Shwmae and welcome to Class 4! My name is Mrs Xiberras and I am the class teacher. Working alongside me is Mrs Johnson our Learning Support Assistant.

Teacher: Mrs Xiberras	Learning Support Assistant: Mrs Johnson

Communication

Contact us on Class4@stmellonsprm.cardiff.sch.uk

   X  (Twitter) - @stmellonsprm

 Our Schoop ID: 13339

Overview of the Day

8.55: Register

9.05 – 9.25: Worship ​

9.25-10.45: Literacy, Languages & Communication​

10.45 – 11.00: Snack / Break Time​

11.00 – 12.00: Mathematics & Numeracy​

12.00 – 1.00: Lunch​

1.00 – 1.25: Guided Group Reading​

1.30 – 2.45:​ Inquiry (Humanities/Science and Technology/Expressive Arts/Health and Wellbeing)​

3.00: Daily Welsh Activities​

3.20: Home Time   

Important Dates

27th- 31st October 2025 - Half Term

Christian Value - Compassion
3rd November - Return to school
Values Day for Children to Celebrate Compassion
4th November – Hinduism Day Celebration for pupils
10th November – Remembrance Day Activities for pupils
Remembrance Assembly for pupils
10th-14th November – Anti Bullying Week
10th November - Remembrance Assembly 10.45
11th November - Reception -Year 6 Flu Immunisation
14th November – Children in Need Day
14th November - CPA approach Maths Workshop for parents 9.30am
17th - 21st November - Road Safety Week
20th November – Year 5 Family Worship at 9:15am for parents
29th November – Bath Christmas Shopping Trip (Adult only) - Fundraising activity.
2nd December - Reception - Year 2 Brecon Railway Trip
Streetwise Workshop Year 6
5th December - Christmas Fair in school for children only
8th December – PS1 (Nursery and Reception) Concert 9.30am
PS2 ( Years 1, 2, 3) Concert 1.30pm
9th December - PS1 (Nursery and Reception) Concert 9.30am
PS2 ( Years 1, 2, 3) Concert 1.30pm
10th December –PS2 ( Years 1, 2, 3) Concert 9.30pm
PS3 (years 4,5,6) Carol Service 1.30pm
11th December - PS3 (years 4,5,6) Carol Service 9.30am
PS3 (years 4,5,6) Carol Service 4pm
12th December - Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Dinner Day
16th December - Whole School Eucharist 9:15am, families welcome.
16th December - Year 6 Carol Concert at All Saints Church, Cyncoed 4:30pm
17th December - Messy Christmas for children
18th December - 1.30pm Pantomime Trip for Year 3 - 6
19th December – Last Day of term

P.E. and Uniform

Our PE day is Wednesday - children should wear their PE kits to school every Wednesday.   PE kit is a white polo shirt (or your house colour) and grey or black shorts/joggers & trainers.   Plain kits please, no patterns or large logos. 

Children should wear school uniform each day (apart from PE day). 

PLEASE LABEL ALL ITEMS OF CLOTHING. 

Snack 

Please bring a bottle of water to school daily, clearly labelled with your name. Healthy snacks can be purchased from the snack trolley (ordered via ParentPay) or brought in from home. 

Context for Learning

Our topic this term is 'Incredible Journeys'.

Our Inquiry Question is: Unravelling the River Rhymney ... What will we find? 

Throughout this theme, pupils will gain a clear understanding of the key features of rivers and the powerful ways in which they shape and erode the landscape. They will be able to identify major rivers in Wales as well as significant rivers around the world, with a particular focus on the River Rhymney. Pupils will explore practical ways to help protect rivers from the impacts of flooding and pollution and take a leading role in encouraging our communities to help. They will compare and contrast how the River Rhymney and the River Ganges are used, deepening their understanding of how rivers influence both local environments and communities around the world.  

LLC -  We will be reading 'The Matchbox Diary' by Paul Fleischman. We will be creating dialogues, diary entries, re-telling, a mini-autobiography, a ship’s log and conclude with non-chronological reports, also linked to our topic.

