Autumn Term 2026

Welcome back to the Autumn term in Maple class. I've updated this page with information about our curriculum and homework for this term.

Please get in touch if you have any concerns or queries. 

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Home Learning

Reading
All children have their reading books and planners in a small plastic wallet. Planners will be checked every Wednesday. Reading is encouraged as much as possible- ideally 5 times a week for approximately 10-15 minutes. Please can planners be dated and signed to show which pages children are reading at home.

Children in certain book bands will have their two books checked every Wednesday to see if they need changing,  There is no expectation to read both of these books and we will change for the following week accordingly, either changing one, both or neither. We are providing two to give you choice and enough to read over the week. Consistent reading is the key, even if you only focus on one book. If you finish both, rereading is recommended to build confidence and fluency.

Children from brown level upwards can change their books as and when they need to by letting us know they've finished.

In class we will be reading novels in small groups. Every Thursday, time will be provided in class for children to read the next section of their book independently. They will then bring home an A4 plastic wallet with their novel in and some prompts to support at home. I'm introducing this as I know a lot of parents often request advice on supporting reading at home. No writing is expected as part of this but there is an optional challenge there for children who wish to do so. Every child will have the chance to read their set chapters in class but by bringing it home too I'm hoping they will reread and discuss with yourselves and be really well prepared for our session the following week in class. The prompt that will come home will suggest vocabulary and questions you can discuss with them. Please can these A4 wallets with the books stay in bags so we have them for our sessions in class.

When reading please encourage:

• Reading the text at a steady pace, re-reading to gain understanding
• Talking to you about what the text is about- summarising
• Discussing unknown words and strategies to work them out
• Answering questions about the text.

Spelling

We follow the Lancashire Red Rose Spelling scheme. Your child will learn spellings for their age group whilst also revisiting spellings from previous years. To support this learning in class, I will be sending home a list of spellings for children to learn each week. Lists will be sent home on Fridays with a test the following Friday.

The purpose of this is to really encourage this practising at home and for children to see the importance of this. Whilst we are teaching this regularly in class, the main way children will learn these spellings is by regularly, repeatedly practising to write them. Your support at home to do this will be really valuable and much appreciated.  

You may find that your child can already spell the words sent home. I would still encourage them to practise as we often find that this spelling knowledge isn’t applied in their writing. For a challenge they can practise putting these words into sentences (with the correct punctuation). 

These are some strategies that we use in school that you can use at home to practise:

Read, Turn/cover, Write, Check 

Children read the word aloud. They then turn/cover the word. They then write the word from memory. Finally, children look back at the original word to check their spelling and correct if necessary.  

Triangle Words 

Children attempt to write a word repeatedly over several lines.   Each time, they add the next letter in the sequence until they have written out the full word, e.g.  

 b 

b u 

b u s 

b u s i 

b u s i n 

b u s i n e  

b u s i n e s 

b u s i n e s s 

 Sticky Note Spelling 

Can be completed on a sticky note or a small piece of paper folded into four quadrants. Grids are provided on the weekly practise sheet sent home.  The focus word is written in the top left-hand quadrant.  The child traces over the adult's writing, before copying the word in the top right-hand quadrant.  Covering the top two quadrants, the child then writes from memory the word in the bottom left-hand quadrant.  Finally, the child then writes the focus word in the bottom right-hand quadrant, this time with their eyes closed!   

Maths Homework

Weekly tasks will be set on Mathletics each Friday. All children have their logins stuck into reading records. These tasks will be linked to current in-class learning and will therefore really help children to consolidate these concepts. Mathletics delivers teaching points and adapts to each child's ability, providing a personalised learning experience!

If you have any difficulties with devices, please get in touch so that we can support with access.

The Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check will take place in June. Lots of practising to answer questions rapidly (within 6 seconds) is really important to ensure fluency. All children have a login in to Times Tables Rock Stars and I'd recommend the following website for children to practise:

https://urbrainy.com/mtc