Friday 27^th November

It is hard to believe that we will be heading into December next week. We can hopefully then inexcusably start to talk about Christmas and all the exciting things it encompasses. In the following weeks leading up to the holidays, there are quite a few festive activities planned which we will keep you informed of.

English

This week, the children have started to set the scene for their Roman adventure story by writing a detailed description of their setting and character. We have been really impressed with how imaginative the children have been and with the powerful adjectives and noun phrases they have been using. Next week, the children will plan and write the first draft of their story.

Maths

We moved onto our new topic of measurement. The children used their rulers to accurately measure a range of objects in millimetres and centimetres. They then proceeded to convert between measurements in metres and kilometres. Using a trundle wheel, we measured the distance around our playground to work out how many laps we had to run to make up a kilometre. On Thursday, the children solved a range of word problems having to identify whether they need to add or subtract. Next week, we will be calculating and investigating perimeters.

Science

Having discussed the properties of solids, liquids and gases last week, we moved onto investigating how substances change states. We discussed what happens when we add or take heat away from different substances. We used coloured ice-cubes to demonstrate this.  We then made predictions about which substances melt when heat is added to them and how much heat needs to be added in order for a range of substances to melt.

Geography

This week, we started to learn about some of the different biomes on our planet. Next week we will continue to research the different biomes of our world. Hopefully lots of the children will have made a start on their home learning which focuses on biomes. We look forward to seeing these on the 7^th December.

History

 We have been looking at how the Carthaginian empire was destroyed by the Scipio, a Roman General. Next week, we will be looking at how the Roman class system was created, from the patricians, plebeians and slaves.

RE

We have been looking at the Holy Trinity and Baptism, which will lead into the Incarnation and the coming of the Messiah.

Messages:

Swimming – It is 4K’s turn to swim next week. Please can you ensure that the children in 4K bring in their swimming kids (including their hats) next week. The following week (9^th) will be the last swimming session for Year 4 until January.

Christmas card - This year, to prevent cross contamination, we would like to encourage the children to bring in one Christmas card for the whole class which we can display. If the children would really like to bring in individual cards, these must only be for children in their own class and not for children in other classes. 

Friday 20^th November

What a busy week it has been! We have: performed speeches; acted out states of matter; learnt about how Rome tried to expand their empire and looked at how the Gulf Stream has an impact on our climate.   

English

This week, the children used tea staining to create scroll type paper which they could present the final draft of their speech upon. On Wednesday afternoon, we thoroughly enjoyed listening to the children perform their speeches. Many of the children got into character and had the audience cheering them on. There were helmets, crowns, swords and we even had praetorian guards.

Next week, we are going to move onto writing an adventure story. This will be based on our class reader which is about a young boy and his siblings who are escaping from Rome.  

Maths

This week, we have been focusing on maths puzzles to enable the children to apply a range of mental addition and subtraction strategies. Next week, we will start our new topic of measurement. The children will learn about the metric units of measurement and the relationship between them.  

Geography

Having learnt about how the distance from the equator impacts on the climate of a country, we moved onto looking at how ocean currents can also affect the climate. We recreated the Gulf Stream using boiling water and red food dye. Next week, we will start to look at the different biomes and the animals and plants that might thrive there.  

History

In history this week, we have been looking at how Rome tried to expand its empire by competing with the other powerful empire in North Africa. In addition, we looked at how two military commanders, Hannibal and Scipio, fought against each other in what were called the Punic Wars that lasted over a hundred years.

Science

R.E.

In our lesson this week, we have looked at the meaning of the Holy Trinity and the meaning of the Baptism of Jesus.

Reminders:

Swimming – it will be 4EN’s turn to swim next Wednesday. Please could you ensure that all the children have their kit with them and their hats.

Thank you for your support.

Friday 13^th November

Thank you for following the new drop off and collection rules. We apologise that this makes it more difficult to communicate during this time. Please communicate any important messages via your child’s contact book.

English

This week, we continued our work on speeches. The children planned and wrote a speech as Romulus or Remus explaining why we should vote for them to be the king of Rome. We were impressed with all the persuasive devises that the children used including: empathy, repetition, emotive language, alliteration and rhetorical questions. Next week, the children will be editing, presenting and performing their speech so that we can decide who should rule Rome.

