A Better World (and Y4 Autumn Newsletter)
'A Better World' Topic Web
Autumn Newsletter - 2019
Welcome back! We hope that you enjoyed the summer holidays and are looking forward to the Autumn Term as much as we are. This newsletter will give you information specific to Year 4 for the forthcoming term.
Please arrive at school ready for the classroom doors to open at 8:40am. It is very important that the children are on time as timetabled activities will begin promptly at 8.50am. Unless you need to speak to the class teacher specifically, please say goodbye to them outside in order to encourage greater independence. They are to be collected from the playground at 3:15pm.
We will be focusing on two ‘themes’ this term: A Better World, and Scavengers and Settlers. They are both exciting themes which will cover how to look after our world and then move onto the different ages of pre-history. The children will also be attending a range of fun-filled educational visits based around the topics including a very exciting overnight stay at Celtic Harmony on Thursday 26th September to Friday 27th September. More info to follow!
We will also be learning more about our fantastic local history through engaging oral history activities. This will also include exploring what the Royal Docks were like in the past compared to today by closely examining maps from over time. Also, we will be thinking about the positives and negatives of our local area and suggestions for improvements!
P.E sessions will take place on Tuesday and Friday. We ask that the children come to school in their PE kits and wear them throughout the day. They do not need to change into their school uniform on PE days. Swimming will now take place over a two week block only (23rd March to 3rd April 2020 at 1pm). Swimming kits should include a towel, swim hat and tight fitting swimwear. Flip flops and googles are optional.
It is very important that your child brings their book bag to school every day. Homework in Year 4 will form an integral part of the children’s daily learning and so it is vital that homework is completed on time and to a good standard. Homework will be given out to the children on a Monday and is expected back the following Monday.
The school has recently become a Google Reference School—one of only a handful in London. This is due to the way innovative way we have used Google for Education. One of the benefits of this new technology is that all of the children’s work will be stored remotely (and securely) in the cloud and can therefore be accessed at home. We really want to encourage the children to continue their learning as much as possible at home and to do this they will need access to a device that can connect to the internet: a laptop, MacBook, tablet or even a smart phone with internet connection would be suitable. They should go to google.com and sign in using their unique e-mail address which ends in @britannia-village.newham.sch.uk and then use their password to access all their files in Google Drive.
As usual, if you ever have anything that you would like to talk to us about then please do not hesitate to speak to us at the beginning or the end of the school day. We can speak briefly then or make an appointment for a more lengthy discussion if the situation requires it. For further information please see the school website www.britannia-village.newham.sch.uk.
The Year 4 Team:
Haleema, Joss and Noor