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Kidsgrove Primary School
Empowering Learners...Growing Minds
Year Group Curriculum
Year 4 and 5 Curriculum Links
What will my child learn in Badgers?
This year in Badgers class, we will nurture and encourage the feelings of independent thinking, learning and decision making. This is a calm and studious year; a year to embed all of the knowledge learnt in lower Key Stage 2.
Badger learners are increasingly encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning: to do their homework, to pack their school bag and to remember their PE kits. As a result, they will develop and grow in independence in preparation for bigger things to come.
As with other years in primary school, we follow the schemes of learning set by the government. Please click the links below to find out more.
1. The wider curriculum
In Badgers, we are studying some great science topics that children love, such as Animals including Humans, Changing State, Light and Forces and Magnets. Fun and engaging history and geography topics are also taught.
To fire the imagination, we will be learning about the Scots, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings through our Invaders and Traders theme and the Lives of the Ancient Greeks in Gods and Mortals.
These are also topics that will get your child talking at home, so you might enjoy finding out a little about them so you can chat about them together.
2. Maths and English
In maths and English, we are aiming to ensure that your Year 4 child knows and understands particular key skills. Apostrophes, commas, times tables, and key spellings are just some of the things children in Year 4 are expected to use accurately.
In Year 5, there is an emphasis on fractions, decimals, and percentages in this year. There is also an expectation that they will know all of the written methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
For Year 5 English, new punctuation is introduced (such as hyphens, semi-colons, and colons). There is a greater emphasis on grammar features too (for example, modal verbs like would, could, might, and must).
3. Moving from pencil to pen
Badgers is also often the year that children earn their ‘pen licence’ – that peak of handwriting neatness that allows your child to write in pen at school. This can be a big thing for the child whose handwriting is not the neatest. It is good to have something to aim for and often raises the profile of handwriting.
However, don’t worry if your child is not writing with a pen straight away. They will get there eventually!
4. Becoming confident and independent in learning
Overall, perhaps the single most important aspect of this year is children’s increasing independence and confidence in what they can achieve at school. Your child will be encouraged to start to think about their own learning. They need to make decisions on how to present work, how and when to complete homework, and how to learn best.
Children often ask questions and their teacher will encourage them think for themselves too. Could they answer the question themselves? Can they make that choice? If they can, then they are learning skills which are vital for Year 5, Year 6, and adult life. That is how their learning changes from the beginning to the end of the year!
How can I help my child in Badgers?
1. Carry on reading together
For English, the single most important thing that you can do is to hear your child read. Good readers make good writers because they are exposed to a greater variety of vocabulary, syntax, grammar and style.
When you listen to your child read, there are a number of things to remember:
- Make it fun! Use silly voices and read to each other as well as just listening.
- Ask questions about the text, the characters, the plot, the setting, the style of writing, and the words. Anything to get them to think about what they are reading and to consider the deeper messages hidden in the subtext.
- Read a wide range of writing – from comics to newspapers, novels to Pokemon cards, and even your child’s own writing!
- Look up individual words in a dictionary or thesaurus together to find out what they mean.
- Stop if they or you are tired.
- Be a good role model for reading. This is the perfect excuse to curl up on the sofa, forget the chores, and read a good book yourself!
Of course, children in Year 4 and 5 are perfectly capable of reading to themselves as well, and independent reading (and writing) must also be encouraged. However, it is important that those comprehension skills are regularly checked and reading aloud is perfect for that.
There are lots of free eBooks on the eBook library — a quick and easy way to expose children to different books without spending a lot of money.
2. Learn times tables
In maths, there is an expectation that by the end of Year 4 all times tables are known and learnt fluently. Anything you can do to help that knowledge go in and stay in is fantastic.
- Practise regularly, making sure to go back and repeat tables you have practised before.
- Sing tables in the car; at mealtimes; before bed; walking the dog; at any spare moment!
- Put a poster at the end of their bed or give your child tapes to listen to in the car.
- Download the TimesTables Rockstar app to practise on a laptop or tablet.
3. Encourage them to take responsibility
Just like in school, give them some independence and responsibility for their learning at home. Here are a few ways you can start giving them some responsibility at home:
- Make them pack their own bag for school so that they get into the habit of thinking for themselves about what they need and what they will be doing that day.
- Allow them to make mistakes. If they forget their homework, make them tell the teacher themselves (they learn more quickly from their mistake and they are taking responsibility for it too).
- Get into the routine of doing homework at a set time aside each day if possible to complete Times Tables Rock Stars, Spelling Frame and read. By all means help them, but make sure they make their own decisions about presentation, for example.
If your child is not very organised, then taping a list by the door or to a lunch box works well, as does getting equipment ready the night before.
4. Be encouraging
Another simple thing that you can do as a parent is to be a good example. Never say: ‘I was no good at spelling at school!’ Never tell your child: ‘Go to Dad and let him help you with your maths because he is better than me.’
Children need adults to show them that learning is fun, relevant, and enjoyable – and difficult sometimes. Does it matter if you don’t know the answer? Of course it doesn’t. Instead, look it up together and show that you want to find things out too.
5. Take it easy
Finally, remember that even in Badgers your child will still need some down-time playing outside or reading a much-loved book. Let them be silly. Let them dress up. Play board games together.
So that’s it – Badgers at a glance. Have a lovely, happy, and most of all fun year.