Welcome to Year 3 and 4!
Hello, I am Mrs Gibson and I am the Year 3 and 4 teacher.
There are 23 children in our class and we are lucky to have Miss Lowther and Miss Cowan supporting us in class this year.
We have a fun, hard-working and determined attitude to learning and work in a classroom where expectations are high.
Our School Week
In the mornings, we have our daily Maths and English lessons, as well as Science, Computing and Art and Design, which is taught some mornings too. In the afternoons, we have our Geography, History, French, RE, PE, Art and Design and PSHE lessons. Mr Clarke, a music specialist, comes into school on a Friday morning and teaches music to the whole school.
English
We break down our teaching of English into different areas, which have discrete lessons. During the week, we have a reading skills lessons- including vocabulary extension and reading comprehension; punctuation and grammar; spelling; and three writing lessons which enable the children to write at length. Our writing time allows time for discussion and planning of ideas before we write and then also time for peer marking, proof-reading and improvement. We aim to keep our writing lively and interesting, as well as grammatically correct, with correct spelling! This term we will be focussing on the book Krindlekrax by Philip Ridley and Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall. The children will be writing a selection of texts including short narratives, persuasive texts, diary extracts, poetry and recounts.
Spellings are very important in year 3 and 4, so it is paramount that the children are taking time within their week to practise the spellings that are sent home with their homework each week. I have also attached the year 3 and 4 common exception words below, which the children must be able to read and spell by the end of LKS2.
Maths
In maths, there is a strong emphasis on basic calculation skills, the learning of times tables (up to 12×12 for Year 4) and the knowledge of number. This term, we will focus on place value, addition and subtraction using formal written methods and multiplication and division, before moving onto problem solving, using the four operations. In Year 3, division will be taught through knowledge and application of times tables, as well as practically. These methods will then be applied through problem solving and investigations.
I strongly recommend that the children be regularly practising their times tables at home, so they have quick recall of their times tables. Year 4 must know their times table up to 12 x 12 and Year 3 must know their 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 8s and 10 times tables by the end of the year.
I have attached links to some great learning tools, where the children can practise their times tables:
Hit the Button – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Times tables games – https://www.timestables.co.uk/
Top marks – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/times-tables
Please find below the curriculum letter for the Autumn Term and a curriculum overview outlining all the objectives to be taught within in subject area this term.