Blog

25th May

Year 4 have had a brilliant two weeks and have been incredibly busy with their learning. 

In Art, the children have spent the term focusing on the unit 'Every picture tells a story' and they have analysed different pieces of artwork considering how it makes them feel, who the people in the pictures could be and how they would feel if they were in the picture. On Thursday, Rabbit class analysed an oil painting by Fiona Rae and the children then created their own abstract piece using oil pastels. I've popped some great examples below. 

In writing, we've all really enjoyed our text of Ask Dr K Fisher all about animals and have written letters from two perspectives - one from an animal wanting advice about a worry and the response from a doctor providing facts to help reassure the worried animal. Please see below for some great examples from Badgers. 

Year 4 performed a brilliant assembly to their adults on Thursday 18th. The children learned performance poems by Allan Ahlberg and Roald Dahl as well as performing poems from different countries all around the world. We even had some of our amazing children reading poems aloud in Turkish, Italian, Korean, Mandarin and German. 

12th May

This week, Year 4 started their new book focus of Ask Dr K Fisher about animals. The children have really enjoyed exploring letters written from different animals and reading the responses from Dr K Fisher. The letters focus on animals' worries about food chains, life cycles and other important aspects of animals’ lives. The book includes letters from rabbits asking why they are always prey, ladybirds who don't like their spots and a giraffe who feels very self-conscious about its long neck. As the term progresses, the children will be researching their own animal to write as and will write a response back as a doctor. 

In Geography, the children have explored the city of Brasilia in Brazil and what caused the population increase there. 

We've also been busy getting ready for our year group assembly next Thursday - we will be sharing some of our own poetry, performing a range of fun poems and poems from other countries and the children will be sharing some of the singing they have been learning. We look forward to seeing you there if you are able to make it (Thursday 18th May at 2:15). 

Have a great weekend, the Y4 team. 

1st May 

Year 4 have had another brilliant week and have been busy with lots of new learning. 

In maths, we have continued our focus with decimals. The children have learned about hundredths on a place value chart, making a whole with tenths and making a whole with hundredths. 

In writing, the children have finished writing their interview with their chosen animal. We've had interviews with lions, komodo dragons, koalas, meerkats and wolves! The children have worked hard writing from two perspectives - one as the interviewer and one as the interviewee. 

In science, we explored how sound travels by making paper cup and string telephones. We explored how the length of string and the tautness of string effected how well the 'telephones' worked. The children had a great time. 

We hope you all have a lovely long weekend. Home learning for this week has been uploaded if you wish to complete any additional work with your child. 

21st April 

Year 4 have had a brilliant start to the Summer term.

In Geography the children have started learning about megacities around the world. 

In writing, we have started our new text of An interview with a tiger and other clawed beasts. The children have researched an animal of their choice to 'interview'. The children will be writing from two perspectives and will explore 1st, 2nd and 3rd person alongside other grammar focus areas. 

In maths, the children are learning about decimals and finding decimals on a number line, dividing 1 and 2-digit numbers by 10 and knowing hundredths as fractions. 

In Science, our first 'sound' lesson was all about how we hear. The children learned about the parts of the ear and how it process sound waves. 

30th March 2023

We've had a great week this week. Today, the children had a lot of fun baking biscuits using a simple recipe but they were able to add extra ingredients such as chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, ginger spice and mini marshmallows. Please see below for some images of the biscuits - we think there are some future Great British Bake Off stars in the making!

In Maths, the children have focused on subtracting fractions, subtracting fractions from a whole and subtracting a fraction from a mixed number. 

In writing, we have finished our explanation texts which include some wacky and wonderful ways in which everyday appliances work. Stay tuned for some great examples...

In Science, the children have focused on conductors and insulators and keeping safe around mains power. 

In RE, we have finished our focus on 'Why do Christians call the day Jesus died 'Good Friday'? and have reflected on our learning over the term. 

Geography: 

In Geography this term, the children have been learning about earthquakes. The children have learned about the following focus areas:

• Where in the world earthquakes happen
• Know why and how earthquakes happen
• Understand and explain the effects of earthquakes of different strengths
• Understand why the most powerful earthquakes do not always cause the most destruction
• Know why volcanoes and earthquakes often occur at the same location

The children have learned specific vocabulary such as plate boundary, fault line, crust, magnitude, Richter scale. 

Talking point for at home: ask your child where in the world earthquakes happen and why. 

Until I met Dudley

The children have been enjoying our explanation text focus for the last part of the term. Please see below for the blurb:

Have you ever wondered how a toaster works? Or a fridge-freezer, or a washing-up machine? In this fun-filled book of how things work, Dudley, the techno-wizard dog, provides the answers. Roger McGough's delightfully ingenious text and Chris Riddell's striking illustrations take children from the furthest realms of fantasy into the fascinating world of technology to discover the workings of familiar machines, making it an exciting book which will delight again and again.

