Welcome to Year 4!

2023-24

In Year 4, our teachers are Miss Chisnall, Miss Scott, Mrs Becousse and Miss Quick We are also supported by our dedicated Learning Support Assistant (LSA): Mrs Parkin. 

If you have any questions, please speak with your child's class teacher. You can speak to your child’s class teacher by phoning the school and requesting an appointment if they are not around at pick-up.

Keep referring back to this page for regular updates about the children's learning. 

Update - Friday 19th April 2024

Art

In art, we have been practising our clay skills. We recapped our prior knowledge from previous art units and then experimented with clay, using the skills of rolling a ball/cylinder, scoring, joining, making slips, and attaching with pins. We will use these skills later in the unit to create something exciting—look out for more photos coming soon!

Science

This week, we began our new unit of work in electricity. We learnt about household items that use electricity and sorted these into those that use batteries and those that use mains electricity. We then made our circuits using various equipment, observing what happened as we changed the bulbs, motors and buzzers.

History

In history, we started our ‘Ancient Civilisations’ unit. We thought about what makes a civilisation: leadership, hierarchy, nutrition and trade. We then became archaeologists and explored a range of artefacts from the ancient civilisations of Ancient Sumer and Ancient Egypt. We examined the information and concluded what this evidence tells us about the people's lives there.

Update - Thursday 27th March 2024

English

In English, we have been building up to writing our final piece. We have recapped our use of fronted adverbials and conjunctions. To help us, we went vocabulary shopping around the room to collect good ideas for our final piece.

Art

In art, we have been working on our sketching skills. We watched an art masterclass and used the skills to have a go ourselves. We had to trace circles and then sketch the shapes to make the body. Here is some of our work:

Update - Friday 22nd March 2024

DT

This week, we finished our innovate challenge inspired by William Morris. We used the fabric we printed onto last week and used our sewing skills to add on a hem. Then, we added embellishments by adding some embroidery, including scatter stitch, back stitch and satin stitch. Here are some of our wonderful creations!

English

As part of English this week, we shared our mudlarking stories with children from across Year 4. This was our audience for this piece of work and we loved sharing our hard work with people from other classes. We gave each other positive feedback and ideas for how they could improve their writing for next time. We will use this feedback when we write our final piece next week.

Update - Friday 15th March 2024

English

In English, we started our new unit of work by reading a new text with a mystery narrator! We had to listen out for clues in the text about who might be speaking and the narrative's theme. We discovered that the text is the story of the water cycle, told from the point of view of a raindrop, our mystery narrator. Next, we discussed what features in the text show us this theme and worked in groups to find and annotate these features.

Computing

In computing, we used our HTML coding skills to hack websites! We used the existing HTML of live websites and changed the text within the tags to edit the text that appears on the website. We discovered this doesn’t change the original website; it's just what the user can see. See if you can spot what we changed!

DT

In DT, we started our innovative project, inspired by William Morris's work. Firstly, we planned our designs and considered the motifs, colours, and patterns we would like to use. We then applied our previous learning about block printing to help us print our designs onto fabric. In our next lesson, we will add embroidery and sew a hem.

Update - Friday 8th March 2024

Science

In science this week, we recapped our previous learning about classification to consider how animals are classified into vertebrates and invertebrates. We learnt that the animals within the animal kingdom can then be classified into mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians. We then tried classifying a variety of animals into these groups.

English

In English this week, we had a mystery item to explore! We predicted what it could be before examining it closely. We investigated what the item could do, how old it might be and the colours and materials we could see. We then discussed impressive adjectives we could use to describe it and made word banks of this vocabulary as a class. This learning will help us write fantastic descriptions as part of our final pieces.

Update - Friday 1st March 2024

Science     

In science, we created our classification key in pairs made from sweets! We understand that classification keys are created by asking a set of yes or no questions that separate a group into two groups until objects end up on their own.

DT

In DT, we continued learning about William Morris. We learned what a seam and hem are and how they are made. We were then given a piece of fabric and had a go at sewing our own hems!

We then recapped what embroidery means: adding detail to a fabric to give a decorative finish using different stitches and colourful thread. We learnt how to do different stitches, including scatter stitch, satin stitch, and back stitch.