Maths

After working on the formal written method for addition last week, this week we moved onto subtraction. The children learned what to do if the number on top is smaller than the number on the bottom. We then applied this learning to solve a range of word problems. When working on mixed word problems, the children found it difficult to decide whether they should add or subtract. Please involve your children with solving maths problems at home, for example with baking or shopping - this will help them to apply their learning to a range of contexts.

Geography

This week, we started to learn about different climate zones and how the distance from the equator impacts on the climate of a country. Next week we will investigate how the oceans affect the climate of different countries. This term, the home learning project will be based on world biomes. This will be put on the website over the weekend so please keep an eye out for this.

Remembrance

To commemorate Remembrance Day on Thursday, Year 6 created a beautiful poppy display. They made 28 large poppies – each one dedicated to a soldier from Sir Henry Fermor who did not return from the war. The children in Year 4 had an opportunity to go out and appreciate this display. They demonstrated a great level of respect whilst observing these poppies.

Reminders:

Swimming – it will be 4K’s turn to swim next Wednesday. Please could you ensure that all the children have their kit with them and their hats.

P.E. – this term, the children will be doing hockey. We will endeavour to do this outside despite the inclement weather. Please can you ensure that your child has the appropriate P.E. kit with them.

Thank you for your support.

Friday 6^th November

We hope you had a lovely half-term and managed to avoid the persistent rain. It has been lovely to see all the children return to school ready and raring to learn.

English

This week, we started looking at speeches. The children really enjoyed listening to a range of speeches from Prince Charming in Shrek to Winston Churchill’s darkest hour to Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’. Using these speeches, the children identified the different features. They then used these features to write their own speech based on Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’. We were very impressed with how enthusiastic, persuasive and passionate the children were about some important issues in our world.

Maths

The children worked really hard this week when using the formal written method to solve addition problems. They used the column method to solve a range of word problems. Next week, we will move onto using a formal written method to solve subtraction problems.

Geography

When learning about the continents in Geography, it was lovely to hear the children spontaneously burst into a song about the seven continents of the world which they had learned lower down the school. Once we labelled the continents, we focused our learning on Europe. The children used an atlas to identify the countries that are islands and those that are landlocked. They also labelled the surrounding seas and oceans.

Art

To commemorate Remembrance Day, the children created a field of poppies using finger painting. These have been photographed and entered into a competition at Beacon School.

Reminders:

Swimming – it will be 4ENs turn to swim next Wednesday. Please could you ensure that all the children have their kit with them and their hats.

P.E. – this term, the children will be doing hockey. We will endeavour to do this outside despite the inclement weather. Please can you ensure that your child has the appropriate P.E. kit with them.

Poppy appeal – Poppies will be on sale next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at break time.

Christmas shoe boxes - If you are preparing shoebox, these need to be in by Friday 13th November.

Thank you for your support.

Friday 23^rd October

Happy half-term! Thank you for your support over the last 7 weeks. We have been very impressed with how well the children have settled into Year 4 and with the progress that they are making. Next term, we have lots to look forward to including learning about: The Roman Republic, biomes and states of matter.

English

This week, we focused on using the homophones there, their and they’re in the correct context. We then looked at different contractions and which expanded words they represent. Towards the end of the week, we looked at sentence structures. This will be a focus for next term: how do we write a range of grammatically correct sentences?

Over half-term, we would very much appreciate your support. Please could you read with your child every day. This could be them reading to you, or you modelling reading to them. If the children come across any ‘WOW words’ in their books, please could you ask them to write these words down so that they can go on our display and help expand the children’s vocabulary.

Maths

After the assessments that we carried out last week, we focused on areas that the children found more difficult. Before moving onto addition and subtraction next term, it is important that the children have a solid understanding of place value. This week, we played games to support the children with their knowledge of place value.

Over half-term, please encourage your child to keep learning their times tables. The children can use Times Tables Rockstars to help them with this. Next term, we will continue to frequently test the children on their times tables.

Science

The children really enjoyed coming up with their own investigation on tooth decay. There were some fantastic ideas including: whether processed sugar or natural sugar causes the most tooth decay; whether diet cola or full fat cola causes the most tooth decay; whether mouthwash protects the teeth from tooth decay. The children worked in a group to plan, set up and carry up their investigation. We will see what has happened to their eggs after the half-term!

Geography

Thank you so much for the effort that has gone into their Greece projects. The children did a brilliant job and should be very proud. Once the children had presented their projects, we put them around our classrooms so that the other children could walk around and read all the information.

