🌟 Year 4 Newsletter

Supporting Your Child in Year 4 – Learning Through the TransformED Curriculum

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to Year 4! This is an important stage in your child’s development as they move further into Key Stage 2, building on earlier foundations and becoming more independent, confident, and reflective learners.

Through Northern Ireland’s TransformED curriculum, the focus continues to be on developing deep understanding, key skills, and the ability to apply learning across different areas.

🌱 What does learning look like in Year 4?

In Year 4, children experience:

• A more structured approach to learning

• Increased opportunities for independent and group work

• A strong focus on thinking skills and problem-solving

Children are encouraged to:

• Take greater responsibility for their work

• Reflect on their learning and improve it

• Ask questions and justify their ideas

📖 Literacy (Language and Communication)

In Year 4, children are expected to read with understanding and write with increasing control and purpose.

Your child will be learning to:

• Read a wide range of texts with fluency and expression

• Understand deeper meanings, themes, and characters

• Summarise and explain what they have read

• Write longer pieces with clear structure (beginning, middle, end)

• Use a wider range of punctuation (commas, question marks, exclamation marks, speech marks)

• Spell more complex and topic-based vocabulary

How you can help at home:

• Encourage daily reading and discuss both fiction and non-fiction

• Ask questions like “What is the main idea?” or “How do you know?”

• Support writing through creative tasks, reports, or journaling

• Help practise spelling patterns and sentence structure

👉 The focus is on deeper understanding, organisation of ideas, and clear communication.

🔢 Numeracy (Developing Mathematical Confidence)

Year 4 builds on earlier numeracy skills and introduces more complex problem-solving and reasoning.

Your child will be learning to:

• Use all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)

• Develop knowledge of times tables

• Solve multi-step word problems

• Work with fractions in simple contexts

• Understand and use measurement (length, weight, capacity, time)

• Interpret data using charts and graphs

How you can help at home:

• Practise times tables regularly in fun ways

• Use real-life maths (shopping, budgeting, time planning)

• Encourage your child to explain how they solved a problem

• Use games and puzzles to develop logical thinking

👉 The focus is on accuracy, reasoning, and applying maths in different situations.

💻 ICT (Digital Skills and Thinking)

In Year 4, children develop stronger digital skills, using technology for both learning and creativity.

Your child will be learning to:

• Create and present digital work (documents, presentations)

• Combine text, images, and possibly sound

• Use simple coding or sequencing programs

• Search for and organise information effectively

• Understand online safety and responsible use

How you can help at home:

• Encourage purposeful use of technology (research, creating projects)

• Discuss how to stay safe online and protect personal information

• Support creative digital tasks like presentations or videos

• Set clear and consistent screen time expectations

👉 The focus is on using technology effectively, creatively, and safely.

💬 Personal Development & Wellbeing

Year 4 supports children in becoming more self-aware and resilient learners.

Children will:

• Develop independence in organising their work

• Build confidence in sharing and justifying ideas

• Strengthen teamwork and cooperation skills

• Learn to manage challenges and setbacks

You can support this by:

• Encouraging responsibility for homework and organisation

• Talking through problems and solutions

• Promoting a positive and resilient mindset

🏡 Supporting Learning at Home

At this stage, children benefit from:

• A consistent homework and reading routine

• Encouragement to take ownership of their learning

• Opportunities to discuss and reflect on their work

• Praise for effort, progress, and perseverance

🌟 Final Thought

Year 4 is a key stage in developing independent thinking and confidence. Through the TransformED curriculum, children are encouraged to apply their knowledge, think critically, and become active learners.

With your continued support, your child will grow in confidence and capability, building strong foundations for the years ahead.

If you have any questions or would like further guidance, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you for your continued support,

The Year 4 Team