Update- Friday 23rd February 2024

English

In English this week, we started our new unit of work based on the text The Thames and Tide Club. We read Chapter 1, which ends with the main character Clem leaving to go mudlarking at the bank of the River Thames. We gathered our initial ideas about what mudlarking could be before having a go ourselves! We dug around in the sand and searched for treasures.

DT

This week, we recapped the use of motifs in William Morris’ work. We noticed that he had used traditional block printing techniques and made our Morris-inspired wallpaper sample.

We experimented by finding out how much ink we needed on our wooden blocks and how hard we had to press to make an imprint. Then, we had a go at creating a pattern using different colours.

Science

In science, we have started our new topic, grouping and classification. To help us learn how and why scientists group and classify things, we played the game ‘Guess Who’ which uses multi-stage classification to help identify a specific person. We discussed that classification uses the same skills: observation and asking and answering questions.

Update - Friday 9th February 2024

English

This week, we wrote our final pieces. These were non-chronological reports about creatures we had designed. We had to create a creature that could meet the main character of our class text, Peanut Jones and we chose the creature’s appearance, character and habitat. Our teachers were so impressed with how hard we had worked and the final results were amazing! We will be sending some to the author of Peanut Jones, Rob Biddulph, and we are sure he will be as impressed as our teachers!

Geography

In geography, we investigated the water cycle by setting up an experiment in our classrooms. We started our experiment by setting up and discussing all of the components and how they represented aspects of the water cycle. We filled a bowl with water and placed an empty glass inside. We were supposed to leave it on the windowsill in direct sunlight, but it was a very cloudy and dark day, so instead we placed our bowls on the radiator. After a couple of days, we noticed that the glass had water inside and we realised that this was because the water had heated up, evaporated and then condensed. This helped us to understand the processes that occur in the water cycle.

Update - Friday 26th January 2024

Science

In science, we have been continuing our topic of states of matter. We learnt that solids can change their state into liquids by melting. We proved this by investigating how chocolate melts in our hands. This happened because heat was applied to the solid, causing it to melt.

We then investigated how water changes state. We observed an ice cube throughout the day, taking its temperature every 15 minutes. We found that the temperature increased throughout the day, which caused the ice to melt and change from solid to liquid.

Geography

We have continued our topic on ‘misty mountains, winding rivers’ in geography. We have learnt about the types of mountains and how they are formed. We matched key definitions with diagrams of mountain formations to help our understanding. We then researched three mountains of the UK- Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike- looking for key information such as their height, climate and location.

Music

This half term, our music has been linked to our unit in geography. We used our voice instruments to represent the 3 courses of a river. We composed our ostinatos (short repeating patterns) and put these together to create a class river composition.

PSHE

In our PSHE unit, dreams and goals, we have learned about the skills needed to achieve our goals. We considered what we wanted and the steps needed to reach these goals. We then learned that sometimes it is difficult to achieve our dreams, but with determination and resilience, we can work through problems. We then completed a team challenge, where we competed to create the funniest potato person. We created our own potato people as a group and learnt how we can take little steps to achieve our dreams. Our dreams can be reached in groups when we work together. See some of our brilliant creations below!

Update - Friday 12th January 2024

Science

In science, we have been learning about states of matter. We learned about the properties of solids, liquids, and gases and grouped everyday objects into these categories to test our knowledge. We then learned about particle theory, comparing how particles are arranged in solids, liquids, and gases. We represented this arrangement on the playground to help us compare and discover that these differences are why states of matter have different properties.

English

This week in English, we have continued our unit of work around our class text, Peanut Jones. To help with our apprentice piece next week, we have been developing our understanding of Peanut’s viewpoint to write in Peanut's style. We have read sections of the text and thought about how Peanut would react to different situations and what language she might use. We also recapped how to use fronted adverbials to add extra information about an event's time, place and cause. We can’t wait to show off our learning and hard work when we write our apprentice pieces!

Geography

This week, we have continued our topic, Misty Mountain Winding River. We learned about erosion, transportation, and deposition processes and how these change the landscape. We also recapped our knowledge of 6 figure grid references by completing a case study about the River Trent. We then used grid references to identify where physical and human features are located along the three courses of the river.

Update - Friday 6th January 2024

English

This week in English, we began our new learning based on the text Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City. We read the section of the text where Peanut enters through a mystery door and we predicted where this door may lead to. We then went around the school and looked at 3 mystery doors and predicted what may be behind them. After this, we learned about the features of a diary entry by reading some examples. We worked in groups to identify the features to help us understand how these can be included in texts.

