Return to Classes

Year 4

Mr Brittin (Class Teacher)

Mrs Ebbs, Mrs Lorek, Mrs Sweeney and Mrs Talley (Support Staff)

Autumn 2024

Year 4 have started the year off well with the enthusiasm and motivation to do the best they possibly can.  

In our English lessons, we have been writing about Roman myths. The children have read a selection of these ancient stories and plotted their own mythological adventures where their hero/heroine must take on a formidable beast or find a treasured artefact.

In our Maths lessons, our focus has been on place value. The children have extended their understanding of numbers up to 10,000. They’ve have honed their estimating and comparison skills, tackled the intriguing challenge of working out 1, 10, 100, and 1000 more or less to given amounts and shown great enthusiasm for rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000. 

History has transported us back to the era of the Anglo-Saxons. Through a study of historical sources, we have unravelled where the Anglo-Saxons came from and the reasons behind their invasion and settling in England following the decline of Roman Britain. The children have also enjoyed playing the role of archaeologists, drawing conclusions from fascinating archaeological discoveries at Sutton Hoo.  We are very close to finding out the mystery of ‘Who was buried at Sutton Hoo?’

In Science, we have been exploring the states of matter. The children have eagerly sorted items into the categories of solids, liquids, and gases. We have investigated gases in fizzy drinks and the various states of matter water takes and how it changes.   

In Art, I have been very impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and artistic expression as we study the works of the renowned Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. The children have uncovered the motivations of Gaudi’s artistic style, mosiac designs and translated our findings into research pages and art studies.  

Summer 2024

This half term, the children have shown great enthusiasm for their learning and have approached each lesson giving 100%. I have be blown away by their continued efforts across the curriculum.
 
In English, the children have been exploring explanation texts.  They have designed their own helpful inventions and used chronological steps to explain how they work.  Year 4 will continue their English lessons, exploring traditional African tales, poems and writing their own play scripts.
 
In Maths, Year 4 have been learning about decimals.  We have used our prior knowledge of place value to partition, order and round decimals.  This links with our work on money, before we learn all about time.  We finish the year learning about shape, position and direction.
 
In Science, we have been exploring electricity.  The children have been able to identify the different parts of a circuit and used these to find out how to light up a bulb.  They have enjoyed the challenge of test out switches.
 
Our topic in History for this half term has been Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings.  The children have loved learning all about the historical events, decisions made by kings and the raids that left Anglo-Saxon England shaken. We’re really looking forward to how peace was finally made and how it made changes to our country.
 
In Art, we have continued our topic on sculpture.  We have explored how artists are inspired by the natural work around them and use this to make their own sculptures inspired by birds’ nests.
 
In PE, the children have been continuing their work on ball games, with a focus on rounders and cricket.  They have really enjoyed having the chance to have a go at all of the different positions, practising their bowling, batting and fielding skills.
 
In PSHE, we have been discussing the relationships we have with our friends and family and how these can change over time.  We’ve explored the emotions we might experience when these relationships change and how we can deal with them.  Despite the sensitive issues that have come up in these lessons, it has been fantastic to see Year 4’s respectful and mature attitude to these in-class discussions.
 
Year 4 should be so proud of all their work this term and we are all really excited to see what the final half term of our time in Year 4 brings.

Spring 2024

Year 4 started the new year excited about the new and interesting things we will be exploring this term. 

Our History topic is the Mayans and the children have identified where the Mayans fit in our history and where their ruins were found. The children are already full of questions and are all curious to know what was discovered in those ruins in Mesoamerica. 

In English, the children have been using the book from our reading lesson ‘Fly Eagle Fly’ to retell the African tale from the eagle’s perspective.  They have included lots of thoughts, feelings and excellent descriptions. Later on this term, we will be exploring how character and setting descriptions are used in fantasy stories.  We will also read the book, ‘Leon and the Place Between’ and the children will rewrite a section in which they are creating their own magical, mysterious ‘Place Between’. 

In Maths this term, Year 4 have begun focusing on multiplication and division. Here we have worked hard using informal and formal methods of multiplication, multiplying 3-digit numbers by 1 digit. We will be moving on to finding the area and perimeter of lots of different shapes including rectilinear shapes and other regular and irregular polygons.  Alongside our Maths lessons, Year 4 are working hard to learn their times tables and it is clear they enjoy the challenge of quick-fire questions throughout the day. 

In PE, we have been focusing on Gymnastics and invasion games.  In Gymnastics, the children have been practising a range of balances, rolls and jumps to create a routine.  To practise invasion games, the children have been practising their netball skills and have been looking at how they pass the ball as well as using all of the space around them to keep the game moving. 

For our Art lessons, the children have been learning all about Still Life.  They have studied the work of famous still life artists as well as using lots of different materials to create their own Still Life pieces.  The children are very excited to start their new DT project in which they will explore how different structures are made, eventually building their own mini green houses. 

In Computing, the children have been exploring how they can create music using software.  They have used garage band to compose their music, investigating the different techniques options and techniques they can use to change their sounds. 

In Science, Year 4 have been learning all about living things and their habitats.  They have explored how animals adapt to their surroundings in order to survive.  They have also learned all about food webs and how all of the different organisms in a habitat work together to keep life going. 

In PSHE, the children have been exploring their dreams and ambitions.  The children have shared what they hope for the future, but we have also explored disappointment and frustration and how we can approach these feelings.  

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