Year 4

Friday 21st July 2023

Dear Year 4, 

We all made it! School is out! 

A huge well done to all the children on a wonderful performance at the school play on Thursday.  You were all amazing.

Thank you for all your wonderful cards, lovely messages and generous presents.  The children have been a pleasure to teach this year and we wish them a successful and enjoyable time in Year 5. 

Thank you also for all your help and support over the year, it was very much appreciated. 

Have a fabulous summer holiday and we will see you all in September!

Mrs W, Ms W and the whole Year 4 Team

Friday 14th July 2023

The penultimate week in Year 4 has been spent in exciting and productive ways.

In a challenge entitled Save My Dog, the premise was that some dogs had become ill with a rare virus and there was only sufficient serum to cure two animals. Children worked with photographs and background stories to craft a piece of persuasive writing designed to encourage their classmates to vote to save their beloved hound. Watch this space to see who survives.

Mathematical skills, strategic thinking and allegiances were put to the test in an ongoing game of piracy where children accumulate points often only to have them swapped or stolen or wiped out!

Children also explored, designed, made and evaluated rattle drums. They have begun to recognise the importance of continuous testing and assessment of their products and can consider how to improve and strengthen elements as necessary. Thank you for all the junk modelling materials you supplied - there was plenty for us and for Year 2 and for scenery for the summer production as well.

Looking forward to more fun and frolics in the last week of term!

Ms W and Mrs W

Last set of Y4 spellings!

Adverbs of manner

awkwardly, frantically, curiously, obediently, carefully, rapidly, unexpectedly, deliberately, hurriedly, reluctantly

Commonly misspelled words

your, you’re, quite, tried, alright, before, until, many, off, too

Other homework

Bring your scarecrow costume into school ON MONDAY if you have not done so already.

Please practise our scarecrow dance EVERY DAY. The link to the routine is below:

https://youtu.be/ElEBoNGvb14

Sing along as you do so with If I Only Had a Brain. Words are below:

Wednesday 5th July 2023

Can I urgently repeat my request for children to bring in cardboard tubes, Sellotape centres, clean yogurt pots of any size, clean plastic water bottles and cardboard packaging next Monday or earlier for our final design and technology project? If you have any unwanted large buttons with loops rather than holes, we could use those too. 

Children have also been asked to look out items for their scarecrow costumes. They will need ragged or rolled trousers – perhaps tied at the waist with twine – and an oversized tshirt/waistcoat/jacket in green, brown or another earthy colour.

At the start of next week, we will need to know the number of children who have a HAT (or two) that might be suitable for a scarecrow so we would be grateful if you could prioritise the search for one!

Finally, we are currently trialling the online maths programme, Mathletics, which is an award-winning platform that keeps students engaged with maths through targeted challenges, gaming-based learning, competition and rewards. Children have had a familiarisation session in school this week and it proved to be very popular. A short homework task has now been set for them and they will need to visit https://login.mathletics.com/ to complete it. Everyone has been issued with an individual username and password along with a QR code on a piece of paper. If this has been lost, please ask the office to contact us.

Help for each question can be accessed via the information button in the top right corner. The cross above the information button takes you back to the questions. Immediate feedback is provided for each answer and, if one is incorrect, the information button will show you where you went wrong.

Children have from Thursday morning until 7pm on Sunday evening to complete the task which can be found in the purple 'To Do' tab. Once the homework has been done, they will be free to explore other areas of the website as they choose. 

Thank you as always for your help.

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Comprehension homework - there is no homework this week

Maths

Log into Mathletics.com (see above) and click on the purple button labelled 'To Do'. Complete the task and use the information button to help you if necessary. After that, enjoy the rest of the site and visit as often as you like. 

Spellings

Adverbs of frequency and possibility

regularly, occasionally, frequently, usually, rarely, perhaps, maybe, certainly, possibly, probably

Commonly misspelled words

different, difficult, colour, through, believe, decided, interesting, heard, people, use

Friday 30th June 2023

We have been cheered and surprised in equal measure by the songs that children have named as their favourites this week in celebration of our musical topic, Playlist.

We’ve been treated to the ‘Click Song’ sung by South African singer Miriam Makeba 60 years ago; a charming Hindu devotional song; sporting anthems; classics from the likes of Bob Marley, Elton John and Madonna and modern tunes which have both raised our spirits and made us pause for reflection. Children introduced their choices with confidence and many presentations were thoughtfully written with interesting and honest explanations. We look forward to hearing the final few next week.

In maths, we are focusing on geometry and have learned the names and properties of triangles and how to reflect shapes accurately in a mirror line.

In English, we’ve been considering the various sounds we might hear in different places in preparation for writing our own onomatopoeia poem.

Huge congratulations to all the children for their efforts on Sports Day. Everyone took part without protest and tried their absolute best. Most were modest in victory and good-humoured or resilient in defeat. Your mature and plucky behaviour made the afternoon a pleasant one for all. Well done and thank you. 

Due to staff training, grammar homework was not distributed on Wednesday so please ensure that you learn the words for the Scarecrow Song which you can find below. We will be learning a dance to go with this next week.

It would be helpful too if you could begin finding clothing suitable for a scarecrow costume. You will need ragged or rolled trousers – perhaps tied at the waist with twine – and an oversized tshirt/waistcoat/jacket in green, brown or another earthy colour. Headwear is still under discussion, but we will let you know if we need you to supply something.

Could we also ask you to begin saving cardboard tubes, cardboard packaging, clean yogurt pots of any size and clean plastic bottles for our latest design and technology project? If you have any unwanted large buttons with loops rather than holes, we could use those too. We will need these things in the penultimate week of term but children may bring them into school before then. 

A reminder that our Open Evening takes place next Thursday. See you there!