Geography

In geography, we started our new unit of learning ‘Misty mountain winding rivers’. We began this topic by developing our knowledge of rivers and learning some key vocabulary we could apply throughout the unit. We then completed a river study of the River Thames, using our prior knowledge of the three courses of a river. We compared how the river changes at each course by following the river’s journey from source to mouth. We then drew a diagram of a river and labelled it with the key vocabulary we learned throughout the week.

Update - Friday 8th December 2023

English

We have been learning about performance poetry and the features of an effective performance. These included how to enunciate, use our tone of voice to reflect mood, and use actions and facial expressions to bring a poem to life. We read a range of Christmas poems and discussed how these could be performed in a way that would engage the audience. We then started practising our poem, ready for carols on the playground.

History

This week, we learned about the Norman invasion and the Battle of Hastings in 1066. We listened to an interesting podcast, and on whiteboards, we wrote down the causes and effects of both the invasion and battle. We discussed and learnt about the changes in Britain that the Normans caused and discussed the effects of these changes on the people of Britain.

Science

This week, we continued our learning about sound. We used instruments to investigate volume and pitch by playing instruments in different locations in the classroom and using a decibel meter to see if the volume of sound changes the further away the sound is. We discovered that the further distance away the sound source is, the quieter the sound will be, and the decibel level will be reduced.

Update - Friday 1st December 2023

Computing

In computing, we have been learning how to code using scratch. We learnt about variables and how they can affect the code. We then worked in pairs to create our own times tables games for other pairs to play.

Maths

We have been learning and practising our 3, 6, 9 and 7 times tables in maths. We investigated the relationship between the 3, 6 and 9s and how this can help us to learn them efficiently. We then practised our 7s in a variety of ways, including loop cards and times tables games.

Update - Friday 24th November 2023

English

In English, we have continued reading our class text Loki. We learned about persuasive features and then included these in our own letters, written to persuade Loki, the main character of the text, to come to Earth.

Science

In science, we have continued our unit on sound and have learned how sounds are produced and how they travel. We investigated how sounds are made by exploring a range of instruments and observed how sounds are made and how the pitch and volume of a sound can be changed. We then did our own research into how humans and animals hear and turned our findings into a quiz to test another class’s knowledge.

Update - Friday 10th November 2023

Science

In science, we started a new unit of work all about sound. To begin our new learning, we explored what we already know about sound and recorded this on a mind map. We then learnt more about how sounds are made and how they travel and added this to our mind map.

DT

This week in DT, we used the evaluations from last week’s fruit kebabs to make them again by improving our original designs. Before making them, we planned carefully what ingredients and equipment we would need. We then continued to develop our chopping and slicing skills by applying these to a wider range of fruit. We were pleased with the delicious outcome!

Art

In art, we continued our warp and weft topic by having a go at weaving. Although many of us found this challenging, we showed determination and resilience. These will be finished next week, and we can’t wait to show off the final results!

Update- Friday 3rd November 2023

DT

This week in DT, we have continued with our ‘fresh food good food’ unit. We practised our chopping and slicing skills and produced some delicious fruit kebabs!

English

This week, we started our new unit of work focussing on 'Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good' by Louie Stowell. We read the first chapter and came up with adjectives to describe the character of Loki. Some of our best ones were devious, sly, cunning and amusing. We then applied our learning by writing a diary entry from Loki’s perspective.

Update - Friday 20th October 2023

Wow! We cannot believe we have reached the end of the first half term. It is crazy how fast time flies; we are so proud of everything we have achieved in year 4 over the last seven weeks. This week, we completed a science experiment based on healthy teeth. We were testing the effectiveness of fluoride in toothpaste on protecting our teeth. We did this by covering egg shells in different toothpastes that contained different amounts of fluoride because egg shells have a similar structure to tooth enamel. We then left the egg shells in vinegar to see which would withstand the acidity the best.

This last week of half term has also been particularly special as we have celebrated our wear red to Stand Up to racism day. We completed various activities this week, including art and drama, to help us understand what it is like to be discriminated against. We also try to understand what it is about us as humans that causes us to become prejudiced and biased about people. We used Floella Benjamin’s experience in her autobiography ‘Coming to England’ to explore these ideas in further detail. We were shocked by how different people, including her teachers, treated Floella. We tried to express our thoughts, feelings and responses in freeze frames.

