St Paul's CofE Primary School
Year 4
28th March
It has been another busy but wonderful week in year 4. We have started to plan our next writing piece - a twisted version of a traditional tale. We worked in pairs to devise and perform a traditional tale and then we worked in groups to create an alternate, twisted ending. The ideas were so creative, and we loved watching each other perform. In Maths, we have been learning about time. We have looked at converting seconds into minutes and minutes into hours. We are really enjoying this topic! In Georgraphy, we looked at different types of settlement and after researching, decided which type of settlement we would prefer to live in and why. In RE, we learned about Good Friday and then created our own versions of the cross on tracing paper to give the effect of a stained-glass window. They look incredible! In Science, we continued learning about States of Matter - we looked at how solids can become a liquid and how the particles change to be able to do this. We were fascinated to watch the process unfold. It has been such a lovely week and we are very excited for our Easter celebrations next week.
21st March
Year 4 has really enjoyed the sunshine this week. We made the most of the gorgeous weather by applying our new sketching skills. We went outside and sat in 4 different places around school and sketched what we could see and then used our new knowledge of tinting and shading to add colour to our sketches. They look amazing! In RE, we learned about Maundy Thursday and made a mind map about all the key events that happened on the day. We talked in depth about how significant it is that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and what message this conveys to us. In English, we looked at alternative traditional tales and asked ourselves, what would happen if they did not have a happy ending? We explored an alternative ending to Snow White and looked for clues in the text to answer the question, how do we know the queen is evil? In Geography, we looked at the different biomes of the world and compared them. We were very sad to learn about how few forests are left and discussed how this could impact our future. We have enjoyed all our learning this week and we hope for another sunny week filled with exciting activities next week.
14th March
This week in year 4, we have had lots of fun with our learning. In Maths, we have been adding fractions and we are absolutely amazing at it. Please do ask us what the golden rule is! In English, we have continued to explore the story, The Lost Happy Endings. We wrote a character poem about Jub, the girl who is proud, brave and joyful. Then, we worked together to describe the evil witch. We are excited to continue the story and see what happens to all those happy endings. In Geography, we worked in teams to research the human and physical features of different regions in the world and shared our findings with the class and in Science, we began our new topic by comparing and grouping different states of matter. On Wednesday afternoon, we had an incredible visit from the Fire Service who talked to us about what they do as fire fighters, how to stay safe and how to respond in an emergency. It was very informative and year 4 represented our school beautifully. In RE, we have been learning about The Last Supper ready for our Easter service in the coming weeks and finally, in PSHE, we have been learning all about changes and the strategies we can use to help us manage the different emotions that come with change. What a fabulous week we have had!
7th March
Year 4 have had another amazing week. It has been assessment week and each and every child has tried their very best in all their assessments and made me so proud. It is fabulous to see the progress everyone has made this term. We have continued our Art lessons and have produced the most amazing still life sketches which we have then used our new tinting and shading skills to paint. We have all been so excited to show our adults. We started our new Geography topic with a pre-learning research task - we worked with a partner to use the iPads to research three regions around the world. To mark the start of Lent, we attended a beautiful service in church on Wednesday and enjoyed contributing to the service. Well done to the Ethos team and our year 4 representatives who bravely read out their own prayers as part of the service. On World Book Day, we were so excited to share our outfits and talk about our favourite books - we enjoyed lots of special activities during the day including a scavenger hunt in the sunshine. It has been a wonderful week!
28th February
What a fabulous first week back in year 4! To start the week, we took some time to talk about our half-term break. We have been on lots of adventures and enjoyed a lovely rest too. In Maths, we have continued to work on fractions, we worked in groups to create posters showing all our knowledge so far. We have proudly displayed these in our classroom. In English, we have started exploring a new book, The Lost Happy Endings - we talked about the front cover and explored some key items and vocabulary from the text and using this information, we made fantastic predictions about the story. We have also been focused on Art this week and we have been looking at tinting and shading and making objects look 3D using grids. We can't wait to see what next week will bring.
14th February
For our final week of this half-term, year 4 have had lots of fun activities keeping us busy in the classroom. In Maths, we have continued to learn about fractions and have been looking at equivalent fractions and finding the patterns to help us identify them. In English, we have been revising our grammar - we have been using prefixes and suffixes to change root words and applying this to our writing tasks. In Science, we continued to learn about sound - we used paper cups and string to create string telephones to show how sound can travel through objects. In History, we have concluded our topic on the Anglo-Saxons by exploring the significant battle of Hastings and how this began the reign of William the Conqueror. It has been a wonderful half-term in year 4 and we are excited for a break next week before we start all our new topics in Spring 2.
