Year 4

Spring Term English

In English this term, our core text will be The Firework-Maker’s Daughter by Philip Pullman. This powerful adventure story, full of danger, determination and dramatic settings, will provide excellent opportunities for creative writing. We will use the journey and challenges faced by the main character to inspire our own narratives, with a strong focus on building tension, describing extreme settings, developing characters, and choosing ambitious vocabulary. Alongside this, we will continue to strengthen our SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) skills, with particular attention given to nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and how they enhance meaning in writing.

Guided Reading

In Guided Reading, our texts will link closely to our theme of Extreme Earth. We will explore a wide range of text types, including adventure stories, non-fiction texts about volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters, as well as poetry that captures powerful atmospheres and emotions. Pupils will learn to identify and compare features of different genres, while developing key reading skills such as inference, retrieval and summarising. These texts will also support our science learning, helping children understand how authors use language to explain, describe and create impact when writing about extreme natural events.

Spring Term Maths

In Maths this term, we will focus on developing strong number skills across four key areas: multiplication and division, fractions, money and statistics.

We will begin with multiplication and division, building fluency with times tables up to 12 × 12 and applying these facts to multiply and divide two- and three-digit numbers by one-digit numbers. Pupils will use a range of methods, including formal written strategies, mental calculation and practical resources, to solve problems and explain their reasoning.

Next, we will move on to fractions. Children will learn to recognise and represent fractions, find equivalent fractions, and compare and order fractions. We will also practise adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator, helping pupils to understand how fractions relate to the whole and to each other.

Our learning will then turn to money, where pupils will work with pounds and pence, convert between units, and solve real-life problems involving addition, subtraction, and giving change. This will help children apply their mathematical knowledge to everyday situations.

Finally, we will explore statistics. Pupils will learn how to interpret and present data using bar charts, pictograms and tables. They will answer questions using data, compare results, and draw conclusions, developing their confidence in reading and understanding information presented in different ways.

Spring Term Science

In Science this term, our focus will be Living Things and Their Habitats, in line with the Year 4 programme of study. Pupils will learn how living things can be grouped in different ways and will explore a variety of habitats, including local environments and more contrasting habitats around the world.

Children will investigate how plants and animals are suited to the environments in which they live, identifying key features that help them survive. We will also learn about food chains, recognising the roles of producers, predators and prey, and understanding how changes to a habitat can affect the living things within it.

Throughout the term, pupils will develop their scientific enquiry skills by observing, classifying, researching and recording findings. They will use simple keys, carry out investigations, and ask their own questions about the natural world, helping them to become confident, curious young scientists.

In the second half of the Spring term, our Science learning will focus on Sound, in line with the Year 4 programme of study. Pupils will explore how sounds are made, discovering that vibrations travel through different materials to reach our ears.

Children will investigate how sound can travel through solids, liquids and gases, and learn how the pitch and volume of a sound can be changed. They will carry out practical investigations using musical instruments and everyday objects to explore patterns between pitch and frequency, and volume and the strength of vibrations.

We will also learn about how sound is used in the real world, including how sounds get fainter as distance increases and how ears help us to hear. Throughout this unit, pupils will develop their enquiry skills by planning investigations, making careful observations, recording results and drawing simple conclusions from their findings.

Spring Term Geography – Extreme Earth

This term, our Geography learning will focus on Extreme Earth, helping pupils understand the powerful natural processes that shape our planet. We will explore different types of extreme natural events, including earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes and tornadoes, and learn where in the world these events are most likely to occur.

Pupils will develop their understanding of physical geography by studying tectonic plates and how their movement can cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. We will investigate famous examples of extreme events, examining their causes and the impact they have on people, communities and the environment. Children will also explore how humans can prepare for and respond to these events, considering both short-term and long-term effects.

Throughout the unit, pupils will use maps, atlases and globes to locate regions affected by extreme weather and geological activity. They will compare different parts of the world, including how climate and location influence the types of extreme events experienced, and will build key geographical skills such as using geographical vocabulary, interpreting maps, and presenting information clearly.