As part of our Black History Month learning, we also wanted to celebrate the diversity of our local community and the contribution that black people have made to our freedoms, culture and society. We did this by making a Gee’s Bend quilt. First, we learnt all about the artist before having a go at creating our art pieces in that style. Here are some examples below.  They will be displayed outside our classrooms over the next half term - along with our class pledges to help tackle racism and prejudice as a school community – please come and look!

Update - Friday 13th October 2023

In Year 4 this week, we have completed our first RE unit. Here is a bit about what we have been learning and some examples of our work. In the first session of RE, the children explored what the concept of ‘neighbour’ means to them by coming up with words to explain what it means.  We then looked at the parable of The Good Samaritan, thinking about what Jesus was trying to teach his followers about being a good neighbour.  We have also looked at activities local churches run that help people in the community and linked this back to previous learning why being a good 'neighbour is important to Christians.

On Friday, we also got to go to Year 2 and share our final pieces with them. We worked in pairs or threes with the children from Year 2, reading our fables to them and teaching them the morals embedded within the story. We enjoyed this opportunity and hope the Year 2s did as well.

In D&T, we have continued our unit about ‘fresh food’. We have been looking at different types of food packaging from the present day and throughout history. We also looked at future food packaging because we have to make sure it is sustainable and good for the planet. We then completed a table looking at the different types of food packaging so we could compare them.

Update - Friday 4th October 2023

In Year 4 this week, we have had some exciting visitors enter our outdoor learning sessions. Kala the Arts group, has come into school to teach us some very special Diwali dances in preparation for a parade that is being held in town on the evening of the 3^rd November. We were all very excited to learn something new. Here are some pictures of our first workshop. We will have two more sessions to practice before November to fully prepare for the parade.

We also started a new topic in English, this unit marks the start of Black History Month at Oakridge, where we will be learning about lots of significant individuals and the impact they have had on our society. We will look at the trials and challenges they faced and how they are often missing from history due to them not being seen as equals to white members of society. The significant individual that we are learning about is Katherine Johnson. We read a story about her life and used this to create a story map of the key events. Did you know she was a very clever American Mathematician who figured out the paths for space crafts to orbit Earth and land on the Moon? NASA used her maths and it worked!

In Computing, we have been working on internet safety, particularly looking at how to check a website’s information is reliable and accurate. Already, we have looked at pop-ups, advertisements, in-app purchases and the differences between facts, opinions and beliefs. This week, we looked at bots. We discussed what they did and where we might encounter them. We also looked at the pros and cons of having bots in our life. After this, we created our own bots, describing what we would use them for and their pros and cons. Here are some examples of our bots.

Update - Friday 29th September 2023

In Year 4 this week, we continued our science unit on food and the digestive system. This week's lesson was to look at the different organs in our body that comprise the digestive system and understand how they work. We then completed an activity where we matched the organs to their function. This was trickier than we thought, but it was also a lot of fun.

This week was also very exciting as we started our new DT unit, ' Fresh Food, Good Food’. We looked at what causes food to decay and how we can keep it fresher longer. This included drying, salting, pickling, canning, refrigerating, freezing, pasteurising and packaging. We all found it interesting, but looking at pictures of mouldy food was a bit gross.

Update - Friday 22nd September 2023

In Year 4 this week, we have continued to make progress on our invasion unit in history. We have been focussing specifically on sequencing significant historical events using timelines. First, we completed a matching activity to look at who invaded Britain and when. We discussed the key terms ‘duration’ and ‘overlap’ to decide how long different groups settled in Britain for and if any of these times overlapped. The next day we made a human timeline where we discussed all the events and practised putting them in chronological order. We then came up with an action for each event to help us remember what happened during each significant event.

In reading, we have been continuing with our class text The Nothing to See Here Hotel. We have really enjoyed reading the chapters about Prince Grogbah’s arrival and have practised using our retrieval skills to answer questions about the text. Here is some of our work below.

Update - Friday 15th September 2023

In Year 4 this week, we have made lots of progress in our English work, looking at Aesop’s fables. We have had lots of fun retelling the stories verbally and with actions. We have completed story maps to retell the key parts of The Hare and the Tortoise. We also retold the story verbally using lots of expression and actions! We all did a fantastic job.  In art, we have been looking at complementing and contrasting colours. We have been mixing watercolours and using the colour wheel to decide which colours work well together and which do not.

