Year 4 Fox Class

My name is Mrs Mann, and I’m so excited to be the Year 4 Fox class teacher this year! I know we’ve got a fantastic year ahead — full of new learning, fun, and plenty of exciting adventures together. The class will be supported by Mrs Patel.

A Little About Me

I’ve been teaching for 19 years, and I love it. There’s nothing better than watching lightbulb moments and being part of the “aha!” Every day is a new adventure filled with curiosity, creativity, and a bit of controlled chaos!
My favourite subjects to teach are art, Maths and English – but I enjoy all subjects, especially if there's a chance to perform, pretend, or be a little over-the-top, I'm in.
I believe that our classroom should be a place where positivity fuels learning, effort is celebrated, and everyone believes in their own potential.

What You Can Expect This Year

In our class, we will:

Be a family that supports one another, competing only with ourselves to grow and improve. We’ll fill our space with positivity, celebrate each other’s successes, and always lift each other up.
Practice kindness in everything we do.
Stay curious by asking lots of questions and exploring new ideas.
Embrace mistakes as powerful opportunities to learn and grow.
Be brave, take risks and face challenges with confidence.

Together we’ll discover, create, and share moments that turn into lifelong memories. I can’t wait.

Uniform and Equipment

Please ensure your child arrives in full school uniform, with clearly labelled belongings. They will need to bring:

A named water bottle
Their school bag/book bag
PE kit on Tuesdays and Fridays
A healthy snack of fruit or vegetables
Pencil case (optional)

Curriculum and Learning

We’ll be covering a wide range of exciting topics, starting with Ancient Greece and will continue to focus on developing key skills in reading, writing and maths.

CURRICULUM OVERVIEW AUTUMN

HOMEWORK AUTUMN

Weekly Homework: Must do!

Read each night and record in your reading diary (checked every Friday)
Practice spellings weekly from the list in your homework book. Evidence this in your homework book. Children should practise words from the spelling list stuck into the front of their homework book. Choose 3-5 words each week to practise and an activity from the spelling menu. This should be recorded in their homework book. This spelling list will be assessed each half term. Words your child can already spell will be highlighted so you know which to focus on.
Practise number facts using games from the app ‘1 minute maths’ by White Rose daily
Choose one activity from the homework grid to complete each week (checked every Friday)

How You Can Help at Home

Reading with your child regularly, practising times tables and supporting homework tasks make a real difference to their confidence and progress. We really value your support in creating a strong home-school partnership.

Multiplication Tables Check

In Year 4, children take part in the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC). This is a short online check designed to see how confidently and quickly children can recall their times tables up to 12 × 12.

Knowing times tables securely is really important because they are used in many areas of maths, including division, fractions, problem solving and written calculations. The quicker children can recall these facts, the easier they will find many other areas of maths.

Regular practice at home makes a huge difference! Just 5–10 minutes a day practising times tables can help children become quicker, more accurate and more confident. Little and often is much more effective than one long practice session.

Our aim is for every child to feel confident and prepared, rather than worried about the check. Games, quick-fire questions and online activities are all great ways to practise at home. Please see the attached guide below.

Spelling and Handwriting in Year 4

In Year 4, we continue to develop children’s spelling accuracy and handwriting fluency. Children are expected to learn and apply a range of spelling rules and patterns, as well as work towards confidently spelling the statutory Year 3 and 4 words. The national curriculum in England - English Appendix 1: Spelling

Regular practice at home is really helpful. Encourage your child to practise their weekly spellings little and often, and to use these words correctly in sentences. Reading regularly also helps children become more familiar with how words look and supports their spelling development.

For handwriting, children should develop a clear, consistent and fluent style, using joined handwriting where appropriate. We encourage children to take pride in the presentation of their work, with letters that are correctly formed and appropriately sized and spaced.

Writing in Year 4

In Year 4, children are expected to write clearly and confidently for a range of purposes. They should organise their ideas into paragraphs, use accurate punctuation, choose interesting vocabulary and begin to use a wider range of sentence structures.

We encourage children to check and improve their own writing, focusing on spelling, punctuation and making their ideas clear to the reader.

For a greater writing challenge: 500 Words

Mathematics in Year 4

Place value

Read, write, compare and order numbers up to 10,000 (knowing the value of each digit in a 4-digit number).
Know 10 hundreds = 1 thousand. Partition and recombine numbers flexibly.
Find 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 more or less than a number.
Round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000.
Place and compare numbers on a number line, identifying the next and previous multiples of 10, 100 and 1,000.
Divide 1,000 into equal parts (2, 4, 5, 10) and read scales or number lines marked with these divisions.
Count forwards and backwards in 4s, 8s, 50s, 100s, 25s, 1,000s, 6s, 7s and 9s.

Addition and Subtraction

Accurately add and subtract up to 4-digit numbers using efficient written methods.
Use number facts and place value to aid calculation. E.g. scaling by 100 (4+3=7 so 400 +300 = 700)
Bridge multiples of 10, 100 and 1,000 when calculating.
Estimate and check answers for validity.
Solve one- and two-step problems, including missing number problems.

Area

Understand area as the space inside a shape.
Find area by counting squares and compare areas of different shapes.

Multiplication and Division A

Recall all multiplication and division facts up to 12 × 12
Understand that multiplication results are multiples of a number.
Use known facts to multiply and divide by 0, 1 and 10-related facts.
Multiply three numbers using efficient methods.

Reading in Year 4

In Year 4, children should be able to read fluently and with increasing confidence. They will develop their understanding by retrieving information, making predictions and inferences, summarising key ideas and discussing vocabulary.

Reading regularly at home is really important. We encourage children to read a wide variety of books and talk about what they have read with an adult. Please read with your child for 10-20 minutes per day and record it in their reading record. Reading records and books should be returned on a Friday.

Parent Information

Attendance

Good attendance is key to helping children achieve their full potential. Every day in school provides valuable learning opportunities, helps children build friendships, and develops confidence and routines. We ask parents and carers to support us by ensuring children attend school every day and arrive on time wherever possible. By working together, we can give every child the best chance to thrive and succeed.

Uniform

We are proud of our school uniform and ask all children to wear it correctly each day. A smart uniform helps children feel part of our school community, promotes a sense of belonging, and ensures everyone is ready to learn. Thank you for your support in helping children come to school dressed appropriately and prepared for the day ahead.

Contact

Please contact us via the school office

admin@mountnessing.essex.sch.uk or 01277 353160

Thank you for your continued support. We are really looking forward to a happy, exciting and successful year in Year 4, filled with lots of learning, new experiences and special memories. We can’t wait to see all that the children achieve!