped the children understand the importance of calm thoughts and how this can make wonderful things happen. 

Update - Monday 5th January 2026

Happy New Year from Year 4! 

English

This week during our English lessons, we launched our new writing topic which is about Marcus Rashford. The children used the key text 'Little People: Big Dreams' to begin to learn about Marcus and his life. The children will be learning about this to help them write their own non-chronological reports. 

Science

This half term, the children will be learning about Grouping and Classifying. This topic is all about sorting different living things based on their characteristics including vertebrates and invertebrates. 

Geography

The children began their new topic learning about a famous river - The River Thames. The children used Google Earth to help them explore the upper course, middle course and lower course of the Thames. They made geographical observations and sketches of the areas. 

Update - Monday 15th December 2025

English

This week in our English lessons, the children have been focusing on their final piece writing. They have used the range of skills taught during the unit and remembered the oral rehearsal of sentences that we crafted earlier on in the unit of work. The children have also been editing and improving their work by checking for sense, punctuation and improvements needed to vocabulary. They have also worked on re-writing part of their story by improving their handwriting by increasing the fluency and legibility of their joined handwriting work. Please continue to work on your child's joined and fluent handwriting at home. 

Maths

This week we have been revisiting our subtraction skills. They have recapped on foundational skills including those taught in year 3 such as: subtracting numbers with up to 3 digits (no exchange), subtracting numbers with up to 3 digits (with one exchange), subtracting numbers with up to 3 digits (more than one exchange). We have also revisited our year 4 subtraction skills using numbers with up to 4 digits with and without exchanging. They have used a range of practical maths resources such as place value counters and dienes to support with their conceptual understanding of exchanging and how to practically understand and show this. 

Christmas Performance at Buckskin Church

During the afternoon of Wednesday, the children went across to Buckskin Church to practice putting together their Christmas Performance ahead of performing this to parents. On Thursday afternoon, the church was full of parents ready to see their children shine. The children sang a range of traditional Christmas songs and acted out part of the traditional Christmas story. A huge well done to all children! 

Update - Monday 8th December

English

The children have continued to learn a range of English skills in their current learning journey about 'The Invisible' by Tom Percival. They have been using conjunctions, prepositions and adverbs to describe time, place and manner. The children have also been using direct speech using inverted commas and other punctuation to show when characters speak. They have also been crafting and writing a range of sentences including: simple, compound and complex. 

PE

During our PE lessons this week, they have been learning to navigate an orienteering course. They have worked to read a simple map and use this to identify different points around the school site. They have worked with a partner and in small groups to develop their team work skills.

Music

In our Music lessons, the children have been continuing to learn the songs needed for the KS2 Christmas Performance at Buckskin Church on Thursday 19th December. They have worked on ensuring their singing is in time with the music as well as working on the volume of their singing. 

WB- Monday 1st December 2025.

Monday

This week in English, we explored the story Invisible by acting out key scenes. The children thought carefully about how Isabel feels unseen by those around her, and how her world begins to change once someone finally notices her.

Tuesday

Today we welcomed visitors from the church for a festive nativity craft afternoon. The children had great fun making their own donkey ears before taking part in an interactive assembly that helped them understand the story of the nativity in a lively and engaging way.

Friday

In PE, we have been developing our teamwork skills. The children worked together to solve a range of practical challenges, learning the importance of cooperation, communication and perseverance.

Update - wb Monday 24th November

English
This week in their English lessons, the year 4 children have been reading their new key text “The Invisible” by Tom Percival. The children have been learning to orally rehearse and retell the story in parts using actions. They have also looked at the dialogue between characters too. The children have also discussed some of the underlying themes of the story and the children have shown great respect and responsibility in doing so. Well done year 4! 
 

Art

The children have been using their resilience skills this week. During their Art lesson, the children have been using weaving. They used different textures and thicknesses of wool and used weaving techniques using a weaving board. 
 

Science

As part of their sound unit of work, the children have learned about the human ear. They did this by making play doh models of the ear so that they could understand the ear’s structure and how different parts help us to hear. 