In PSHE, we deepened our understanding of what it means to be a good school citizen by understanding our rights and responsibilities. We looked at different scenarios and decided whose rights were respected and why some people were treated unfairly.

Update - Friday 8th September 2023

Year 4 have kicked off the new school year with lots of exciting activities over the last few days. We began by immersing ourselves in our new topic called ‘Invasions’, which is all about the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. On Friday, we learnt a song called ‘Dragon Ships’, which was all about Vikings invading other countries like England, where they would maim and set fire to things.

On Monday, we deepened this understanding by looking at a range of artefacts. We discussed what we thought they might be used for, what they might be made from and what they told us about what life was like to be a Viking.

We also started our new Science topic, all about ecosystems. We learnt that an ecosystem is a group of animals, plants and conditions that are balanced to ensure the survival of everything that lives there. We also practised recording information in a range of ways, including tables and mind maps. In PSHE, we are working on what it means to be a good school citizen and how being responsible for our own choices helps us and others learn.

Welcome to Year 4!

2022-23

In Year 4, our teachers are Miss Irving, Miss King, Miss Scott and Mrs Hartley. We are also supported by our dedicated Learning Support Assistant (LSA): Miss Jackman. 

If you have any questions, please speak with your child's class teacher. You can speak to your child’s class teacher by phoning the school and requesting an appointment if they are not around at pick-up.

Keep referring back to this page for regular updates about the children's learning. 

Update - Friday 14th July 2023

In art, we have finished our innovate challenge by painting our motif. We made sure to take inspiration from Islamic art and used geometric shapes, symmetry and patterns. They came out brilliantly and showcases all their hard work in developing their clay and painting skills. 

In Science, we have also been completing our innovate challenge! We were given the design brief to create a night light for a small child. We had to design and program it using a micro-bit. Many children opted to program their micro-bit to make a lullaby and turn it off after an hour once the child had fallen asleep. Others decided to program their micro-bit to also admit a dim light in a particular shape. 

In English, we have been enjoying persuading the sorting hat to put us into our desired house! We have made sure to use lots of persuasive features such as rhetorical questions and emotive language. We're looking forward to our Harry Potter day next Thursday to find out if our letters were successful at the sorting hat ceremony! 

Update - Friday 7th July 2023

This week we have been using clay again to create an Islamic-inspired small motif! We worked hard to use stencils and clay tools to map out our shapes carefully and stuck them together using slip (a mixture of clay and water). Next week, we will paint them using bright colours and ensure they are symmetrical to stay in line with our theme!

We have also discovered which house we would be sorted into if we went to Hogwarts. We now must persuade the sorting hat to ensure we get the house we want! This week, we have been looking at letter features and up-levelling our vocabulary to describe ourselves and those around us.

Update - Friday 24th June 2023

This week in our English unit, we are now moving on to writing instructions! Unfortunately, Dumbledore delivered year 4 the awful news of a sudden outbreak of uncontrollable boils at Hogwarts! He asked the country's top potion masters to try and create a cure as soon as possible before everyone becomes infected! Luckily, Year 4 stepped up to the plate. We have been working hard to collect new ingredients for our potions as well as looking at the structure of a set of instructions to ensure we are ready for the challenge. 

In History, we are coming to the end of our unit on Ancient Civilisations and are tackling the innovate challenge. We are using our history skills to research the Indus Valley by studying the timeline, drawing conclusions, and looking at ancient artefacts to investigate what this could tell us about their society. 

In Computing, we are currently investigating weather! We examined extreme weather and how computer scientists can predict patterns and upcoming extreme weather to protect people. Then, we used a site called 'Sketchbook' to digitally create our weather sensors to predict any approaching threat! 

Update - Friday 16th June 2023

In maths, we have continued to investigate the link between fractions and decimals and have now moved on to time, including looking at the months of the year.

In English and Reading, we enjoy exploring Harry Potter and developing our character descriptions, using figurative language to help create pictures in the readers' minds. 

Our science and DT are linked, and we used micro:bits for the first time. We used code to create a heartbeat and traffic lights.

In art, we used compasses to draw circles to create our own artwork based on Islamic Art.

In music, we have continued to practise our singing; in French, we are learning how to order from a tearoom. We are exploring different opinions of God in RE and continue to look at ancient civilisations in history.

