Welcome to Kestrels' Class Page

  The teacher in this class is:

Mrs Leonard

Teaching assistants:  Mrs Perks and Miss Brookes

Our topic this term is “Bright Lights, Big City”

We will be looking at the history of Liverpool and the slave trade. This term, our topic is 'Bright Lights, Big City!' where the children will learn all about the history of Liverpool and the slave trade. We are hoping to visit the World Museum in Liverpool which will allow the children to learn more interesting facts about the slave trade and see some sights of Liverpool along the way!

To find out more about what we will be covering in each subject this term, please read our 'Spring Term Curriculum letter' which can be found at the bottom of this page.

PE: Monday  All children need to make sure they come to school dressed ready in their P.E kit for these days. Please ensure that they are wearing the correct kit - plain t-shirts, shorts or joggers. Any children with earrings must be able to remove these for their P.E session, or they may not be able to take part due to health and safety reasons. On days where children do not have P.E, we hope to be able to take part in 'The Daily Mile' and they will need appropriate foot wear for this.

Swimming: Wednesday (Spring term only). All children will need to make sure they have their swimming kit in school for this day. Please make sure that all of their swimming kit is labelled. Any children with earrings must be able to remove these for their swimming session, or they may not be able to take part due to health and safety reasons.

Spelling Test: Friday - Children will be given 12 spellings to learn every week. 8 of these will include a set rule and the last 4 will be statutory spellings which they need to be familiar with by the end of the year. They will follow the LOOK, COVER, WRITE, CHECK method to help them learn their spellings.

Home learning: This will be set every Friday and will need to be completed by the following Thursday at the latest.  Usually, children we be asked to complete a maths, reading and spelling based activity. Please note that these are all short activities which should not take a huge amount of your child’s time. If you require any support, please let us know via seesaw and we will answer your queries as soon as possible. In order to minimise the amount of items being exchanged between home and school, homework with be set on Seesaw whenever possible. Spelling booklets can remain at home until they are complete.

Multiplication Tables Check

Year 4 children will be taking a Multiplication Table Check in June 2024.  We will practise for this in school, but it would be useful if children could also practise at home.  A useful website to practice with is https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check.  This is very similar to the official check and allows 6 seconds to answer each question.  Please practise as much as you can!

Nessy

Children can access the Nessy Reading and Spelling programme at home.  Using the website https://www.nessy.com/uk/ click on 'log in' in the top right hand corner.  The secret word is bossywrench then enter your child's first and last name and click GO.  

Mathletics

The children will receive a password to access Mathletics.  Tasks will be set for the children and it would be helpful if they could practise at home.  

Online SPAG and Read Theory Practise

The children have received passwords to access the SPAG and Read Theory practise questions at home.  If the children could complete SPAG and Read Theory practise regularly at home, this would really support their progress at school. The tests do not take very long and the programmes enable the tracking of their progress both at school and at home, so you can see how they are getting on.

Some useful information:

Useful websites:

Below is a list of websites that may be useful when practicing times tables.

When practicing times tables, as well as the websites above, you could play games, sing songs, make up rhymes, or use flash cards. Remember that children should be able to recall facts out of order without working up from 1 x something.

There are a variety of ideas on the internet! You could try typing 'fun ways to learn multiplication tables' or 'fun ways to learn place value' into a search engine. The key to learning times table facts is regular practice in short bursts. For example, on the way home, in the car, or when going up to bed.