Transition

Wednesday 15th July 2020

Welcome to Year 4's transition page

Below, you will find a video from the new Year 4 team. You may have seen us in school or you may not have met us at all! You can click on your class teacher's page where you can learn something about them to help you feel ready for September.

At the start of the school year, we all agree that we have lots of mixed emotions. Sometimes, we feel a little sad to say goodbye to our old classes. Sometimes, we feel excited because we know we are about to embark on a new school adventure with new friends and new teachers. Sometimes, we feel nervous because we may have not met our teacher before. We would like to let you know that all these feelings are normal and natural. Please, try not to worry. Your teachers at Balksbury are here to support, care and look after you from the moment you walk through the door till the moment you leave in Year 6. They are most likely feeling the same as you. We are all in this together so we might as well have some fun.

Enjoy our video.

We hope it makes you smile,

Year 4 Team

Scroll down for class teacher's/LSA pages.

Scroll down for children FAQs.

Scroll down for parent information.

Click on the picture above to see our transition video.

Parent information

For September

Please can the children bring in a photograph of a special memory. This could be...

something you’ve done last weekend or last summer or somewhere you’ve travelled.
A time you’ve laugh or enjoyed yourself and had a good time.
Something you’ve experienced whilst camping, fishing, biking or playing sports.
It could be the smell of the ocean, the taste of something, the way something felt when you touched it or something you saw or heard.
It could be something you do every day like eating with your family or visiting a relative.

This will be used to get to know a little bit about your child but also will be used as a stimulus in our Art work.

Reading
Everyone in year 4 is encouraged to read every night at home. We have a great selection of books, from Collins Big Cat, which develops reading over 18 levels from pink to pearl.

Uniform

Please click here for our uniform page. Please remember to name everything.

We have PE twice a week. Both these sessions will be outside. Our PE kit is a red or white T-shirt and black shorts. You can wear a warm tracksuit for the winter as we will still go out for PE lessons. Trainers or plimsolls are essential for outdoor PE lessons.

Art and DT

We will have an Art or DT lesson every week at the juniors. Bring an old shirt or t-shirt to school to cover up your uniform for Art lessons.

Lockers

Each child will have their own locker. They will be shown this on the first day in September by their teacher.

Homework

As well as reading, we like to encourage that children learn their times tables. In year 2, they would have learnt 2, 5 and 10 and in year 3, children continue with these and learn 3, 4 and 8. In year 4, children will continue to grow their multiplication knowledge up to 12 times table. To help with this we have the Rockstars times table website.

There is also weekly homework which is set on a Wednesday and is due into school on the following Monday. This homework may be some maths arithmetic or problems, some English spelling work and once a term a longer more practical project.

For more information on homework, please click here.

Trips and Open Box

After October half term, we will visit Palace House in Beaulieu for a Victorian Christmas. This links with our Victorian history unit. In the spring term, we will go on a residential to Ufton Court. Parents will be given letters in advance for these trips and children will be informed nearer the time. Open box will visit us for our Viking history unit in the summer term.

Healthy Snacks

If your child likes a snack at playtime, it must be a piece of fruit or a plain biscuit.

Water Bottles

Children should bring a water bottle containing water only to keep yourself hydrated during the school day.

Toilets

Year 4 toilets are in the Year 4 locker area. The children will be shown where these are on their first day.

For any other information, please click here for essential information.

Please click here for letters.