Ms W and Mrs W

Spellings

Adding the suffix –ous (words ending in ‘e’ drop the ‘e’ but not ‘ge’)

famous, nervous, ridiculous, carnivorous, herbivorous, porous, adventurous, courageous, outrageous, advantageous

Commonly misspelled words

beautiful, sometimes, every, really, where, were, their, there, they’re, went

Friday 23rd June 2023

Science and engineering were the theme of our STEM day this week.  The children have been carrying out science investigations to find which  materials are best to muffle sound.  They looked at how to design a fair test and the variables involved in their experiments.  They also discussed why they needed to carry out an experiment more than once to ensure their conclusions were accurate. 

Mr Miles came in to school, as part of the STEM day activities, and Year 4 enjoyed designing 3D keyrings which will be printed on a 3D printer. Very exciting.

Our afternoon STEM activity was to make a bridge to support 2 toy cars using only one sheet of newspaper. We learnt which shapes make the strongest supports and why.  Please see the photos attached. 

Yesr 4 have also been learning, as part of our topic on sound, how our ears work, that sound is a vibration that travels from a sound source through a medium such as a solid, liquid or gas to our ears and how we can change the pitch and volume of a sound.

Enjoy the sunshine this weekend,

Mrs S and Ms W

Spellings

Adding the suffix –ous (words ending in ‘y’ become ‘i’ and words ending in ‘our’ become ‘or’)

various, furious, glorious, victorious, mysterious, humorous, glamorous, vigorous, odorous, rigorous

High frequency

still, snow, across, top, wind, dark, thing, than, cold, park

Friday 16th June 2023

And so begins the final term of the year. We used the first week to get most of those pesky assessments out of the way so that we can properly enjoy all that is ahead.

Aside from that, we practised converting one unit of length into another and started a new set of books in our group reading activity. We are discussing versions of Charles Dickens’ hair-raising ghost story, The Signalman; the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, The Tinderbox, and Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling adventure, The Three Musketeers.

As an introduction to our latest topic, Playlist, we learned a little about a handful of influential songwriters and musicians including Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Kate Bush, Bob Marley, Prince, Amy Winehouse and Daft Punk. Children have been asked to select a favourite song or instrumental of their own, reflect on why they like it and present the tune and their reasons for choosing it to the class. 

As last term’s homework was heavily focused on maths, we will be setting more English-based homework for the remaining few weeks. On the subject of writing, could all children please be provided with a named blue handwriting pen. Many are still without.

A quick reminder that the Y3/4 Book Club takes place next Tuesday at 12.30pm in Class 4 when Mrs Glover and Ms Wright are looking forward to hearing your thoughts about The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes.

Homework

Spellings

Adding the suffix –ous (no definitive root word)

tremendous, enormous, jealous, serious, hideous, fabulous, curious, anxious, obvious, gorgeous

High frequency

run, best, grow, long, tree, three, where, been, gave, right

Friday 19th May 2023

As the culmination of our learning about electrical circuits, this week Year 4 investigated the insides of a 3-pin plug. Children can identify live, neutral and earth wires, they know which one goes where and they understand the purpose of a fuse. Everyone proved to be a dab hand with a screwdriver and all were able to dismantle plugs. Many were even able to rewire them correctly. Most important of all, pupils were confidently able to identify problems in wiring, they knew why each fault might be dangerous and could explain how to correct it. The world needs more electricians!

Continuing the construction-industry theme, children also grasped the concept of finding the area of rectilinear shapes and revised the method of calculating perimeter. The challenge now is not to confuse the two.

In English, we continued to analyse a variety of fiction, non-fiction and playscript texts in small group sessions. We also began to make a concerted effort to produce writing that focuses on quality rather than quantity.

In other news, children have been gripped by an abridged version of Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein and, on a lighter note, they've been rehearsing enthusiastically for our maypole celebration.

Till next week,

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Spellings:

Adding the suffix –ous (no change to root word)

dangerous, poisonous, mountainous, joyous, synonymous, hazardous, riotous, perilous, momentous, scandalous

High frequency

pulled, clothes, which, end, most, we’re, tell, inside, fly, key

Friday 12th May 2023

Year 4 have put on their dancing shoes and rehearsals have started for Maypole next week.  We are learning a dance called Circassian Circle which we will perform around the maypole. We look forward to seeing you all on Friday for their performance. Hopefully the sun will be shining.

As part of our topic work, we have finished cutting out our peacock feather inspired lino designs and have experimented with paint and inks to compare their effects.    Everyone is very pleased with their final prints.

Maths took place up on the sports field yesterday.  We were learning the difference between perimeter and area. We ran around the perimeter of the rugby pitch and then, lining up, we stretched our arms out to make a meter (roughly) to measure the length and width of the pitch to find its area. 

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs W, Ms W and Miss J

Homework

Spellings

Words ending in –ar / -er (statutory words)

calendar, grammar, regular, particular, peculiar, popular, consider, remember, quarter

High frequency

before, let, ever, girl, looking, miss, please, use, even, along, different, stopped

Friday 5th May 2023

It may have been a short week, but we’ve packed a lot in.

Children are learning to embrace the bar model as a means of clarifying how to solve tricky word problems and have revised the formal method of division.

This term we are benefiting from the chance to read together in small adult-led groups which allow children to practise drawing inferences about characters’ feelings and motives, identify themes, comment on structure and discuss words and phrases that capture their interest.

Our science lessons have seen Y4 creating their own key for classifying vertebrates and they have also investigated the whether different materials behave as electrical conductors or insulators.

We wish you all a celebratory Coronation weekend.

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Spellings

Adding the prefix ex- (meaning ‘out’)

exit, extend, explode, excursion, exchange, export, exclaim, expel, external, exterior

High frequency

fell, eggs, giant, jumped, book, friends, once, looks, because, its

Friday 28th April 2023

Dear Year 4,

We have had a busy start to the term with our new topics.  On Thursday and Fridays, we will be learning about the historical and cultural portrayal of animals in art, in our topic ‘Animal’ and will study the visual qualities of animals through sketching, printmaking and clay modelling. We hope to make clay Bankura horses using all the clay modelling skills we have developed so far this year. 

