Year 4
Welcome to our Class Page!
In our class, we aim to live out our school values every day:
🌟 Care for ourselves, each other, and our world
🌱 Grow by embracing challenges and new learning
💪 Persevere even when things feel tricky
✨ Shine by being proud of who we are and what we achieve
Meet the Year 4 Team
Your child’s class teacher is Mrs Fearn, and they are supported by Mrs Powis who helps make our classroom a warm and supportive place to learn.
Times
KS2 School gates open: 8:30am – 8:40am
It is important children arrive on time as learning starts right away!
Collection: 3:15pm from the classroom door via the KS2 playground
Entry & exit via main gates. Dogs & phones are not permitted on the playground & please refrain from using the climbing frame during this time.
Communication: office.3200@crowmarsh-gifford.oxon.sch.uk
The office will forward on emails to teachers
Year 4 - 6 children are encouraged to bring equipment
- Pencil case
- Pen
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Eraser
- Colouring pencils/pens
Please be mindful that stationary can be distracting, so the simpler the better!
PE Days
PE takes place on Mondays and Fridays
Please send your child to school in their PE kit on those days, including suitable shoes for outdoor sports. Long hair should be tied back, and earrings removed or taped.
Curriculum: What are we learning?
To ensure children gain the skills they need to effectively progress through school and the knowledge they need to be successful learners in the future, we have a bespoke Crowmarsh curriculum.
- Curriculum Overviews outlining the learning that will take place each term. can be found here at the bottom of our class page. These can be useful to instigate discussions at home.
- Learning in class will be posted here on our class page & sometimes on Instagram
You can find more information about the subjects we teach on Our Curriculum page of the school website.
We also share some of our wider curriculum events on our website Link
Homework
Children spend only 20% of their waking hours in school. So, your support with learning at home is integral to your child’s success.
- Homework should build positive habits, not create stress.
- Little and often is more effective than long tasks.
- Reading remains the foundation at every stage.
- Independence gradually increases as children move through the school.
- Homework consolidates learning rather than introducing new content.
Year 4 - Deepening fluency and stamina
Daily time guide: 40–50 minutes
Reading (15 minutes daily)
- Independent reading.
- Discuss vocabulary and themes.
- Adult hears child read regularly.
- Reading Record signed.
- Please make sure your child has their reading book and log in school every day.
Maths (5–10 minutes daily)
- Times tables practice via Times Tables Rock Stars.
- Rapid recall to support the Multiplication Tables Check.
Spelling (10 minutes, 2x weekly)
- Weekly spellings.
- Apply spelling patterns in sentences.
- From Year 2 upwards, we follow the Babcock Spelling scheme. Age-appropriate spelling list can be found on our class pages
Focus: Stamina, fluency and thoughtful discussion.
Whole School Expectations
- Reading Records in school daily (EYFS–Y4).
- Homework celebrated and acknowledged.
- Support available where needed.
- Consistency of routine valued more than perfection.
Homework Grids (Years R–4) - found below on this page
Each week, please choose a different activity to enjoy together as a family. These activities are designed to encourage curiosity, creativity and conversation.
Completing homework with your child should feel positive and relaxed. The discussions you have, the questions you explore and the enjoyment you share are just as valuable as the finished outcome.
There is no right or wrong way to approach these tasks. Take as much time as you need — some projects may take a week, others may grow over several weeks.
You are welcome to present Topic Tasks in any way you choose, for example:
- A photo or short video
- A drawing, poster or model
- A scrapbook page
- A short written piece
- An email
- Artwork
- Even something edible!
We love seeing children’s creativity shine in different ways.
Parental Choice and Flexibility
We recognise that family life is busy and that every child’s circumstances are different. Homework at CGPS is designed to support learning and build positive habits; however, we understand that families may not always be able to complete every task.
Reading remains our strongest recommendation, as it underpins all areas of learning. Beyond this, we encourage families to use their professional judgement about what is manageable and beneficial for their child.
If homework is not completed, there will be no sanctions. Our aim is to foster a love of learning, independence and responsibility over time, not to create pressure at home.
If families ever need support, adjustments or guidance, we welcome open communication.
Update - 18/9/26
Our recent RE lessons have been incredibly thought-provoking. We have started to discuss the difference between beliefs, truth and opinion. One of our lessons was called, 'What's in the box?' We each shared our own beliefs about what may be in the box based on theoretical evidence and empirical evidence. The class was split between the empirical evidence (the box was labelled Xmas Decs) and the theoretical evidence (Mrs Fearn could have reused the box for something else as it looks a bit old and tatty). It was great to share our beliefs, listening carefully to each other and then look inside the box at the end to see what was inside.
Another lesson was about the story of the blind men and the elephant. Each person was asked what they thought the elephant was like based on what they had felt. Because they had all felt a different part of the elephant, they all had different ideas. This caused an argument because they each had their own truth. This was brilliant for discussing perspectives and being open to looking at the whole picture.
In Science we have been learning about states of matter and how we can change them depending on the material. We have been using water recently but I think our chocolate theme may creep in at some point soon. Perhaps we'll see a warm, flowing river of chocolate at Cadbury World just as we have read about in Charlie and the Chocolate factory!
Maths has been all about 'feeling' the numbers. We want to fully understand what numbers to 10,000 are made of before we start trying to add or subtract them. A common phrase we have been using is 'ten of these is one of these.' We particularly enjoy a maths lesson outside :)
Update - 9/10/26
Our Science lessons have continued to engage the children with an experiment about which chocolate would melt at the fastest rate. One of the hypotheses was that dark colours absorb heat and therefore the dark chocolate would melt first. Ask us if this is what really happened! We also learnt about the water cycle and created our own mini cycles to see how precipitation works.
RE lessons have also continued to cause lively conversations about what we believe in and what we base our beliefs on. We learnt about how our senses can be tricked and may not be reliable when we decide if something is real or not. We watched a magic act in which an elephant magically appeared and then looked at how we had been tricked. Seeing isn't always believing! We also concluded that it is important to allow people to have their own beliefs, share them and respect those that are different to ours.
English has kept us working very hard with our persuasive letters to Mr Wonka and a research project on the Maya rainforest. We've also had a focus on keeping the consistency of our handwriting and spelling throughout all subjects - "Anywhere we write. Everywhere we write." This is to ensure that all of the children's amazing ideas in all subjects can be read and understood.