7th February
This week in year 4, we have had a big focus on Children's Mental Health Week. We have talked about our emotions, completed wellbeing activities and at the end of each day, we have dedicated some time to looking after our mental health with activities such as mindful colouring, medication, spending time outdoors, listening to peaceful music and talking about what we like about ourselves and each other. In Maths, we started our new focus, Fractions - we have been learning about 'mixed numbers' and could even relate it to Harry Potter - Platform 9¾! In English, we have been writing our mythical story linked to Arthur and the Golden Rope, we have such wonderful ideas and have enjoyed including lots of incredible writing features such as fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases to really captivate our readers. In History, we have been learning about how Anglo-Saxon villages were built and how people lived during that time. In RE, we read The Transfiguration story and we linked it to modern day transformations then we created some beautiful artwork depicting the transfiguration of Jesus. It has been a wonderful week in year 4 and we cannot wait to continue our learning next week.
31st January
This week in year 4, we continued our Science topic, Sound and we worked in groups to devise and perform our very own versions of Newsround explaining to our audience how sound is made and how it travels. Our performances were amazing and we were so proud of each other. In Maths, we have been learning how to divide 2 and 3-digit numbers with and without remainders. In English, we have started to plan our mythical stories - we have created our main characters, a mythical creature and thought about what magical items our character will need to be victorious against the dangerous mythical creature. In History, we have been exploring the story of Edgar and how the Anglo-Saxon justice system worked. We also began our Music topic which focuses on The Ride of the Valkyries, we talked about how the music makes us feel and then we created Artwork based on where our imaginations took us. We have had a wonderful week and we are so excited to see where next weeks takes us.
24th January
We have had another fabulous week in year 4. In English, we continued our work on Arthur and the Golden Rope; we wrote character descriptions about Fenrir, the ferocious wolf. In Maths, we have been learning short and long column methods to help us with multiplication. In RE, we learned all about the story of John the Baptist and how he baptised Jesus in the River Jordan and then we wrote our own version of the story and included beautiful pictures to display in our classroom. In PE, we looked at setting personal goals using circuit training and tried to improve each time we completed a circuit. It has been such a lovely week and we can't wait to see what next week brings.
17th January 2025
This week, year 4 have had a fabulous second week back in school. In Maths, we have been exploring multiplication and division and in English we have been reading Arthur and the Golden Rope and worked in groups to create a setting description for key points within the story. We were super excited to start our new History topic, Anglo-Saxons and we looked at the reasons why the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain. In Science, we have been learning about Sound and we looked at the three parts of the ear and how sound travels. Finally, in RE, we started our new topic, Jesus the Son of God and we read the story, Jesus Calms The Storm. We have had a wonderful week and we are so excited to continue our learning next week.
19th July
It has been a busy week finishing off all the school work and having time to relax a little and spend time with their friends before the summer break.
5th July
We had a great time this morning taking part on the obstacle course and have enjoyed researching about different animals for Uganda day. We are looking forward to visiting Wigan town centre tomorrow to see the Roman ruins and complete the traffic survey, plus hopefully spend a little time at the park.
28th June
The children have been enjoying sowing this week. They have been extremely helpful to each other. Threading each others needles, tying knots and showing each other how to stitch. It has been a lovely calm room with great concentration. They have also worked very hard in the morning completing the and of year assessment.
21st June
We conducted a traffic survey outside of school yesterday. The children got so excited when the different types of vehicles went past. We have started a new reading journal book called the Tear Thief. The children came up with interesting predictions as to what might happen in the story. We will begin sowing next week. If possible please practise threading and tying knots as well as actually sowing.
14th June
We have being looking at volume and capacity in maths this week. The children have enjoyed the practical activities, working with the water. In English we have been preparing to write a diary entry in the style of Emily Sands, an Egyptologist. The children have shared great ideas, now they need to turn it into super writing.
7th June
There are lots of exciting things being planned for this half term. Such as sports day (Thursday), Wakes week trip and Uganda day. I will keep you informed through Dojo and some parent mails will be set out. The children have been enjoying are measures topic in maths were they have been measure lengths and finding the mass of various objects. Shortly we will move onto measuring liquids. In English we are looking at an Egyptian book that has created lots of descriptive writing. We will also be local at our local area in geography, the environment in science and people who have been called by God in RE.
24th May
The children have had their final swimming lesson this week. They have all made progress over the year and have also had fun along the way. Hopefully they are all a little more confident in the water now. They have enjoyed learning about the Tudors over the last few weeks, especially the bit about Henry VIII.
17th May
The children achieved their blessings (Class reward) this week so we decorated delicious biscuits. They had a great time. We have started the topic of length in maths. The children have really enjoyed measuring different objects around the room. The children have been writing stories, including a trap that they have invented. They are coming along really well. I can’t wait to read their final pieces.
10th May
We are looking at one of my favourite books for our reading journal activities, Leon and the Place Between. It has an interesting text and amazing illustrations. In maths we have been looking at perimeter. The children have now got to grips with it after finding pretty tricky to start with. Our science topic this half term is forces. They enjoyed working with magnets last week. We are also looking at Tudors in History. Y3 have shown great interest in Henry VIII and his wives.
