A warm welcome back to our Summer Term! 

I cannot believe we have entered our final term of year 4. I hope we are well rested and as excited as myself for our final term together. We have lots of fun topics and learning ahead with lots of opportunities for outdoor learning (rain or shine)! 

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Miss McLachlan

Electricity

After being introduced to our new science topic last week, we had our first 'go' at creating our own circuits using bulbs, wires and cells this week.

During our art lesson we used charcoal to make our shape drawings look three-dimensional.

We also had a lovely afternoon on Wednesday to celebrate our class Saint. We researched Saint Mark, created fact files then took part in a Kahoot quiz. 

First Week of the Summer Term

We had a lovely week first week back in year 4. We took part in lots of active pair and group work during English looking at our traditional tales genre and during decimals work in Maths.

Paint Along Session

Please see pictures below from last term's online painting session from the Eden Project. 

Planting and Painting 

Year 4 spent time outdoors this week planting potatoes to learn more about how food gets from 'farm to fork' and how to make healthy food choices. We also enjoyed the Eden Project's online session where we painted a rainforest cacao tree with the help of artist John Dyer. 

Shakespeare Week 

This week we celebrated Shakespeare Week by looking at 'The Song of Witches' by William Shakespeare. We looked at the interesting language and had a go at saying it to the four beat line.

Then we joined the full school to act a part of the play 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'.

Design and Technology 

As part of our D&T topic this term we have been learning about cooking and nutrition. First, we researched how to use kitchen utensils safely. Then, we worked in groups to chop leeks and peel and grate carrots. Then we added all the ingredients together. The best part of the lesson was eating the results of hard work, even Miss Dennis gave it 10/10! I will post the soup recipe on Google Classroom if anyone would be interested in making it at home. 

World Book Day 

During our online session we learned about various jobs related to reading (not just authors!) and we enjoyed reading our favourite books in class. We also had a lovely time visiting Reception to read stories to them. 

Year 4 had lots of fun with their learning this week. We presented our assembly all about rainforests to the school, made fruit skewers and researched the health benefits of fruit, enjoyed hands on activities learning about fractions in maths and labelled different parts of the digestive system using life size cut outs. 

Healthy teeth 

Year 4 took a bite into their learning this week during our new science topic! We learned about some of the different types of teeth in the body and their functions. 

School Trip 

Year 4 had a fantastic time at the London Transport Museum learning all about old and new modes of transport. We started off with our 'Coding the Capital' workshop where we used mini rail tracks to code trains to stop, speed up etc. Then we had the opportunity to look around the museum afterwards. 

Using tints and shades

We put our painting skills to the test today! We drew an object then used our prior learning of creating tints and shades to paint a realistic drawing. 

The Railway Revolution 

As part of our History lesson this week, we all chose a part to play in our role-play of the 1829 Rainhill Trials. Different groups acted out the locomotives that were part of the competition, the moment 'Stephenson's Rocket' won and an 'interview' with Stephenson himself. 

Year 4 have been learning to sing 'Stop!' which is a song about friendship and making the right choices to be kind. It is difficult as it is a rap song however Year 4 are improving over the weeks. We are hoping to perfect it by the end of term!

Maths Week

This week, year 4 have been been celebrating Maths Week through multiplication and division work. After our scavenger hunt, we worked in groups to solve questions using our times-table knowledge. We have also enjoyed playing maths games like 'hit the button'. Well done to those that have received maths stickers for hard work!

First Week of Spring Term

A lovely welcome back to the pupils in our shorter but equally as busy week. We started off the week reading about New Year's celebrations around the world and wrote our own New Year's resolutions for 2024. 

During Art we used paint to explore painting techniques, creating tints and shades. 

In Science we started our topic States of Matter and discussed solids, liquids and gases. We investigated different materials and their states, some were quite difficult to place! 

Christmas Baking 

Year 4 had a wonderful week making Christmas biscuits, Christmas cards and adding the finishing touches to their decorations for the Christmas fayre.

Amongst the festive celebrations we also made wire sculptures and found a poorly bee! We gave it some sugar mixed with water to help it on it's way. 

