Year 4 Curriculum

Our Year 4 Class (ages 8-9 years), forms part of the Key Stage 2 phase of Primary school. In Year 4 learning takes place through a structured approach, which focuses on formal academic learning and social and emotional learning, which continues to build on the skills developed through the previous years of schooling. 

Learning is based on the English National Curriculum for the foundation subjects. This provides a framework for learning which is enriched by an awareness of the context of our host country and the international background of our students.

Year 4 builds on the learning from Year 3 with an understanding that all children are unique and are at different stages of their learning journeys. For that reason we continue to incorporate a range of activities within the program that are inclusive and personalised for each child. We reserve the right to modify our programme based on the needs of our students.

Our goal is to prepare each child by the end of Year 4, to be ready for the greater independence expected as they move to Year 5.

The following information provides an overview of expected topics to be covered during Year 4.

English

The English curriculum is not taught in isolation, as the language of instruction at Hillview is English. However, there are key skills that may need to be taught as stand alone sessions. The English curriculum builds on the Early Literacy Skills practised in Year 3 and the outcomes for the end of Year 4 are students who are confident readers and writers, who have well established speaking and listening skills and are presenters at an age appropriate level. 

In Year 4 English Literacy skills are developed through a unit based approach and authentic cross curricular links are promoted wherever possible.

The following texts form the basis of the exploration and development of English Literacy in Year 4:

Unit 1 – Stories from the past

Unit 2 – Let’s put on a play

Unit 3 –Read all about it!

Unit 4 – Strange and wonderful places

Unit 5 – Strange but true

Our outcomes for Year 4 are achieved through teaching and learning focused on the following key areas: 

Reading 

We use a variety of texts from internationally recognised reading schemes to individualise reading progression for each child. There is a focus on reading fluency and comprehension skills.

Comprehension

  • Identification of main ideas from paragraphs and summarising
  • Formation of opinion of motivation
  • Retrieve and record key information from non-fiction texts

All students join the Accelerated Reader programme (AR). This  is an online reading scheme which manages and monitors independent reading practice, and encourages reading for pleasure for students of all abilities.

Spoken Language

  • Articulation and justification of answers, arguments and opinions
  • Read exception words, noting the unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word
  • Use of intonation, tone, volume and action in spoken dialogue
  • Speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of standard English

Writing

Grammar

  • Using determiners
  • Clauses
  • Expanding sentences using conjunctions
  • Expanding sentences using adverbs
  • Expanding sentences using propositions
  • Direct speech
  • Present tense
  • Present perfect of simple past
  • Using paragraphs

Written Composition

  • Draft and write by organising ideas around themes into paragraphs, subheadings and headings.
  • Draft and write narratives using characters, settings and plots
  • Progressively use a varied and rich vocabulary and increasing range of sentence structures

Spelling

We use the spelling assessment the Single Word Spelling Test (SWST) to establish a baseline for each student to explore known and unknown spelling rules. We can then individualise the spelling programme for each child. The focus of our spelling development program encourages children to nurture a curiosity about words, discover their history and, in so doing, understand the logic behind the way they are spelled rather than a focus on rote learning lists of spellings each week. 

Handwriting

There is a continued focus on the legibility of individual handwriting styles 

Mathematics

All of the learning in Mathematics is through the Maths — No Problem! (MNP). This is a series of textbooks and workbooks written to meet the requirements of the 2014 English National Curriculum using the teaching strategies developed in Singapore that lead to them becoming world-leaders in Primary maths performance.

Topics to be explored in Year 4 include:

Number and place values

  • Numbers to 10 000
  • Roman numerals

Calculations

  • Addition and subtraction within 10 000
  • Multiplication and division
  • Further multiplication and division

Statistics

  • Graphs

Fractions and Decimals

  • Fractions
  • Decimals

Measurement

  • Time
  • Money
  • Mass, volume and length
  • Area of figures

Geometry

  • Properties of shapes
  • Position and direction

Science

  • Unit 1 – Humans and Animals
  • Unit 2 – Living things in their Environment
  • Unit 3 – States of Matter
  • Unit 4 – Magnetism
  • Unit 5 – Electricity
  • Unit 6 – Sound

Humanities

  • The Romans
  • World War II
  • The Vikings
  • Mapping
  • Conservation

    Art and Design

    Pupils will be taught to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.

    Pupils will be taught:

    • to create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
    • to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials [for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay]
    • about great artists, architects and designers in history.

    Computing and ICT

    • Unit 1: Coding with Scratch
    • Unit 2: Email, Google Docs and Google Classroom
    • Unit 3: Creating Media and Photo Editing

    Music

    • Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression.
    • Use and understand staff/stave and other musical notations.
    • Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music.
    • Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds.
    • Appreciate and understand a range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians.
    • Develop an understanding of the history of music.

    Drama

    Class lessons focus on:

    • Improvising and inventing both real and fictional scenarios
    • Learning how voice and body language convey character
    • Learning how theatre conventions can enhance understanding
    • Learning to work collaboratively and assess both their own and others’ performances

    PE

    Class lessons focus on:

    • Movement and dance lessons
    • Coordination with bat and ball lessons
    • Outdoor games
    • Adventure climbing and balancing lessons
    • Outdoor sport specific lessons
    • Athletics and cross-country lessons
    • Indoor gymnastics lessons
    • Swimming

    Competitive sport specific squads include:

    • FootballHockey
    • Swimming
    • Tag Rugby
    • Netball
    • Athletics and
    • Cross country running

    Personal Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education

    • Friendships
    • Citizenship
    • Healthy Living
    • Hillview Values

    The outcomes of the Year 4 programme are children who are happy, are able to communicate well, have the ability to think critically, who can share their thoughts and ideas with confidence and understand how they learn best. We aim to support the development of children who are ready to face the social, emotional and academic challenges of the Year 5 programme.