Year 4 - Ramanujan Class and Lovelace Class

STEAM 

This term our STEAM focus is science and we will be answering the question is ‘Can I develop an understanding of the living world around me?’ Their final outcome will be a campaign about an aspect of climate change (including how human action is impacting on climate), its impact on living things and how we can act. 

Over the course of our learning journey, the children will: 

• Develop a geographical awareness of Oxford, through identifying the human and physical features.   

• Develop a geographical awareness of Lagos, through identifying the human and physical features.  

• Identify the difference between climate and weather. They will identify climate patterns around the world and will consider the climate zones that Oxford and Lagos fall within.  

• Develop an understanding of how climates can change. Children will establish how humans have impacted on climate change and how this has affected global temperature, rainfall and sea level changes. 

• Develop their understanding of how living things can be classified. 

• Learn about the three different types of teeth and how they range between different vertebrates 

• Understand the processes of the human digestive system. 

• Understand the roles of consumers, producers, predators and prey and the impact that climate change can have upon food chains and the survival of living things. 

• Be creating a piece of artwork inspired by ‘The Window’ by Jeannie Baker, using their choice of media. 

• Begin to develop ideas for their climate change campaign. 

• Spend time preparing their climate change campaign materials.  

• Carry out their climate change campaign. 

English 

The children will begin this term by writing a narrative setting description based on ‘The Girl Who Stole an Elephant’. They will: 

• Use commas to mark clauses.  

• To secure use of multiclause sentences including compound and complex structures.  

• Use paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme.   

• Use inverted commas to punctuate speech.  

• Use fronted adverbials, followed by a comma. 

Later in the term, we will explore writing a non-fiction text. 

Maths 

We will begin this term by thinking about the “part-whole relationship” (fractions). The children will learn that: 

• Any element of a whole is a part; if a whole is defined, then a part of this whole can be defined. 

• A whole can be divided into equal parts or unequal parts. 

• The relative size of parts can be compared. 

• If one of the equal parts and the number of equal parts are known, these can be used to construct the whole. 

We will then move on to thinking about working across a whole (improper and mixed number fractions). The children will learn that: 

• Quantities made up of both wholes and parts can be expressed as mixed numbers. 

• Mixed numbers can be placed on a number line. 

• Understanding how to compare and order proper fractions supports the comparison and ordering of mixed numbers. 

• Mixed numbers can be partitioned and combined in the same way as whole numbers. 

• Mixed numbers can be written as improper fractions. 

• Improper fractions can be added and subtracted in the same way as proper fractions. 

Computing 

This term the children will learn about photo editing. They will learn: 

• To explain that the composition of digital images can be changed  

• To explain that colours can be changed in digital images  

• To explain how cloning can be used in photo editing  

• To explain that images can be combined  

• To combine images for a purpose  

• To evaluate how changes can improve an image  

HRE 

In the first half of Term 5, we will think about shared responsibilities. The children will learn: 

• about the relationship between rights and responsibilities 

• to recognise there are human rights that are there to protect everyone 

• ways of carrying out shared responsibilities for protecting the environment in school and at home; how everyday choices can affect the environment (e.g., reducing, reusing, recycling; food choices) 

Later in the term, we will think about communities. The children will learn: 

• about diversity: what it means; the benefits of living in a diverse community; about valuing diversity within communities 

• about stereotypes; how they can negatively influence behaviours and attitudes towards others; strategies for challenging stereotypes 

Music  

Using the Charanga musical programme, we will focus on the song ‘Blackbird’ by The Beatles to develop the following skills: 

• identify the themes of a piece of music.  

• identify instruments and voices of a piece of music.  

• read and play the notes C, D and E 

• sing in unison and in parts 

• play instrumental parts in time to the music 

• compose a simple melody using simple rhythms 

• perform as part of the group. 

• assess the effectiveness of my performance 

MFL (French) 

We will continue our Modern Foreign Languages learning this term by learning about time. By the end of this unit, the children will be able to: 

• say and write a sentence to tell the time (o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to) 

• count in fives to at least 30 

• understand and use the terms avant and après 

• answer questions about a schedule 

PE 

In our outdoor PE lessons this term, we will learn to play Rounders. The children will learn to: 

• catch using the correct technique.   

• throw under-arm and over-arm.   

• bat using correct technique to hit the ball.  

• perform an under-arm bowl.  

• understand effective techniques to stop a ball.   

• use a range of throwing, catching and stopping techniques to field effectively. 

• play a simple game of rounders. 

In our outdoor PE lessons this term, we will learn to use a range of movements and resources to perform a country dance sequence. The children will: 

• maintain control when performing travelling sequences in time with the music. 

• perform dances using a range of movement patterns with increasing duration. 

• link movements with fluidity and ease. 

• count the beats of the music to perform a series of steps. 

• use a prop to support a dance performance. 

• work with others to choreograph and perform a country dance sequence. 

RE 

In Term 5, the school’s big question is, “Is there a higher power?” We will explore this through our fortnightly RE assemblies. 

In alternate weeks in our RE lessons, we will be exploring Sikhism and Christianity. The children will learn to:  

• explain Sikh beliefs about the Guru Granth Sahib 

• explain Christian beliefs about the Bible 

• compare Sikh and Christian beliefs and attitudes to sacred texts