28th March
Thank you very much for helping your children put together an Easter Tree. They were very creative. Several children also took part in the Easter service in school on Tuesday morning. They spoke loud and clear, representing year 3 very well. I hope the weather is kind over the Easter break and that you all manage to get out and about a little as well as having a well- earned rest.
22nd March
We have been looking at different types of farming in geography. The children enjoyed watching the process of how food gets from the farms to our plates. In RE we are investigating the different emotions felt during Holy Week. The children are becoming more aware of different emotions that people can feel.
8th March
The children have tried very hard with this week’s assessments. They have enjoyed building castles and we will try to complete them next week. I am looking forward to seeing all the different outfits for World Book Day.
1st March
We have started a new class book called Jemmy Button. The children appear to be enjoying it so far. In geography we are looking at different types of farming and comparing British farming to Kenyon. In science lessons we will be investigating light and shadows. Also we will be looking at changing font sizes and shapes in order to make our documents look different. As you can see, it will be a busy half term.
16th February
The children have enjoyed both a Blessings and a Valentine’s disco over the last few days. Thank you to everyone who helped to make Roman artifacts. They were fantastic.
9th February
The children enjoyed their trip to the synagogue this morning. They got to see real versions of the things that we have talked about. The children made good choices and represented ST Paul's very well.
2nd February
For science we have now set up another experiment to see if we can change the colour of a petal by using food colouring in water. The children are watching it closely. In maths we are staring the topic of money. Perhaps you could set up a little shop with your child and get them to pay and give change for things. It would be an enjoyable way of helping your child.
26th January
We had a close look at the plants we grow under different condition. The children were most surprised by the one in the cupboard with no light which had grown very leggy with small yellow leaves. They continued to be surprised several days later when having been kept out of the cupboard its leaves began to turn green. This experiment helped with their understanding of a plants needs for growth.
19th January
The children had a fantastic time yesterday afternoon playing in the snow. Many children worked hard and as part of a team to build amazing snowmen. We are learning a lot about water in English as we continue to work from our book, The Rhythm of the Rain. We have some seeds growing in science to find out what a plant needs in order to grow well.
12th January 2024
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. The children told interesting story of some of the gifts they got and the activities they did. We are starting new topics this week. In Maths will be looking at fractions. Our class book in English is The Rhythm of the Rain. We will be investigating plants in Science and Romans in History. It will be a busy half term with lots of interesting learning to be done.
22nd December
Thank you for your help putting together the volcanoes. The children have enjoyed looking at each others and finding out how they were made. Several of them even erupted. Charlie’s was spectacular. Roman’s was made out of completely different materials from everyone elses. Several staff members voted and the overall winner was Layton. Well done everyone for taking part.
15th December
The children were all excited this week when they came back from Breakfast with Santa. They enjoyed it very much. They are also looking forward to the panto tomorrow and singing in church next week. Most are also trying really hard to achieve blessing so that the class can decorate biscuits before we finish for Christmas. If your child has made a volcano, please can they bring it in on Monday, when we will spend time looking at each other and admiring everyone hard work.
8th December
We have moved on to division in maths. The children are getting to grips with it however more times table practise would help. We have been finding out all about foxes in English. See how much your child can remember as it will help them with their extended write shortly.
1st December
Congratulations to Y3 who have managed to gain their Blessings reward this week. They will be coming to school in their slippers on Thursday to celebrate. For the next Blessings reward they have chosen to decorate a biscuit. The children have been working hard at swimming and it is beginning to show in their progress. They are all improving. Well done everyone.
24th November
The children really enjoyed the visit from the science man at the end of last week. They discovered lots about solids, liquids and gasses through simple practical experiments. Y3’s cricketing skills are now beginning to come along, as they learn new things each week.
17th November
I am really pleased with the work the children have been producing on multiplication and division. It has blown my socks off how quickly they have picked it up. Most children are finding our rocks topic very interesting. I have lots of different rocks on my desk that they have brought in. They are getting to know all the tricky words and can use them in their answers. Vocabulary like igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.
10th November
We enjoyed making poppies. We have made a wreath for the window and each child has made one to hopefully wear on Friday then take home. We will have a service in school and take part in a 2 minutes silence. In maths we have been concentrating on the 3 and 4 times table. They children are getting much better recalling the facts.
3rd November
Our class book this half term is Fox by Margaret Wild. It is full of wonderful illustrations and the children are finding it very interesting. We have started multiplication in maths lessons. Please try to get you child to use TT Rockstars at home to help them with this.
20th October
We have made it to the end of term. The children have worked hard. Now they need a well earned rest so they are ready to start again next term when we will be reading a book called Fox for English, starting multiplication and division in maths, Geography is all about volcanoes and science will be rocks. We will also be busy with Christmas activities. It will be another busy half term. Enjoy your holiday.
