Hi, I am Mr Graham, and I am currently teaching Year 4 Swift class. I have been working in schools for 5 years and am so excited to start my next journey at St John's.

I currently lead P.E within the school and love playing and watching sports. My favourites are football, basketball and cricket.  I look forward to organising lots of events for the school in the future.

Outside of school, I love to watch and play football, travel to new and exciting places as well as read a range of books.

 

Class T.A: Mrs Shaw

 

Our weekly timetable:

Please be mindful as we have a busy term, things may change. We will do our best to update you as soon as we know!

Important dates for the diary this term for Swift Class:

 

Thursday 11th June - Kings Mini Olympics

Wednesday 17th June - Sports Day

Monday 29th June - Proposed Beach Trip

Thursday 2nd July - Transition Day

 

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Our Learning this term:

Maths 

This term in Maths, we will continue to develop confidence and fluency in our times tables while extending our understanding of time, shape, position and direction. Through hands-on activities, problem-solving tasks and reasoning challenges, children will strengthen their mathematical skills and apply their learning in a variety of enjoyable and engaging ways as we approach the end of the school year.

          

 

 

 

English and Reading:

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​This term, in English, we are looking at both The Journey by Francesca Sanna and The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Furthermore, our end of day text will be the Roald Dahl classic, Matilda.

 

                                                            

Through these texts, we will be developing our recount writing skills while also exploring how authors create vivid and engaging settings. Children will learn how to use rich vocabulary, varied sentence structures and descriptive techniques to build tone and atmosphere. We will analyse how writers bring settings to life and apply a range of advanced writing skills to create detailed descriptions that help the reader visualise the scene and experience the mood of the setting.

 

While reading our class book, the children will be building on their inference skills and justify their answer using information from the text. Year 4 will continue to read independently every day and use Accelerated Reader to complete quizzes about the book.

 

 

Curriculum 

This term, we will continue our topic, ‘Oh, I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside!’ In Geography, we will learn about coastlines and how they are protected from erosion and flooding. We will explore different types of sea defences, including sea walls, groynes and beach nourishment, and find out how changes to the coast can affect people, jobs and tourism.

We are hoping to visit Margate Beach so that the children can see and experience some of the things they have been learning about in class.

 

Science 

This term in Science, we will be learning about sound and how it is made. We will discover how vibrations travel through different materials and reach our ears. Through fun practical activities, such as investigating water glasses and making elastic band instruments, we will explore how sounds can be loud or quiet. We will also learn about scientists who have helped us understand sound and share our learning through a project.

 

 

RE 

This term in RE, Year 4 will be exploring the big question: 'What does it mean to be a Hindu in Britain today’? 

 

We will explore Hindu Dharma beliefs about how the world works and the duties people have in life. We will learn about key ideas such as dharma (duty), karma, the cycle of rebirth, and the four goals and stages of life, considering how these guide Hindus to live well. We will also look at daily life for a Hindu and understand how their beliefs influence their actions, choices, and responsibilities.

We will then explore how Hindus express their faith through worship at home and in the Mandir, including the use of shrines and prayer. We will learn about Hindu beliefs in one God with many forms, and why deities such as Ganesha are worshipped. Finally, we will compare different ways of worship and consider the importance and impact of faith in the lives of Hindu people.

 

 

Learning at home for Swift Class

• Reading at home daily. Read AR books, ready to quiz
• Spelling shed
• TTS Rockstars
•  

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Be ready for learning! In Swift Class, your child will need to have these items in school:

• PE kit (Tuesdays)

• Water bottle (no squash or juice) 

• Small rucksack (big enough to hold lunchbox and reading books) 

• Wellington boots (to leave in school when weather appropriate) 

• Coat (weather appropriate) 

 

Please don’t bring other items into school, as we do not have space to store these, and it can cause upset if things are lost or damaged. This includes fidgets.

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Highlights of our learning so far this year:

Term 5:

We went out onto the field to make features of a coastline with our outdoor learning.

 

We made our own costumes and participated in St John's Carnival to celebrate a range of cultures and backgrounds.

 

Some talented musicians from Kings School came into school and we learnt about different instruments. 

Term 4 

Grooving with the Greeks

In Science and DT we used our electricity skills to make working torches! They turned out amazingly.

We also loved having a trip to our school library and exploring some different books. 

Term 3

Grooving with the Greeks

 We loved trying to make a Pantheon with spaghetti and marshmallows.

 We enjoyed making Greek theatre masks too.

 Our Greek pots were fantatsic! We used the slab technique to make the shape, and scratch and slip to add handles. 

Term 2

We have loved our Canterbury topic. 

We started off the term by going on an adventure around Canterbury. We spotted the different types of shops and came back to make a graph of them.

Swift class were lucky enough to take part in RISE art workshops this term. Every child made pieces of art that have been made and sold at the Christmas market. Look at our incredible designs!

Term 1

We enjoyed our hook afternoon! We made our own Anglo Saxon names and wrote them in Runes, and created broaches.

We had so much fun on our trip to the Abbey. We enjoyed finding out about how Christianity came to England and seeing all the exciting parts of the Abbey.