Our Learning

Year 4 is an exciting year at Springfield, where children have the opportunity to engage with a broad, enriching curriculum and develop as mature, enthusiastic learners.

We start the year by learning all about the Amazon rainforest – its location, its climate, what lives there and the challenges it faces. We explore the vast biodiversity of this rainforest and make links to our understanding about adaptation and habitat. Once we understand the threats to the Amazon, we learn about ways in which humans can protect it with more sustainable approaches. 

In the first half of the autumn term, we learn about the three states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. We investigate melting and freezing as reversible changes. Later in the autumn term, as scientists, we learn about electricity.  We build our own circuits and test them out as well as experiment with different materials to test whether they conduct electricity.

In history, we learn about the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings as invaders and settlers. As historians, we explore similarities and differences and understand the important legacy of these invasions. In the summer term, we explore a more recent period of British history: the Tudor period. In particular, we zoom in to the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and explore why the Elizabethan Age is sometimes referred to as a Golden Age of British history. We conclude this unit by learning about the 1588 Spanish Armada.

In the spring term, as geographers, we travel to the Alps and explore the physical and human features of this famous mountain range. Later in the summer term, we develop our understanding of the links between human and physical geography with a unit on rivers – the key features and stages of a river and how rivers are used around the world. We also learn about flooding and the impact it can have on a community, as well as the impact we can have on rivers in our local area.

Our science unit in the summer term focuses on the stages of digestion and teeth. We also learn about food chains and the role of predators and prey as well as producers and consumers.

Throughout Year 4, we read a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry and draw on a range of rich texts to inspire our writing. As mathematicians, we develop our fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills and practise our rapid recall of our times tables to prepare for the Year 4 Multiplication Check.