This week, we have created a peacock feather inspired lino print design and then learnt how to modify them for lino printing, making lines clearer and bolder. The children were very pleased with their finished pieces and we had a gallery moment where we all walked around the classroom and looked at all our fabulous work.

The children will be taking an official times table test at the start of next term so we will be giving times table homework instead of English for a few weeks.  Please do keep practicing times tables in as many different ways as possible.  I have attached a times table grid for reference and a blank times table test. The children should complete the x8 table multiplication wheels for homework. These should be stuck in to their times tables books but a copy is attached.  

The children have brought home a template to design a coat of arms ready for the school celebration of the coronation. Mrs Clare has sent an email home with further details. 

We are excited to have Ms James join us in Year 4 this term. She will be teaching a variety of subjects including PHSE, RE and times tables, along with some of the maths and English.

Have a great weekend

Mrs W, Ms W and Miss J

Spellings:

Adding the prefix auto- (meaning ‘self’ or ‘own’)

autograph, autobiography, automatic, autofocus, autocorrect, autopilot, autorotate, automobile, autonomy, autocue

High frequency

keep, morning, river, room, queen, eyes, wish, liked, last, each

Friday 21^st April 2023

Science plays a big part in our learning this term as we study animal and plant classification and electrical circuitry. Children will be enjoying two class texts which complement the lessons. Lob by Linda Newbery is about a mysterious, garden-dwelling green man and the other is the classic story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, abridged and published by Ladybird.

In maths, we have been putting last term’s understanding of decimal place value to use as we learn to write and compare amounts of money. In English, we have tried to improve our powers of description by selecting appropriate verbs as well as adjectives.

Please note that maths homework (green books) is due on Wednesdays this term and English homework (blue books) will be collected at the end of the week. Pens and pencils are already in short supply – we would be grateful if you could check that your child has the equipment they need.

With thanks,

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Spellings:

Adding the prefix anti- (meaning ‘against’)

antiseptic, anticlockwise, antisocial, antidote, antivenom, anti-ageing, antifreeze, antiperspirant, antigravity

High frequency

why, sleep, bad, floppy, coming, cried, feet, tea, really, he’s

Friday 31st March 2023

Dear Parents and Children,

Year 4 had a busy week to end the term.  Easter cards and learning about atmospheric perspective in art, rounding decimals and a fabulous performance in the Easter Service today.  

Our creative curriculum topics next term are Electrical Circuits, Grouping and Classifying and in art we will be doing clay sculptures of animals. 

Please see details of the whole school Easter holiday homework below:

Take part in BBC Children in Need’s Royally Big Portrait!

BBC Children in Need’s Royally Big Portrait is celebrating the historic coronation of King Charles III and children’s creativity.

The Royally Big Portrait is a giant digital portrait of King Charles III that will feature thousands of individual portraits of the King drawn by primary school pupils from across the UK.

All you need to do is watch the art tutorial below and create your portrait of King Charles III in black pen only and sign with your first name or initials.  Parents, you will need to upload your child's picture following the simple instructions below:

1. Snap a photo of your child’s portrait of King Charles III on their BBC Children In Need’s Royally Big Portrait worksheet. Try to ensure the paper is as flat and non-creased as possible.

2. Go to BBC Children in Need homepage (bbc.co.uk/cin) where you’ll find links to information on The Royally Big Portrait, as well as instructions to ‘Upload Here’ to upload your child’s drawing through our easy-to-use webform.

3. Portrait artist Sam Barnett will email you a link to the digital portrait when it has been created so you can see your child’s work in The Royally Big Portrait.

4. You can then share this link with family and friends to celebrate your child’s creativity and the historic Coronation of King Charles III.

Please see parent letter from Children in Need with further details.  The deadline to upload artwork is Friday 21^st April. 

Get involved to be part of history!

Tutorial:

https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/schools/primary-school/bbc-children-in-needs-royally-big-portrait/tutorial/

More information:

https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/schools/primary-school/bbc-children-in-needs-royally-big-portrait/

Have a great Easter holiday!

Mrs W and Ms W

SPELLINGS

Adding the prefix inter- (meaning ‘between’ or ‘among’)

interact, interfere, intercity, international, intermediate, internet, intergalactic, interrupt, intervene, interlude

High frequency:

another, boat, air, gone, rabbit, great, window, trees, hard, white

Friday 24th March 2023

After a thrilling end to last week with an overnight stay at Bewl Water, Year 4 was treated to a delightful Monday of music courtesy of the multi-talented Sally Higham. Children were invited to consider the origins of music and its purpose before learning to create different sounds and beats on djembe drums. Later in the day, we were taught something about musical notation and we wrote and played our own rhythms. We finished the day by singing a couple of well-known but deceptively complex pop songs in two parts.

This week, we also built on our existing knowledge of Scratch to begin producing animations of the water cycle and we learned about six simple mechanisms which form the basis of many everyday items and make our lives easier.

Our performance poem for the Easter service on the last day of term is shaping up nicely and the children are displaying some super acting skills and speaking with increasing volume, clarity and expression. For a costume, please provide your child with a tea towel to wear on their heads and, if possible, a hairband or pair of discarded tights to secure it.

It was a pleasure to catch up with some of you at parents’ consultations this week and we look forward to seeing the rest of you next Wednesday.

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Spellings

Statutory spelling challenge words

length, strength, purpose, history, different, difficult, separate, suppose, therefore, knowledge

High frequency

hot, birds, suddenly, mother, hat, sun, duck, told, sat, horse

Friday 17th March 2023

We have all made good progress in our understanding of decimal place value and are now familiar with both tenths and hundredths. We’ve learned to express possibility using modal verbs and further improved our proofreading skills. Our knowledge of evaporation and condensation helped us to understand the different stages of water cycle and we began staging a performance poem about Jesus healing a lame man for our Easter service at the end of term.

