Year 4

Autumn Term English

In English this term, we will begin exploring Escape from Pompeii by Christina Balit. This powerful story follows Tranio and Livia as they experience the dramatic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The text will give pupils rich opportunities to develop their narrative writing, using the vivid setting and exciting events to inspire their own work. We will focus particularly on creating atmosphere, describing settings using the senses, building tension and choosing ambitious vocabulary to bring our writing to life. Alongside this, we will continue to build confidence and accuracy in SPaG, revisiting key word classes such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs and exploring how careful language choices can strengthen meaning and impact.

Guided Reading

In Guided Reading, our texts will link closely to our Romans topic. Pupils will explore a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, including information texts about Roman life, settlements, beliefs and the invasion of Britain. Through these texts, children will continue to practise key reading skills such as retrieval, inference, vocabulary understanding, prediction and summarising. They will also learn to recognise how writers organise information, create atmosphere and choose language to interest and inform the reader.

This work will help pupils deepen their understanding of the Viking period while strengthening their ability to read carefully, discuss ideas clearly and compare different types of texts.

Autumn Term Maths

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In Maths this term, we will begin by developing a secure understanding of place value. Pupils will explore numbers up to 10,000, learning to read, write, represent, compare and order numbers and understand the value of each digit. We will also develop confidence with rounding and Roman numerals.

We will then move on to addition and subtraction, building accurate written methods and applying these skills to a range of problems. Pupils will learn to estimate and check their answers and explain the strategies they have used.

Later in the term, we will focus on multiplication and division. Children will build their fluency with times tables, explore multiples and factors and develop efficient methods for multiplying and dividing. Regular practice of times tables will continue throughout the term to prepare pupils for the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check.

We will also explore area, learning how to find the area of different shapes by counting squares and comparing areas. Throughout all of our maths learning, pupils will be encouraged to develop their fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills and to explain their mathematical thinking clearly.

Autumn Term Science

In Science this term, we will begin by exploring Materials. Pupils will investigate a range of everyday materials and develop their understanding of their different properties. They will explore concepts such as hardness, transparency, absorbency and conductivity and consider why particular materials are chosen for different purposes. Through practical investigations, children will compare and group materials and use their observations to explain their findings.

Later in the term, we will move on to Electricity. Pupils will learn about common appliances that use electricity and explore how simple electrical circuits work. They will construct circuits using cells, wires, bulbs and switches and investigate what is needed for a circuit to be complete. Children will also explore conductors and insulators and learn how to use electricity safely.

Throughout both units, pupils will develop their scientific enquiry skills by asking questions, making predictions, carrying out practical investigations, recording their results and drawing conclusions from their findings.

During the final half-term, we will revisit and consolidate learning from across our previous Year 4 Science topics. This will give pupils the opportunity to fill any gaps, strengthen key knowledge and revisit important vocabulary from areas such as electricity, states of matter, classification, habitats and the human digestive system. This review work will help pupils make stronger links between different areas of Science and prepare confidently for future learning.

Autumn Term History and Geography – The Romans

This term, our History and Geography learning will focus on the Romans, with a particular emphasis on their impact on Britain and our local area. Pupils will explore why the Romans invaded Britain, how they established control and how life changed under Roman rule.

From a History perspective, pupils will investigate the Roman army, settlements, roads, buildings and everyday life. We will look closely at evidence of Roman activity in Cheshire, exploring nearby Roman settlements and considering what archaeological discoveries can tell us about life in our local area almost 2,000 years ago. Children will use a range of historical sources and evidence to consider how much of the Roman legacy can still be seen around us today.

From a Geography perspective, pupils will use maps and atlases to locate the Roman Empire, Italy and Rome before tracing the Roman invasion of Britain. We will then bring our learning closer to home, using maps to explore Roman roads, settlements and other evidence across Cheshire and the North West. Pupils will consider why the Romans chose particular locations for settlements and how physical features such as rivers and the landscape influenced where people travelled, lived and traded.

Throughout the unit, children will develop key historical and geographical skills by asking questions, examining evidence, using timelines, interpreting maps and explaining how people and places changed over time. This topic will help pupils build a balanced understanding of the Vikings and decide for themselves whether they should be remembered as deadly raiders, peaceful farmers, or something in between.