Maths and Numeracy - Reading, writing and ordering numbers, place value, rounding and partitioning, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, fractions and decimals, money, shape and time. 

Humanities - We will be learning about and finding out how and why our natural world is diverse and dynamic, influenced by processes and human actions. We will look at how rivers shape and erode the land and how humans have used them over time. We will consider the impact of flooding and how we can help keep our rivers clean and  safe. 

Science and Technology - We will be learning about the water cycle, ecosystems and food chains. We will find out about minibeasts and other animals living in the River Rhymney and conditions they need in order to survive. We will visit the Welsh Water Education Centre to take part in many river type activities. We will carry out an experiment to investigate how rivers are formed through erosion of the land. We will test how long it takes for water to flow down various surfaces, slopes, etc.  

RVE - Big Question: How does religious teaching influence people’s actions?  What kind of World did Jesus want? B. How do the 5 Pillars influence a  Muslim’s life? How do my actions contribute to the  world?

Health and Well Being - We will continue becoming healthy, confident individuals; looking at our rights and responsibilities and ensuring everyone's voice is heard. Our Jigsaw units will be 'Being me in my world' and 'Celebrating differences'. PE TBC.

Expressive Arts - Our focus this term will be on music. We will research the Reggae artist Bob Marley and compare his music with Welsh Reggae artist Aleighcia Scott. We will compose our own Reggae song linked to our topic. 

Pupil Voice Questions:

Why are rivers fast / deep? 

What lives in the river? 

What do fish eat? 

Why are there bugs in rivers? 

Where does the water come from? 

How do you clean rivers? 

Do rivers have turtles? 

Why are rivers dark? 

Why do fish eat other fish? 

How can the fish breathe in the water? 

Planning

Please see the Inquiry planning document below for our topic. 

class 4 inquiry planning.pdf

Homework

 Weekly homework – Numeracy / Literacy alternated each week. Usually based on something we have learned that week. Set on Friday, due in on Wednesday. Please submit via Google Classroom or send to our class email.

All learning context homework can be completed over the course of the term and your child can choose to do as many of the tasks as they wish. We would love to share some of their home learning within the classroom at the end of term so please send this in to us on our school email address. 

 Learning context homework which can be completed over the course of the term is below:

 Please click here to download our homework grid 

The Four Purposes

The Welsh curriculum has the four purposes as it's core, this is focused on ensuring that all children and young people will be:

The four purposes are that all children and young people will be:

Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives.

Enterprising, creative contributors who are ready to play a full part in life and work.

Ethical, informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world.

Healthy, confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.

Christian Value 

Our Christian value this half term is 'Compassion'.

Ephesians 4:32 - “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Literacy, Languages and Communication

In Year 4 our Literacy sessions will develop a range of skills including: Reading, Writing and Oracy. Each session will feature the following:

- An engaging warm up (Consolidating past skills or developing new skills)

- Concrete learning (Development of Literacy skills)

We will be working on developing our reading, writing and oracy through a range of genres. Our first writing journey this half term will be based on the text 'Gulliver' by Jonathon Swift.

Reading continues to be an extremely important part of your child's learning. We take part in Guided Group Reading sessions daily.  

We will also be continuing to develop our Welsh language skills through daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions.

Mathematics and Numeracy

In Mathematics and Numeracy this term, we will recap our understanding of reading, writing and ordering numbers, place value, rounding and partitioning, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, fractions and decimals, money, shape and time.  Please encourage the children to practice maths regularly at home (see links below for online math games); they really do make a difference to the children’s confidence and ability in maths. Each mathematics and numeracy session will have:

- Engaging warm-ups with a range of number work to practice past skills or develop new skills.

- Concrete learning to develop of Mathematics and Numeracy skills

Times tables games - Learn them all here!

Times Tables Games for 7 to 11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)

Times tables games and songs 1-12 - BBC Bitesize

 - Times Tables Rock Stars - click here for information for parents. 