13th October
The children have made an excellent start to the year in terms of reading at home, learning spellings and times tables. Thank you very much for your help, it is much appreciated. We have been working on subtraction this week in maths. We are now up to the tricky part of decomposition. We are slowly making progress and I am confident by the end of the week we will all understand and be able to complete the process.
6th October
Thank you very much for your Harvest donations. They are very much appreciated. We have been looking at addition with renaming in maths. I am pleasantly surprised just how quick the children have picked the methods up. It has been lovely to see. In English, we have been doing extended writes. This requires the children to put together several skills into one piece of writing. The children are all trying really hard and have produced good pieces.
29th September
The children have been given a TT Rockstars login this week. Please allow them to log in when possible. It is a fun enjoyable way to help them learn their times tables. We are enjoying The Iron Man story in English. The children are producing some super word showing off their great choices in vocabulary.
22nd September
The children did some super shading and toning in their art lesson. The fish they produced looked really good. They asked some interesting questions about stone age people, that we will be trying to answer over the next half term. Everyone is working hard which is lovely to see.
15th September
The children have made a good start in both maths and English. We are reading the Iron Man and producing lots of work connected to it. In maths, we are starting the year with place value. The children will be working with numbers up to 1000. Thank you for your help in supporting reading at home.
8th September
The children all appear to be happy to be back. They have told stories of their adventures over the summer holidays. It sounds like everybody has had a great time. I look forward to getting to know them all over the next weeks.
Previous Academic Year
7th July
As we come to the end of the school year, it is safe to say that Y4 are still running on all cylinders and there has been no let-up in the quality or quantity of work that has been produced over the last week! In our English lessons, we have been reading the classic, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and really been engrossing ourselves in the text, making inferences about how certain characters must be feeling at different points in the story. In our Maths lessons, we have started to focus on area and perimeter and have been learning more about shapes. During our RE lessons, we have been reading some text and recapping some Bible stories and we even took out Geography field trip out to Haigh Hall on Monday to study the River Douglas and the canal system.
30th June
This week in Y4, we have been writing our very own nonsense poems, in the style of Lewis Carroll. In order to do this effectively, we have taken some time to create our own nonsense words using portmanteau, blending two words and meanings together to come up with a brand new word. We have also been creating our own creatures to be the main focus of our poems, much like the Jabberwock was in Carroll’s. In Maths, we have been looking at area and trying to find the difference between area and perimeter. We have been creating our own figures and shapes and experimenting with changing the area and perimeter. In RE, we have been looking at how people pray and worship across different religions and in Geography we have been studying rivers.
23rd June
In Y4 this week, we have put what we have learned over the course of the year to the test, as the Summer assessment week has rolled round. As usual, we have been tested on our spellings, grammar and punctuation, reading, arithmetic and maths reasoning. These weeks always prove tough ones, and a lot of resilience and patience is required. I can say though that that class have once again dealt with this magnificently well and without having really crunched the numbers and the data just yet, it seems another very successful assessment period has been had. Well done to Y4 for their efforts this week! In our RE lesson, we have been making prayer circles, explaining the topics that might be useful to pray about and we have continued to focus on rivers in Geography in preparation for our field trip in a few weeks.
16th June
This week has been an eventful one in Y4 as we have been really focussed on completing our times tables check. It has been a pleasure to see the confidence grow in our class as we have got to this point and thank you for all the hard work and effort that has been put in at home as well. We did manage to sneak in a few regular Maths lessons this week as well, continuing our chapter on units of measurement. In our English lessons, we have been writing descriptions about some of the wonderful creatures that we meet in Lewis Carroll’s, ‘Jabberwocky’ and discovering how onomatopoeia can be a useful writing technique when trying to write descriptive poetry. In our RE lesson, we have learned about writing our very own prayers for our prayer tree and discussing that it doesn’t matter where or when you pray. In Art, we were building our own structures using cocktail sticks and blu-tack and in IT, we learned about what is inside and outside of a computer.
26th May
Y4 have taken up the role of journalists this week to tell the story of Ernest Shackleton and his epic voyage to Antarctica in the form of a newspaper report. We have been writing direct quotes, alliterative headlines and using the past tense. In Maths, we have spent the week fine tuning our multiplication skills ready for the check which is due to take place after the half-term break. We have also been looking at converting centimetres to metres and meters to kilometres in our ‘Maths – No Problem’ books as well. In our RE lesson, we have been identifying the features of a Mosque and we have assessed our learning as we finish topics on states of matter in Science and the ancient Egyptians in History.
