Welcome to Year 4
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
We hope you have all had a blessed week that has brought joy and happiness.
This week was Science Week, and what a fantastic time it has been! The theme of curiosity has truly shone through in our classrooms. The children impressed us with their enthusiasm for exploring new ideas and asking thoughtful, imaginative questions. From wondering how materials change, to exploring the mysteries of space, to asking “What would happen if…?”, their curiosity sparked rich discussions and deepened their understanding of the world around them. It has been wonderful to see learners so engaged, excited, and confident in sharing their scientific thinking.
We have also set some multiplication work, as this remains very important in preparation for the upcoming multiplication check. Continued practice at home helps build confidence and accuracy, and we appreciate your support in encouraging this.
Please can we continue to give a gentle reminder to all our learners: staying focused during lessons helps us make the most of our rich and exciting curriculum. Working as a team, supporting one another, and showing kindness and respect are key to our success.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy all you do.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
We hope you have all had a productive week and can close it with some well-deserved rest.
This week we have been powering through our English unit and have been getting our creative writing flow on as we embark on some narrative writing. It has been really delightful to see all of the children engaging and sharing their ideas with each other, as this unit has brought many opportunities to work collaboratively with their pairs and this has proved successful.
In maths we have continued learning about perimeter, this is reflected in the maths ED Shed homework. We have also set some multiplication work and this is very important to help with the upcoming multiplication check.
Please can we continue to give a gentle reminder to all our learners: staying focused during lessons helps us make the most of our rich and exciting curriculum. Working as a team and supporting one another is key to our success.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy all you do.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
Welcome back, everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful half‑term break filled with rest, fun, and a little adventure. Whether you spent your days exploring new places, spending time with family, relaxing at home, or simply enjoying some extra sleep, we’re excited to have you back and ready for a brilliant new half of the term.
Remember, each new term is an opportunity to grow, set new goals, and challenge ourselves to do our best. Let’s return with Kindness. Confidence, Curiosity, A love of learning
Please can we continue to give a gentle reminder to all our learners: staying focused during lessons helps us make the most of our rich and exciting curriculum. Working as a team and supporting one another is key to our success.
This week we have been learning about clean Monday and lent. The children have had the opportunity to be reflective.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
Half term is here again—bringing with it an opportunity for slower mornings, family time, and a much needed pause from the busy school routine. We hope your week ahead is filled with joy, rest, and moments to recharge.
Thank you for all your support throughout this half term. It has been wonderful to see the children’s enthusiasm and progress. Over the break, we kindly ask that the children continue practising their times tables to help build fluency and confidence. Homework has been set as usual, and there is also a creative project for the children to enjoy—perfect for a cosy afternoon at home!
When we return, we will be focusing on the importance of teamwork. Please remind the children that we each play a vital role in making our classroom a supportive, focused and positive learning environment. Together, we can ensure that learning, growth, and development remain at the heart of everything we do.
Enjoy your break, make wonderful memories, and we look forward to welcoming the children back in a week’s time.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
Please can we continue to give a gentle reminder to all our learners: staying focused during lessons helps us make the most of our rich and exciting curriculum. Working as a team and supporting one another is key to our success.
In English, we have continued to look at travel writing and moved on to looking at writing to persuade people to visit Croydon.
During maths this week, the children have continued practising how to use the ‘bus stop method’. It is important that the children complete their EdShed maths homework, as this will help them to consolidate and strengthen the learning they have done in class.
We also offer a ‘chilli challenge’ station during lessons for children who feel confident and would like to stretch themselves further. This gives them the opportunity to tackle more challenging problems and deepen their understanding of the methods we are learning.
Have a great weekend.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
Please can we continue to give a gentle reminder to all our learners: staying focused during lessons helps us make the most of our rich and exciting curriculum. Working as a team and supporting one another is key to our success.
This week we have started our new topic in English based on travel writing and writing to persuade. The children have engaged in meaningful conversations about other countries around the world.
During maths this week, the children have been learning about division and practising how to use the ‘bus stop method’. It is important that the children complete their EdShed maths homework, as this will help them to consolidate and strengthen the learning they have done in class.
