Welcome to Year 4!
Academic Year 2024-2025
We are Mrs Mulligan, Mrs Cooke, Mr Tipper, Miss Harris and Mrs Huggins
We are really excited to be teaching your children in Year 4 this academic year.
When we are planning new exciting activities, Mrs Silwood-Monk and Mrs Huggins will be teaching PE. This is currently on Friday mornings. Your child will be able to come into school on this day, wearing their PE kit.
Please do not hesitate to contact us via email at info@belle-vue.dudley.sch.uk or leave a message with the office on 01384 389900 if you have any questions.

Mrs Mulligan
Assistant Headteacher and Deputy DSL
Mrs Huggins
4CM Class Teacher
(Monday-Tuesday)
Mrs Cooke
4CM Class Teacher
(Wednesday-Friday)
Mr Tipper
4T Class Teacher
Miss Harris
Teaching Assistant
The 'Belle Vue Way'
Our three school rules are:
- Be Ready
- Be Respectful
- Be Safe
We also have four listening skills that we actively teach across school. These are:
- Good listening is…sitting still
- Good listening is…staying quiet
- Good listening is…looking at the person who is talking
- Good listening is…listening to all of the words
Summer Term Key Dates
This is an overview of events throughout the year. All of these dates are provisional and may be subject to change.
Further details regarding the events will be sent out nearer the time.
Monday 28th April - Term Starts
Tuesday 29th April - Parents’ Evening 4:00pm-7:00pm
Thursday 1st May - Parents’ Evening 4:00pm-7:00pm
Monday 5th May - Bank Holiday
Thursday 8th May - Festival- themed KS1 and KS2 Discos
Monday 12th May to Friday 16th May - Year 6 KS2 SATs Week
Monday 19th May - DT Week
Monday 26th May-Friday 30th May 2025 Half Term
Monday 2nd June - Term Starts
Week Commencing Monday 2nd June - Multiplication Tables check Year 4
Week Commencing Monday 9th June - Phonics Screening Check KS1
Thursday 12th June - Nursery and Reception Father’s Day event
Friday 13th June - KS1 and KS2 Father’s Day Film event
Tuesday 17th June - New to Nursery Parents’ Induction Meeting
Thursday 19th June - New to Reception Parents’ Induction Meeting
Wednesday 18th June - Transition time for new classes (Year 1-Year 5)
Thursday 19th June - Nursery and Reception Sports Day
Friday 20th June - KS1/KS2 Sports Day
Week Commencing 30th June - Year 6 Secondary Transition week and Assessment Week
Wednesday 2nd July - Transition Afternoon (Reception-Year 5)
Friday 4th July - Family Fun Event- Colour Run and summer activities (details TBC closer to date)
Wednesday 9th July - Year 6 Show Performances 2pm and 6pm
Thursday 10th July - Year 6 Show Performance 6pm
Friday 11th July - Year 6 End of Year Celebration Trip (details TBC closer to date)
Friday 11th July - End of Year Reports to Parents
Monday 14th July - Parents’ Open Evening
Tuesday 15th July - Year 6 Leavers’ Festival (details TBC closer to date)
Thursday 17th July - Year 6 Celebration Assembly (details TBC closer to date)
Friday 18th July - Last Day of Term
Monday 21st July - INSET Day
Current Term



Reading
Writing
Maths
Spring 2 - Our next class novel is 'The legend of Podkin One-Ear' by Kieran Larwood. Podkin is the son of a warrior chieftain. He knows that one day it will be up to him to lead his warren and guard it in times of danger. But for now, he's quite happy to laze around annoying his older sister Paz, and playing with his baby brother Pook. Then Podkin's home is brutally attacked, and the young rabbits are forced to flee. The terrifying Gorm are on the rampage, and no one and nowhere is safe. With danger all around them, Podkin must protect his family, uncover his destiny, and attempt to defeat the most horrifying enemy rabbitkind has ever known.
In class, we teach reading every day through choral reading of a variety of different texts and extracts, checking for fluency, understanding of vocabulary and helping the children to understand a wide range of texts through key questioning.
The children will have a reading book that they bring home every night, selected from a key reading stage. Please could you ensure that they bring this in every day as they will read in class daily. It is important that your child practises their reading daily for around 10 minutes to build upon their fluency and comprehension skills.
During the first part of the summer term, the children will be writing their own narrative based on the text 'Tuesday'. Award-winning author David Wiesner has the incredible ability to draw the reader into a world where the strangest and most magical of events take place as if they are completely normal. On this particular Tuesday, a small group of frogs take flight from their lily pads and go on a whimsical adventure that will invite children to let their imaginations run free and complete the fantasy by deciding what unlikely events will occur next Tuesday.
As a part of the writing process, the children will review their work and make changes and revisions.
During the summer term, Year 4 will consolidate their multiplication and division skills, and solve more challenging problems by working through different steps, finding different solutions. In addition, the children will then focus on 'Fractions', looking at mixed numbers and improper fractions.
We will also continue to practise our times tables (up to x12) in preparation for the 'Year 4 Multiplication Check' in June 2025.
In addition to daily maths lessons, children will focus on their arithmetic skills.

Handwriting
Handwriting will be taught every day using the 'Letter-Join' handwriting program. The children will be expected to use joined handwriting, leading to a cursive style by Year 6. It is a key component in developing children's writing. Throughout these lessons, the children will be taught about letter families, number formation and High Frequency Words.
It would be extremely beneficial if you could support your child with their handwriting at home too. Simply follow the code below to access a range of activities to practise their 'letter-joins'.

Spelling
Spelling will be a key aspect of developing writing skills and will be taught daily. Twelve spellings, linked to phonics sounds, will be learnt each week and will be found below.
Spelling tests will take place on Friday and include the 12 words learnt that week and other spellings from previous weeks for recapping.
Spelling Lists
The children are practising a variety of spellings within class. There are no formal spelling tests currently.
Wider Curriculum
SUMMER TERM
Science: States of Matter
Religious Education: Sikhism
PSHE: How can our choices make a difference to others and the environment?
History: Ancient Greece
Geography: content covered during the autumn and spring term
Computing: Online Safety and Effective Searching
French: Moving Our Bodies
Art: Space
Music: Exploring Feelings When You Play
PE: Badminton, Tennis and Swimming
Forest School - Dates to be announced (please look out for messages from us)
Swimming - Dates to be announced (please look out for messages from us)
DT - Focus Weeks - every term

Homework
Homework is set in accordance with our SMART policy (please see the policy on the website). We expect all children to be practising their spellings and multiplication skills at home each week using the suggested websites below. On some occasions, we may send out homework documents to further support skills and concepts that they will have already encountered in class.
Parent Information/Updates
Useful Websites
Times tables learn and practise
Arcademics
Maths is fun
www.mathsisfun.com/timestable.html
Hit the button
www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Coconut multiples
www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples
Fishing
https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/306/Maths-Fishing-Multiplication
Tommy’s Trek
https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/318/Tommys-Trek-Times-Tables
Andrew Jeffrey videos for parents
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/oxford-owl-videos/videos-fun-maths-games/#timestablesgames
Ordering and Sequencing Numbers Games (topmarks.co.uk)
Primary Homework Help | Online Games For Kids - BBC Bitesize
DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!