19th May
We have had another productive week in Y4. In our English lessons, we have been creating fantasy lands in preparation for our extended write, making sure that we have included some quotation marks, punctuated correctly and some expanded noun phrases. In Maths, we are continuing to prep for the multiplication tables check, getting ever closer. We have also continued our chapter on money, making sure that we can partition and add pounds and pence. In RE, we have been focusing on Sikhism and looking at the different symbols used in that religion. In Science, we completed our chocolate experiment and understanding what we need to do to make changes in state.
12th May
After another bank holiday weekend, we have had a bit of catching up to do this week in Y4. In Maths, we have been working some more on our time tables and making sure that we are now practicing each and every day in the last month leading up to the times tables check. We have also continued our chapter about money, where we have been estimating amounts and rounding this week. In RE, we have looked inside of a Synagogue and started to identify some of the features. Tutankhamun’s burial chamber was the focus of our History lesson this week as we have continued our studies around ancient Egypt and in PSHCEE, we have asked the question, what makes us happy and sad?
5th May
In what has proven to be an unusual week with the bank holiday and the upcoming coronation, Y4 have still shown that they can produce some excellent work, despite the disruptions from both at school and at home! In our English lessons, we have continued to follow the story of Gulliver and his eventful travels and visited Laputa and Balnibarbi. We have compared the lands that Gulliver has visited so far, had a look at different nouns and how we can group them and used quotation marks in our writing. In Maths, we have been using money, albeit fake, to support our learning and have practiced rounding money to the nearest one and ten pounds. During our RE lesson this week, we have again looked inside a Catholic church and have seen some artefacts from inside them. During Science, we have learned how evaporating, melting and freezing describe changes of state and in History we have continued our voyage through ancient Egypt. On Friday afternoon, as we were all wearing red, white and blue, we also held our very own St. Paul’s street party to celebrate the weekend’s coronation of the King. A lovely way to end the week!
28th April
In Y4 this week, we have continued to follow the adventures of Gulliver during our English lessons. We have looked at real ship’s logbooks, the Halsewell from the 18th century and had a go at writing our own based on Gulliver’s travels onboard the Antelope. In our Maths lessons, we have finished our topic on decimals and moved straight into the next chapter of lessons regarding money. We have even roleplayed being customers and shopkeepers, finding the correct money and change to but certain items. In RE, we have continued looking at different places of worship and what is meant by the term ‘church’ as we have discovered that it is not just a building. In History, the ancient Egyptians are currently in our focus and during PE, we have been playing capture the flag.
21st April
Y4 have had a really positive first week back after our well-needed Easter holiday. We have started to read the classic, ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ in out Literacy lessons and have been focussing on using fronted adverbials and homophones as part of our learning about some of the crazy tales that Gulliver tells us about his adventures. We have also seen how Gulliver’s map of the world may differ from the real one. In Maths, we are continuing to focus on decimals and we have been using tenths and hundredths in some division questions and making some number patterns. In RE, we have been looking at how buildings used for worship may look different in each religion. We have begun our new topic about the ancient Egyptians in History and have also begun a new Science topic, States of Matter.
31st March
As we make our way to the end of another term here at St. Paul’s, we have been reminded of what a wonderful school community we have. On Wednesday, we attended church to celebrate Easter. We have had a load of fun learning and practising the songs for the service and appreciated the readings that were made by our pupils. In our Maths lessons, it has been all about decimals this week and we have learned how to convert fractions to decimal numbers with our main focus being tenths and hundredths whilst we have started our brand new workbooks. In English, we have been writing in chronological order whilst recounting some recent events. Our RE lesson allowed us to look at what certain people did to betray Jesus and how Jesus forgave them and in Science we completed our assessment about the human digestive system.
24th March
We have begun to study a brand new book in our literacy lessons this week, ‘The Matchbox Diary’ by Paul Fleischman. This is an inspirational story about a young Italian boys immigration to America during the 1920’s. We are learning to write our own recounts and hope to create a diary entry for our extended write next week. In our maths lessons, we have been learning some more about time and have been converting days to weeks and months to years whilst also practising reading both a 24-hour clock and an analogue clock. In our RE lesson, Peter’s betrayal of Jesus was the focus. In Science, we looked at all the different parts of the human digestive system and in Spanish we learned about how Easter is celebrated in Spain.
17th March
Resilience and hard work have been the keys to success this week in Y4 as we have once again made it through assessment week. Our English and Maths lessons have been put on hold as we have completed a variety of examinations to see where we are up to with, Grammar and Punctuation, Reading, Spelling, Arithmetic and general Maths. It has been a pleasure to see our pupils shine and show what they are capable of with the results in general being particularly pleasing. Well done to all of our pupils that have worked so tremendously hard this week with what has been asked of them. In our RE lesson, we have looked at the betrayal of Jesus and spoken a lot about forgiveness. In Science, we have seen how the teeth work in the digestive system and how to keep them healthy and in Music, we have been learning about Richard Wagner’s, ‘Ride of the Valkyries’.
