WELCOME TO YEAR 4

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR HAYDONLEIGH CURRICULUM AND OUR KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS


YEAR 4 CHECKLIST FOR SEPTEMBER 2025

 

 

Class 11  Class 12 Class 13
 Miss Spencer  Mrs Treviss

Miss Van den Daele 
 

Year 4 Teaching Assistants:

Mrs May                      Mrs Lacey                 Miss Fusco

            

 

HAYDONLEIGH 100 - Click here to view 100 books to read in Year 4!

PE IS ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS 
Outdoor PE is every Tuesday, Indoor PE is every Thursday, for all Year 4 classes.
On PE days, your child should come to school wearing their kit - black shorts/black jogging bottoms, a t-shirt in their house team colour, a plain light grey hoodie and sports trainers. Please ensure all items of kit are labelled with your child's name.

WEEKLY HOMEWORK EXPECTATIONS IN YEAR 4 

We set homework which consolidates learning in school. It allows parents to be active participants in their children’s learning and reinforces the important relationship between home and school.

Please support your child in completing the following weekly homework, which promotes pupil’s independence, responsibility and establishes good learning routines in readiness for future education.

Homework will be set and discussed every Monday, in readiness for it to be completed by the following Monday.

There will be weekly spelling, reading and times table assessments to monitor pupil’s progress. Your child does not need to bring in their homework book into school.

For those who wish to attend, there will be a homework club during lunchtime for pupils who wish to complete their homework ahead of schedule, in readiness for the following week.

  • Reading - The children need to read 4 times every week and record this in their homework book
  • Spelling - The children need to practice their spellings 5 times every week in their homework book
  • Maths - The children need to play on the Times Table Rock Stars website for at least 30 minutes in total across the week. If you cannot log in to TTRS, practise your times tables in another way eg jotting them down, calling them out as you climb the stairs, time yourself reciting them etc. Ask your child to show you their 'fluency' on the website - this shows the questions they are struggling to answer quickly and accurately. 

Should pupils not complete their weekly homework, they will be encouraged to complete it during their breaktime each week to catch up. 

All children have been given their TTRockstars login details to glue in their homework books. 

ADDITIONAL HOMEWORK GUIDANCE

During Year 4 we continue to build greater independence and responsibility in our pupils, promoted through a number of activities and additional responsibilities, including weekly homework. Homework provides an opportunity for pupils to develop habits and routines at home. This is to encourage good habits and fluency in reading, maths, spellings and build homework routines for their educational journey. Please ask your child's teacher should you have any queries about their homework:

  • School reading books - All Year 4 pupils are encouraged to read at home at least 4 x per week for 10 minutes on each occasion. Please encourage your child to read, to an adult where possible, and record this in their homework book. 
    Children should record at least 4 reads in their homework book, with the relevant dates alongside a brief comment on their reading eg questions raised, favourite parts, predictions on what might happen next.
    During Year 4 pupils will bring home a 'coloured reading band' book (to read for their homework) and a library bus book (to read for pleasure).
    Click on the link below to view some questions that you could use to initiate a discussion with your child about what they have read:

    Reading Questions  - useful link 

  • Maths- Log on to Times Table Rock Stars and play for a total of 30+ minutes every week (https://ttrockstars.com/). If you do not wish to play this game, you can practice your times tables in your homework book instead. 
    Times Table Rock Stars / tables practice activity will be checked every Monday.
    Completing this times table practice will help prepare your child for the maths curriculum in future years, and builds accuracy and fluency.
    Scroll to the bottom of this page to find more information about the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check.
    Year 4 Calculation Policy - useful guidance
    Times Table Rock Stars - https://play.ttrockstars.com/           

  • Spellings- The children will be given spelling sheets to bring home at the start of each term. Children should copy out weekly spellings 5 x every week in homework books. Every Monday there will be a spelling test.
    If your child participates in the 'Precision Teach' group, they will bring home an alternative spelling sheet to complete at home instead, 5 times per week. 
    Spellings are set on a Monday and tested the following Monday morning, so children have one complete week to learn their words. 
  • You'll find lots of suggested spelling strategies in their homework books. Children will be told their spelling scores to build their independence and self-reflectiveness. Please discuss your child's score with them. Please ask your child's teacher if you wish to clarify any scores. Any ongoing concerns regarding pupils' spelling scores will be discussed with parents. 