With Easter in mind, we raised the roof with our rehearsal of the hymn, Jerusalem. To make sure we do this rousing anthem justice in the church, please listen to the link below and try to familiarise yourselves with the lyrics.

Our residential trip to Bewl Water at the end of the week was eagerly anticipated and an update will be sent separately.

Thank you for the tubes, boxes and so forth that you have provided. If you manage to gather any bits and pieces over the weekend, do send them in.

In addition to this, we would like every child to bring a small bag of leaves, twigs, grasses, seeds etc. to school on Wednesday. These can be freshly picked or dried out – it doesn’t matter.

Your help, as always, is greatly appreciated.

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Maths

Learn/refresh your times tables.

Spellings

Word families based on common words

solve, solution, insoluble, dissolve, solvent, sign, signature, assign, design, signal

High frequency

found, laughed, let’s, fun, any, better, lived, much, place, under

Request for materials

In the final two weeks of term, we will be exploring simple machinery and designing and making some of our own. The following materials would be very useful. Please send in whatever you can in the coming days. Thank you.

• Plastic bottles
• Plastic bottle caps
• Cereal boxes
• Small cardboard boxes
• Wire coat hangers
• Cardboard tubes from rolls of tin foil/cling film/baking parchment
• Egg boxes
• Small yogurt pots

Friday 10^th March 2023

Swimming week and everyone enjoyed the sessions and showed a real willingness to learn and improve. It was a pity we had to miss our visit on Wednesday because of the snow, but I don’t suppose anyone minded too much!

In maths, we some worked on calculating periods of time and introduced decimal fractions. In English, we revisited subordinate conjunctions and clauses and in our geography topic, we revised the names and positions of continents, learned about cardinal and intercardinal compass points and located famous mountain ranges throughout the world.

Some children are still without blue handwriting pens. We’d be grateful if you could check to see whether your child has the equipment they need as the time it takes for them to borrow items from kind friends could be better used.

A reminder that, due to staff training, PE this week will take place on MONDAY morning rather than on Wednesday.

Have a good, if chilly, weekend.

Ms W and Mrs W

HOMEWORK

Geography/English

Please select one of the four UK mountains below and complete the appropriate activity sheet with details about location, height, type of mountain, closest village or town, climate, wildlife and leisure and tourism - plus an interesting fact.

Remember that I want to see detailed research and good literacy skills. Copy given spellings carefully, join your handwriting, use full sentences when necessary and punctuate your work accurately.

Your choices are:

• Ben Nevis
• Scafell Pike
• Snowdon
• Slieve Donard

Spellings 

Word families based on common words showing how words are related in form and meaning.

phone, phonics, microphone, telephone, homophone, real, reality, realistic, unreal, realisation

High frequency:

thought, door, may, only, ran, dog, many, know, well, sea

Maths Homework - Mental Arithmetic 

Sheets are in your maths homework books - spare copies are pinned to the board in the classroom.  Please do not spend more than 20 minutes on this.  

Wednesday 8th March 2023

Hello Year 4,

Geography/English

As we unexpectedly have a day off school, you might like to get a head start on the homework we discussed yesterday. Please select one of the four UK mountains below and complete the appropriate activity sheet with details about location, height, type of mountain, closest village or town, climate, wildlife and leisure and tourism - plus an interesting fact.

Remember that I want to see detailed research and good literacy skills. Copy given spellings carefully, join your handwriting, use full sentences when necessary and punctuate your work accurately.

Your choices are:

• Ben Nevis
• Scafell Pike
• Snowdon
• Slieve Donard

Maths

For eager mathematicians, I have also attached some maths problems connected with time.

Worksheet 5 asks you to convert years to months and weeks to days. (Remember there are 12 months in 1 year and there are 7 days in 1 week.)

If you fancy challenging yourself to problems about the duration of time, Worksheet 6 offers more of the type of questions we practised yesterday.

Oh, and ask someone to give you this spelling test! The word in red scores a bonus point.

1. A citizen of this city has had an accident at the cinema and needs special medicine.
2. Decide which exercise is your favourite.
3. Circle the decimal number.
4. You must take a red bed into the garden.
5. Who didn’t play something fast on the recorder?

New spellings to learn for next week's test:

Word families based on common words showing how words are related in form and meaning.

phone, phonics, microphone, telephone, homophone, real, reality, realistic, unreal, realisation

High frequency:

thought, door, may, only, ran, dog, many, know, well, sea

Friday 3rd March 2023

Last Friday, a Royal Tea Taster visited the Year 4 classroom.  We tried a number of different teas including, earl grey, green, English breakfast, Darjeeling, mint and Rooibos.  Forgetting all our table manners, The Royal Tea taster demonstrated how we should taste the tea.  We had to slurp the tea loudly, to ensure plenty of oxygen was pulled into our mouth. This aerated the tea and enhanced the flavours. We then allowed the tea to roll over our tongue as we breathed out through our nose, keeping our mouth closed. Finally, we swallowed the tea. Not sure we liked them all! We then wrote our tasting notes describing the colour, appearance, smell and taste of each tea.  We have now designed and written a label for our favourite tea using interesting synonyms for taste and smell, such as a top-note of, a bouquet of, a whiff of, a riot of…

Please enjoy the pictures from World Book Day – everyone looked fabulous and had made such an effort.  Congratulations to Jacob, the Year 4 winner, who was the Minotaur from Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan.  We also had Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol, several wizards from Harry Potter, Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web, Little Miss Sunshine, the Truth Pixie from The Boy called Christmas, Maria from Maria’s Island by Victoria Hislop, the BFG, Willow Moss from Starfell by Dominique Valente and Little Krishna from the story by Chaya Baliga.

We all enjoyed listening to Mr Hogan reading Robinson Crusoe after the World Book Day parade. A big thank you from us all.