10th March
We’ve had another great week in Y4 as we’ve finished yet one more chapter of our Maths work. We are now gaining confidence when speaking about all aspects of time and should be able to read the time both in analogue and digitally using a 24-hour clock as well as converting unit of time from seconds to minutes, minutes to hours and hours to days. We have been looking at the life of a WWII evacuee during our Literacy lessons and writing a non-chronological report all about our findings. We are reading a book called, ‘The Incredible Story of Classical Music’ during reading lessons and have been learning about famous composers such as Bach, Handel and Vivaldi this week. In our RE lesson, we have been looking at the Easter story and what happened to Jesus as he arrived in Jerusalem.
3rd March
Y4 have really hit the ground running after the half-term break and have had a fantastic first week back. We have celebrated World Book Day this week and have found some really creative ways of celebrating our ever-expanding vocabularies. Thank you for the time and effort that was clearly put into these costumes and ideas! In our Literacy lessons, we have continued to study, ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’ by Shirley Hughes. This is a tale of bravery and friendship as a young boy is evacuated from London during WWII and we are using this text as a stimulus to help us create our own non-chronological reports. We have been learning about the evacuees and hearing some real-life stories of people who lived through this time. In Maths, fractions have been the focus and we have been adding and simplifying them again this week. In RE, we have been looking at the key words creation, miracle and Gospel and learning more about Jesus – the Son of God. In PE we have been learning some tennis skills and in Spanish we completed some challenges where we had to name the different parts of the face.
17th February
We have had a great last week of the half term and made sure that we have completed a lot of the work that we have been looking at over the past couple of weeks. We have written out poem about ‘Cinnamon’ in our English lessons, making sure that we have included some rhyming couplets, similes and personification in our writing. In Maths, we have continued our chapter looking at fractions and are now more confident in adding and simplifying them. In RE, we have looked at Shabbat which is the Jewish Day of Rest and happens each week from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. In our Science, History and computing lessons we have finished off our current topics and completed our assessments. Have a lovely half-term break everyone.
10th February
We have packed a lot into our week with two special days to complete some useful activities. On Tuesday, we observed ‘Safer Internet Day’ where we discussed how to keep ourselves safe online and whether or not particular activities were better or worse with the use of technology. On Thursday, it was the LDST Wellbeing Day and we had the chance to host a special assembly that was zoomed out to all the other 16 LDST schools simultaneously, led by Mrs. Jackson and Rev. Wade. We also learned some useful strategies to keep our mental and physical health in top shape. In our English lessons, we have put together the final touches on the plans for our poem about Cinnamon. In Maths, we have started a new chapter all about fractions and we have been learning about hundredths and mixed numbers in particular. In our RE lesson, we continued to look at the transfiguration of Jesus and read a story about Jesus’ authority and in PE we taught each other the dances that we had choreographed in previous lessons.
3rd February
In our English lessons this week, we have been continuing to study the Neil Gaiman book, ‘Cinnamon’ and thinking about some poetry language features such as alliteration, personification and similes. In maths, we have been learning how to present information in various different types of graphs including bar graphs, line graphs and pictograms. In RE this week, we have learned about the transfiguration of Jesus. We have been talking about keeping our environment clean in our PSHCEE lesson and in Art we have studied the Edward Hopper painting, ‘Tables for Ladies’ through role-play.
27th January
We have had another interesting week in Y4, starting to read a new book in our English lessons, ‘Cinnamon’ by Neil Gaiman. We are looking into different ways in which we can be creative when writing poetry and have studied rhyming couples and acrostic poems this week, whilst using similes and personification as some of the language features that we can potentially use in the future. In Maths, we have been completing multi-step word problems using both multiplication and division and tested what we have learned by completing our chapter review. In RE, we have looked at the authority of Jesus and tried to compare this with people that have jobs where authority is necessary in the modern world. In Spanish this week, we have completed a spelling test, focussing on the months of the year and in computing we were learning how to create and fill in a spreadsheet.
20th January
We have been working really hard yet again this week in year 4, ensuring that we are up to date and getting to the end of our current schemes of work in both English and Maths. We have completed our extended write by sending a letter to the selfish giant, persuading him to open up his garden once more. We wrote using all the key ingredients of a formal letter, using paragraphs and rhetorical questions as we went. We have been dividing in maths this week, showing that we can divide both two and three-digit numbers. In our RE lesson, we were very lucky to have Rev. Mark visit our class to tell us what it is like to be a vicar in the Church of England and he answered some of our questions. We have continued looking at life in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon period in History and have been creating our own dances based on what we know about the Anglo-Saxons in PE.