Spellings lists:

Please click below to open termly spellings:

Term 1 Spellings

Please click the link below for the recommended Year 3/4 spellings list:

Year 3/4 spelling word list

Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check

The government’s Multiplication Tables Check for Year 4 children is an online assessment which takes place between Monday 1st June – Friday 12th June 2026. 

Please watch the short video below then read on to help you understand how your child participates in these checks.

Click here to watch a short government video about the check

Click here to read a government leaflet with more information about the check.

How can you support your child?

Please do encourage your child to play Times Tables Rock Stars regularly at home. All children have been given a username and password for this excellent website. Ask your child to show you their 'fluency' on the website - this shows the specific questions they are struggling to answer quickly and accurately. The ‘Soundcheck’ option in the game is a great place to practise for the check. We love to celebrate the effort children put in to further improve their maths, at school and at home, especially those who find their times tables tricky. This demonstrates a great growth mindset and builds their overall confidence in maths.

If you do wish to practise with your child at home, you’ll find further suggested activities above, under the ‘links’ section. Even fun activities such as playing board/ card games, baking and shopping will help your child’s confidence in maths grow.

What do you need to know about the Multiplication Tables Check at Haydonleigh?

1.    We love maths - it’s an awesome subject to learn and to teach!

2.    Maths is a big subject and we appreciate there’s more to it than times tables and there’s more to times tables than learning them off by heart. However, a lot of the rich, interesting maths is all about number relationships and these are hard to fully grasp without fluent recall of the tables. For that reason, learning the times tables is fundamental – they are a key facilitator in maths - we’ve always believed this.

3.    We’re not worried about the checks and they’re not a surprise to Haydonleigh teachers. We’re already in a good place with learning the tables and the expectations are in line with the National Curriculum, so it’s business as usual for us!

4.    The results of the check are not published publicly, there’s no pass or fail, there’s just a score out of 25 marks. 

5.    The checks consist of 25 questions. The questions will only be multiplication and they will go up to 12×12. There’s nothing novel about the questions and they don’t require any problem solving.

6.    The checks are all about remembering the multiplication facts. That doesn’t mean we’ll forget all about the concepts, patterns, structures and relationships in multiplication. We’re going to be learning those too, partly because they go hand in hand with excellent recall.

7.    There are concerns shared in the public domain that this is “yet another test”. The government has been careful to call it a “check” and that’s what it is, a pit-stop check. The check will tell us which multiplication facts the children are not yet secure with, so we can address these in school.

8.    The questions are relatively simple, age-appropriate, and the test only takes 2½ minutes.

9.  We don’t wish the checks to be stressful for our pupils. For that reason, we will actively downplay the checks in school and won’t repeatedly refer to the checks in class. Please be supportive and refrain from referring too often to the checks at home too.

10.  As far as our pupils are concerned, when it comes to the day itself, they’re going to have the computers or tablets to rehearse their times tables. This is something we often do, especially with Times Table Rock Stars, so the children will notice little or no difference on the day.

11.  Your child will have had opportunities to practise using the software in school, so will be familiar with the format before the check itself.

12.  If you are practising with your child, remember you’re practising for the benefit of their wider maths education, not for them to just get a high score.

13.  Please be supportive of our approach -it’s important that we get behind the checks for the benefit of all our children.

Should you have any questions about the Multiplication Tables Check, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

 

 

Useful Links

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Y4 Overnight Activity Camp - Summer 2026

 

At Haydonleigh, we endeavour to provide enrichment opportunities to our children. During Year 4, we are excited to offer a new extra-curricular experience for children; the opportunity to attend an overnight activity camp. The camp will take place over two days/one night on our school field and will be run by The Outdoors People. 

The Outdoors People will provide bell tents for the children to sleep in and qualified instructors will lead different group activities. These activities include: kin ball, marshmallow roasting, life skills and team building, crash and carry, traditional fire lighting and survival bracelet crafting. Please see The Outdoors People link below.

https://www.theoutdoorspeople.com/classic 

To cover the cost of instructors, equipment and food (dinner on Thursday evening, breakfast on Friday morning and a grab & go lunch on Friday lunch time), £57.50 is required.

Please be aware, that there will be a minimum number of 75 children required for the camp to go ahead.

 

Camp Out Parent Meeting - presentation

 

Next year, during Year 5, pupils will be offered the opportunity to visit PGL in Liddington

Should you wish to preview last year's residential details (for our current Year 5 pupils) please use the links below:

PGL Trip Letter

PGL Commitment Letter 

PGL Kit List