Festive Activities 

We have had a lovely week doing festive activities amongst our day to day learning. We sang a lovely rendition of Little Baby at the Nativity concert on Wednesday. We have also been busy getting organised for the Christmas fayre next week too. 

Class Assembly and Theatre 

Year 4 had a very busy and exciting day yesterday!

We started off the morning presenting our Saint Andrew assembly to the school and parents. We spoke about Saint Andrew's life, sang the song 'Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond' and showed off our Scottish Ceilidh dancing.

In the afternoon, we headed into the city centre to see Frozen the musical. Year 4 had a wonderful time and were very excited sharing their favourite memories of the show. Next week, we will write about how the movie and the theatre are similar/different. 

Living Things 

This term we have been learning about organisms in their habitats. We have been out on a 'bug hunt' in the playground to identify invertebrates. We have also observed our local environment and discussed how humans are impacting on wildlife and their habitats.  

Rivers Theme Day 

Year 4 had a fun filled day on Thursday focused around our Geography topic Rivers. We came to school dressed up and took part in different activities. We discussed then created leaflets on water safety and promoting safe swimming in rivers. In maths we compared river lengths. In the afternoon we tracked the local canal, to the river and out to sea on the iPads. We then created our own boats and tested them as part of our investigation to see which materials would be the most effective. 

Remembrance Day 

This week, year 4 created silhouette pictures to commemorate Remembrance Day. We used paint to make the sunset and twilight backgrounds then glued on black cut outs to create the silhouette effect. The pupils pictured below showed off their impressive artwork during the school assembly on Friday. 

Autumn Term 2

Pupils learned about Judaism during our 'Other Faiths' week. Year 4 learned about the importance of the covenant and The Ten Commandments. Then pupils made paper crafts of important Jewish symbols. 

Celebrating Black History Month 

This week, we took part in an African drumming session where we sang and had the chance to play the drums altogether. 

We focused on an American artist for our art lesson this week. Inspired by nature, Alma Thomas created abstract images. Please see some of the pupils artwork below. 

Spanish Day and Black History 

To celebrate the National Day of Spain on 12^th October we listened to and learned two lines from the song 'La Cucaracha' song. We then tried our hand at some flamenco moves focusing on feet, posture, hands and arm movement. 

To continue our Black History Month celebrations we watched a Scholastic School Live event on 'Mythology and Adventure' from the team behind the Future Hero series books. The latest book from the series is titled Escape from Clay City. Jasmine Richards gave us advice on how to develop our writing skills (lots of reading of fiction and non-fiction books and thinking about our senses when writing). 

Mindfulness Workshop 
 

Year 4 took part in a mindfulness workshop today where they learned different strategies they can use to regulate their own emotions. Pupils spoke about breathing buddies, thought jars and breathing techniques. 

This workshop took place today to acknowledge the importance of World Mental Health Day (10^th October). 

Black History Month

This week marked the start of Black History Month which is celebrated in the UK during the month of October every year. We read the poem 'Windrush Child' by John Agard as a class then used the layout to create our own poem imagining how we would feel as a Windrush child. 

This year's theme is 'Celebrating Our Sisters' with a focus on learning about black and mixed heritage British women who have shaped history. In the weeks to follow, we will look at work from influential women from the literature and art industries.

Active English

We are currently reading 'The Princess and the Goblin' as a class. Today we predicted what would happen in the next part of the story and acted this out. With a focus on direct speech, we had fun writing and adding the correct punctuation to our work.

What's that sound?

Year 4 have been learning about vibrations caused by sound. (Why not ask your child whether sound and noise are the same?) We had fun experimenting with different musical instruments to determine which part of the instrument was vibrating and what motion caused the vibration.

Week 1

Year 4 had a great full week back in school.

We started off our music lessons learning the note G on glockenspiels in preparation for our first class song 'Mama Mia'. 

We also had a lovely visit from the Year 6 pupils to lead us in our first Class Worship. From next week small groups within Year 4 will be chosen to lead our own Class Worship. 

First Week Back

Please see a picture of our new classroom below alongside our task learning more about the UNCRC Children's Rights and how this relates to our time spent inside and outside of school.