The whole year group had an amazing morning swimming; the children have grown in confidence and made good progress. This week, the children have completed their multiplication checks and should be very proud of themselves!

Update - Monday 12th June 2023

In year 4, we finally started our swimming unit! The children walked beautifully all the way down to the sports centre and listened fantastically to their new swim teachers. Lots of children have already made so much progress, and it has only been one session! 

In Reading, we have started our brand-new book, 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' and absolutely love it! We have worked hard on the skills of inference and summarising by skimming and scanning for the key information, reading carefully with intonation and then making an informed judgement to answer a question. 

In Art, we have started our new unit on 'Islamic Art' and have observed that when recreating this art, we need to ensure that we use symmetry, pattern and precision in order to create an effective piece of Islamic Art. In today's lesson, we used a compass for the first time to ensure that we were being precise as possible and then put this into practice to create a geometric motif. 

Update - Friday 26th May 2023

Design and Technology

This week in Year 4, all children participated in a DT day! This project taught children about simple machines, including wheels, axles, inclined planes, pulleys and leavers, exploring how they helped ancient builders to lift and move heavy loads. The begin with, we identified simple machines and walked around the school in order to spot them in action. Next, we created prototypes of the simple machines in our table groups! By the end of the day, each child successfully designed their own simple machine to help the ancient builders be more efficient!

Science

In Science, we focussed on looking more closely at plugs and identified that plugs and cabling are made from a combination of conductive and insulating materials. Insulating plastic covers conductive metals to make plugs safe to use. We took apart a plug and carefully looked inside it to identify all of the different parts whilst also discussing the importance of staying safe around electrical equipment.

Update - Friday 19th May 2023

In RE, we are learning about the key concept of Stones and how stones are used as symbols in religion. We looked at a range of different images where different religions had used stones for various meanings or uses. We explored how they often used stone or rock as a metaphor in the Christian Bible. In Buddhism, we looked at Zen Buddhist gardens; in Islam, we looked at images of the Ka'aba. We were then given hypothetical scenarios and imagined the situation and how Christian, Buddhist or Muslim community members might react. Lastly, we role-played a meeting between officials and members of the faith community, and all children achieved this in a mature and thoughtful manner. 

In English, we have now moved on to writing a non-chronological report whereby we are going to give our reader information about how to reduce their plastic waste. This week we focused on expanding a simple sentence using a fronted adverbial followed by a comma, an expanded noun phrase and a conjunction to expand our key points. We worked in table groups in order to share our good ideas. 

Update - Friday 12th May 2023

We have been working incredibly hard in English to write our final pieces! We have been consolidating skills such as using a range of conjunctions and applying fronted adverbials with a comma into a persuasive speech. In addition, some of us will be recording ourselves reciting our speech, so look out for that on the School website next week! 

In Science, we have been continuing our electricity unit and exploring how and why particular circuits work! We learnt that a series circuit is a simple loop with only one path for the electricity to flow. It must be a complete loop to work and have a source of power from a battery of cells.

In Art, we have learned a lot about statues and figurines; therefore, we made our own Ancient Sumerian sculpture! We used a range of techniques to create a 3D form from clay, such as carving, making slips and scoring, which we used to attach extra pieces of clay. We added extra detail using our clay tools! 

Update - Friday 5th May 2023

In Maths, the children have loved learning all about Roman Numerals. By the end of year 4, the children are expected to know all the Roman Numerals from 1-100. At the end of the lesson, we completed a Roman Numeral crossword, and some of us even created our own! 

We have been learning a lot in History and are focussed on developing our knowledge around Ancient Sumer. We now understand that life changed when new technologies and tools were invented because they made work quicker and easier and improved everyday life. Sumerian inventions include the wheel, the plough, writing, moulded bricks, bronze, a numbering system, astronomy and beer brewing. We asked and answered historically valid questions, which helped us develop a deeper understanding. 

In our Computing unit this half term, we are focussing on computational thinking. We learnt how computational thinking can help solve problems and apply computational thinking to problems we face. This week we focussed on understanding the terms 'pattern recognition' and 'abstraction' and how they help to solve a problem. 

Update - Thursday 27th April 2023

This week, we have been getting stuck into our Art topic of Statues, statuettes and Figurines! We looked at the differences between a statue, statuette and figurine and noticed that a statue is a carved or cast figure of a person or animal, especially one life-size or larger. A statuette of the figurine is a smaller-sized statue, especially one that is smaller than life-size. 

In Science, children love getting involved and creating many different electrical circuits. We focussed on constructing a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers. We noticed that when the switches open and close a circuit, it allows the current to circulate. 

Update  - Thursday 20th April 2023

The children have returned to school with a fabulous attitude towards their learning. It's been a pleasure to have them back! 

We have begun our brand-new English unit, 'A Plastic Ocean' and it has been incredible witnessing the children's passion and enthusiasm to save our oceans! We have also spotted some children voluntarily litter-picking during their break and lunchtimes! We have been focussing on fact-building and using precise and accurate vocabulary to persuade others to recycle, reuse and reduce our waste. 

In History, we are moving on to 'Ancient Civilisations', and the children were very impressed by our Ancient Egyptian display in the shared area and are working hard to ensure their work ends up on there! We have started our topic by gaining and deploying a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms and understanding that features of a civilisation include cities, inventions, vital water supplies, information in the form of writing, leadership, infrastructure, social hierarchy, arts and culture, trade, individuals, organised religion and nutrition. Also, we looked at many different artefacts from Ancient Sumer and Egyptian civilisations and inferred what we thought the artefacts were. 

Update - Friday 24th March 2023

We have completed our apprentice pieces for our Peanut Jones-style diary entry this week! We worked hard to ensure we included verb inflections (did/done), present perfect tense, fronted adverbials with a comma and precise vocabulary. Our teachers were super impressed with our writing. Next week, we will focus on understanding a paragraph's structure and knowing when to start a new paragraph. 

In PSHE, we have been looking at how we can ensure that we make our own decisions and are not influenced by others. We looked at various scenarios and identified what makes a healthy friendship and an unhealthy one. Furthermore, we gave advice to others who found themselves in situations that they didn't feel comfortable in and how to be more assertive. 

Update - Friday 17th March 2023

This week, we started our new writing unit, which is all about the book we're reading: Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City. To start the unit, we used the book to infer how characters felt and acted this out.

After practising drawing motifs, sewing new stitches and printing using ink in DT, we designed our own fabric sample.  We considered how we had been inspired by the artist William Morris and made sure our work was nature themed, limited in colours and needed to include repeated motifs. We are looking forward to creating our fabric samples in the next 2 weeks.

In Class 6, we solved some maths puzzles this week.  We were given mixed-up number squares and times table grids made up of puzzle pieces. With no clues about where the numbers went, we worked with others to figure out where they fit on the blank grid.

Some of us had the chance to design a new weapon for Spy Fox this week.  We looked at what gadgets Spy Fox already used, how they were useful and how they worked.  We then designed something to aid Spy Fox on his mission to save Lily from Dr Hammer.

Update - Friday 10th March 2023

We have been extremely busy writing our final pieces this week, ready to send to the Spy Fox director. We have created suspense and tension by varying sentence types and using powerful vocabulary. We are excited to find out which class has won the prize for creating the most suspenseful piece of writing next week! 

In Science, we have been continuing our topic of grouping and classifying. We were challenged to sort Liquorice All Sorts by creating our own classification keys.

In Art, we participated in a drawing masterclass and learnt how to sketch drawings of a horse, puffin and a dog. We learnt to use small, light pencil strokes and to break the image into shapes to make it realistic. Next week, we will move on to create our own Bankura horse sculptures. 

Updated - Friday 3rd March 2023

In writing this week, we put what we've learnt into practise by writing a piece about Spy Fox having to save Lily from Doctor Hammer. Many of us included powerful verbs, fronted adverbials and both simple and multi-clause sentences.

In maths, we've become more confident at finding the perimeter of different shapes and have begun to learn more about telling the time. 

During this week's DT lesson, we learnt about hems and seams and practised using running stitch to create these. Although we went into it thinking it would be very tricky, we were incredibly successful and many of us can't wait to show you what we achieved at Parents' Evening next week.

Update - Friday 24th February 2023

Last week we started our new English unit and were instantly engaged with our hook: Spy Fox! We watched it multiple times and are looking forward to writing exciting suspense stories!

Also, we linked our previous learning in Science last term with our current Geography unit by looking at the water cycle in more detail. We made a class model of the water cycle to see if we could capture each stage as it happened. 