13th January 2023
In Y4 this week, we have been reading a new book in our reading lessons called, ‘I Was There…1066’, all about a young boys experience as an Anglo-Saxon soldier during the Battle of Hastings. We have continued to look at ways in which we can write persuasive letters in our Literacy lessons and started to think about the content of the letter that we will write to the Giant next week, asking him to reopen his beautiful garden to the local children. In our Maths lessons, we have been multiplying 3-digit numbers and learning how to partition and rename in order to make them easier to work out. In our RE lesson, we have been discussing how Jesus could calm a storm and walked on water. We have been learning some guitar parts to a well-known Ed Sheeran song in our Music lesson and started a new topic, ‘Sound’ in our Science lesson.
16th December
In Y4 this week, we have been writing some balanced arguments in our English lessons. We have argued for and against some discussion points such as, ‘should we be building on greenbelt land?’. Some very interesting arguments were put forward in both cases. In our Maths lessons, we have been multiplying and dividing by 0&1. In RE, we had a mini festival with jammy doughnuts and we were given chocolate coins to learn about the Hanukkah tradition of gelt. We have also made some Christmas cards this week and in PE, we had a dodgeball tournament mixed with musical statues. We have also had a Christmas party to celebrate the end of the term. Merry Christmas and a happy new year from Y4.
9th December
In Y4 this week, we have started to look at how you would begin to shape an argument both for and against, based on the question, should we build on our greenspaces? In our book, ‘Varmints’, we see greenspaces being built on and habitats and environments change so we are looking at the positives and negatives of doing so. In Maths, we have finished off our chapter for multiplication and division by looking at some word problems and completing the chapter review. Our RE lesson was about the Jewish Menorah and what the 9 candles represent. In Science, we continued to build our circuits and predict if electricity would flow through when changes were made and in PSHCEE, we have looked at bullying, what is classed as bullying and who we should talk to if you are feeling affected by it in any way.
2nd December
In year 4 this week, we have got back to our usual routine after last week’s assessments. In our English lessons, we completed our extended write, creating some instructions on how to make a delicious sandwich before stating our new book, a short story called ‘Varmints’ by Helen Ward. We will be writing a discussion piece and learning how to make arguments for and against over the next couple of weeks. In Maths, we have been working out word problems involving multiplication and division. In our RE lesson, we learned about the Jewish tradition of Hanukkah, how it began, its story and how it is celebrated. In PE, we have been choreographing our own dance routines that incorporate lifts and in Geography, we have been learning about the tallest mountains in different locations around the world.
25th November
Resilience and hard work have been the keys to success this week in Y4 as we have made it through assessment week. Our English and Maths lessons have been put on hold as we have completed a variety of examinations to see where we are up to with, Grammar and Punctuation, Reading, Spelling, Arithmetic and general Maths. It has been a pleasure to see our pupils shine and show what they are capable of with the results in general being particularly pleasing. Well done to all of our pupils that have worked so tremendously hard this week with what has been asked of them. We made a picture of Mary and Joseph based on their story in our RE lesson and we answered questions about what we had learned. In our Science lesson this week, we created electrical circuits and tested some conductors and insulators to see if our prediction were correct. We also had the pleasure of watching the Three Lions kick off their World Cup campaign on Monday, with an exciting and incident packed 6-2 victory over Iran and a day that I’m sure our pupils will remember for a long time to come. Hopefully, this time it really is going to come home. Come on England!!!
18th November
This week, we have been finishing our look at how everyday things work, reading the explanation text, ‘Until I Met Dudley’ and been making sure that we can add all of the things that we need to write a great set of instructions and although it may seem a little early still, we have wrote an instruction for wrapping a Christmas present. In maths, we have delved into division and studied how a good knowledge of our times tables can help us with our divisions. We have focussed on two key words in particular this week, quotient and inverse. In our RE lesson, we were introduced to the ‘Festival of Lights’, that is celebrated within the Jewish religion. We also looked at the symbolism of light within Christianity and read John – 1 1-14. We took a look at the tallest mountains in the UK during our Geography lesson and learnt the Spanish names of some vegetables in our Spanish lesson. Another successful week!
11th November
In Y4 this week, we have continued to look at how everyday things work, reading the explanation text, ‘Until I Met Dudley’ and been working on some of the skills that we will need to write our own instructional text next week. We have taken a look at fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases in particular when practising making our writing as interesting as possible. In maths, we have really focused in on our 9 and 11 times tables and tried to use our relational understanding of the 10’s times table to work out our answers. In RE, we have been answering questions all about the festival of lights and in computing we have been learning about internet safety and how phishing emails intend to scam us. We also had a visit from a scientist this week, who took us through some impressive yet simple experiments in the hall showing us how light and sound works!