The children will be choosing an everyday appliance (microwave, kettle, iron, lawn mower) and will be writing an imagined explanation for how it works. We've already had some brilliant ideas of mini dragons living in kettles and irons, tiny goats living in lawn mowers and more! 

Spring 2 Geography and Science schemas

Please see below for this term's Geography and Science schemas. The children use these in every lesson to recall their learning.

The Paperbag Prince

The children have enjoyed the start of our new text unit on The Paperbag Prince by Colin Thompson. In this unit, we are focusing on using adverbials for where and when, rich vocabulary for description and a range of prepositions. The children have particularly enjoyed the detailed illustrations. Rabbit class have enjoyed looking at the book during their reading for pleasure time. 

Please see below for The Paperbag Prince's blurb:

The Paperbag Prince is an old man living in a railway carriage on a rubbish dump. But he knows that even rubbish can sometimes contain treasure, and that if he stays long enough, gentle nature will heal the countryside and make the green come again.  

Colin Thompson has another fantastically detailed book called How to live forever if you wanted to explore this author further. 

Anglo-Saxon trip:

We had a BRILLIANT time at Wildwood @ Escot on Thursday. Our day started by trying to navigate our way through a maze filled with locked gates and paths which double backed on themselves! Miss Manning and Mrs Austin cheated as they were allowed to go straight to the centre to make sure no-one was getting too lost. Mr Jones battled his way through and only took a few wrong turns.

We then went into the Anglo-Saxon village where we experienced what life would have been like in a small hamlet during that period of History. We made brooches in the forge, ground flour and baked bread, whittled and carved runes in the woodwork area and secured the walls of living quarters by daubing (the children loved getting muddy during this activity!). The most fun was probably had by dressing up as Anglo-Saxons and locking Mrs Austin and Miss Manning in the pillories. 

After lunch, we explored the grounds of Escot on a guided walk - we saw wolves, wild boar, owls and Arctic foxes. 

It was a fantastic day and really enhanced the History learning we have focused on this term. Take a look at some of our pictures below to see what the village looked like. 

Monster Slayer narratives:

As promised, here are some fantastic examples of the children's Monster Slayer narratives - the children have worked on creating a sinister atmosphere for their beast. Continue to keep an eye out for some more brilliant examples...

Printing blocks:

In Art, the children have enjoyed using modelling clay to create a stamp and to start to produce a repeated pattern. In the first printing lesson, the children explored how to create a stamp, how to emboss and add detail and how to use paint and printing ink effectively. In the second lesson, we improved our skills by creating a range of stamps in different shapes and by using different art tools. The children then used these to create a geometric pattern. 

Our first focus text for Spring 1 is the brilliant Monster Slayer by Brian Patten. Have a read of the blurb below and watch this space for some examples of the children's fantastic writing:

The monster Grendel has awoken and the townspeople are terrified. Even the King has abandoned his great Hall. Hero after hero comes to slay the monster, but no one can outwit Grendel. Only Beowulf has a chance. But when Beowulf finally triumphs, an even greater horror awakens. Grendel's mother, the Hag, wants revenge on the slayer of her son.

Dartmoor Zoo:

We had a brilliant time at Dartmoor Zoo yesterday. We were very lucky with the weather and had glorious sunshine all day. All children took part in a workshop where they were able to handle two animals and look at a corn snake. The children held an Australian stick insect and a 6 month old giant African land snail! The children learned facts about each animal and how to care for them correctly. It was fascinating. 

The rest of the day was spent exploring the zoo and we saw lions, cheetahs, a tiger, otters (Foxes class even saw baby otters), capybaras and their young, wolves, chameleons, owls and a jaguar. 

Over the past few weeks, the children have had a great time constructing their optical illusions in our art lessons. The children have had to use accurate measuring skills and scoring techniques. We think their creations look great!

Year 4's current key text:

Welcome to Year 4:

All children have made a brilliant start to their time in Year 4. The children have settled into their learning well and all Year 4 staff have been impressed with the children's learning behaviours. 

In English, we have focused on a short picture book called 'A River' by Marc Martin which illustrates a child's adventure through different landscapes. The children have planned their own adventure and will start writing their short narratives soon. 

In Art, we have started our unit on Art and Design skills and are currently focused on creating an optical illusion using two different images - pictures of our finished products will be posted in a couple of weeks! 

Our school value for this term is 'kindness'. At home, it would be wonderful if you could talk to your child about how they show kindness both inside and outside of school.