Year 4 2023 - 2024
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Welcome to Year 4! We’re all eager to get this year off to a flying start, and very excited just to think of some of the fantastic things we’re going to be able to learn together! Let’s take a quick look at what the curriculum will cover during these first weeks back.
So what are Times Table Rock Stars, Purple Mash and Class Dojo? Put simply, they are three online tools which we use to help us teach the children, both in and outside of school.
Online Tools
So what are Times Table Rock Stars, Purple Mash and Class Dojo? Put simply, they are three online tools which we use to help us teach the children, both in and outside of school.
Times Table Rock Stars
Times Table Rock Stars (sometimes abbreviated as TTRS) helps the children with their times tables. Multiplication skills are extremely important at this age, and children need to not only be able to work out times tables, but know them by heart and be able to answer them quickly. Children who struggle with their tables will have a lot of difficulty doing multiplication and division problems with larger numbers in maths lessons, and will struggle with the government-sent Year 4 tables tests they’ll have to do later in the year. TTRS gives them simple games to practise their times tables, and the opportunity to earn “coins” which they can spend on decorating their avatar.
What do you have to do? Children should be logging on to TTRS every day and practising the multiplication games for at least 10 minutes. It’s not a lot of time, but if they do it daily it will have a massive impact. All children will have log in details given to them in the first couple of weeks back at school. After going to the TTRS website at https://ttrockstars.com/ go to LOGIN on the top menu and select SCHOOL PUPILS. Before your child can enter their details, you’ll need to find our school by entering its postcode: M124NG (This is better than typing “St. Luke’s” as there are several other schools around the country with that name.) Once you’ve done this, they’ll be asked for their username and password. Note: It is VERY important that the children do not give their login details to anyone else, or leave them around carelessly where someone else could see them. We do not want other children playing the games under the wring account, as this will affect our assessment of their abilities. We also do not want anyone else going into the TTRS store and spending coins earned by the user.
Class Dojo
Class Dojo is an online tool which works almost as a small social media platform for the class. Teachers can post information on it, or set work for the children to do at home. There is a feed, called CLASS STORY, where information for everyone to see can be put up, and a private messaging function where parents or pupils can contact the teacher directly (and without other users seeing) to ask questions. Work is set to individual children, with instructions attached to it, and children can submit it when it is completed. The app can be installed on your phone and is entirely free. There are options to upgrade to a premium version which allows the children to do things like change the appearance of their avatar, BUT THIS IS NOT AT ALL NECESSARY AND ST. LUKE’S DOES NOT ENCOURAGE PARENTS TO SPEND MONEY IN THIS WAY.
What do you have to do? After installing the Class Dojo app, you’ll get notifications when the teacher posts something on the feed or sets work for your child to complete. (They will also have been told in school to expect it.) Activities vary, and children may be asked to fill in an online sheet, write or draw something and take a picture of it for submission, or film themselves performing something like a poetry or story reading. If you’re using a computer, you can log in at https://www.classdojo.com/en-gb/
Purple Mash
Purple Mash is a learning platform we use in school. It has things like maths games, art packages, and coding interfaces built into it for the children to use. We use it a lot in ICT to help the children learn how to program, create digital art or simulations, and even make simple games. The good thing about PM is that it can be used out of school as well. The children will have login details which they can put in on most devices (computers, tablets or phones) at home so that they can practise using the same tools they’re using in ICT! You can find it at https://www.purplemash.com/login/
Things to remember
What things do you and your child need to remember day-to-day?
Uniform & PE Kits
Children should always have the correct uniform for school. The St. Luke’s Uniform consists of a white shirt, blue sweater, fleece or cardigan (sweaters with the school logo on them are available from the school itself, please just ask) grey or black skirts, trousers shorts or pinafores or check dresses. Pupils should wear black shoes, not trainers. More information can be found here: https://stlukes.sites.schooljotter2.com/parent-zone/school-uniform
Your child’s PE kit should stay in school at all times, including weekends. (We recommend that they only bring it home each term break so it can be washed.) For gymnastics and dance, children should wear black shorts and a T-shirt or leotard. For games and athletics, a pair of black shorts, white t-shirt and trainers or pumps may be worn. School P.E. kits are available to purchase from the school office at reasonable prices. It is a very good idea to put your child's name in any clothes worn for school. as most of the clothes are nearly identical, if an item is lost without a name inside it, it is unlikely that it will be recovered.
Reading, Spellings, and Homework
All children will have a reading book which is suited to their current ability, and they should read it for at least 15-20 minutes each night with an adult. When reading, the adult should ask them questions that require literal responses, such as “Why did Molly say she needed a car?” and ones that need the child to infer why something may be the case, such as “Why do you think Ahmed was angry with Tim when he gave him the cake?” Also, children should be encouraged to talk generally about the book they’re reading, perhaps saying whether or not they like it and why, or making predictions about what they think will happen next. Each child will have a reading record book, which can be signed after they have finished, with a comment about their performance. Children should not sign their own reading records. The children also need to make sure that they bring their reading book back into school each day.
Children will be given ten spellings (set to their ability) each week. They have a full week to learn them before they’re tested and receive a new set. These spellings are important to help develop the children’s vocabulary, and they should be encouraged to practise them a little each evening. It is also important that they know the meanings of these words – so that they can use them in their own writing and speech – and have practice looking up the definitions of words they’re unfamiliar with, so please ask them to explain what each word means if you think that they may not know.
Children will usually have a piece of literacy and numeracy homework given to them each Friday. They need to make sure that both pieces are complete and ready to be handed in on the following Monday. If your child is struggling with a piece of work, it’s fine to offer assistance, but please only explain or help them enough to get them started, and leave them to complete as much of it themselves as possible