Year 4 (Key Stage 2) - The Orchards Primary Academy

Welcome to

Year 4

Hello and welcome to Willow- Year 4! We’re thrilled to have your child join our vibrant learning community.

Year 4 Teacher

Miss Busby

A welcome from the class teacher...

Hello and welcome to the Willow 4 class page!
My name is Miss Busby, and I’m delighted to be teaching this wonderful group of children. I’m 28 years old and currently in Year 1 of my ECT training, and I feel incredibly lucky to be starting my teaching journey here at The Orchards. I grew up in Northfield, so I know the area very well. In fact, my dad even went to Ley Hill when he was little, so it feels very special to now be teaching in the same community. This is my second year at The Orchards, and I can honestly say I absolutely love being part of such a warm, supportive school.
Our Year 4 class is full of energy, curiosity and big personalities. They keep me on my toes every single day, and their enthusiasm for learning makes our classroom a lively and joyful place to be. No two days are ever the same, and that’s exactly what makes teaching them so rewarding.
In English and Reading, we explore a wide range of exciting texts to develop our writing, oracy and reading skills. One of my personal favourites is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, while the class are currently loving Odd and the Frost Giant. Their passion for stories really shines through in their discussions and written work. I have a university degree in creative writing as well as teaching, so I have a real enthusiasm for the children’s creativity! Our Maths curriculum covers a wide variety of skills, and the children work hard towards their multiplication check in June.
Our History curriculum takes us on adventures through the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds, while in Geography we investigate topics such as Where Our Food Comes From and the Amazon Rainforest. As the school’s RE subject lead, I especially enjoy guiding the children through our learning about Christianity and Buddhism.
In Art, the children explore painting techniques, still‑life drawing and mixed‑media work. In DT, they design and make exciting projects such as moving cars, structures and electrical torches.
In Computing, they learn programming, website creation and collaborative digital skills. They also enjoy learning French through our new Rigalo scheme, which has quickly become a class favourite.
In Science, we explore topics such as sound, circuits and conductors, states of matter, the human digestive system and living in different environments.
Willow 4 is also a very active year. In PE, the children go swimming on Wednesdays which is their favourite day of the week! They also have weekly sessions with Mr Thompson, who teaches them a range of sports including rugby, tennis, dance and athletics. We are also lucky to have a specialist Music teacher who brings creativity and rhythm into our week.
We’re looking forward to a fantastic year of learning, growth and fun together!

Year 4 in action

Maths

Place Value

Year 4 work very hard in their maths books, but also we focus on practical lessons too!

English

to be updated

Reading

to be updated

History

The Ancient Greeks

Some of the children's fantastic enthusiasm showing here as they show off their fantastic history sketchbooks where they were 'speaking like experts' about what they had learnt for their history unit.

Art

Painting Techniques

This is one of the Year 4 pupil's absolutely amazing artwork where they used a range of different painting techniques to create a beautiful piece of work.

Science

Static Electricity

But how does it stick?! Year 4 did an experiment on static electricity to test their hypothesis "How does the tissue paper stick to the balloon?" Is it magic? Is it science?

PE

Tag Rugby

A brilliant shot of the children practicing tag rugby, learning how to dodge to try and escape being caught out!

Computing

Website Design

The children were making their own websites about the Firebird which we had been learning about in our reading lessons. We've got some technology wizards on our hands!

French

Portraits and Descriptions

A beautiful shot of a pupil proudly holding up their French work where we were focusing on writing descriptions about physical features such as eyes and hair colour. J'ai les yeux bleus et les cheveux marron.

DT

Mechanisms

RE

Buddhism

Curriculum Promise

Racism

Curriculum promise is where we focus on what's going on in the world, inspirational people, important people, artists, musicians and authors. In this picture, we were focusing on the issues with racism.

Class Newsletters

Year 4 Autumn 1 Newsletter

download

Year 4 Autumn 2 Newsletter

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Year 4 Spring 1 Newsletter

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Year 4 Spring 2 Newsletter

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Important Year 4 Documents

Year 4 Curriculum Overview

download

End of year expectations

download

Useful websites for Year 4 pupils

Cross-curricular

Reading

Maths

Times Tables Rock Stars

We subscribe to TTRS so your children can have daily access at home and at school to this fantastic times tables resource. There are a wide range of different game types for the children to explore whilst developing their times tables knowledge and fluency. In the background, the site learns the areas your child might be finding more challenging and exposes them to more questions in these tables to help them improve. We would recommend around 5-10 minutes practice per day. If your child has forgotten their login, we can provide a copy.

https://ttrockstars.com/

Writing

Wider Curriculum

Fitness/Well being