Year 4

ERUPTION TIME!! Year 4 will be embarking on an exciting journey into the world of tectonic hazards. We will explore tectonic plates and discover how their movement can shape and change our world. The children will investigate how close we are to a volcano here in Stoke-on-Trent and consider the advantages and disadvantages of living near a volcano.

We will explore how volcanoes are formed and why they erupt, developing our understanding of the powerful forces beneath the Earth's surface. To bring our learning to life, the children will also be immersed in a fantastic Virtual Reality experience, allowing them to explore active volcanoes and experience these incredible natural phenomena from a unique perspective.

English
Having already enjoyed J.K. Rowling's world-famous novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at the end of Year 3, the children will return to this much-loved text to inspire a range of exciting writing opportunities.

Our writing will focus particularly on character and setting descriptions, with the children exploring how authors use vocabulary, sentence structure and descriptive techniques to bring characters and locations to life. We will use the magical world of Hogwarts as inspiration to develop the children's own creative writing skills.

Maths
In Maths, times tables fluency will be a major focus. The children will work hard to improve the speed, accuracy and confidence with which they recall their multiplication and division facts.

We will also develop and strengthen our understanding of place value, ensuring that children have a secure foundation for their mathematical learning. Alongside this, we will embed and practise formal written calculation methods, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Science – Can a Living Thing Survive Anywhere?

We will investigate the incredible variety of living things found across our planet and explore the characteristics that help us identify and distinguish different animals and other living organisms.

The children's Virtual Reality experience will complement this learning, giving them the opportunity to explore animals from different environments around the world. We will learn how living things can be grouped and classified according to their characteristics and investigate how classification keys can help us identify unfamiliar creatures.

Throughout this unit, we will explore some important questions, including:

• What is a living thing and how do living things differ?
• What living things can be found in Stoke-on-Trent, and why do they live here?
• What can classification keys tell us?

It promises to be an exciting and immersive 10 weeks of learning, with plenty of opportunities for the children to explore, investigate, question and discover the world around them.