St. Patrick’s Catholic School

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Year Four

2011-2012

St. Patrick’s Catholic School

We are looking forward to a happy and successful year. With this in mind,

here are a few strategies and notable dates to assist you and your child in the coming months.

Mrs Leader and Miss McKenzie

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“For God and before God every human being is always unique and

unrepeatable, somebody thought of and chosen from eternity, someone called and identified by his or her own

name.”

Pope John Paul 11

Our Mission Statement

Our school, in active partnership with parents, who are the prime educators of their children, and in partnership with the parishes, aims to provide an education, which will offer opportunities for growth in the Catholic faith, which is expressed in the

Gospel values of love, justice, peace and reconciliation.

We aim:

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 to provide within school a feeling of welcome, acceptance, value and security and to provide the highest possible levels of pastoral care for all members of our school community.

 to offer opportunities for the celebration of our faith.

 to provide a balanced curriculum, in which Religious Education has a fundamental role, to equip pupils for the opportunities,

responsibilities and experiences of life both now and in the future. In this provision,

priority will be given to the basic learning skills within the framework of the National

Curriculum.

 to cultivate in our school a responsibility for the world that God has given to us.

 to maintain and develop links with the local community.

St. Patrick’s Code of Conduct

 We will always be polite and helpful.

 We will work together and treat everyone equally.

 We are always honest about what we

have done.

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 We listen carefully and always respect others.

 We will try our best, never give up and work hard.

“The challenge of this life is to take the stumbling blocks and make them into stepping stones.” Anon.

Religious Education We are excited to be exploring our

relationship with God, through “The Way,

The Truth and The Life.” This scheme

follows the Liturgical Year of the Church.

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During the Autumn term we will be

studying the themes of “The Bible” and

“Trust in God”.

In the Spring term the focus is on the themes of “Jesus, the Teacher” and

“Jesus, the Saviour”.

We will be studying the themes of:

“Mission of the Church” and “Belonging to the Church” in the Summer Term.

Numeracy

We will be focusing on the key skills of:

 Place value

 Tables

 Equivalence (fractions, decimal fractions and percentages)

 Basic written methods

 Reading skills to problem solve

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 Applying basic skills

 Knowledge of shape, space and measure

 Data handling

We are aiming to work quickly and competently.

 discuss the methods your child uses

 encourage them to make jottings

 more than one correct way of working a problem out

 learning the most the effective method for them

 to inspire confidence and increase motivation.

Reading

The focus is on the comprehension and understanding of the text.

We will focus our teaching on the higher order reading skills and strategies:

 Reading ahead (skimming)

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 Getting the gist of the text (scanning)

 Demonstrate their understanding through discussion.

Ways to help at home:

 Make time to read to him/her

 Encourage your child to read widely (to join a library)

 Discuss what s/he thought of the book

Spelling

We encourage the children to use the

“Say, look, cover and check” technique to learn and practise spellings. We also

encourage the child to use joined up

handwriting to develop the kinaesthetic

link between handwriting and spelling.

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Here is a brief guide to the “Say, look, cover, write and check” technique:

First: the child says the word whilst looking at the correct spelling. Then the child says the word

whilst covering the spelling.

Next: the child says the word as they attempt to write the word from memory (please remember to encourage joined up handwriting).

Finally: the child compares their spelling with the correct spelling and continues to practise the

spelling in this way.

Please encourage your child to use this method and avoid simply copying the words. Encourage your child to use the words in sentences to develop their understanding.

Some Spelling Tips

Concentrate on the “tricky” part of the word.

Use syllables to “break up” the word.

Sometimes it is helpful to mispronounce

the word: Wednesday, February, biscuit…

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Practise the target word in a sentence.

Handwriting Encourage your child to:

 practise their joined-up handwriting regularly.

 use an entry stroke from the guideline.

 develop a fast, legible style.

Science Autumn Term :

 Habitats

 Solids and Liquids Spring Term:

 Circuits and Conductors

 Moving and Growing

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Summer Term:

 Friction

 Keeping Warm

We would encourage you to talk to your child about the world around them and enjoy their delight in exploring Creation.

History and Geography Autumn Term – The Tudors

Spring Term – Mapping Europe Summer Term – World War II

Dates for your diary

Advent Assemblies

Y3 Advent Mass Friday 25

^th

November Y4 Friday 2

^nd

December

Y5 Friday 9

^th

December

Y6 Friday 16

^th

December

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Educational Visits

Trips related to the History topics are currently being arranged and details

will follow as soon as dates are confirmed.

Thank you for your continued support.

Please ensure that homework is

completed and basic skills are practised regularly:

Times tables – please make sure your child is practising their tables every week.

Money – please ensure that your child is

competent handling money.

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Maths

Sent out on Friday due to be handed in Monday, deadline for Maths homework is Tuesday morning.

(Please inform us if you have helped your child with their homework, by jotting a note on the sheet.)