Next week is swimming for Year 4 so do remember a snack and a reading book to take with you.   

There is no maths homework this week but, instead, please research a river, find some interesting facts and record your findings (see sheet attached). Do please continue to practise your times tables.  There will be another times table grid test on Friday.  We are looking for our next champion to achieve 100/100 in 5 minutes.  Could it be you? 

Have a great weekend.

Mrs W and Ms W

Spellings:

Words with a ‘soft c’ spelled with ‘ci’

circle, decide, medicine, exercise, special, cinema, decimal, accident, city, citizen

High frequency

play, something, garden, who, take, red, bed, fast, didn’t

Friday 24th February 2023

This week saw the introduction of our latest topic – Misty Mountain, Winding River. We learned that a mountain is not a mountain unless it has an elevation of at least 610 metres and we familiarised ourselves with their principal features. Likewise, children followed the journey of a river from its source to the sea and expanded their geographical vocabulary no end.

Standing proudly in the classroom are the clay models children created in the style of Ancient Sumer and Ancient Egyptian figurines for our last topic. They are ready to come home now, but it would perhaps be wise to bring a special bag and perhaps something soft to wrap them in so that they travel safely and remain intact.

In maths, we have studied different ways of displaying data and children are now beginning to be able to draw pictograms, tables, bar and line graphs and to read the information they present.

In English, we grappled with the present perfect tense – how it is constructed and why we use it. (Apparently, not many languages do.)

Homework days have flipped once more and English is now due on Wednesdays with maths coming later on. It was good to see most pupils with a blue handwriting pen. Thank you.

Looking ahead, the words to the songs we will be singing at our Easter service can be found below. We’ll be rehearsing them over the coming weeks and would be grateful if children could begin to get to know the lyrics before then.

Spellings:

Words with the /s/ sound spelled with ‘sc’

science, crescent, discipline, fascinate, scent, scissors, ascent, descent, scientist, scenery

High frequency:

king, or, our, through, baby, town, took, two, way, fish

Maths homework - sheet in books.  Due in Friday 3rd March 

Wednesday 8th February 2023

Spellings:

Words with a ‘soft c’ spelled with ‘ce’

centre, century, certain, recent, experience, sentence, notice, celebrate, ceremony, certificate

High frequency

I’ve, school, has, around, think, yes, stop, mouse, every, home

Friday 3rd February 2023

This week, we started one of our companion projects to Ancient Civilizations, Islamic Art.  We have been learning about the features of Islamic art, making geometric patterns and motifs on paper, which involved grappling with compasses to draw a series of similar circles on a grid.  By adding circles at intersection points the children learnt to create repeating patterns which they then coloured in, making sure everything was symmetrical.  They were all very pleased with their motifs. Well done, Year 4. Next week, we will use our new knowledge to create a high relief clay tile, decorated with geometric patterns.

In maths, we have continued our topic on fractions, learning how to add and subtract fractions with the same denominators.  A little tricky at times but everyone persevered and good progress was made.

In our topic on the Ancient Civilizations, Year 4 imagined how Howard Carter would have felt when he first discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, when he made a small hole in an internal door in an antechamber and peered through and saw amazing treasures shining in the light of his candle.  The children wrote some fabulous expanded noun phrases to describe the incredible scene in a diary entry. 

Have a great weekend.

Mrs W and Ms W

Spellings:

Nouns ending in the suffix –ation

creation, radiation, indication, ventilation, relegation, dedication, demonstration, abbreviation, translation, vibration

High frequency

shouted, first, car, man, after, us, work, couldn’t, going, wanted

Friday 25th January 2023

We have begun to tackle fractions this week and, while these can be tricky, children have so far shown good understanding. Times tables recall is really important for finding equivalent fractions so do keep practising.

In group reading, we considered words and phrases that interest the reader. Later in the week, expanded noun phrases were the focus of an enjoyable Post-it-filled English lesson. We shall shortly be working on an adventure story and I look forward to seeing some gripping descriptive writing.

Our topic work involved learning about the hierarchy of the Sumer society by examining mosaic images that decorate the Standard of Ur – an ancient, hollow wooden box which can be see at the British Museum. We also handled some replica Egyptian artefacts borrowed from Hall Place in Bexley.

Some children are still without blue handwriting pens – or are using novelty pens and biros which are not suitable for schoolwork. Please make every effort to ensure they have the equipment they need to produce high quality work in which they can take pride. For safekeeping and to avoid disagreements, do take the trouble to name each item.

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Spellings: 

Nouns ending in the suffix –ation

information, adoration, sensation, preparation, education, location, exaggeration, concentration, imagination, organisation

High frequency

over, never, narrator, how, things, magic, next, small, did, new

Friday 20th January 2023

It has been another busy week in Year 4 from learning how to divide 2-digit and 3-digit numbers, to designing our own Egyptian burial mask and writing a job description for a pharaoh. We considered the difference between fact and opinion and debated how Tutankhamun might have died.  Did he die of malaria, a terrible chariot accident or was he murdered? Class 4 decided he had been murdered by Vizier Ay. 

This afternoon, the children created a self-portrait as a rich, all powerful pharaoh dressed in an elaborate head-dress and linen shirt, with the occasional false beard. We will be displaying their fabulous creations in the classroom.

Next week, we will be learning about mummification and looking forward to a presentation by a few members of the class who went to the British Museum to see the Egyptian artefacts and hieroglyphics.   

Could we please ask that you check all pencil cases and restock where necessary?  We have a number of children constantly borrowing and asking for spare pens, pencils and rubbers.  Thank you.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs W and Ms W

Wednesday 18th January 2023

Spellings

Homophones and near homophones

cereal, serial, check, cheque, through, threw, draft, draught, stares, stairs

High frequency

good, again, I’ll, boy, soon, want, cat, round, animals, night

Friday 13th January 2023

As well as studying the Egyptians, we began this week to take a look at the Ancient Sumer who established their sophisticated style of living long before the Pharaohs got round to it. Children can confidently describe some of the features of a civilisation and know that the first organised society grew in a part of the world that is now known as Iraq. If they were paying attention, they may also be able to say why.

