Welcome to Year 3/4 

This Year's Information 2023 - 2024

Spring 1

All of us at Holly Grove hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and we are delighted to be back into the swing of things with our outstanding children. Thank you to everyone for joining us for parents evening and we look forward to the next time we meet.

Our new term brings with it new topics. In Maths, we have begun our unit of Addition and Subtraction. We are looking at multiplying and dividing numbers up to 1000 with exchanging, using a formal written method and mental strategies and up to 10 000 in Year 4. The children have been using concrete apparatus, diagrams, and pictures to help them learn, as well as a formal written method. For our Mental Maths, we get a little competitive – all in good sport – with our Times Tables Rockstars and it is amazing to see so many fantastic learners logging in to keep practising.

In English, we have been learning about different forms of poetry and reading the book called ‘Escape from Pompeii’ which is all about a Roman boy escaping from the exploding Vesuvius. We have been focusing on improving our skills using expanded noun phrases and adverbials to tell a story. We introduced the new skill of using speech and inverted commas to add dialogue to their stories.

In History, we have started a new unit on Romans where we are beginning to find out where the Romans came from, why they invaded, all about Boudicca's revolt and their legacy and the skills historians use to find out about the Romans.

In Science, we are investigating forces including pushes and pulls and friction, we will be doing some fantastic experiments to help us see these forces in action.

We are having a really big push this year on times tables, all children have TTRS logins and are getting really good at using the website. Please could you practise times tables at home using TTRS to help get the children ready for the summer times table assessment, we will provide you with more details about the multiplication check and how you can help as we move closer to Christmas, times tables are crucial to mathematical knowledge and skills as the children move through school so please do help.

A few reminders -

Pencil cases are NOT needed in Y3/4, we will provide all writing essentials.

Dinner time is a choice between hot dinners, paid for through Parentpay or a lunchbox from home. If you believe you are entitled to Free School Meals please contact the school office.

Children are dropped off by 8.40 and the end of the day, 3.20, children can be collected from the KS2 playground.

P.E Day

In Year 3 and 4, our P.E day is on a Friday. Children need to come to school in their P.E kits (shorts and green or dark t-shirt/dark joggers, hoody and trainers) and they will not need to wear their school uniform on this day. 

Homework

Weekly homework will consist of reading 5 times a week, the diary needs to be signed after every read alongside Timetable Rockstars and maths games - these are emailed out half termly but a link can be found below.

The children will earn awards for reading at least five times a week including being able to take home the Reading Rabbit, any reading can be recorded in the diary, not just school books.

As learning the times tables is very important in Year 3/4,  practising these at home will be beneficial to your child's learning. Using Times Table Rockstars to practise your child's times tables is a fun and engaging way to consolidate their learning. 

Year 4 Times Table Check

During the summer term, Year 4 will take part in the national electronic times table check. In this test, children will answer assorted, random times table questions up to 12 x 12 with 6 seconds given for each answer. Practise in school and at home is essential, below you will see a link to a website which may be useful, other practise sites are available. If you have any questions please et in touch.