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Year 4

These are the key skills that each child will be working towards in Year 4. 

By the end of Year 4, children should be able to confidently:

Number and place value:

  • count in multiples of 6, 7, 9, 25 and 1000  find 1000 more or less than a given number
  • count backwards through zero to include negative numbers
  • recognise the place value of each digit in a four-digit number (thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones)
  • order and compare numbers beyond 1000
  • identify, represent and estimate numbers using different representations
  • round any number to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000
  • solve number and practical problems that involve all of the above and with increasingly large positive numbers
  • read Roman numerals to 100 (I to C) and know that over time, the numeral system changed to include the concept of zero and place value.

Addition and Subtraction:

  • add and subtract numbers with up to 4 digits using the formal written methods of columnar addition and subtraction where appropriate
  • estimate and use inverse operations to check answers to a calculation
  • solve addition and subtraction two-step problems in contexts, deciding which operations and methods to use and why.

Multiplication and Division:

  • recall multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up to 12 × 12
  • use place value, known and derived facts to multiply and divide mentally, including: multiplying by 0 and 1; dividing by 1; multiplying together three numbers
  • recognise and use factor pairs and commutativity in mental calculations
  • multiply two-digit and three-digit numbers by a one-digit number using formal written layout
  • solve problems involving multiplying and adding, including using the distributive law to multiply two digit numbers by one digit, integer scaling problems and harder correspondence problems such as n objects are connected to m objects.

Fractions and Decimals:

  • recognise and show, using diagrams, families of common equivalent fractions
  • count up and down in hundredths; recognise that hundredths arise when dividing an object by one hundred and dividing tenths by ten.
  • solve problems involving increasingly harder fractions to calculate quantities, and fractions to divide quantities, including non-unit fractions where the answer is a whole number
  • add and subtract fractions with the same denominator
  • recognise and write decimal equivalents of any number of tenths or hundredths
  • recognise and write decimal equivalents to 1/4 , 1/2 , 3/4
  • find the effect of dividing a one- or two-digit number by 10 and 100, identifying the value of the digits in the answer as ones, tenths and hundredths
  • round decimals with one decimal place to the nearest whole number
  • compare numbers with the same number of decimal places up to two decimal places
  • solve simple measure and money problems involving fractions and decimals to two decimal places.

Measurement:

  • Convert between different units of measure [for example, kilometre to metre; hour to minute]
  • measure and calculate the perimeter of a rectilinear figure (including squares) in centimetres and metres
  • find the area of rectilinear shapes by counting squares
  • estimate, compare and calculate different measures, including money in pounds and pence
  • read, write and convert time between analogue and digital 12- and 24-hour clocks
  • solve problems involving converting from hours to minutes; minutes to seconds; years to months; weeks to days.

Geometry - properties of shapes:

  • compare and classify geometric shapes, including quadrilaterals and triangles, based on their properties and sizes
  • identify acute and obtuse angles and compare and order angles up to two right angles by size
  • identify lines of symmetry in 2-D shapes presented in different orientations
  • complete a simple symmetric figure with respect to a specific line of symmetry.

Geometry - position and direction:

  • describe positions on a 2-D grid as coordinates in the first quadrant
  • describe movements between positions as translations of a given unit to the left/right and up/down
  • plot specified points and draw sides to complete a given polygon.

Statistics:

  • interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs. 
  • solve comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and other graphs.