Year 4
Teachers: Mrs E Waterman, Mrs K Nzegwu (covered by Mrs R Brooks and Mrs S Jones),
Mrs J Robinson, Miss E Saupe, Miss C Lawrence and Miss S Webb
PE and Games
P.E. will be on the following days:
4LW – Tuesday & Thursday
4N – Tuesday & Thursday
4R – Tuesday & Wednesday (Wednesday & Thursday from 18/11/24 - 30/1/24)
4S – Tuesday & Wednesday
4W – Tuesday & Wednesday
It is important that your child wears their PE uniform into school on these days: blue or black shorts, leggings or tracksuit bottoms, yellow PE t-shirt, school jumper or cardigan, although a plain navy or black sweatshirt without a hood can also be worn, and trainers or plimsolls.
Throughout the year, all year 4 children will complete a course of swimming lessons which takes place at the University of Portsmouth swimming pool. Each class will complete approximately 8 lessons, which are led by trained instructors. You will be notified when your child’s class will be starting these lessons along with further information about the required kit. The first class starting on 10th September will be 4N. Children should come to school wearing PE uniform on swimming days – the swimming session will replace 1 of the PE sessions for that week.
We do not encourage the wearing of jewellery in school but children may wear a single pair of stud earrings and a watch. Earrings must be removed by the child or covered with a suitable microporous tape, which can be provided, during PE and games sessions. Please note that teachers and other members of staff are not permitted to remove a child’s earrings so they must be able to remove or cover them themselves. Sports watches and Fit Bits must also be removed before games sessions
Storage: All children will be provided with a locker where they are able to store their bags and coats. Please be aware that these lockers are large enough for a small school bag and are not suitable for rucksacks or any additional items. Lunch boxes are stored on separate trolleys.
Homework Children will be given log in details for Times Tables Rock Stars, a multiplication and division game. We ask that children play the game a few times over the week to improve their fluency. They should be able to recall each multiplication table up to 12 x 12, including the corresponding division facts by the end of Year 4. All Year 4 children will complete the National Multiplication Check during the month of June. Children will also be provided with a spelling overview each half term. This will give details of the words children need to practise spelling at home in preparation for their weekly test.
Home Reading: Your child will be able to select two books from the library each week. One will be a banded book for them to read at school and the other is a free choice book to read at home. Your child’s library day is a Monday so please can you ensure their book is in their bag on these days should it need changing. They will also have access to the Portsmouth Library Service eBook platform.
Class Readers:
As part of our English curriculum, we want to continue to foster a love of reading and expose our children to a range of authors. Over the course of the year, and in addition to what we teach in English, each year group will be sharing different texts from a variety of authors The teacher will be reading the text at various points during the day and we would like the children to have their own copy in order to follow, read along and perhaps read aloud to the class. Whilst we would like to provide these books for all children, we hope you will understand that buying such a large quantity of books would be prohibitively expensive for the school. Therefore, we would like to invite you to purchase a copy of your class’s texts for your child, or bring in their own copy, should they already have it. It may also be possible for them to withdraw these from their local library.
Please see below for your child’s year group texts for the whole year:
● Autumn 1 - Bill’s New Frock by Anne Fine
● Autumn 2 - Cloud Busting by Malorie Blackman
● Spring 1 – Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White
● Spring 2 – The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo
● Summer 1 – Journey to Jo’Burg by Beverley Naidoo
● Summer 2 – The Girl Who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook
● Summer 2 – Julius Caesar – A Shakespeare Story by Andrew Matthews and Tony Ross (children do not need to purchase this book)
Click on the images to find out more about our class readers for the Autumn Term
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Trips and Activities
In Year 4, there are a range of trips and activities for which we may require financial support. Please be aware that prices are approximate. However, at the request of parents, we have tried to detail these in advance for the year, as follows:
· Design Technology activities for the year £4.00 - Autumn term
· Council Chambers – Autumn term (Free)
· Cumberland House – Autumn term (Free)
· Greek Workshop approx. £8.00 - Autumn Term
· Beaulieu - optional 3 day residential – November (places have already been allocated)
· Marwell Zoo £10.00 – Summer Term
· Fort Nelson (Romans) approx. £6.00 – Summer Term
Mobile Phones and Social Media
It is recommended that your child does not bring a mobile phone to school as we cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage that may occur. However, if you decide it is necessary for your child, then they must turn their phone off on arrival at school and hand it to their class teacher at the start of the day. It will be stored in the classroom and returned at the end of the school day. Mobile phones should not be turned on until your child has left the school grounds. We would like to remind parents that children should not be using any social media platform which is below the legal age stated or without parental supervision. Therefore, any issues arising with social media use will always be referred back to parents.
Healthy Snacks
Children are allowed to bring in a healthy snack for their morning break. They are welcome to bring in fruit, cereal bars or any healthy alternative to keep in their tray, in a separate container to their named lunch box, until break time. Please note that crisps, chocolate bars and sweets are not acceptable healthy snacks and we are a strictly nut free school. Children should bring in their own named water bottle daily, so that they can have access to drinking water during the day.
Social stories
Social stories are short descriptions of a particular situation, event or activity, which include specific information about what to expect in that situation and why. They can help children cope with changes to routine and reduce anxiety. As a school we have developed social stories for when we have trips and visitors as this is when the school day will be different from normal routine. If you feel your child would benefit from these, then please read them to your child.
All our social stories for each year group can be found here: Social Stories
Family support
At Craneswater, we are committed to supporting your family’s physical and emotional health and wellbeing. We want to make your child’s journey with us as supported and enjoyable as possible. Our Family Well-being support team are here to help or signpost you to external agencies. Please look at our family support page on our website:
Parental Support | CRANESWATER or email familysupport@craneswater.portsmouth.sch.uk
Finally, if at any time you have any queries or concerns, please let us know via the school office.