Update - wb Monday 17th November

English
This week during their English lessons, the year 4 children have been drafting their final piece writing inspired by 'How to train your dragon'. The children have written a whole range of interesting facts about dragons into their own dragon fact file. To be successful, the children have used a range of different skills including: using organisational devices such as subheadings, extending the range of sentences by more than on clause, using fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases. 

Reading

The children have continued to read their key text 'The Queen's Nose' by Dick King Smith. They have been developing their fluency reading further this week by reading with good expression as well as thinking about what does or does not make clear expressive reading. The children have then had a go at inferring a character's thoughts, feelings and motives by thinking about the main character Harmony and how she feels at different points of the text so far. They have also used evidence from the text to support them. 

Music

During their Music lessons this week, the year 4 children have been practising the KS2 Christmas Production songs ensuring that they develop their rhythm as well as the correct tone. 

Update - wb Monday 10th November 

Maths
This week in Year 4 we have started our unit of work on Multiplication and Division. The children have been multiplying by 3 as well as multiplying and dividing by 6. To help them calculate their answers, we have been teaching the children to use arrays to visualise the problem. 

History
During our history lessons this week, we have been continuing to learn about the Vikings. We imagined that we were Newsround presenters telling people about the raids at Lindisfarne. 

Assembly with the local Police Officer

We were lucky to have an assembly with our local beat officer, PC Boxall who spoke to the children in KS2 about Anti-social behaviour. He spoke to the children about the job of the local police officers in supporting the community and keeping everyone safe. 

Update - wb Monday 20th October

English

During our English lessons this week, the children have been looking at using direct speech to show when characters are speaking. They have looked at different punctuation for direct speech including: inverted commas, question marks, exclamation marks and others. The children have also been challenged to think about alternative words for 'said' and moving their reporting clause. 

Reading

During our Reading lessons this week, we have finished reading our class novel 'How to train your dragon'. Once we had finished reading the text, we had a 'Book Talk' where we talked about our favourite parts of the story including events and characters. We finished the week writing a book review of the text and why others may wish to read this.

Maths 

This week has continued with an addition and subtraction focus. The children have been using 'Checking Strategies' for their calculations. One strategy that they have used is using the inverse operation to check that an answer is correct. They have used their formal methods of column method and subtraction with numbers up to 10,000. 

Please continue to help your child with these methods at home. 

Science 

In Science this week, the children started by exploring what happened in their teeth investigation. The children set up a range of hard boiled eggs and placed them in a range of liquids including: coca cola, orange squash, milk and water. They observed the changes over time and then thought about reasons for this. They then responded into their Science books by explaining what happened and how this could impact our teeth. They also discussed how to care for their teeth as they get older. 

Update - wb 13th October

WOW! Well done Y4 for another fantastic week here at Chiltern! 

English

The children have continued learning about 'Leon and the place between' by using different writing skills such as prepositions and adverbs for cohesion in their written work. They have then written their final pieces and edited them too. On Friday, the Y4’s shared their written work with the Y3 children. 

Maths

The children have been delving into the idea of 'efficient subtraction'. This is where they need to use what they already know to approach a calculation. They have used both the formal column method and more informal mental methods such as counting on to find the difference. They have been resilient because they have solved many different reasoning problems involving this. 

History

Our topic around Invasion has continued to grab the children's attention. They have discovered about how monasteries were important during Anglo Saxon Britain as well as exploring what everyday life was like for the Anglo Saxons in Britain. They used role play and freeze frames to get a real understanding of this. 

Update - wb 6th October

The children have had a great week at school learning about many different things. 

English

This week, the children have been exploring the key text 'Leon and the place between' where they have been thinking about the best descriptive writing that they can use for the different settings. They have also been writing different sentence types: simple, compound, complex and complex with fronted subordination. 

Maths

The children are currently learning about addition and subtraction using the formal column method. They have been looking at adding up to 4 digits with exchanging. They have also been looking at subtraction with exchanging too. They have been resilient and tried their best - keep it up Y4! 

Music

In the spirit of Autumn, the children have been listening to the song 'Conkers' and have been learning to sing this in class. They have thought about how to keep in time with the music and how to follow the beat carefully.