Welcome to the Sycamore webpage!

We are looking forward to all the exciting work we have planned for this school year.

Your class teacher is Mrs Ryder. Mrs Fisher Jones will be our TA. Year 4 pupils will have Spanish on a Wednesday morning, building on the skills already learnt in Year 3 with Mrs Culshaw. On a Tuesday afternoon Schools Sports Partnership will teach PE and Mr Huxley will teach RE.

Please make sure your child has the following things in school: 

•  black pumps (these will stay at school) 

• a reusable water bottle 

• a fruit snack 

• reading record every day 

Please can children come into school in their PE kits on Tuesday and Friday each week. They will need a red PE top, blue tracksuit bottoms (not leggings) and trainers.  

Here is what we will be learning about this term.

English  - Our first topic will be studying fairy tales and reading The Pied Piper before writing a fairy tale of our own.  We will also be reading information about The Loch Ness Monster and learning about language used to write information texts. We will also read The Mousehole Cat and write a story based on it.  

Maths  -

We will be following our maths scheme, Red Rose Maths, which gives children a mastery approach and teaches using equipment to understand and explore different areas.  

 Your child will be taking part in the Multiplication Check In June 2025. It is very important that they practice their times tables nightly. We will be completing weekly times tables tests as well as working on TT Rockstars. To encourage children to practice and learn their tables we have a reward system. On completion of each award, children will be presented with a badge.

Bronze - 2,5,10,3 times tables

Silver - as bronze plus 4, 8 times tables

Gold - all facts up to 12x12

Platinum - all times tables and division facts to 12x12

History/Geography  -We start the year by studying History and learn about Lancashire Cotton Mills. We will look at the impact of the industry to local people and to people across the world.  After half term, we will change to a Geography unit and learn about earthquakes around the world and why some cause more damage than others. 

Science - 

In the first half term, we will be looking at rocks and soil, including fossils. We will be using skills of scientific testing and how we can investigate the properties of rocks and soil.  

After half term, we will learn about electricity and how circuits are constructed. We will experiment with insulators and conductors to see how this affects their circuits.  

Art/DT - We will learn about printing and focus on the work of Japanese printmakers. We will link this to our science topic of rocks and soil and create prints of fossils in a variety of methods.

PE -  The schools sports partnership will teach PE on a Tuesday and Mrs Ryder on a Friday. Remember to wear your PE kits to school every Tuesday and Friday.

RE- We are learning about Islam this first half term and discussing about why Muslims fast during Ramadan.  

Computing – We will be using computing technology to learn about branching databases and how to create one. We will use yes/no questions to gain an understanding of what attributes are and how to use them to sort groups of objects. 

Each half term we will have a week outside of the normal lessons to learn about e-safety and how to be safe and look after each other while using the internet.

Homework/reading/spelling

Reading

Reading with your child is so important and links to all areas of learning. Please listen to your child read 5 times a week and record in reading record books. Children can choose books from the class library to bring home. They will also be given a reading record which children must bring them in on a Wednesday so we can check on their reading.  We will be rewarding children who are reading at home. 

Spellings

Online weekly spellings will be on spelling frame and dojo on a Friday ready for our test the following Friday. This will link to the spelling pattern taught in the spelling lesson in class. They will be able to practise using the Spelling Shed website.

Times tables

Please encourage your children to learn their tables. They are encouraged to use TT Rock Stars and Maths Frame Multiplication check. Children will be shown how to use these in the first few weeks of term. Children will have a password for this in the front of their reading record book which will come home after meet the teacher.

Thank you for all your support and hard work with your child at home. It really makes a difference.