Term 4 

English:

In English, we’ve been diving into the exciting world of adventure stories. We began by analysing a model text, Volcanic Panic, to understand its structure and key features. This helped us see how we could apply similar elements to our own stories. Each student then created a plan, which included the key stages of an adventure: the opening, build-up, dilemma, resolution, and closing. Once the planning was complete, we moved on to drafting our stories, focusing on adding detailed setting descriptions and incorporating direct speech. After editing and improving those drafts, we carefully wrote up our drafts in our best handwriting. Presentation skills across the class have improved a great deal since September.

Maths:

In Maths, we’ve been concentrating on multiplication and division this term. First, we practised multiplying numbers by 10 and 100, using place value grids to visualize the changes. After this, we applied our times table knowledge to larger calculations and used related facts to help us. For example, if we know that 6 x 4 = 24, we also know that 6 x 40 = 240 (because 40 is 10 times bigger than 4). As our times table check approaches in June, we’ll continue to focus on improving our recall of these essential facts.

Science:

In Science, we’ve been studying how to classify and group different species. We began by learning about classification and taxonomy, and then tried sorting animals based on their characteristics. The class explored the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates, and then went further by categorizing vertebrates into mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians.

World Book Day:

For World Book Day, we explored The Rumour by Anushka Ravishankar. This book was a fantastic way to discuss the impact of rumours and how quickly they can change as they’re retold. We delved into the story’s theme, examining how a small piece of gossip can snowball into a wild, exaggerated tale. The children reflected on the idea that even innocent stories can be distorted and the importance of being careful with the information we share. This was a great chance for the class to think about the consequences of spreading unverified stories, both in fiction and in real life.

Other News:

We had a fantastic time celebrating Neurodiversity Day. The children took part in reflective activities where they considered both their strengths and the areas they find more challenging. The day was filled with teamwork exercises, and the class did an excellent job collaborating, with each student contributing their own unique strengths to the group. It was a valuable experience for everyone involved.

Term 3 

Year 4 have started a new Geography topic, ‘Misty Mountain, Winding River’. We focused on rivers in term 3. The children studied the different sections of a river as well as how rivers change the landscape around them. After using atlases to locate famous rivers around the world, the class labelled where they appear on the world map. As well as thinking globally, we have turned our focus locally to discover more about our local river, the River Medway. In the last week of term, we shall be taking an informative walk along the river bank to see what kinds of wildlife, pollution and leisure activities we can see on the day.

English:

In English, we wrote a series of diary entries relating to an imagined boat trip along the River Nile in Egypt. The children tried to include lots of descriptive features to make their writing more interesting. After our diary entry, we began looking at how information leaflets are structured. We examined the features in a model text and then started planning our own (based on the River Medway). The class have some interesting content that showcases their ever-improving skills in English.

Maths:

We began the term by applying our addition and subtraction learning to solve multi-step problems. After that, we moved on to measuring the area of different shapes (by counting squares). We are now focusing on multiplication and division, and will go into greater depth with that topic when we return next term. We continue to test times tables weekly and the children are making steady progress.

Science

In science, we have been studying states of matter. The class have sorted materials into solids, liquids and gases and thought about their different properties. Further to that, we have explored particles and how they behave differently in each state. We have thought about how materials can change state when the temperature changes and discussed how those changes take place throughout the water cycle.

Other news

In Music, the Year 4s have been looking at the Rondo structure and using crotchets, quavers and rests to create their own, short melodies. We have listened to some examples of Mozart’s compositions as well as some more modern music (including the Beatles).

We had a lot of fun learning to bake bread during Jubilee University. First, we studied how yeast works and then investigated the temperature at which it is most active. To explore this, we mixed yeast with water (at different temperatures) and placed the mixture in bottles.  We then put balloons on the bottles and watched them inflate over the afternoon (warm water worked best).  The next day, the children enjoyed baking some hedgehog bread rolls. They also experimented to create other animal-shaped bread. It smelled delicious!

Term 2

Brazilian Parrots have continued to work on the theme of ‘Invasion’, moving their attention from the Anglo-Saxons over to the Vikings. After discussing the infamous raid on Lindisfarne, the class learnt about what made the Vikings an effective raiding force.  We talked about the special longships they used, and how they allowed them to infiltrate Britain’s waterways in such a deadly fashion.  We also looked at Alfred the Great and how his treaty with the Vikings led to the establishment of Danelaw.  

English

The children have been writing non-chronological reports linked to their Invasion topic. Specifically, they have been answering the key question ‘How did the Anglo-Saxon and Viking invasions change Britain?’ Concentrating on areas such as religion, kingdoms and language, the reports use paragraphs, bullet points, subheadings and diagrams to outline a number of ways in which the actions of these invaders influenced the formation of our United Kingdom.

Maths

This term we have been studying addition and subtraction using 4-digit numbers. We have practised exchanging across place value columns in order to calculate accurately. We then moved on to word problems and multi-step problems involving addition and subtraction. To help us understand the problems, we have used different diagrams such as bar models and part-whole models to visualise the questions. We are also continuing to practise our times tables in class and have been learning songs to help us remember them. We complete a weekly times table test and some children have nearly completed all their times tables already. Well done!

Science

In Science, we studied sound. The class observed how different instruments produced sound and, in each case, monitored any vibrations made. We studied sound waves and how the shape varied depending on the type of sound. We then studied the structure of the ear that allows us to hear sounds and the class learnt to recognise peaks, troughs and wavelengths. Lastly, we have learned that sound is measured in decibels and experimented with muffling materials to change the decibel level.