We hope you all have a fabulous week off and look forward to seeing you all on the 2^nd November.

Reminders:

Swimming: it is 4K’s turn to swim on Wednesday 4^th November. Please can you make sure that they bring in their kits, including swimming hats.

Pyjama day: Friday 6^th November.

Friday 16^th October

English

After all their hard work researching, acting out and learning about The Battle of Gaugamela, we were really impressed with the newspaper articles that the children produced. The children took care over their presentation and thought carefully about the features of a newspaper.

Next week, the children will be focusing on description writing using photos of Greek Islands for inspiration.

Maths

In maths this week we have been carrying out some assessments. These will be used to support our planning next term so we know what we need to focus on to help the children. We would really appreciate your support in encouraging your child to lean their times tables so that they can quickly recall them. Each child should now have a log in for Times Tables Rockstars.

Science

In science this week, we looked at this concept cartoon and discussed which child we thought was correct. In 4K, some children thought that statement two was correct because even though the rabbits are dead, they’re still food for the foxes. In 4EN, we were even discussing how the dinosaurs became extinct. You could use this at home to discuss with your child. The children then learnt the definitions: producer, consumer, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, predator and prey. They then used these definitions and animals from the same habitat to produce food chains.

Geography

Thank you to all those children who have handed in their homework project. In geography next week, the children will be learning about tourism in Greece. As part of this, the children will be presenting their project to the rest of the class. We would very much appreciate it if the projects could be handed in on Monday morning.

History

This week in history, we have looked at how Alexander finally conquered the Persian empire and saw the end of Darius III. Next week, we will be looking at how Alexander's empire stopped in India, the end of his life and his legacy.

Reminders:

Swimming: 4EN will be swimming on Wednesday. Please can you ensure that the children have the correct kit with them including swimming hats.

Half term: The children will break up for half-term next Friday.

Friday 9^th October

We have had an exciting week in Year 4 with a battle re-enactment, Roman Numeral investigation and a recreation of the digestive system using tights!

English

This week, we researched the Battle of Gaugamela where the Macedonian army, led by Alexander the Great, defeated King Darius III and the Persian army. This was a battle that changed history forever. On Wednesday, each class enjoyed being part of the Persian and Macedonian army and acting out the battle – we had cavalry, scythed chariots, elephants, phalanx, marching, fighting and celebrating! Hopefully your child can tell you all about the battle. We have planned a newspaper report based on this. Next week, the children will be writing up their newspaper report.

Maths

Earlier this week, we looked at negative numbers. The children ordered negative and positive numbers and then identified patterns in sequences. On Thursday, we did work on Roman Numerals. Once the children had looked at the patterns in Roman Numerals, they then converted them into our Arabic system and vice versa. Can the children write their date of birth in Roman Numerals? What about other important dates?   

History

In history this week, we started to look at how Alexander the Great managed to conquer the Persian empire, using the most important battles and events that took place. Next week, we will discover how he finally beat his arch enemy, Darius III, and how his empire extended all the way to India.

Science

After spending the week observing the eggs in the different jars of liquid, the children enjoyed looking closely (not smelling) all of the eggs out of the liquids. They carefully recorded their observations and thought about why the egg in apple juice was the one that had changed the most.

Moving on/down from our work on teeth, we started learning about the digestive system. The children really enjoyed carrying out this experiment to recreate our digestive system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsa2auNfc34. Perhaps this is something that you could do again at home. I would definitely recommend a wipe-able surface. Thankfully we had already eaten our lunch! Next week, we will continue to learn about the digestive system and then move onto food chains. 

Reminders:

Swimming: 4K will have their first session next week on Wednesday 14^th October.

Coats: Now that the weather has become slightly more inclement, please can you ensure that your child has their coat every day.

Behaviour on the playground: Please could you remind your child about using the Power of Five on the playground. Across Year 4, we have set up a competition to see which child can produce the best poster promoting the Power of Five. This poster will be displayed in our classrooms and we will choose a poster to go outside.

Home Learning: Please remember to look at our termly home learning project. These will need to be ready to present to the rest of the class over the last week of term.

Friday 2^nd October

Thank you for all your generous Harvest Festival contributions. These were all greatly appreciated by Crowborough Foodbanks who do a great job at providing food for those most in need.

It is hard to believe that we are in October already. We have had another busy week in Year 4 with water safety sessions, science investigations and more discoveries about Alexander the Great.