In English we read The King who Banned the Dark by Emily Haworth-Booth. This led us to consider what we might choose to ban if we had the power to do so. Fresh from an exotic Christmas holiday in a faraway place, Ms Wright shared her explanation of why she would ban reclining seats on aeroplanes. Children then began work on a piece of writing detailing, in carefully structured paragraphs, exactly what they would ban and why. Some ideas were original, surprising and frankly quite distressing - such as those who want to see an end to pizza, fish and chips and jacket potatoes (in restaurants only)!

In maths we are furthering our understanding of multiplication and division and learned to divide by one, the meaning of commutativity and how to multiply three numbers together.

Homework days have swapped again this term so maths is now due on Wednesdays and English should be completed by the end of the week.

Please ensure that your child has a blue handwriting pen and a reading book in school every day.

With thanks,

Ms W and Mrs W

Spellings:

Homophones and near homophones:

accept, except, affect, effect, aloud, allowed, weather, whether, whose, who’s

High Frequency: water, bear, find, these, live, away, can’t, more, began, say

English Homework - due in Friday 20th January 

Please research and then write a short paragraph about one of the Egyptian Gods. We will then share some of your interesting facts with the class next week. 

You can add a drawing or a picture of your God to your writing, if you would like to, and we can share these with the class too.

Some useful websites:

https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/history/ancient-egypt/ancient-egyptian-gods-and-goddesses/  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zg87xnb/articles/z4m8pg8

https://www.historyforkids.net/egyptian-gods.html  

Friday 6th January 2023

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Our topic, this term, is Ancient Civilisations and we were fascinated by a map and timeline of the different civilisations included Ancient Sumer, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Aztec, Shang Dynasty, Indus Valley, Ancient Roman and Maya.  We learnt that these civilisations existed in different parts of the World and were around for different lengths of time; some overlapped although they would not have been aware of each other.  

We also had fun writing our names in Egyptian hieroglyphs and learning all about how the Ancient Egyptians lived in towns and cities along the River Nile.

Next week, the children are needed on an archaeological dig to find artefacts from Egypt.  They will be digging for Nefertiti, King Tutankhamen, Isis, an amulet, a mummy case, a scarab, the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx and a model of the god Thoth.  We will be considering what these artefacts tell us about life in Ancient Egypt.

Thank you, from the whole Year 4 team, for all your Christmas cards, lovely messages, which we enjoyed reading over the holidays, and generous gifts.   

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs W and Ms W

Homework

Spelling Test on Wednesday 11th January 2023

Statutory spelling challenge words (unstressed vowels)

interest, experiment, potatoes, favourite, imagine, material, promise, opposite, minute, increase

High frequency

they, about, your, like, here, was, back, said, are, little

Friday 16th December 2022

Dear Year 4,

Our topic next term is Ancient Civilizations.  We will be learning about the history of two of the world’s first ancient civilisations: ancient Sumer and ancient Egypt. Children will learn about the rise, life, achievements and eventual end of each civilisation.

Watercolour painting club should be very proud of their fabulous ‘Walk in a Winter Snowstorm’ pictures.  Please see the photos attached.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the whole Year 4 team!

Mrs W and Ms W

Monday 12th December 2022

Good morning Year 4!

I imagine you were all thrilled to see the snow yesterday evening and are probably even more delighted that you have the chance to play in it today.

And that is your first task – get out there and make snowmen, snow angels, snow balls, snow something or other before the solid water becomes liquid water due to… yes, a rise in temperature. This is changing states of matter in action! If you make a snowperson, do enter the inter-house competition by sending a photograph to the school office.

When you get back indoors and have warmed up, you might like to have a go at re-writing ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The sheet below explains how you can revise your knowledge of word classes and create a funny rhyme at the same time. Bring your new versions into school, and we can enjoy them together. Don’t forget to practise your lines from the original poem because I don’t quite know when we will be able to rehearse together again!

There are also some maths challenges attached – do at least two if you have time. Some are easier than others. (Choose those that involve some thinking – they are the most satisfying.) Remember that we have been practising working in an organised way to make sure that our method is efficient and misses nothing out. Use the answer sheet to show your workings.

Finally, you might like to make a prototype of the Christmas packaging you have designed. The template for the net we are using is below. You could print it on A4 paper, cut it out carefully and have a go at folding it into shape.

I hope those of you who were poorly last week have recovered and that no one else feels unwell.

What a lot of advent calendar windows we’ll have to open tomorrow!

Take care and have fun,

Ms Wright

Friday 9th December 2022

It’s been a relatively quiet week as so many of you have been rather poorly. But those of us who have made it into school have learned how computers use algorithms to discover passwords quickly and, in so doing, we better understand how we can improve our own cyber security.

In maths, we’ve battled with some tricky word problems and in English we learned how to use the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns. We have also turned our attention to food packaging and its various purposes. Children have been given a brief to create a box suitable for a festive treat. They may use only three colours and the pack should appeal to children aged 7-11 years. Some children may ask you to help them source certain craft items to allow them to realise their design.

Singing rehearsals are going splendidly and we are trying to remain optimistic that we will have a full turnout for the performance of our Christmas poem at the carol concert on Wednesday evening.

There is no homework this week, but we ask that you learn the latest spellings, stay on top of those times tables and read for 15 minutes every day.

