Welcome to
Year 4

At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:

2025/2026 and 2027/2028

Autumn 1 – Printing

Autumn 2 – 3D: Metal

Spring 1 – Electrical Systems

Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)

Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media

Summer 2 – Structures

2026/2027 and 2028/2029

Autumn 1 – Textiles – batik

Autumn 2 – Painting

Spring 1 – Mechanical Systems: Pneumatics

Spring 2 – Collage

Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media

Summer 2 – Food Technology

Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:

1. Productivity
2. Programming
3. Computational Thinking
4. Creativity
5. Networks
6. Communication/collaboration

Reading to Learn

Once children have been carefully assessed as having met the requirements of the phonics program, they should be able to decode any age appropriate text. At this point, children move onto our ‘Paradigm Literacy and Language’ program.

The program allocates 3 weeks to ‘fiction writing’ such as: stories, poetry, one week to ‘journalistic writing’ such as biographies and non chronological reports and two weeks to a ‘non fiction writing’ program in which specialist teachers across the Trust have worked together to create and provide high quality texts in The Humanities and The Sciences.

Click here to see which books we read in Year Four.

The following topics are repeated on a 2 year cycle in KS1, LKS2 and UKS2:

Unit 1: Dynamic Earth

Weather and climate across the world

Changes to our climate and the role of humans in this

Extreme weather events

Tectonic Hazards: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions

Unit 2: UK Geography

What is the UK and where do I live?

Using mapping skills to explore features in the UK

River and coastal landscapes in the UK

Urban environments in the UK

Unit 3: Environment, Climate and Us

The climate crisis and what we can do about it

Understanding life in tropical rainforests and the threats to them and what we can do.

Understanding life in desert environments and the threats to them and what we can do.

Understanding cold environments and the threats to them and what we can do.

Unit 4: Jobs and Wealth

Types of jobs, industry and places of work

Global trade and supply chains – where does my food come from?

What is life like in the world’s poorest countries?

What is life like in the world’s richest countries?

We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Year 4 we look at Roman Impact on Britain, then Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.

Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject.

In Year 4 we cover:

• Reasoning with large numbers
• Addition and subtraction
• Multiplication and division
• Discrete and continuous data

We cover French at Lower Key Stage 2, through a system called Early Start French Programme.

Autumn 1 – Blues

Autumn 2 – Britpop

Spring 1 – Programme Music

Spring 2 – Soul / Motown

Summer 1 – Musical Theatre

Summer 2 – Reflect, Rewind and Replay

• Striking / fielding (e.g. rounders, cricket)
• Gymnastics
• Invasion Games (e.g. hockey, netball, football)
• Athletics
• Swimming
• Dance

We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as worldviews.

The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.

Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, philosophy and Human/Social Science.

The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.

From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.

• Being Me in My World
• Celebrating Difference
• Dreams and Goals
• Healthy Me
• Relationships
• Changing Me

Autumn 1 – Living Things, their Habitats and Classification | State of Matter

Autumn 2 – Earth and Space | Animals, including humans

Spring 1 – Forces and Magnets | Electricity

Spring 2 – Rocks | Plants

Summer 1 – Light and Sound | Living Things and their Habitats and Classification

Summer 2 – Properties of Materials | Environmental Issues: Global warming | Pollution Plastics