4th November
We have hit the ground running in Y4 since we have returned from our half term break. In our Literacy lessons, we are studying a brand new book for the next three weeks, ‘Until I Met Dudley’ by Roger McGough which is a helpful explanation text showing us how everyday things work, such as vacuum cleaners and dishwashers. We will be writing our own set of instructions to describe how something works and to help us, this week we have studied the layout and key features of explanation texts and instructions and focussed on using bossy verbs within our writing. In our Maths lessons, we have begun a chapter about multiplication and division. This week, we have mainly focussed on the 6, 7 and 9 times tables. In our RE lesson we have been talking about Jesus being the light of the world and learning about the Christingle and what all of the different colours represent. We have also started a new Science scheme of work this week about electricity. We have focussed particularly on electrical hazards for our first lesson.
21st October
In the final week before half-term, Y4 have completed their extended write in our English lessons, writing a sequel to our book, ‘FArTHER’. To complete this we created a title for our story using a homophone, organised texts into paragraphs and wrote temporal adverbial sentence openers. All of these skills we have been working on during our other English lessons this week. In our Maths lessons, we have been solving word problems using both addition and subtraction as well as using some mental strategies to solve subtraction problems. In RE, we finished writing our psalms about what we would like to praise God for, or what we need his help with or ask forgiveness for. We also drew a picture of what our psalms mean to us. We also attended church this week to celebrate the Harvest festival. It was a lovely occasion and gave us the chance to be generous and try to help our wider community and give thanks for the things that we have. Have a great half-term break, everyone!
14th October
We have had another productive week in year 4, writing a diary entry in the role of the father from our class book, ‘FArTHER’ telling of his journey off to war and the emotions that he felt in leaving his family and his dream of flying behind. We also started to use imperative verbs in order to write a set of instruction that his son could use in creating his very own flying machine. In Maths, we have been finding our own different methods for working out some additions and subtractions, both with and without renaming in a place value chart. In our RE lesson this week, we wrote our own psalms to praise God and say thank you .Science was the topic of the day on Tuesday as well as we spent some time looking at the classification of animals and plants and even created our very own classification keys and food chains!
7th October
In Y4 this week, we have begun to read our new book, ‘FArTHER’ by Grahame Baker-Smith, which tells the short story of how a young boy is entranced by his father's ambition to fly. When his father goes off to war & doesn't return, the boy takes up that dream & makes it come true. We have been using pictures from the book to communicate ideas about where the story is going and started to write a diary entry in the role of the father, explaining the circumstances around him having to leave. In our Maths lessons, we have been using addition to solve problems including addition without renaming and renaming in the ones, tens and hundred columns. In our RE lesson, we are looking at stories of Jesus and how he brought light into people’s lives. In our art lesson we have been making patterns with geometric shapes and in PSHCEE we have been discussing what is and isn’t OK!
30th September
In what has turned out to be a very productive week in Y4, we have completed reading our book, ‘The iron Man’ and also written our newspaper reports about the Iron Man’s epic battle with the space creature, ensuring that we have come up with a catchy headline, wrote in paragraphs and quoted some direct speech from the characters in the book. In our Maths lessons, we have also completed the first chapter in our Maths No Problem scheme and assessed our knowledge through the chapter review. We have now begun to focus on addition and subtraction up to 10,000 and completed the first couple of lessons from chapter 2. In RE, we have learned that some Christians have had to endure great struggles and persevere in difficult circumstances to keep faith in God and follow his way. Our PE lessons have seen us playing both hockey and cricket and in History we have learned how the Industrial Revolution effected and changed Britain.
23rd September
In Y4 this week, we have continued to focus on some of the attributes that we will need to be a successful journalist as we aim to write a newspaper report based on Ted Hughes’, ‘Iron Man’. We have also been honing our reading skills whilst working our way through the book by practising our vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarising skills. In Maths, we continue to work on our times tables but we have also been practising how to round four digit numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000. Our RE lesson this week saw us recalling the story of Jonah and the Whale and we even had a professional cricket player in to teach us some batting and fielding techniques during our PE lesson!
16th September
In our second week back, we have already completed our first extended write of the year! The class have produced some excellent work completing a newspaper report detailing the strange goings-on that we have read about in the first couple of chapters of our class novel, Ted Hughes’ ‘Iron Man’. We made sure that we wrote a catchy headline using alliteration, answered the 5 W’s as all good journalists would and offered some facts and opinions about the story. In our Maths lessons, we have been looking at number patterns and recognising if numbers up to four digits are greater or smaller than comparable numbers. We have been playing hockey in our PE lessons and been working on a fitting tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II in our Music lessons as we learned how to play our national anthem.
9th September
It has been a very positive start to the year, and we are very much ‘business as usual’ in our first week back. This week in Y4, we began to study our new book in our Literacy lessons, Ted Hughes’, ‘The Iron Man’. We are aiming to write a newspaper report about the story, so we have been looking at what makes a good headline, how the 5 W’s work in journalism and the features of a newspaper report. In Maths, we have done a lot of work on place value, looking specifically at number patterns, and comparing and ordering numbers up to 10,000. We have also started to learn about the industrial revolution in History.