Year 4

Autumn Term English:

In English this term, our core text will be Vita and the Gladiator by Ally Sherrick. This engaging story of courage and adventure in ancient Rome will provide fantastic opportunities for creative writing. We’ll use the narrative to inspire our own storytelling, focusing on building suspense, developing characters, and using a wide range of vocabulary. We will also continue to strengthen our SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) skills, with a particular focus on the use of nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.

Guided Reading:

In Guided Reading, our texts will link to our topic on the Romans. We will explore a variety of text types, including historical fiction, non-fiction texts about Roman life, and poetry. We’ll learn how to identify and compare the features of different genres. Additionally, we’ll delve into texts related to our science themes, helping us deepen our understanding of how writers convey information and atmosphere across different formats.

Autumn Term Maths:

In Maths this term, we will begin by deepening our understanding of place value. We will learn to recognise the value of each digit in a four-digit number, order and compare numbers beyond 1,000, and count in multiples of 6, 7, 9, 25, and 1,000. Next, we will move on to addition and subtraction. We will use formal methods for adding and subtracting numbers with up to four digits and solve problems involving these operations. We will also apply our knowledge of place value and inverse operations to check our answers.

Towards the middle of the term, we will focus on multiplication and division. We will learn to multiply and divide two- and three-digit numbers by a one-digit number and solve problems that require us to use these skills, including a deeper dive into times tables up to 12 x 12. Finally, we will end the term with an introduction to fractions, exploring how they represent parts of a whole and learning to find equivalent fractions and add and subtract fractions with the same denominator.

Autumn Term Science:

In Science this term, we will begin by exploring the topic of states of matter. We will learn about the properties of solids, liquids, and gases and how these states can change. Through practical investigations, we will observe and describe the processes of melting, freezing, evaporating, and condensing, linking these changes to temperature. We’ll also consider how different materials are used based on their state.

In the second half of the term, we will focus on living things and their habitats. We will learn how to classify living things into broad groups based on their characteristics. We’ll explore a variety of habitats, both local and global, and identify the plants and animals that live there. We will also learn about food chains and how animals are adapted to their environments.

Autumn Term History and Geography:

This term, our History focus will be on the Romans. We will learn who the Romans were, where they came from, and how their empire grew to encompass much of Europe and North Africa, including Britain. We’ll explore what Roman life was like, looking at their army, daily life, engineering marvels, and the impact they had on Britain. We’ll also examine key events, such as the Roman invasion of Britain, Boudicca’s rebellion, and the building of Hadrian’s Wall.

In Geography, we will study Italy, the country from which the Romans originated. We will explore the physical geography of this region, including its mountains, coastlines, and climate. We will compare the Italian landscape with that of the UK and consider how the geography of the empire influenced Roman expansion, trade, and settlement. We will also use maps and atlases to locate key cities and sites related to the Roman Empire.