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 invaders and settlers in Britain in the ancient age, with a real focus on the Vikings. This is such a fantastic opportunity for the children to share all their knowledge about the Anglo Saxons from Year 3 and learn about other invaders that followed them. As scientists, we find out all about electricity during the autumn term. This is a really exciting topic, that allows us to build our own circuits and test them out as well as experiment with different materials to check if they conduct electricity or not. We then learn all about sound and how it travels and this is a great way to begin our exciting journey of listening to classical music, with Apollo Music Projects. Probably one of the most exciting experiences in year 4, Apollo Music follows us through the whole year and ends with a fantastic performance at the Hackney Empire.

Far away from the UK, hundreds of years before the Vikings, an incredible civilization was being born in Africa, the Ancient Egyptians. During the spring term, the children become experts of Ancient Egypt, exploring different aspects of life during this marvellous time, as well as key characters and main beliefs.  Many science experiments accompany all our learning about states of matter and we get to make our own digestive system as part of our learning about animals and humans.

Finally, a jump to relatively more recent times brings us back to the UK with the Tudors. With a real focus on Sir Francis Drake and his incredible travels around the world, we learn all about the many explorations that were taking place at the time. A fantastic visit to the Golden Hinde helps us really picture what it would have been like to be part of Drake’s crew.

A variety of books accompanies and supports our learning during the year, including many non-fiction and fiction texts. Through different writing genres, the children have the opportunity to showcase all their exciting learning.

Last but not least, Year 4 is a very special year when it comes to the PE provision. The children really enjoy learning how to swim in the local swimming pool and progressing as swimmers during their PE lessons.