Summer 2

Wow! What a fun-filled final half term we have had. We started our English learning all about Cats the Musical and how it was based on a book of poems by T.S.Elliot. We looked in particular at Macavity and wrote our own versions of this poem. If you were lucky enough to see Voyage class assembly, you would have heard a beautiful rendition of this. As well as this we have linked English to our project learning. Our focus has been music and how it can be so powerful. We watched a very different version of Encanto where the music from the film was played by a live orchestra. We learnt about different musical notes and even conducted a science experiment around sound. To tie all our learning together we created a speech about the effects of music and put this together with some visuals and our own backing track which we created on Garageband. We told you we had been working really hard!! To finish off our project we took a trip to Higham's Park School to watch a dress rehearsal of their school concert. This was amazing and really showed off the fabulous talent at the school. 

On top of all that learning we have become super speedy at our times tables, explored negative numbers and revisited fractions.  We rounded off the year consolidating our maths learning using the four operations to solve word problems.

We have also had an art project to complete about Frieda Kahlo. We learnt about all about her and then created a portrait off her where the whole class made leaves to put together as the background. Have a look and let us know what you think!

This has been a fantastic year and we look forward to meeting our new teachers and showing them how amazing we all are! 

Summer 1

During our PBL project, WE ARE Invaders, our avid historians have been finding out all about Anglo Saxon and Viking life in Britain as well as making comparisons with the Maya civilisation.   They started with a historical enquiry morning where they investigated artefacts; dressed up in Anglo Saxon clothing; created Viking amulets and shields.  After conducting their own research, Year 4 enjoyed an expedition to the British Museum to see many treasures as well as attending a digital workshop on the archaeological Saxon finds at Sutton Hoo.  Finally, they researched and created some beautiful Mayan masks.

In English, Year 4 have been applying their historical investigations to their writing.  They interviewed an Anglo Saxon woman in order to write historically accurate diary entries and wrote some fantastic narratives set in Viking times.

In Maths, the children have become super speedy at their times tables!  In addition, they have explored decimals and their equivalent fractions, 3D shapes and durations of time.  They also recapped written methods for multiplication and division.

The children have also enjoyed some special activities and celebration days.  We celebrated Earth day, the Coronation, National Numeracy day, a visit from the author Banji Alexander as well as contributing to our school’s success in a national skipping challenge!

Spring 2

This term, the children were eager environmentalists, promoting positive messages for change in our local environment.  

For our PBL project, WE ARE Environmentalists, we kick started the project by visiting the River Ching. The children thoroughly enjoyed getting their wellies muddy and wet! We conducted geographical field investigations and used our findings back at school to write about what we found out. The children then conducted research on the major rivers and mountain ranges around the world, including learning about the different features. Year 4 quickly realised that our wider and local environment needed to be protected and conducted further research on this. They came up with an ingenious and creative way in which to communicate these messages by painting pebbles with messages of positive ways to better look after our local area! 

In English, the children used James Berry’s ‘Hearing’ poem as inspiration to write their own wonderful poems on what they could hear in different areas of the school. They used a range of features to create some fantastic imagery. The children also wrote a formal persuasive letter to the council in order to get them to clear up the junk outside of the old man’s home in our text ‘The Tin Forest’. The children looked at a range of features to make their letters as persuasive as possible so that the council would finally take action!  

In Maths, the children learned about data and statistics. They collected their own data and chose how they would represent their findings. We also learned about reflection and symmetry. The children looked at the different ways in which directions could be given including compass points. We also recapped long and short multiplication, addition, subtraction and division. 

Additionally, we had lots of special weeks in school. Science week was fantastic and we learned lots about the water cycle, our teeth and how different sounds are made by different animals due to vibrations. The children found it very amusing making a set of human teeth from clay and making a water cycle within a sandwich bag! For Money Week, the children loved playing various games including a customised Monopoly game! Reading Week was also a great chance to relax with plenty of good books.  We have also enjoyed welcoming our book buddies from Year 1 to hear their fantastic reading.  There have been lots of exciting events this term but the children’s favourite one was Get Your Own Back where Year 4 nominated Mr Bird and Mr Archer for the big gunge plunge! 

Spring 1

Year 4 had a fantastic time researching and exploring what the Romans ever did for Britain. We used this theme throughout our Project, Maths and English.

For our PBL, WE ARE Romans, the children went on a scavenger hunt to find clues about what the Romans invented. They then conducted some independent research on these inventions to see what legacy and impact the Romans left on Britain. The children were fascinated to learn that many of these inventions are what we still use in modern Britain today. They then collaborated and made some very artistic and impressive mosaic tiles to depict some of these inventions. The children dazzled us with their mosaics which will be displayed in school in the next term!

The children also learned about the brave Boudicca and her rebellion, who fought back against the Romans when they invaded Britain. They wrote up their own newspaper reports, set back in time, reporting on Boudicca's early victory against the Romans. We then moved onto the features of a written balanced argument. The children wrote up their own balanced argument, arguing for and against, on the statement 'The Romans were nothing but trouble'.

Running with the Romans theme, the children learned about Roman numerals. They learned about how this was the first numbering system and how letters were used in different combinations to represent numbers. They also learned about fractions, division and using the bus stop method, and recapped using column addition and subtraction. 

Autumn 2

Year 4 kicked off their half term by celebrating a Great Black Briton – the amazing poet, Benjamin Zephaniah.  They researched and wrote interesting fact files on his life, sketched his portrait and enjoyed his poetry.  The children contributed to fantastic class poems based on his poem, ‘The British’, and made a life-size portrait filled with his poems.

Our PBL, WE ARE Merlin, had a great start as the children explored the magic of science.  They dressed up as scientists and wizards whilst trying out a range of exciting experiments.

Throughout the term, the children investigated states of matter and put together their own experiments to demonstrate in a magical science show.

Linked to the magic of Merlin, our English focussed on the story of King Arthur and The Sword in the Stone.  The children wrote their own fantastic narratives based on the story and then adapted them into play scripts.

The children have made fantastic progress in their Maths this term. They have applied different strategies to solve problems relating to multiplication and division, the measurement of length, perimeter, area, capacity and time, as well as exploring position and direction using coordinates.  With their Finance Friday learning, they have used spreadsheets to track spending from receipts and re-designed the playground on a budget.

Autumn 1

What a great start to Year 4!  The children have settled into their new classes, improved their swimming skills and are producing some fantastic learning. 

During our PBL, WE ARE Around the World, the children have researched and compared cities, countries, biomes and climates.  The children have collaborated to create their own travel vlogs exploring the culture, music and attractions of some different countries across the globe. 

In our English learning, the children have written informative fact files on countries and persuasive travel leaflets on cities using a range of language features.

In Maths, we have consolidated our place value skills and used them for addition and subtraction problem solving.  We have explored regular and irregular polygons as well as the properties of different triangles.  We are focusing on our times tables and have enjoyed welcoming in parents and carers to our Stay and Learn sessions.