English

This week, the children enjoyed looking through First News Newspapers to identify the different features. We discussed the impact that each feature has and why they are used. The children also debated the difference between fact and opinion. Next week, the children will plan and write their own newspaper report based on Alexander the Great.

Maths

We have been using our place value knowledge to compare and order numbers. The children used the < and > and = symbol to describe the relationship between numbers. In order to support their times tables work, we will ensure that all the children are set up on Times Tables Rock Stars. If your child does not have an account, this will be sent out to you next week.  

Geography

This week, the children used different resources to find out about the geographical features in Greece and England. They then compared the two countries. The children enjoyed using their atlases to find out about the seas around Greece and England. Hopefully the children will recognise these words in their spelling this week.

History

This week, we have looked at how Alexander the Great's father, King Philip II, paved the way for his son to be prepared in his quest to beat the Persians. Next week, we will looking into how his empire grew.

Science

The children really enjoyed setting up a science investigation this week. After discussing tooth decay, the children decided that they would like to find out which type of drink causes the worse tooth decay. We were all scientists for the afternoon and carefully set up the investigation by placing hard boiled eggs (an alternative for teeth) in a range of drinks. We are all excited to see what effect each drink has on the ‘teeth’.

Reminders:

Swimming: We are really fortunate to have swimming this term. Year 4’s slot will be on a Wednesday afternoon. 4EN will have their first session on the 7^th of October and 4K will go the following week on Wednesday 14^th October. Each class will then swim on alternative weeks.

Coats: Now that the weather has become slightly more inclement, please can you ensure that your child has their coat every day.

Friday 25^th September

It has been lovely to see the children settling into the school routine and enthusiastically joining in with our lessons. We have been amazed by how resilient the children have been and how well they have coped with any changes after being out of school for so long.

English

This week, the children used their plans to write a poem based on one of Alexander the Great’s battles. The children worked hard to include all of the characteristics that we had learnt about the previous week: alliteration, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia and repetition. Once the children had edited their poems and written their final drafts, we were incredibly impressed with how confidently they performed them in front of the whole class. Next week, we are going to move onto looking at newspaper reports. In order to support your child at home, you could talk about the features of a newspaper.

Maths

We have continued to work on place value this week. It is incredibly important that the children have a good understand of the place value of 4-digit numbers because this acts as a building block to many other concepts that we will cover this year. Please ensure that your child continues to learn their times tables. We will be moving onto the 4x tables next week.

Geography

After locating Greece on a map last week and looking at where it is in relation to where we live, this week we compared the two climates. The children looked at average temperatures and rainfall graphs of London and Athens. Using these graphs, they identified patterns between the two cities.

History  

We have been looking at the character of Alexander the Great as well as the important people in his life. Next week, we are going to see how his father, King Philip II, paved the way for his son to commence his conquest of the known world. 

Reminders:

Harvest Festival: Please could you bring in donations of non-perishable food items as part of our Harvest Worship. Between Monday (28^th) and Wednesday (30^th) there will be a box located by our Year 4 door for these items to go in. The Food Bank will collect these donations from us on the Thursday.

Coats: Now that the weather has become slightly more inclement, please can you ensure that your child has their coat every day.

Friday 18^th September

The weather has been amazing this week so the children have enjoyed eating their lunch outside and playing on our school field during lunchtimes. Back in the classroom, the children have been working incredibly hard. We have been very impressed with how well they have settled back into school life.

Maths

This week, we have been focusing on place value. The children used practical equipment to help them partition numbers into hundreds, tens and units. See if the children can tell you the rhyme that we learnt so that we can remember the rule of rounding. To help your child at home, can you ask them to round 3-digit numbers to the nearest ten? E.g. can you round 346 to the nearest ten?

English

We have been learning about the different features of poem this week. The children then enjoyed watched a battle scene based on Alexander the Great which inspired them to come up with powerful vocabulary to put in their own poem. Next week they children will be writing and performing their own poem based on a battle of Alexander the Great. At home, please read through a range of poems with your child because this will give them a better understanding of how a poem should be set out. 

Science

In science, the children started their topic on teeth and digestive systems. They enjoyed looking at their teeth in the mirror and seeing how many teeth they had. Can they tell you the names of the different types of teeth?

The children were introduced to their new topics this week. In History, they will be learning about Alexander the Great and in Geography they will be learning about Greece. We discussed what the children already know and what they would like to find out about over the course of the term.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Long may this beautiful weather continue.