Hello! My name is Miss Riley, and I’m thrilled to be teaching Year 4 at Dovecot Primary School. I have a real passion for creating a positive, engaging classroom where children feel safe, supported, and excited to learn. I believe in nurturing curiosity, encouraging creativity, and helping every child grow in confidence. 

I’m especially passionate about using drama, music, and storytelling in my teaching—perhaps inspired by my love of musical theatre and films! I also enjoy exploring the world through travel and trying new foods, which often sparks some great classroom discussions.  

At home, I love spending time with my two dogs, Emmie and Minnie, who keep me busy with beach walks and plenty of muddy adventures! 

 

Reading in Year 4 

Your child will be given a set of books and a reading diary to bring home. Please ensure these are kept in their book bag and brought to school every day. 

Your child will read with myself or Mrs Barr during the week. In addition, the children will have lots of opportunities to read and enjoy books both at school and at home throughout the term. 

 

Pupil of the Week 

Each Friday, one child’s name will be picked from a hat and chosen to be our Pupil of the Week. This special role includes helping with classroom jobs, supporting the teacher, and even taking the register with a friend. 

 

General Reminders 

• PE will take place every Monday – please ensure your child has their full PE kit in school. 

• Any letters or reply slips that need to be returned can be placed in your child’s school bag. 

• The children are encouraged to check their school bags each morning and hand in letters after the register. 

 

Year 4 – Autumn 1 Learning 

Mathematics 

This half-term, Year 4 will be developing their understanding of Place Value. The children will work with numbers up to 10,000, learning to read and write them confidently and recognising the value of each digit (thousands, hundreds, tens and ones). They will use this knowledge to compare and order numbers, as well as apply their understanding to solving a range of problems. 

 

English 

In English, we are exploring the beautifully illustrated, wordless picture book The Whale by Ethan and Vita Murrow. This story follows two young whale spotters on an incredible adventure at sea. The book is perfect for sparking children’s imagination because it combines mystery, atmosphere and striking images, encouraging them to use inference skills and develop rich vocabulary. Our writing outcome will be to produce a Setting Narrative, where children use descriptive language to capture mood, setting and character. 

 

Science 

In Science, our topic is Living Things and Their Habitats. The children will learn how animals can be grouped as vertebrates and invertebrates, and how plants can also be classified. We will explore why classification is important and consider how changes to an environment can affect the living things within it. 

 

Geography 

In Geography, Year 4 will be learning about the features of rivers. We will identify our local river and look at the features we can observe in our area. Alongside this, we will also be studying Longitude and Latitude – learning what these lines mean, how they help us locate places on Earth, and how they connect to time zones around the world. 

 

PE 

In PE, we will be expanding on the gymnastics skills we learnt in Year 3. The children will focus on developing strength, balance and control, working on both individual and partner balances, and creating short movement sequences.