Other news

Year 4s have enjoyed their swimming lessons at Larkfield Leisure Centre. They have made great progress so far and the instructors have been very impressed with them. In our other PE lessons, we have focused on football. We have developed our teamwork skills as well as improving dribbling, passing and turning during a game.

Term 1

English:

The Brazilian Parrots have made a great start to Year 4 and are already producing some excellent work.  Their presentation has improved incredibly and their handwriting is getting better on a daily basis.  This improvement is nowhere more visible than in their Big Write books, where their attention to detail and their desire to show off their presentation skills really shines through.

Having started by reading the classic Anglo-Saxon poem ‘Beowulf’ and discussing the content, the class quickly began to think about how they could write their own ‘hero vs monster’ poems.  We discussed how to create mood and atmosphere (using our very best adjectives to concoct brilliantly descriptive phrases), the weaponry that would have been used by warriors in Beowulf’s age and also the way that heroes and monsters might move when fighting (combining verbs and adverbs to create terms such as ‘leaping heroically’ and ‘slithering menacingly’). 

The resulting poems are great fun to read and, as I’ve already mentioned, a wonderful step forwards in terms of presentation.

Maths:

This term, we have looked at place value in 4-digit numbers. The class have been looking at the value of each of the digits before then moving on to the idea of rounding those numbers to the nearest thousand, hundred and ten.

Of course, with this being year 4, the class are also trying very hard to learn their times tables. In preparation for the end of year multiplication check, we have started completing weekly times tables tests (which are timed).

Science:

After a quick refresher on food chains and predators / prey, we started thinking about what happens once food has been eaten. As such, we are now learning all about the digestive system. We’ve looked at the journey food takes as it passes through our bodies, finding out what happens at each stage of that journey and identifying the individual jobs of the associated organs. Before the end of term 1, we will be setting up a practical (and slightly gross) demonstration about the digestive system, which will help us to further understand the different processes that we’ve been talking about in class.

Computing:

In computing, the children have been manipulating and editing photographs.  We’ve explored rotation, cropping, hue and saturation, colour filters and duplication.  As a result, the children have created some very weird and wonderful images.

Other news

Year 4s have enjoyed the start of their swimming lessons at Larkfield Leisure Centre. The children who are new to swimming have shown great perseverance in the pool and some have already started to move up to the next ability group.  The class listens well at the poolside and will make steady progress if they continue in this vein.

Term 6 - 2023/24

Maths:

Maths this term has been very practical and engaging.

In our Fraction lessons, we continued from where we left off last term to learn how to:

• add and subtract fractions (+Problem solving)
• partition the whole
• recognise unit and non-unit of a set of objects
• reason with fraction of an amount
• problem solve fraction of measures

In our Money lessons, we learnt how to:

• recognise pounds and pence
• convert pound and pence
• add and subtract money
• find change

In our Time lessons, we learnt how to:

• recognise Roman numerals
• tell the time in 5 minutes
• tell the time to the minutes
• read time on a digital clock
• use am and pm
• solve problems involving years, months and days
• recognise days and hours
• recognise the start and end times
• recognise durations
• compare durations
• solve minutes and seconds
• solve problems with time.

The children created their own analogue clock using paper plate and pipe cleaners.

Writing:

We linked our writing to our topic theme- Empires and Emperors. We have been reading various texts in our guided reading lessons. We studied poems, myths and letters and the different structures and vocabulary used in each of these genres. The children have been imaginative and creative with their writing this term. They enjoyed listening to some of their writing pieces read to them in lessons.

Science:

At the start of this term, we revised our work on plant nutrition and reproduction.

We then started out new topic- Light. We have learnt about why light is needed to see things and that there are a range of light sources. We went on to study how darkness is caused by the absence of light and how shadow is created.

We went on to research how to identify reflective materials and select the most reflective material for a particular purpose.

In week 5, we studied various scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Galileo Galilei and created a poster of our chosen scientist.

We investigated how light reflects on smooth and rough surfaces.

Topic:

We explored how the Romans lived and the role of the Emperors. During our immersive afternoon, we made our togas with large pieces of paper and created our crowns. We also made some pottery and created our very own Roman-style jewellery from cards and beads. We also did some drawings and colouring of Roman related art work. We are looking forward to our class trip to the Roman villa in Canterbury.

Art:

We studied mosaics and learnt that mosaics have been used through the ages starting around Ancient Greece and even currently there are many places where different mosaics can be seen. We designed our own mosaic borders and made our own mosaic with coloured pieces of foam and evaluated our mosaic border tiles.

PE:

 This term we continued with our cricket lessons and moved on to learn about how to play tennis and participate in athletic games. Our goal this term for our PE lessons was to show Trust, Self-Motivation, Resilience, Cooperation, Problem Solving.  With our knowledge and skills in athletics we participated in all the activities in our KS2 Sports day this year. We were all able to join in the javelin, long jump, sack race and the relay races- which we all enjoyed.

Big Teach this term was informative and fun. We learnt about some interesting topics including how to play the violin and what to do on a ski ride.

In Jubilee University this term, we studied healthy minds with a focus on Independence and respect. We were able to create our posters on a Balanced Diet and on how to exercise. Canadian Bears went to our year 6 class to present our knowledge on Exercise and Balance Diet. The Year 6s were impressed with our level of knowledge and how well we spoke during our presentation. We felt very appreciated by the Year 6s!