We also offer a ‘chilli challenge’ station during lessons for children who feel confident and would like to stretch themselves further. This gives them the opportunity to tackle more challenging problems and deepen their understanding of the methods we are learning.
Have a great weekend.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
I hope you have all had a productive week filled with new joys and blessings.
In maths this week we have been looking at multiplying 2-digit numbers by 1, using the column method. Across the board children are understanding the different steps and will use this to apply to 3-digit numbers by 1.
In English, we have been concluding our newspaper articles on big foot and have been conducting our own investigations. A crime was committed in Ithaca class and my computer screen, mouse, keyboard and water bottle were all wrapped in tin foil by a culprit. The children became news reporters and investigated, interviewing key witnesses. Next week they will move onto writing their articles and we all look forward to reading the articles the create.
Have a great weekend. Let’s continue to boss the year with focused minds and listening ears.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
I hope you have all had an amazing and productive week filled with accomplishments.
Please can we continue to give a reminder to all our learners: staying focused during lessons helps us make the most of our rich and exciting curriculum. Working as a team and supporting one another is key to our success.
In maths this week we have been looking at multiplying by 10 and 100. The children have been exploring reasoning questions requiring them to break the questions down and focus on the problem they need to solve.
We have begun our geography topic based on volcanoes and children have enjoyed learning about the different layers of the earth.
Have a great weekend. Let’s continue to boss the year with focused minds and listening ears.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
The homework is below
YEAR 4 HOME LEARNING – Ithaca
Date Set 16.01.26
Date Due 21.01.26
Maths – In maths this week we have been looking at multiplying by 10 and 100. The children have been exploring reasoning questions requiring them to break the questions down and focus on the problem they need to solve.
Spellings
Words ending in ’-ous’
https://www.edshed.com/en-gb/spellingshed
Year 4
courageous
outrageous
nervous
famous
adventurous
disadvantageous
ridiculous
carnivorous
rapturous
torturous
In English, we have have started to look at creating a newspaper article. For this weeks writing task I would like the children to Write a 3–4 sentence paragraph that tells the reader the most important information about an expensive painting that went missing from the local gallery.
You must include:
⭐ The 5 Ws:
• Who was involved?
• What happened?
• When did it happen?
• Where did it happen?
• Why did it happen? (use third person, not “I think…”)
Reading
Recommended daily reading time:
KS2 40 minutes.
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
Happy new year to you all!
We hope that you all had a lovely Christmas break filled with joy and happy memories. It has been such a pleasure to welcome the children back to school.
We have started our new unit in maths and have been looking at factor pairs. The children are starting to grasp how they can aid in working out harder multiplications. They all worked hard in pairs to create different ways to inform people about healthy teeth during our PSHE lessons.
Have a great weekend. Let’s continue to boss the year with focused minds and listening ears.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
YEAR 4 HOME LEARNING – Ithaca
Date Set 09.01.26
Date Due 14.01.26
Maths – In maths we are moving on to out multiplication and division B unit. This week the children have looked at factors and factor pairs.
Spellings –
Year 4
poisonous
dangerous
mountainous
marvellous
perilous
tremendous
enormous
jealous
precious
disastrous
Writing Task
As we prepare to embark on our geography unit this term, we will be learning about volcanoes. For this week’s homework, can you please create a fact file about volcanoes. Try and find out as you can to better prepare us for the lessons ahead. See if you can find out What countries have many, How often have they erupted, What causes them to erupt.
Reading
Recommended daily reading time:
KS2 40 minutes.
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
I hope you have all had a good week. As we end the autumn term and embark on our Christmas adventures, we are wishing you all a restful break and one filled with happiness.
There will be a project set out for the children instead of a set homework task. It is also important for the children to continue to do daily reading and times table practice. This is essential and will help with reading fluency and comprehension and times table practice will help with their check that they will have to take next year.
The task is to create a magazine about your Christmas break, make sure there is a cover page, a contents page, a page based on what you have enjoyed during the first full term at school and then as many pages about your Christmas break and what you have done and enjoyed.
Have the best break! Get plenty of rest and let’s have an amazing start to our school year of 2026 with focused minds and listening ears.
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto