Spring 2 Week 5

In Maths this week we have started our new topic on decimals. This is the first time the children are introduced to decimals and they have picked it up brilliantly. We started by finding out that decimals show us parts of whole ones just like fractions do. We learnt about tenths which are when the whole one is split up into 10 equal parts. We learnt how to write tenths as a decimal and put them on a number line. In English, we have been busy writing the story of Rumaysa with our innovated character; the villain we created. We used the structure of the original story to help us and included description of our characters as well as adverbial sentence starters. In History, we learnt about what it was like to live in the Anglo Saxon times. We looked at some pictures of houses and villages and used our observation and deduction skills to describe what life would have been like. For Art this week, we investigated different techniques and materials for painting and the effects they make. We looked at stippling, pointillism and dabbing as well as using sponges, glue spreaders and cotton buds. In PE with Junior Jam, we were practicing our shooting techniques to score goals in football and also our goalkeeping skills to try and stop the goals from going in. At the end of the lesson we did a penalty shoot out. In Performing Arts, we learnt a new street dance altogether. We worked in groups that were different to the ones we had been in before and made our own dances together. For Computing, we made our final video on I-movie to go with the song I got a feeling. We had to choose different shots to go with the lyrics of the song. Next week, Miss Brander will choose which video is the best and whoever made it will get a prize. In PSHE this week, we thought about what kinds of behaviours make us happy and what types of behaviours make us sad. We realised that we are all different and actions that make some people happy, don't make other people happy. After that we thought about the role of the bystander and talked about what things we could do to help as a bystander whilst keeping ourselves safe. In PE with Mrs Bullen, we continued to work on our tennis skills. We practiced our control of the ball by doing keep ups on the racquet. Then we worked in pairs to hit the ball to each other and see how many shots we could get in our rally. On Friday in French, we recapped the hobbies/sports from last week and also how to say them in sentences. We looked at the verbs to play and to do and when we should use each one. We then wrote some sentences to say what activities we do and added which day of the week that we did them. In Music, we sang the song Consider Yourself from Oliver again and then we worked together to add some suitable actions for it to help tell the story.    

Spring 2 Week 4

In Maths this week, we finished our unit on fractions, by learning how to subtract fractions from other factions as well as from whole numbers and mixed numbers. Some parts of it were quite challenging, but we persevered with it and got it! For English, we have had lots of fun working in groups to create our own 'supervillain' using traits and abilities from villains we already know about to inspire us. After that we refined and simplified our villainous characters ready to use in our writing. We created Top Trumps cards for them and wrote descriptions. We started the week with some Art. We recapped our previous learning about making tints and shades of colours. We used tints and shades to create a 3D effect when painting a mug in the style of Paul Cezanne. In Science, we planned an investigation to find out if sound can travel through different materials. We learnt that some materials are insulators and they make it difficult for sound to pass through them. We had to think about how we could measure the sound accurately and how we could ensure the test was fair. For History, we recapped who the Anglo Saxons were and where they came from. We then looked at the different kingdoms that they settled in around England and what they were called. We noticed that some of the names are still the same today as they were in Anglo Saxon times. On Tuesday in PE with Junior Jam, we were practicing passing the ball whilst someone was trying to tackle us. We also played some games where we had to stop the ball on the line to score a point. In Performing Arts, we recapped the dance that we have been learning together and then went into groups to practice our own dances.  Some of us were brave enough to perform them for the class at the end of the lesson. In Computing, we started to make our own music videos using i-movie. We added a soundtrack, videos and text and had to try and make the video match the songs. In Music, we talked about how music halls became a popular form of entertainment in Victorian times because people had no way of listening to music at home. We then looked at some of the inventions that have enabled people to listen to music at home and how this resulted in the popularity of the music halls decreasing. We discussed how the Victorian music halls were the beginnings of musical theatre as we know it today. On Thursday, it was Spirituality afternoon, which was all about prayer and in particular the Lord's Prayer. We had a worship with Rev Ben and Rev Matt to start us off and then we went back to our classes to look at the prayer in more detail. In Year 4, focused on the part of the Lords Prayer that says 'forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us'. We discussed what we mean by sins and what things would be thought of as sins, big and small. Then we discussed the importance of forgiveness and how forgiving someone can make our hearts lighter and us happier. We talked about some of the challenges in forgiving people especially when they have hurt us. We wrote our own prayers about sins and forgiveness. We also had a session with Tri Kidz this week, where we were collectively trying to complete a triathlon. We had to use the ropes to do arm stretches to simulate swimming, we cycled and we ran around the course. we worked in teams and took it in turns so that we could get as many in as we could. The TriKidz instructors were very impressed with how well we did. 

Spring 2 Week 3

This week in English, we have read some more of our novel Rumaysa and we have been focusing on the characters and their feelings in different parts of the story. We wrote a diary entry in role as Rumaysa after the evil witch destroyed her books, then we unleashed our inner villains and wrote in role as the evil witch. In Maths, we are coming to the end of our unit on fractions, so we had another look at equivalent fractions and then moved on to adding fractions. We were so good at this, that we then learnt how to add mixed numbers. This week has been Science Week and our focus has been climate change. We looked at what climate change is and how it is affecting our planet. We worked together in groups to create some posters all about climate change and what we can do to help. We were also very lucky to have a workshop with Ribble Rivers Trust on Friday afternoon. They spoke to us about how some invasive species of plants can affect our river systems and their ecosystems. Then we made our own seed bombs to take home. In History, we learnt that the Anglo Saxons came to Britain after the Romans and the reasons why the came and stayed. For Music, we recapped what musical theatre is and looked closely at the lyrics of the song Consider Yourself from Oliver to see what story they are telling us. We then learnt to sing the song together. In PE we practised our ball control skills with the tennis racquets by seeing how long we could keep the ball up for. We then concentrated on the forehand stroke and using it with control and precision to hit the ball back to our partner so they could catch it. In PSHE, we thought about why we have rules and laws and how they protect us and keep us safe. We also looked at what rights children have as agreed by members of the UN, we were surprised by some of them. Also, we thought about how we could have a part of the decision making for the rules in school, at home and in our community. In French, we recapped the days of the week that we have been learning over the last couple of weeks. We then moved onto to learning how to say some of the physical activities and sports that we do to keep ourselves healthy. This week, we focused on ball games and how to say a range of them in French. In RE we continued to look at examples of betrayal in the Easter story and this week we focused on how Peter betrayed Jesus. We also linked this to God's big plan and how these actions all lead to the plan working. 

Spring 2 Week 2

What a fantastic week we have had in school. We celebrated World Book Day on Friday and it was wonderful to see all the different costumes the children had made and to share some of their favourite books. We had an online visit with the author MC Grammar who shared with us some of his work and showed us how to beat box and rap stories. For World Book Day, our whole school text has been The Twits by Roald Dahl, which we have been reading bits of over the week. We focused on the family of monkeys that Mr & Mrs Twit keep in a cage and treat very badly. We used our persuasive skills from previous learning to write a letter to Mr & Mrs Twit to try and persuade them to treat the monkeys in a better way. We also did a team quiz where we had to guess the book title from the emojis. In our other English lessons, we have focused on dialogue and how to punctuate it. We thought about what the characters might say to each other and did some role play to help us generate our ideas. Then we wrote the conversations trying to include all the correct speech punctuation. In Maths, we have been looking at mixed numbers and improper fractions and being able to convert between the two. We also started to use number lines to identify equivalent fractions. In History, we used our historian skills to look at some photos of Anglo Saxon artefacts and see what they told us about Anglo Saxon life. We thought about what they were made of and what they might have been used for.  In Science, we investigated how the vibrations affect the pitch of a sound that is made. We looked at some glockenspiels and ukulele's and tried to spot what was happening when we played different pitched notes. We identified that the faster something vibrates, the higher the pitch of the sound. In RE we read the Easter story and we looked at how Jesus was betrayed by Judas. We also discussed how Jesus dying was all part of God's big plan and how Jesus was following this. In PE we started our tennis unit. We discussed how you need to have quick reactions to play tennis and played some games and completed some activities to help us stay on our toes and move quickly. After that, we ensured we had the correct grip when holding the racket and looked at the actions for backhand and forehand passes. For our Art this week, we thought about colour mixing. We learnt about tints and shades of colours and had a go at making different shades of blue by adding white and black paint. In PSHE, we looked at the 'duties' of people who help us in the community such as doctors, police, firefighters and school caretakers. We also discussed what things we could do to make their jobs easier. On Friday in French, we continued our learning about the 7 days of the week. We recapped what the days are in French in the correct order using our actions to help us. We then completed some puzzles such as word searches and word fits to help us get used to how to spell the words. We then had a challenge to try and write the days of the week from memory. 

Spring 2 Week 1

It has been lovely to be back in school this week to start our new learning for our Treasured Tales theme. In English, we started the week by looking at some well known fairy tales and identifying the typical features of them. We then read the first chapter of a modern fairy tale called Rumaysa. We were able to identify some similarities to some of the other fairy tales that we know. After that, we thought about how the different characters felt in the first chapter using evidence in the text and our inference skills. In Maths, we recapped some of our fractions learning from before half term and then built on our understanding. We put mixed numbers on numbers lines and we used greater than, less than and equal to, to compare mixed numbers. Then we moved on to looking at writing improper fractions. In Science, we continued with our sound topic. We thought about what happens to a sound the further away you get from it. All of the class thought that it would get quieter. We then came up with a way to investigate and prove this. We used the ipad to make an alarm sound and then used a data logger to record the sound levels in decibels. We then gradually moved further away from the sound to see if it got quieter. We had one strange result, but the others proved that we were right. On Thursday, we had a visit from the poet Ian Bland. We began the day with an assembly where he performed some of his poems and we were able to join in with some of them, which was lots of fun. We then had a workshop in class, where he helped us to write puzzle poems. He showed us some of his own puzzle poems and then talked about the number of syllables in each line to create a rhythm and also making it rhyme. We then worked in pairs to write our own puzzle poems. Some of us read them out in the showcase at the end of the day. In PE we started a football unit. We practised dribbling and passing skills around some cones. We also learnt how to stop the ball without putting our foot on top of it. In Performing Arts we started to learn some street dance. We learnt some basic moves and then started to put them into a sequence to some music. In Computing, we used some short clips and put them together in i-movie to create our own videos. We learnt how to blend them together and also how to add text to them. We also discussed different types of camera shots that can be used in videos such as full shot, close up and wide shots. In RE we thought about trust and betrayal; what they are and our own experiences of them and how they make us feel. We also thought about the trust that Jesus' disciples had in him and how they showed it. In Music, we recapped our prior knowledge from Year 3 about the composer Tchaikovsky and found out some more interesting facts about his life. We then started to look at musical theatre. We identified what musical theatre is and how the songs have lyrics that tell the story. We identified different musicals that we know or have watched. We listened to the song Consider Yourself from Oliver and discussed what it was telling us. In French, we looked at the names of the different days of week and made connections to the phonic sounds in them to other French words that we know to help us pronounce them. In PSHE we thought about using webcams safely. We identified the advantages and disadvantages of them and looked at some scenarios of unsafe situations and thought about what would be the best thing to do. In Art, we looked at the artist Paul Cezanne and found out a little bit about his life. We looked at some examples of his work and discussed how we uses short angular strokes and different shades of colours in his work. 

Spring 1 Week 6

The final week of the half term as has been as busy as ever. On Thursday night, romance was in the air for the PTFA Valentines disco, which lots of the children enjoyed. We had a very special behaviour treat on Friday, when we were able to take part in some Nerf Wars with The Nerf Guys. We played some different games as well as having some time to shoot at each other and the staff. The Nerf Guys brought some bases and barrels to hide in and behind. In Maths this week, we have deepened our knowledge of fractions. We have learnt about fractions that total one as well as what mixed numbers are improper fractions are. We will continue with this topic after the half term break. In English, we finished our persuasive letters to the emperor trying to persuade him to allow girls to fight in the army. We then linked our persuasive letter writing skills with our knowledge about plastic from Tuesdays with Mrs Bradley and we wrote a letter to the prime minister trying to persuade him to do something about plastic pollution. On Tuesday in PE, we had a benchball tournament that used some of the passing and throwing skills we have looked at this half term. In Performing Arts, we did some hot seating, someone sat on a chair and we had to ask questions to find out who they were. In Geography we looked at what climate change is and discussed whether or not we thought it was affecting the natural disasters that occur around the world. We found out that although the natural disasters would happen anyway, climate change is making them worse and more frequent. It was Safer Internet Day this week, so for our PSHE learning, we looked at the importance of having our security settings on high for social media and any online profiles that we have. We watched a video that showed us what could happen if anyone can see our private information. We also looked at some scenarios where people were asking for our personal details and thought about if it would be safe or not. In French, we built up our sentences so that we could say whether or not we like certain foods and if they are good or bad for our health. We learnt the connecting words, but and & because. In RE, we followed on our lesson from last week about Jesus healing a man on the sabbath, by looking at Shabbat which is the Jewish sabbath. We discussed when and how it is celebrated. 

Spring 1 Week 5

This week, we were lucky enough to have an Outdoor Learning session with Louise from Wild One Adventures. We began by playing a game of rock paper scissors with a twist, we started out as eggs and each time we won a round we evolved into something else until becoming emperors. We then split into two teams; The Huns and The Mulans and we wore coloured headbands to show which one we belonged to. We walked up to the wooded area at Millennium Green where we did a series of activities to prepare our bodies and minds for battle. We had a tug of war competition which was really close and we also raced in our teams carrying a bag of bricks. After that, we worked in our teams to build a jail to use in a game. Whilst we were doing this, Louise and Chef Max made some garlic bread using wild garlic. To finish the session, each team was given a flag to hide and protect in their territory from the other team. If you got caught in the other teams territory you were put in the jail that we had built. In English, we finished writing the opening of Mulan with our innovated character. We started to plan the arguments that we could use as Mulan to try and persuade the emperor to let girls fight in the army.  In Maths, we completed our multiplication and division unit by looking at using written division when there is a remainder. We then had a day working logically to complete correspondence problems, where we had to find as many combinations of ice creams and then t-shirts and shorts as we could. On Friday, we started our fractions unit thinking about what fractions show us and what the numerator and denominator represent. For our Science learning, we took advantage of some nicer weather and went outside. We did a physical prior learning challenge where we had to use our bodies to represent what the particles are like in solids, liquids and gases. Then we used rice and drums to investigate how the volume of a sound is related to the strength of the vibrations that produced it. We found out that the louder the sound is, the stronger the vibrations are. It has been Children's Mental Health week and so our PSHE lesson focused on our mental health. We used the theme 'Know yourself to grow yourself' to help us realise that we need to know what things we are good at and what things we need to work on and improve in order to grow as a person. We then used some of the character's from Inside Out to help us identify how we feel when we do things that are hard and recognise what those feelings feel like. In Music, we learnt to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the glockenspiels using stave notation to tell us which notes to play. We learnt the terms forte meaning loud and piano meaning quiet and used them to describe pieces of music. In French, we recapped the names of the different foods that we have been learning and also our opinion phrases to say if we like or dislike certain foods. We also added to our sentence to be able to say something is good for you or bad for you. In a Geography and DT crossover lesson, we looked at how architects design buildings in areas that are prone to earthquakes and some of the ways they strengthen them and prevent them from being badly damaged if there is an earthquake. We saw some examples of different buildings that are 'earthquake proof'. After that, we became architects and designed an office building for Tokyo, Japan which is in the Pacific Ring of Fire using some of the different techniques.  

Spring 1 Week 4

It has been another busy week in school! In English, we read the first part of Mulan. We thought about how Mulan and her father felt after the main events and wrote diary entries in role as them. We also identified evidence in the text that told us information about the different characters and recorded this in a PE table. In Maths, we continued to develop our understanding of the grid method for multiplication, we extended this to multiplying 3 digits by 1 digit. We then moved onto division and thought about division as grouping. We used counters to support our understanding of making groups to find out how many groups are in a number. In DT we discussed what a pavilion is and looked at some examples of different pavilions around the world and what they are like. We then had to work in groups to try and build the highest and strongest structure using marshmallows and cocktail sticks. It was very tricky and we had to try and find ways to make our structure stand up and also to keep it strong. In Geography, we looked at where the most active earthquake and volcanic areas in the world are and identified that they are along the edges of the tectonic plates. We also found out about the Pacific Ring of Fire in Asia which is the most active place in the world for earthquakes and volcanoes. In Gymnastics with Mrs Winward, we recapped our sequence from last week with different positions, rolls and balances and did it to some different pieces of music with varying tempos. We also looked at doing cartwheels and splits and created some new sequences with these moves. In PSHE we discussed the word dare and what it means and then thought about situations when we might get dared to do something. We came up with ways to say no to dares if they are not appropriate. In PE on Tuesday, we continued to develop our basketball skills practising our throwing, catching and dribbling. We also had some games of dodgeball. In Performing Arts, we worked in pairs to act out the idea of a cat and unicorn seeing each other for the first time and thinking about how they would react to each other. We then acted it out for the class. In Computing, we planned a website that we are going to create thinking about all the things we want to include on it. In Music, we listen again to the piece of music Rondo Alla Turca by Mozart and played the glockenspiels in different parts to accompany it. In French, we extended our food vocabulary to include some healthier foods than the ones we learnt last week as our topic is about healthy living. Our RE learning this week was based around the transfiguration. We thought about how the disciples felt during this event and also how the story shows Christians that Jesus is the son of God. 

Spring 1 Week 2

We made it back into school after the Christmas holidays and then the school closures due to the snow. It was wonderful to have everyone back in the classroom and to hear about what they have been up to over the festive period. We got straight to it and started our new topic; Amazing Asia. In English, we are going to be looking at the story of Mulan over the half term. This week we learnt that the story is based on an ancient Chinese ballad. Because the ballad is very old we spent some time finding the meaning of the unfamiliar vocabulary. Then we worked in pairs to perform sections of the poem. We thought about our tone of voice, volume, speed, actions and body language and being enthusiastic. In Maths, we recapped multiplying and dividing numbers by 10 and 100. We then moved onto using partitioning and the grid method to help us multiply 2 digit numbers by a 1 digit number. In Geography, we started our new topic about earthquakes and volcanoes. We began by looking at the structure of the earth and the different layers it has. As it was no pens allowed day, we worked in groups to act out and narrate a short piece explain what the different layers of the earth are. We then found out about tectonic plates and how they can cause earthquakes. Our Science learning this term is all about sound. We found out that sounds are made when something vibrates and enjoyed putting a tuning fork into water to see the splash the vibrations made. We learnt about the sound waves that then travel to our ear in order for us to hear the sound. In Gymnastics with Mrs Winward, we began by recapping some of our prior learning. We got into tuck, pike and straddle positions and also did some forward and backwards rolls. We then learnt a new roll; a shoulder roll. In PSHE we discussed the vocabulary danger, risk and hazard and what each one means. We then thought about some situations and identified if they were a danger, risk or hazard. In RE we looked at some of the miracles Jesus performed such as walking on water and discussed how these miracles tell Christians he was the son of God. In Music, we found out some information about the Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi; what he does and what things he has composed. We then learnt the vocabulary allegro, presto and allegretto to describe the tempo of music and we used it to describe the tempo of the piece of music Rondo Alla Turca written by Mozart.

Autumn 2 Week 8

This week has been a lovely end to the term, with lots of Christmas activities alongside our learning. In English, we have been applying all of our grammar knowledge from Year 4 and previous year groups to help us improve some Christmas themed sentences that were not very good. In Maths, we have learnt about dividing numbers by 10 and 100 as well as doing some Christmas number puzzles. In Science, we looked at using branching keys for classification. We used a branching key to help us identify some living things and then we created our own branching keys to group and classify some different biscuits. In History, as we have come to the end of the unit about Romans, we looked at the reasons why the Romans left Britain. We also had lots of fun on Thursday becoming recruits for the Roman Army. We made some fantastic shields as part of our Home learning and we used them in a training session. In the session we did some marching and created some of the defensive an attacking formations that the Roman army used. The staff enjoyed testing how effective the defensive formations were using beanbags! Thank you for all the support you gave the children in making their shields, they were amazing. For PE with Junior Jam, the children worked as teams to complete different boxing challenges. In Performing Arts, they took turns in leading the class with various voice warm up activities and practiced singing some of the songs for the carol concert. In Computing, they had a Christmas treat where they had a quiz on all the things they have been taught this half term. They then played games on the ipads that were related to their Computing learning.  This week, we performed in the Key Stage 2 Carol Concert and our singing and poems were brilliant in both performances. We enjoyed 2 behaviour treats this week, a Christmas party on Tuesday and a session with Mrs Bead to make snowflakes on Friday. We also had a delicious Christmas dinner with out friends and then a quick visit from a very special visitor to school. We have been able to enjoy doing some Christmas arts and puzzles to end a very busy term in an enjoyable way. The Year 4 team would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas with your families and we look forward to what the new year will bring. 

Autumn 2 Week 7

it has been another very busy week in school with lots of learning to finish off our topics as we approach the end of term. On Thursday, we went on our school trip to Ribchester Roman Museum where we began the day by taking part in a workshop with Patrick the museum curator. Patrick was very impressed about all the things we knew already about the Romans from our History lessons this half term. He told us about Ribchester, how it was a Roman fort and how some of the evidence was discovered by Historians and also by residents of the village. He showed us some different artefacts and we were able to pass them around and handle them. Then we all got to try on different types of Roman armour and helmets, we were shocked at how heavy they all were and how the soldiers managed to march and fight in them. We also went outside to look at the ruins of the granaries which is where all the food was stored at the fort. After lunch in the village hall, we went back into the museum and walked around the exhibits trying to find the answers to a quiz set by Patrick. In our History lesson this week, we learned about the legacy that the Romans have left us and thought about what life would be like now if they had not come to Britain and left us those things. In Maths this week, we started our multiplication and division topic by looking at factors. We learnt what factors are and ways to work them out logically. We also looked at how we can use our knowledge of factor pairs to help us calculate.  We finished the week by multiplying numbers by 10 and 100. In English, we have been writing our innovated story of the Pied Piper from the point of view of the Pied Piper. We discussed ways that we can show the reader what our characters are feeling rather than telling them and including expanded noun phrases in our writing. In PSHE we thought about all the online safety starters we had done this half term about cyberbullying and collated all of our knowledge as a class. We were treated to two French lessons this week! In the first one, we recapped our learning from the topic Ony Va and used a sentence builder to help us try and work out what sentence Madame Wardle had written down without falling into the trap. In the second lesson, we looked again at some Christmas vocabulary and we talked about the traditions that they have in France that are the same and different to ones we have in Britain. In Music, Mr Richards let us choose some of our favourite Christmas songs and then we sang and accompanied them with the glockenspiels playing different notes and rhythms, it was really fun. 

Autumn 2 Week 6

Christmas has definitely arrived at St. Paul's and in Year 4 this week! On Tuesday. We had a wonderful afternoon at the Empire theatre watching the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. It was very funny and there were lots of opportunities to join in that we took with great enthusiasm. It was fantastic to see the children laughing, singing, shouting and having a great time. It has also been Elf Enterprise week, where we have been designing and making products to sell at the Christmas Fair on Sunday.  As our Design Technology focus has been about biscuits, we decided to create some Christmas biscuits as our product. One of the things we have been thinking about is adapting a recipe to improve a biscuit, so we designed our own versions of melting snowman biscuits, where we added icing, marshmallows and sweets to a plain digestive biscuit. We thought about what things would be the most suitable to use for the scarf, buttons and faces. There was also the issue of how to package the biscuits because they are not flat it made it more challenging to package them. We decided that boxes would be the best option as they would protect the biscuits.  We also discussed how we needed to make sure that we made a profit, so we took into consideration how much all the ingredients had cost and then did some market research around school as to what a suitable price would be for the biscuits. We used our knowledge of persuasive language to help us create some slogans to help sell and advertise our biscuits. We made posters to promote our biscuits both by hand and also digitally that we will display on our stall at the fair. Then we just needed to make the biscuits! We worked in 3 different teams, to decorate the marshmallows, add the icing to the biscuits and then finally adding the scarves and buttons. Our production line worked brilliantly and we were very efficient in making about 100 biscuits. We hope that they sell well at the Christmas Fair on Sunday. The children who have Rock Steady lessons gave us a wonderful concert on Monday afternoon showcasing their skills on their instruments and also working together and listening to each other as a band. We were so proud of all the Year 4 children who took part. As well as all the Christmas activities, we have also been recapping and summarising the Pied Piper story in English. We then thought about how the Pied Piper felt about the different events ready for our writing next week where we retell the story from the Pied Piper's point of view. In Maths, we have been focusing on multiplication skills. We have looked at what happens when we multiply numbers by 0 or 1 and we have also completed some problem solving activities that use multiplication. In PSHE we looked at some different gender stereotypes exploring and challenging them. In French, we used the French/English dictionaries to help us look up what some Christmas words such as star, reindeer and present are in French. To end the week, we had Music with Mr Richards where we used djembes, glockenspiels and different percussion instruments to accompany some different Christmas songs such as Last Christmas and Jingle Bells. 

Autumn 2 Week 5

This week in Maths, we have been applying the skills we have learnt over the last few weeks to some extended problems. We used our area skills to work out which carpet shop would be the cheapest. We then used our addition and subtraction skills to calculate how much money a rock band had left after a spending spree and which Christmas decorations Mr Dugdale could buy for school if he had a £2000 budget. In English, we wrote our debate 'Should the Pied Piper have taken the children of Hamelin?'. We gave both sides of the argument before giving our own opinion in the conclusion. On Friday we put all the skills we had learnt over the week into writing a new debate 'Should children have to wear school uniforms?'. We had to remember to use persuasive language and expanded noun phrases in all of our writing. In Science, we recapped from Year 3 what vertebrates and invertebrates were. Then we looked at the different groups of vertebrates (mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians) and the characteristics they have in order to help us group them. In RE we made a Christingle and learnt what all the different parts of it represent. In DT we designed our own Christmas biscuit thinking about how we could adapt the original recipe by adding things to the mixture and also how we could add decorations to it once it was baked. In History, we looked at Hadrian's Wall. We explored why it was built by the Romans and how this impacted on the lives of the Celts who were living nearby. We looked at some Vindlanda tablets that the Romans wrote and then created our own written by a Celt sharing our feelings about the wall being built. In PSHE we thought about what things make us different both physically and also things we can't see such as our interests. We created profiles about ourselves to help us identify similarities and differences between us. We talked about how it is good to have differences and that we should always respect everyone no matter what differences we have.  In French, we recapped everything we had learnt in our topic Ony Va over this last term and put it all together. We played Blankety Blank where we had to fill in missing words in sentences. If we used the same word as Madame Wardle we got double points. We ended the week with Music and we sang the song Ho Ho Ho again using djembes and glockenspiels to accompany us. We then swapped over to the classic Christmas song Last Christmas and learnt some simple accompaniments to it with the glockenspiels and djembes. 

Autumn 2 Week 4

This week despite the cold and snowy weather, we did our outdoor learning. We began with a challenge of making different shapes out of natural materials, but once we had used a type of material for example leaves we couldn't use it again so we had to be more creative with what we used each time. Then we recapped from our Science learning what living things are and what characteristics they all have. We then went on a hunt for as many living things as we could find. We discussed how the time of year would affect what things we could find. Once we had found them we thought about different ways that we could group them according to their characteristics. In Maths this week, we have developed our understanding of area and we have looked at using standard units of measure rather than post it notes and how to write them. Over the week, we have found the area of rectilinear shapes by counting the squares. We also compared the area of different shapes. In English, we have thought more about debates and their structure by reordering a mixed up debate. We also planned our own debate about whether or not the Pied Piper should have taken the children of Hamelin. We wrote the introduction and then the arguments for using high quality sentences and expanded noun phrases. In History, we looked at how the Celts fought back against the Roman invasion and looked in particular at Boudicca and her role. We then created Top trumps cards about her and her achievements. In RE we thought about the symbolism people use to show that Jesus is the light of the world. We looked at some pieces of artwork that showed this and then used them as inspiration to create our own. In PE we did some boxing skills. We looked at some of the different types of punches and also thought about our stance and footwork. In Computing, we were writing code to make characters draw some different shapes and spirals. In Performing Arts, we have been working on our singing skills and this week we focused on diction and characterisation. In PSHE we discussed some of the behaviours we don't like and how they make us feel. We then thought about some examples of when people can be aggressive and how it makes us and the people around us feel. We created freeze frames to show examples of these. In French with Madame Wardle, we recapped all the forms of transport that we have previously learnt. We had a challenge to complete the two halves of the vocabulary and the pictures. In Music, Mr Richards brought his harp in to show us after we were talking about string instruments last week and played a bit for us. We then added some glockenspiel accompaniment to the songs Frere Jacques and London's burning. We also worked on the new Christmas song called Ho Ho Ho where we sang and also rapped. We also added some glockenspiel accompaniment to this song. 

Autumn 2 Week 3

In our English this week, we have been writing formal letters to persuade the Mayor of Hamelin and the Pied Piper to get the children back. We had to include the features of a formal letter and use persuasive language. We also started to look at a debate and how it is structured. We enjoyed reading some debates about whether or not we should have school uniforms and whether footballers should be paid such high wages or not. In Maths, we started the week by looking at multi step problems that we needed to use all of our addition and subtraction skills from our recent unit for. We also looked at estimating and used our rounding skills from earlier in the year. We then started our new topic about Area by learning what area is and then measuring the area of some shapes with post it notes.  In Science, we thought about grouping living things using their characteristics. We discussed ways that we could groups ourselves and also how we could group a set of animals that we were given on picture cards.  This week has been Anti-bullying Week where the theme was Choose Respect. On Tuesday we all came to school in odd socks to celebrate the differences we all have and we designed a sock to reflect our individual personalities. In our PSHE lesson we thought about what choose respect means and made respect pledges to show how we are going to show respect to everyone, everyday. In History, we looked at the Roman army and why they were so successful in defeating the Celts. We then created posters to encourage people to join the Roman army using this information. In our RE lesson, we discussed the idea that Jesus is the light of the world and what this means to Christians. We identified examples in the book of John were Jesus is referred to as the light of the world. We then worked in groups to create freeze frames of something Jesus did/said that brought light into people's lives. In French with Madame Wardle, we recapped the question Comment vas-tu en.... and learnt a new place to go to 'l'ecole' which is school. We then talked about how we did get to school and also ways we wish we could go to school! We played a game to learn some new modes of transport. In Music with Mr Richards, we listened to Breaking Bread by Nkeiru Okoye again and spent some time discussing different string instruments and the sounds that they make. We then practised the two songs that we have already learnt in a round; Frere Jacques and London's Burning. After that, we started to learn a new song called Ho Ho Ho. We used the glockenspiels to play along with it using the notes C F D G. It was wonderful to see the children in their spots, yellow and Pudsey outfits on Friday for Children In Need. All the donations that we have given will make a big difference to children's lives, so thank you. 

Autumn 2 Week 2

It has been yet another busy week in and out of school with Chocolate Bingo and Bonfire Night activities, but the children have still been working hard. We started the week with some physical activity with a TriKidz session. The focus of the session was resilience and we had to see how many circuits of swimming, cycling and running we could all complete in the time. We also talked about the physical and mental benefits of doing exercise and being outside. This week we have focused on Remembrance in our worship and we spent some time creating a class prayer about Remembrance to go on our class poppy for memorial. We also thought of lots of different words that we associate with remembrance to make a class word cloud about it. In English, we thought about what we knew about the Mayor of Hamelin from the text. We also started to think about what techniques we can use to persuade people ready for trying to persuade the Mayor to get the children back. We also looked at the features of a formal letter. In Maths, we have continued to look at subtraction. We learnt how if you take a bigger away from a smaller one it gives us a negative answer, so we have to do exchanges. It is tricky, but we have done an amazing job and have been completing calculations that need multiple exchanges. We also talked about calculations being efficient and investigated whether mental or written calculations would be the most efficient for given calculations. We started our History topic about when the Romans came to Britain this week by thinking about when it was that the Romans came to Britain and some of the reasons why. We used a source written by a Roman general to find out what some of the reasons that they wanted to come to Britain were. With Junior Jam on Tuesday, we were doing Dodgeball in PE. We focused on adding power to our throw by using an overarm throw and also where to aim in order to improve our accuracy. For Computing, we were investigating games and spent sometime exploring the game Danger Quest where you have to collect gold and then get to the finish line. Then in Performing Arts, we were thinking about singing performance. We did some exercises such as bubble breathing and eating toffee, to warm our vocal chords up so that we didn't damage them. We then sang a range of songs focusing on the pitch. In PSHE, we thought about the words compromise and negotiation and what they meant. We then looked at some real life problems and discussed how we could use negotiation and compromise to sort them out. We had lots of fun on Thursday afternoon in DT, where we got to taste lots of different types of biscuits to help us design and then make our own biscuits. We thought about the appearance, smell texture and most importantly what they tasted like. In French, we had a class quiz all about the Euro Tunnel. We found things out about it like; when it was build, how long it took to build it and had a virtual journey through it.   We ended the week with Music with Mr Richards. We listened to a piece of music by Nkeiru Okoye called Breaking Bread and thought about the dynamics, pitch and tempo and the instrument that it was written for. We then recapped singing in a round or in canon by singing Frere Jacques again and London's burning in 2 different parts. After that we used some instruments to accompany us singing London's Burning, but in unison rather than a round. We are going to try that next week! 

Autumn 2 Week 1

It has been wonderful to welcome the children back into school for what has been a very busy week. In Maths, we used the written addition skills we learnt before half term to solve problems before moving onto subtraction. We used the counting on method to subtract mentally and then looked at using the written column method. In English, we started a new text; The Pied Piper of Hamelin. We have been looking at the way the townspeople felt at different points in the story so far.  We also looked at the vocabulary and how the strength of the words can effect the reader. In Science, we thought about what properties all living things have and were able to identify 7 things that we call life processes. We began our History unit by looking at the skills that historians need to have and what some of them were. We then thought about our enquiry question, what happened when the Romans invaded Britain? and recorded anything that we knew about it already. Each half term we start our PSHE learning with an Internet safety lesson, this time we identified what cyberbullying was and what it might look like. We then created posters to tell people what to do if they are being cyberbullied. On Thursday, we had Spirituality afternoon, where we looked at God's big idea. We then focused on the Gospel part of the idea and looked at what it meant. We then designed a piece of artwork to be part of a whole school frieze to represent this. In French, we started to look at a new question 'comment vas-tu en France?' to ask how do you get to France. We recalled from prior learning some of the methods of transport; car, boat, plane and train. We then put them into sentences to answer the question ' Je vais en France en voiture' In Music, we worked with Mr Richards to compare two pieces of music written by the composer Nkeiru Okoyo thinking about the tempo, dynamics and pitch. Then we looked at singing in a round with the song Frere Jacques and then playing some games.  

Autumn 1 Week 7

As this week has been the last one of this half term and our Native Narratives topic, we have been putting all of our learning together to answer our enquiry questions and link our ideas. In English, we looked at speech punctuation and conventions in writing. We built on our learning from Year 3 where we used inverted commas around the speech to include capital letters at the start of the speech and punctuation at the end. We also identified that we should start a new line every time a new person speaks. In Maths, we started our addition topic and looked at using partitioning to add numbers mentally. We then looked at formal written methods of addition that had no exchanges and then where one exchange is needed. We will continue to build on this after half term. In Science, we revisited the processes of evaporation and condensation from our Geography learning and then applied it to every day situations such as washing drying on the line on a sunny day and when water appears on the outside of a drinks bottle. In Art, we finished the lettering for our shadow art by stapling it to some ribbon at the top and the bottom. After that, we spent some time outside trying different positions and poses to create our shadow art and deciding on which ones created the best effects. For RE we thought about everything that we had learnt about David already and then found out that he also was a composer and musician who wrote psalms. We looked at some examples of psalms from the Bible and identified what things they told us about God. In French, we recapped the different words for 'in' when were are talking about where we live and when we need to use each one. We worked in teams to play a matching game of the country name in French and their flags. In Performing Arts we created some freeze frames of the 3 Little Pigs story to warm us up. Then we worked in groups to create our own stories to tell thinking about the setting and characters and how we can use our voices and actions to tell the story. For our PE lesson, we focused on cricket and improving our bowling, batting, fielding and wicket keeping skills. In Computing, we continued to improve our skills on Garage Band. We used the FX function to make DJ scratching sounds and then chose one of the styles we have been looking at; house, drum and base or dubsteps to make some loops. We also had our behaviour treat this week with Professor Slime, where we got to make our own slime and investigate different things we could do with it. It was a well deserved reward for all of our hard work and good behaviour this half term. 

Autumn 1 Week 6

It has been another busy and exciting week in Year 4. We have been authors in English, as we have written an innovated version of the story The Boy and the Tiger with a new setting and different characters. We tried really hard to include fronted adverbials for when and where in our writing. In Maths, we continued to round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000. At the end of the week we were rounding the same number to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000, which was very tricky. In Geography, we thought about why settlements are often near to rivers and all the ways that rivers can be useful for people. We imagined that we were the leader of a new group of people 'The Year Fourites' and we wrote a speech to persuade our group to settle in a location next to a river. In Art, we finished drawing and cutting out our letters for our shadow art. We then had to paint them black ready to create our pictures next week. In PE, we used the dribbling, passing and tackling skills from last week's lesson in some games of football. In PSHE we looked at how people could feel in different places such as the playground, an airport and a supermarket. We identified that not everyone feels the same in these places and that we need to be aware of this. We discussed how body language and facial expressions can help us to spot the feelings someone has. On Thursday afternoon, we were really lucky to Rev Ben to into school and work with us for our RE lesson. We recapped all the things we have learnt about David over the last half term and then found out about his life after he became the King. We then had a discussion to decide if we thought David was a good king or not which split our opinions in class. In Music, we became composers and used crotchets, quaver pairs and rests to create our own bars of rhythms, which we then performed for the class.  In Science, we conducted an experiment to test how different materials melted.  We focussed on our prediction writing today and then investigated how fast chocolate, butter and sugar melted.  We looked at using the terminology high melting point and low melting point.  In French, we looked at different flags and learnt how to pronounce different countries names in French. 

Autumn 1 Week 5

We had our first outdoor learning session of the year this week. We started off with the challenge of getting the whole class into the right order of when their birthdays are without speaking. We had to think of alternative ways to communicate, which we found tricky. Then we worked in groups to create 3D models of the water cycle using tarpaulins and any natural materials that we could find in the woods. We needed to create some mountains for the water to flow down and them some of the features of a river system that we looked at in our Geography lesson earlier in the week. Then we poured water on them to see where it flowed to.  In English, we created some information posters about tigers and monkeys using our research from last week and including all the features we identified in other information posters. After that, we started planning our own innovated version of The Boy and the Tiger story. We are going to keep the plot the same, and change the setting and characters. In Maths, at the start of the week we were comparing and then ordering numbers up to 10,000 in both ascending and descending order.  On Wednesday, we had a lesson all about Roman Numerals where we had to read and write numbers using them. Finally, we recapped rounding numbers to the nearest 10. In Geography, we thought about the journey of a river and looked at some of the physical features of a river system such as tributaries, meanders and the mouth. In our PE session with Junior Jam, we focused on football skills; dribbling, tackling and passing. In Performing Arts, we worked in groups to act out short scenes to represent being something or someone eg a ballerina, a dog or a footballer. The other groups had to work out what we were from our scenes. For Computing, we looked at the stylistic features of the music style Dubstep. We then used Garage band to make our own recordings using beat sequencer and making the 'wobble' sound. In PSHE we discussed how friends don't always want to do the same things and how some times we can compromise. We also talked about how sometimes we might need to say no to our friends and appropriate ways to do this. In RE we learnt more about the life of David and the things he did.  We listened to the story of how he spared Saul's life even though Saul had been unkind to him. We then worked in groups to create some freeze frames of the main parts of the story. On Friday in French, we recapped what Francophone countries are and where they are found in the world. Then we used our deduction skills to match the start and ends of some country names in French and practised how to say them. In Music, we listened to some more examples of Bhangra music and identified the features. We then used the drums to play the Chaal rhythms that are common in Bhangra music.  

Autumn 1 Week 4

What another busy and exciting week we have had in Year 4. In English, we have been researching information about tigers to create our own information posters. On Friday, we started to create our posters; thinking about how to clearly set them out. In Maths, we continue to explore numbers up to ten thousand; thinking about the value of the different digits and representing them on number lines. For our Geography this week, we identified the longest river on each of the continents and then we used the iPads to find out more information about them. In Music, we clapped some chaal rhythms that are often used in Bhangra music. We also used musical notation for crochets, quaver pairs and rests to experiment with different rhythms. With Junior Jam on Tuesday, we continued to use Garage Band to create and edit our own house music tunes. In PE, we continued to think about the techniques for running focusing on how using high knees and our arms, can help us to be more powerful. In PSHE, we though about the words rude, aggressive and assertive and their meaning. We used a scenario of messages sent between friends to think about appropriate ways to say no. For our Art this week, we looked at the work of the Nigerian sculpture Douglas Sokari Camp, in particular her shadow art. We used this as inspiration to design our own shadow pieces using words to describe us as a class. For French we discussed why people learn different languages and how this helps to connect the world. Then we found out about the thirty Francophone countries around the world, we were surprised at how many there are and where they are. Another great week Year 4, topped off with some delicious cake on Friday as we raised money for Macmillan. 

Autumn 1 Week 3

It has been another super week in Year 4! In English, we moved onto the non-fiction parts of our topic. We explored some information texts and identified some of their features. Then we created a glossary to help us understand some of the technical vocabulary from the texts. To finish the week, we worked in groups to complete an information hunt, where we had to find the answers to questions in texts that were hidden around the playground. In Maths, we have continued to build our understanding of numbers up to 10,000 by representing them using base ten and place value counters. We then partitioned them to show their values and also in as many different ways that we could find. In Geography, we explored some of the longest rivers across the United Kingdom, we used the atlas to help us locate them and then label them on our own map. On Tuesday, we had our first session with Junior Jam. In Computing, we listened to some different genres of music and identified the features of the styles. We then used Garage Band on the ipads to create our own beats. In PE we focused on the skill of running. We looked at what our arms, feet and knees should do to help us run well and we also looked at how athletes run. For Performing Arts we played some games to get to know each other and then we worked in groups to create a freeze frame to show our personalities and acting skills. In PSHE we talked about collaboration and team work and what things made a good team. We had loads of fantastic ideas that we were able to put into practise later in the week. On Thursday, in Science we looked at the processes of melting and freezing and how warming or cooling things can change their state of matter. After that we created some wire sculptures in our Art lesson. We put some templates into a plastic wallet and then shaped the wire over the top using masking tape to hold it down. It was very fiddly and we worked in pairs so that we would have 4 hands instead of 2. We ended the week with our French lesson, where we looked at the names of some of the towns and cities in France again. We then had to write them from memory after having some time to look at them. In RE we continued to find out about David and his life. We looked at his friendship with Jonathon and thought about how Jonathon was a good friend to David. We also thought about our own experiences of friendship and then wrote poems to show what a good friend is like. 

Autumn 1 Week 2

Our first full week in school has been brilliant, with the children continuing to settle into Year 4 life really well. For our English learning this week, we read the short story The Boy and the Tiger. We thought about how the tiger would have felt a different parts of the story and we also predicted what would happen at the end of the story. At the end of the week we used adjectives to write a description of one of the settings from the story; down a deep hole. In Maths, we continued to recap the place value of 3 digit numbers by partitioning them and showing them on number lines. Then we moved onto looking at the value of the digits in a 4 digit numbers that have thousands. In Science, we learnt about the 3 states of matter, solids, liquids and gases and their properties. We then used this knowledge to help us sort some different items into solids, liquids and gases. For our Geography, we thought about where water goes after it has rained and we looked at the water cycle. We learnt about evaporation, condensation and precipitation and what each process does. In Computing, we did some coding with Mrs Bradley and animated some dinosaurs. In PSHE we covered some online safety and thought about what devices we have that can access the Internet and some of the rules we need to follow to keep us safe. We had an extra PSHE lesson this week when we had a visit from Harold the giraffe and the Life Education Centre. We talked about what it means to be unique and how we should celebrate our differences. We thought about how we can have differences even with our friends and ways that we can compromise. In Music, we listened to some music composed by Pamela Z and discussed how it made us feel. Then we listened to some Bhangra music and looked at some of the different instruments that are traditionally used in it. We had our first week back at swimming, which we were all excited about. We worked hard in the pool doing widths and lengths recapping different strokes. In French, we had another look at the map of France and learnt how to pronounce some of the places using our knowledge of other words with the same spelling patterns in them. We played a matching game where we had to match two words with the same sounds in them. We explored the story of David and Goliath in our R.E lesson this week and thought about the qualities that David showed and how his strong faith in God helped him. We took advantage of the nice weather on Thursday and went outside for our Art lesson. We created large scale sketches of pots and vases in the style of Magdelene Odundo on the playground. We used chalks and soft rounded shapes to make them look like hers. 

Autumn 1 Week 1

The children have made a fantastic start to Year 4 in the 3 days that they have been in school. It has been lovely to have them in the classroom and they are getting used to all the routines really well. We started off the week by creating a class contract between the staff and pupils, we thought about what things the children wanted from their teachers and what things the teachers wanted from the children. Once we had agreed we all signed it. We also got to know each other a bit more through numbers. We chose some numbers that were significant in our lives and then gave clues to what they were. In Maths, we recapped the place value of numbers up to hundreds from our Year 3 learning so we are ready to move onto our Year 4 new learning next week. We also practiced partitioning numbers using part whole models. In English, we showed the skills we had learnt in Year 3 to help us improve some simple sentences that we were given by adding subordinate clauses, adjective and adverbs. We also thought about what it would feel like to be trapped and used a thesaurus to help us use the best words we could to describe the feelings. In Science, we discussed all of our learning from last year to see what we could remember ready to use in our Year 4 learning. Mrs Bullen and Miss Sivill were blown away by how much they could recall. In Art, we looked at the Kenyan born artist Magdelene Odundo who creates sculptures from clay. We looked at some of her work and also found out a bit about her and her influences. It was lovely to see Madame Wardle after the summer break for our French lesson.  We started our new topic of Ony Va which means let's go! We looked at a map of France and started to identify some of the larger cities and what they are famous for. In RE we built on our learning from Year 3 about prophets and thought about what God looks for in a person to do a special job for him. We used the words from the Bible 'God looks at the heart' from 1Samuel 16 to help us understand and then we thought about what God would want to see in our hearts. After such a fantastic week in school, I can't wait to see what we can achieve over the next year!