Welsh

The Welsh language is very important to us. We encourage both staff and children to use incidental Welsh both inside and outside of the classroom. We enjoy our daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions to support children in learning new phrases by playing fun Welsh games. 

This half term, we will be learning how to discuss illnesses (Salwch).

Modern Foreign Languages

MFL is under review at the moment. It is a section of the 'Languages Connect Us' in our Literacy Curriculum.

Internet Safety

At St Mellons, we promote the use of 'SMART' rules, as we know how important it is to stay safe online.

Please encourage your children to use these 'SMART' rules at home too. 

For more information please visit https://hwb.gov.wales/zones/online-safety/key-information/primary-learners/ 

Jigsaw and PSHE

The Curriculum for Wales is now a statutory requirement since September 2022 for all schools in Wales. It has a key role to play in helping children and young people navigate the world safely. Welsh Government wants education to help our children to develop as healthy, confident individuals, ready for the next chapter in their life after school. Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) encompasses the knowledge, skills, dispositions and values that will empower learners to:

• support their health and well-being

• develop healthy, safe and fulfilling relationships of all kinds, including those with family and friends, and in time, romantic and sexual relationships

• navigate and make sense of how relationships, sex, gender and sexuality shape their own and other people’s identities and lives

• understand and support their rights and those of others to enjoy equitable, safe, healthy and fulfilling relationships throughout their lives.

Please click here for more information curriculum-for-wales-relationships-sexuality-education-code.pdf (gov.wales)  

Healthy Schools

We are very proud to be promoting a healthy school. We encourage all children to eat healthy during snack and lunch times. 

We are able to provide snack for your children in school at a daily cost of £2 per week / £14 per term. Please pay via ParentPay.

Please ensure that your child has a labelled bottle in school daily, containing water only. We have fresh drinking water fountains, where the children can refill their bottles.

For advice on how to make a healthy packed lunch, please visit: https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes/

Active Travel

WOW is a pupil-led initiative where children self-report how they get to school every day using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker. If they travel sustainably (walk, cycle or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. It's that easy!

Please support us on our Active Travel mission by encouraging your child to walk, cycle or scoot to school, or use Park and Stride. This will help keep our bodies healthy and help reduce our carbon footprint!

Picture News

During our worship time on Mondays, we have been discussing Picture News, challenging ourselves to use new, ambitious vocabulary to describe our feelings and opinions. We have been learning about current news, topics and events. 

Useful Links

Practice maths for 10 minutes a day on Doodle Maths to make great progress.

Click here to visit the Times Tables Rock Stars site to practice your tables....  who's going to be the first Rock Hero in your class?  Practice your maths skills by playing against other children all over the world. 

Reading books: every child has a reading book from our library and they may take them home to read.  Home reading books can be changed whenever necessary. 

Ask your teacher for your HWB password.  On Hwb you can...

• access Google Classroom
• access your personal Hwb email
• use online Microsoft software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc)
• use J2e
• and much, much more.

Practise coding skills on Scratch

Multiplication Grid Game

Hit the Button

https://hwb.gov.wales - Hwb Collection of online tools provided to all schools in Wales by the Welsh Government

https://www.purplemash.com - award winning cross curricular website for  primary school children. It enables children to explore and enhance their knowledge in a fun and creative way.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ - Great online games for curriculum areas

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/levels/zbr9wmn - BBC Bitesize

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2literacy.html - Lots of online games linked to different areas of the curriculum

https://www.learn-welsh.net/welshgames - Online Welsh games

https://corbettmathsprimary.com/5-a-day/ - Corbett Maths - 5-a-day Challenges

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/ - White Rose Maths - Reasoning Challenges

Meet the teacher 2025:

meet the teacher 2025 cx.pdf

Reading books

Reading books: Every child is welcome to borrow a reading book from our class library and can take them home to read if they have a school book bag.  Your home reading book can be changed whenever necessary.  Please also use Giglets to access reading material suitable.