Despite the lack of sunlight, they went pretty well

Update - Friday 9th February 2023

We have had a busy last week of half term in year 4! 

PSHE

This half term, our topic has been 'Dreams and Goals'. During our lessons, we have learned that to achieve dreams and goals, we need to listen to others and work as a team. Each table was given some plasticine and had to create a shared piece of work to show teamwork. They worked brilliantly together and have worked incredibly hard to listen to each other and share their ideas thoughtfully and maturely. 

Art 

We have been learning all about landscapes this half term and have enjoyed every minute of it. This week, the children drew and painted their atmospheric landscape and focussed on using different shading techniques such as hatching, cross-hatching, stippling and random lines. They then walked around the classroom and shared their fantastic work with their peers. 

English 

We have reached the end of our English unit, 'The Land of Neverbelieve'. We have worked hard to write our final pieces in a newspaper style and have impressed our teachers with our best writing yet! 

Update  - Thursday 2nd February 2023

In art, we focussed on atmospheric perspective. This is the way artists create a sense of space within their artwork. This use of perspective results in objects further away from the viewer getting lighter in tone and softer-edged objects closer to the viewer being darker in style and more sharply edged. We used the properties of pen, pencil and watercolour to create various effects within our drawing. 

We have been getting ready to write our final piece in English by expanding our main points using extra details. We focussed on writing a lot about a little and how to ensure our ready is entertained and informed. 

In Science, we observed and explained that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled. We found that different materials have different melting and boiling points. A material's state on Earth depends on Earth's temperature. 

Tomorrow is number day, and we are all looking forward to raising money for the NSPCC and trying to win Buddy's prize! 

Update - Thursday 19th January 2023

This week we have been very busy! In Geography, we have been learning about uses of rivers where we designed and created our own fact files and presented this in our own creative way! We were very proud of our outcome. We found out that many people like to live near rivers as it can be a fantastic water and food source and farmers in countries where it doesn't rain often, like to have their farms near a river because the soil is rich in nutrients. 

In PE, the children have been enjoying gymnastics and have been busy creating their own fantastic routines. This week they have been focussing on balancing and rolling and perfecting these skills. 

In English, we are coming to the end of writing our non-chronological report about 'The Land of Never Believe' and the children have worked incredibly hard on using adventurous vocabulary, varying sentence length and developing their own creative ideas.  

In Computing, we have been busy designing our own Webiste on google sites. We focussed on the importance of lay out and making sure that our purpose is clear. Next, we looked at how to create different pages and embedded links into our website design. 

Update  - Thursday 12th January 2023

In year 4 this week, we have been getting into our Science topic. We observed changes between different states of matter. For example, how a solid turns into a liquid. We each held a chocolate button in our hands and then closed our hands for 1 minute. We discovered that the heat from our hands had melted the chocolate button therefore temperature is what makes different materials change state.  

In Geography, we recapped our knowledge and understanding of key vocabulary and then followed the River Trent’s (third longest river in the UK) journey till we reached the mouth. We then discussed key features we noticed, such as oxbow lakes, shopping centres and wetlands.  

In PE, we are working on our gymnastic skills, working together to create a routine with lots of different skills in preparation to show our class teachers at the end of the unit. 

In PSHE, we have started our dreams and goals unit with a focus on how we need to be resilient and persevere even when they get tough. We looked out different scenarios where they had reached bumps in the road which meant that they had to put their dream on halt but not give up on it.  

Update - Friday 6th January 2023

The children have come back from Christmas very excited about their new learning and have made a fantastic first impression on our new class 6 teacher, Mrs Hartley.  

In English, we started our brand new topic of ‘The Land of Never Believe’. The children designed their very own magical island in preparation to write our non-chronological report on them. As you can see from the images, they are very creative!  

In Geography, we have started our new topic of ‘Misty Mountains and Winding Rivers’. We focussed on the features of a river and by the end of the week, all children were able to confidently describe the different features of a river along with its journey.  

In Science, we are now learning about different states of matters and work hard to identify and classify the different types of materials. We found that solids stay in one place and can be held, however some solids can be squashed, bent, twisted or stretched. Liquids take the shape of the container in which they are held and gases spread out to fill the available space and cannot be held.   

We have also started our brand new class book, ‘Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City’. It is a fast-paced, fun adventure series about friendship and creativity in all its forms.