Ms W and Mrs W

Spellings:

Statutory spelling challenge words (unstressed vowels)

interest, experiment, potatoes, favourite, imagine, material, promise, opposite, minute, increase

High Frequency

they, about, your, like, here, was, back, said, are, little

Friday 2nd December 2022

This week, we have had the delicate job of dissecting owl pellets on black card to show up all the tiny bones and skulls using tweezers.  The children were able to identify what the owl had eaten for his tea using the identification charts.  Amazingly, it is possible to distinguish between a bird and a small rodent, such as a vole, just by examining the shape and size of the bones found.  Please see attached some of the photos of what we discovered.  It was interesting to learn that owl pellets are the regurgitated parts of an owl’s dinner that it cannot digest. 

In our small topic Interconnected World we learnt about the counties in the Tropics and enjoyed using atlases and looking at Google Earth. 

Have a lovely weekend and we will see you at the Christmas Fair.

Mrs W and Ms W

Homework:

Please make sure you have learned the lines that you will be performing from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Perhaps you could try out one or two actions to go with them as well. A reminder of the words and who's saying what is below.

Also attached are the words to our Christmas concert song, Mary, Did You Know?  It is very important that you get to know these really well over the weekend as we haven't performed it before and there is not much rehearsal time left. 

Spellings:

(Words with ‘ough’ to make a long /o/, /oo/ or /or/ sound.)

though, although, dough, through, breakthrough, thought, bought, brought, fought ought

High frequency: their, there, people, don’t, when, went, what, to, too, off

Friday 25th November 2022

December is upon us so we spent some time reading, exploring and commenting upon Clement Clarke Moore’s classic poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas.  We then considered how we will use tone, intonation, volume and actions to bring the poem to life when we perform it at our Christmas Carol Concert. Children have been allocated a line or two to learn by heart.

In other news, we measured the temperature of ice as it melted. Children read the thermometer every 15 minutes and presented their results in a line graph. In maths, we have built our understanding of division and how it relates to multiplication and, in an unplugged computer lesson, we investigated how to decompose a sequence in order to learn and de-bug it.

Spellings

Words with a /shuhn/ sound spelt with –cian (if root word ends in ‘c’ or ‘cs’). 

musician, politician, electrician, magician, mathematician, dietician, technician, beautician

High Frequency

his, some, looked, people, make, but, so, very, your, an

English Homework

Please learn your lines from A Visit from St Nicholas and complete the comprehension questions in your books.

A written copy of the poem can be found below and here is a link to an animated version.

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/go/resource/tg-a-28-twas-the-night-before-christmas-motion-story

Friday 18th November 2022

It has been another busy week in Year 4.  We’ve been learning about the different types of teeth – incisors, canines, pre-molars and molars and why different animals have different teeth depending on their diet. 

As part of this fun science topic, we made a model of a digestive system, last week, using an old pair of tights for the small intestine, green and red food colouring to represent the bile and enzymes which help to break down the food and a large bucket for a toilet.  As you can imagine there was much face pulling, fingers on noses…  Some photos are attached.

We have continued our digestion theme writing a descriptive story about our own journey as a piece of food through a digestive system.  We have celebrated some fabulous descriptive phrases, similes and adjectives. 

Last Saturday, Darrell was live on the radio with two scientists from the Natural History Museum talking about why leaves change colour in autumn. The recording has been turned into a podcast which we listened to in class earlier this week.  The link is below if you would like to listen to the whole recording. 

Why do the leaves change colour in autumn? | The Saturday Splash for Kids (podbean.com)  

Congratulations to Darrell who spoke with confidence and demonstrated his excellent science knowledge.  We also loved his choice of song at the end of the show. 

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Wetz and Ms Wright

Spellings

Words with a /shuhn/ sound spelt with –tion (if root word ends in ‘te’ or ‘t’ or has no definite root.

invention, injection, action, question, mention, attraction, translation, devotion, position, solution

High Frequency: for, be, it's, got, asked, at, like, see, their, saw 

Friday 11th November 2022

The holiday’s over, the nights are dark and the weather has been rubbish so in Y4 we’ve been cheering ourselves up with a new story, a new maths chapter and new topics.

Our maths focus is times tables and everyone will set themselves an achievable target for improvement. Without a good recall of these important facts, all maths is much harder than it need be.

In English, we have used the picture book Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper to revise how to punctuate direct speech and consider ambitious verbs for ‘said’.

Our topics this term are science-based and will examine states of matter, food and the digestion system.

Please note that the homework deadlines have swapped this term. English homework (and spellings) is due on Wednesdays and maths homework should be handed in at the end of the week.

A gentle reminder also that children should have a blue handwriting pen in school. A great many pupils in Y4 do not. Erasable Frixion pens are popular and some children favour the ergonomically-designed Stabilo pens. Novelty pens have their place, but should not be used for schoolwork. It is wise to name the pens and to provide a spare if possible.

Now that it is colder and wetter, we ask too that children bring a coat into school. A spell outdoors each day is healthy for mind and body and we only remain indoors at break times when the weather is truly awful.

On a brighter note, we would like to encourage children to join the Y3/4 Book Club which is to run at lunchtime once a term. Our first meeting this year is to be on Tuesday 6^th December when we shall be discussing Hubert Horatio: How to Raise Your Grown-Ups by Lauren Child. Do get hold of a copy and start reading so that you can join us to share your views.

Thank you.

Ms W and Mrs W

Spellings

Words with a /shuhn/ sound spelt with ‘ssion’ (if root word ends in ‘ss’ or ‘mit’).

expression, discussion, confession, permission, admission, transmission, possession, profession, depression, impression

High Frequency:

she, have, big, oh, here, is, went, when, about, off

Friday 21st October 2022

To conclude our topic this week, children learned how the Anglo Saxon and Viking invasions were brought to an end by the Normans in 1066 and they re-enacted the famous battle between Harold Godwinson and William, Duke of Normandy. In the pictures, you can clearly see the strong shield wall of the Anglo Saxons and the Norman archers who may eventually have killed Harold.

Our trip to Lullingstone Roman Villa was a fabulous culmination to the term and to our first topic Invasion.  A huge thank you to the parents who accompanied us – these trips would not be possible without your help. 

We took part in an educational workshop and enjoyed an archaeological dig, in sand trays, looking for artefacts. We discovered what these can tell us about history and how people lived in the past.  The children were impeccably behaved and were enthusiastic, asking many relevant and intelligent questions.

Our focus next term is on science.  We will be studying solids, liquids and gases and their characteristic properties. We will observe how materials change state as they are heated and cooled, and learn key terminology associated with these processes.

We will also be learning about the human digestive system, exploring the main parts, starting with the mouth and teeth, identifying teeth types and their functions.  The children will also have the opportunity to make a working model of a digestive system – yes, it is as disgusting as it sounds. 

Hope you all have a fabulous half term holiday!

Mrs W and Ms W

Spellings

Words with a /shuhn/ sound spelled with ‘sion’ (if root word ends in ‘se,’ ‘de’ or ‘d’)

expansion, extension, comprehension, tension, corrosion, supervision, fusion, conclusion, persuasion, suspension

High frequency

they, out, down, now, Mrs, on, this, dad, came, called

English homework: there is no English homework for half term. 

Friday 14th October 2022

Monday’s book sharing activity was a resounding success. Children chatted about their current reading material with older pupils and were introduced to some titles and authors that may interest them in the future. Then, on Tuesday, the school enjoyed a visit from library representative, Mandy Turnbull, to celebrate its success in the Kent Libraries Reading Challenge.

In class, we’ve practised mental methods of addition and formal methods of subtraction; learned to spot a fronted adverbial and how to punctuate them when we write; considered the ideas of disobedience, blame and forgiveness in the story of Adam and Eve and compared the everyday lives of Anglo Saxon and Viking invaders.

Please help your child remember to bring homework in on time – there are often a few missing and this makes marking problematic. We also ask that they have a reading book (in which they have an interest) in school and a blue handwriting pen.

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Only ONE page of the attached homework needs to be completed - unless we (or you!) say otherwise.

Spellings

Words with /shun/ endings spelled with –sion if root word ends in ‘se,’ ‘de’ or ‘d’

division, invasion, confusion, decision, collision, television, revision, erosion, inclusion, explosion

High Frequency:

was, what, do, get, if, you, there, me, just, help

Friday 7th October 2022

Dear Year 4

We have been planning our own diary entries this week, imagining what everyday life in Weslandia would have been like.  Amazing adjectives and noun phrases have been a focus and the children have enjoyed sharing their ideas.  Our maths topic of addition has continued with the children using established mental strategies including number bonds to ten, rounding and adjusting to add 3 and 4 digit numbers in their heads with jottings to help them remember the different steps.

Scratch was used, in our computing lesson today with Mr Miles, to code a Viking ship to invade an Anglo-Saxon Village.  The children were learning to code different sprites and to give the impression that a character was moving they could change its costume.  All very technical and Mrs Wetz definitely needed help.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Wetz and Ms Wright

Spellings:

Homophones and near homophones

medal, meddle, missed, mist, scene, seen, board, bored, which, witch

High Frequency:

of, my, one, him, time, it, her, them, Mr, I’m

If you find it difficult to learn all the spellings, focus on the words in red.

Literacy homework - due in Friday 14th October

Anglo-Saxon Kings Comprehension - this will be stuck into homework books. 

Friday 30^th September 2022

It’s already time to plough the fields and scatter and we look forward to seeing as many of you as can manage it at our Harvest Festival Service in St Mary’s Church on Wednesday.

Year 4’s PE lesson will be postponed until the afternoon next week and children MUST come to school in a smart WINTER uniform on the day. They should bring their PE kit in a bag to change into after lunch.

Children have been provided with an envelope to decorate and bring back to school on Tuesday with a donation to our chosen charity, WaterAid. We are hoping for some exquisite artwork this year as, once emptied, the envelopes will be mounted on display in the church.

We are also supporting the Edenbridge Food Bank and ask for you to donate an item of non-perishable and in-date food. These can also be brought into school on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

On the subject of food, please continue to ensure that school snacks are healthy and, whenever possible, that they are packaged in reusable containers.

In school this week, we have revised our understanding of sentence delineation, discovered some of the reasons that the Anglo Saxons chose these shores to invade and written a letter from Vortigern (king of the Britons) to the Angles, Saxons and Jutes extoling the virtues of our fine land in the fifth century CE.

Children have also used their understanding of rounding to estimate amounts and have been introduced to negative numbers.

In RE, we have considered how we are the keepers of the Earth and have all made personal promises to do something this week to make the world a better place. Please encourage your child to share their idea and also to help them achieve it. We would love to hear what they have done and/or see photographs to prove it!

Have a good weekend,

Ms W and Mrs W

Homework

Spellings (Only eight this week!)

Adding the prefix il- before a root word starting with ‘l’ and the prefix ir- before a root word starting with ‘r’

illegal, illegible, illogical, irregular, irrelevant, irresponsible, ­­irrational, irresistible

High Frequency:

he, up, no, from, day, I, had, mum, children, made

Friday 23rd September 2022

Dear Year 4,

Although a rather wet end to the week, Year 4 have had a great time.  They enjoyed weaving in Forest School learning how cloth would have been made in the Middle Ages.  We are going to display their creations in the classroom.

In maths, Year 4 have been rounding 4 digit numbers to the nearest 1000, 100 and 10 and our new favourite word is myriad.

This afternoon we made and decorated Viking shields to add to our Viking longboat display.  These were made with symmetrical patterns and shapes and were painted in bright colours. 

The children have literacy homework this week – please see the sheet stuck inside their new literacy homework books. 

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Wetz and Ms Wright

Spellings

Adding the prefix im- before a root word starting with ‘m’ or ‘p’

immature, immeasurable, impossible, immortal, imperfect, impatient, immoveable, impolite, important, improper

High Frequency:

said, can, little, into, too, in, are, as, back, by