Friday, 26th January 2024

The children in Year 4 have been busy again this week!

We have moved onto the topic of fractions in maths revising our prior learning of unit and non-unit fractions of sets, shapes and amounts. We have been recognising fractions that are equal and have ordered and compared fractions by placing them onto a number line and representing them with bar models.

In English, we have listened to David Attenborough describing a monitor lizard to get a feel for the formal style of writing we will need to have to write our non-chronological report and also collected technical vocabulary to aid us with this.  We used these technical words to improve an existing paragraph, experimenting with formal phrases and factual details. I feel that the children are now ready to plan their writing and should be producing their reports next week.

In RE, the class focused on the Passover chapter of the Exodus story, commenting on the different literary forms within (instructions and narrative) whilst also gathering information about the characters, settings and summarising the main points of each part.

In PE the children’s work in dance started with them extending their basic motif into a 20 count routine, involving different pathways and levels.

In Art, we started our new topic of ‘Still Life’ by exploring Paul Cezanne’s life and work, discussing his choice of themes, colours, technique and texture. We looked at how he experimented with light and composition and later attempted to mimic his work by testing 3 different media: pencil, poster paint and acrylic.

During our first Mental Health workshop on Thursday, the children revised their understanding of emotions trying to define what they are and also listing the ones they know. They made some links between those emotions and life experiences before participating in a ‘Circle of Trust’ activity, compiling a rich list of adults and children around them who they can turn to or share all of their emotions with.

Just a reminder: Next Thursday, the choir is out, participating in the Young Voices Choir evening at the Wembley! They will need a packed supper  but will eat lunch in school as usual.

ALSO:

26th -28th January

The big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey. Every year, hundreds of thousands of nature lovers like you take part, helping to build a picture of how garden birds are faring. We would like Pope Paul to take part. Please follow the instructions on the leaflets attached.

Count the birds you see in your garden, from your balcony or in your local park for one hour. Use the tally chart attached and submit your results on  www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

Please send a copy of your results in to school next week.  Thank you!

Birdwatch leaflet

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Home Learning Due back on Tuesday, 30th  January 2024
Spelling Words ending in ‘-ious’ and ‘-eous

https://www.edshed.com/en-gb

Next week’s words: extreme, although, breath, caught, different, exercise, medicine, thought, business, possession

Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

English planning The children will write a non-chronological report about a dragon they have designed in class inspired by our class book ‘How to train your dragon’ by Cressida Cowell. As a preparation for their final writing piece, I would like the children to create an idea/word bank that they can use, including information about the dragon’s appearance, behaviour, weaponry, origins, diet, habitat and use.

I am not expecting a report written in full sentences! I would like the children to take some time to think through their ideas and have a chat with an adult about them so they can filter through and finalise the details of their dragon.

Please see attached a sheet that might be helpful for discussion and recording:

Dragon idea record sheet

Dragon idea sheet example

Please see attached my example that might be of help.

Friday, 19th January 2024

Year 4 had another busy week with the highlight being their  first swimming session on Wednesday.

In English, the class focused on prepositions as part of their expanded noun phrases before writing some extended paragraphs describing beasts from Cressida Cowell’s book How to train your dragon. They also designed their own magnificent creatures, considering key parts such as the tail, the wings, etc.

In Maths, they moved on to conversion of weight and capacity before reading some scales using a range of increments. The class will move onto fractions next.

In RE, the children retold the Exodus story, identifying main characters and settings, whilst also looking at a timeline with key dates from their History learning and maps to place the story in context.

In Science, the children tested different substances to answer the question: which liquid travels the fastest? They made connections between speed and density, also looking at the particles within the substances. The experiment gave opportunity to the class to consider aspects of a fair test to be kept the same and allowed them to record results independently and draw conclusions from the data collected.

Just a reminder that the Year 4 Mental Health workshops will start next week Thursday.

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Home Learning Due back on Tuesday, 23rd  January 2024
Spelling Words where a suffix is added to words ending in ‘y’

https://www.edshed.com/en-gb

Next week’s words will be: serious, obvious, curious, hideous, spontaneous, courteous, furious, various, victorious, gaseous

Reading https://readtheory.org/auth/login

Please complete 2 activities or alternatively download the attached comprehension materials.

Beach Detective- text

Beach Detective-questions

Beach Detective- answers

 

Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

Mathletics https://login.mathletics.com/

Please complete the assigned activities focusing on capacity conversion.

 

Friday, 12th January 2024

Happy New Year!

It has been lovely to welcome the children back to school this week and hear about their amazing Christmas holidays.

In class, we began the week by preparing for a special Epiphany assembly. We made beautiful crowns decorated with relevant words and scenes from the Gospel and thought about the meaning of the Epiphany (The showing of Jesus to the world and the Three Kings).  The children reflected on the Christmas story and the important  guests who went to Bethlehem to visit the baby Jesus.  They also wrote paragraphs to explain the symbolic meaning of the gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh and reflected on the gifts they will bring to their families and wider communities in this new year.

In Maths, the class moved on to reading scales with different increments to measure weight accurately before converting between units of measurement, such as grams and kilograms. In English, we started our first non-fiction unit (a non-chronological report) by reading extracts from Cressida Cowell’s popular book: How to train your dragon. So far, we looked at note taking techniques as well as expanded noun phrases and prepositions. We also revised writing in the first person and the correct use of the past tense.

In Science, the children classified common materials and substances according to their state (liquid, gas and solid), thinking about the position of particles within these. In PE, we started our next unit of Dance and put together a simple routine with a Roman theme, using motifs such as marching, galloping, riding a chariot, etc. In Computing, the class moved on to programming and learnt simple codes to command their turtle in Logo whilst in RE, the children reflected on the literary form Epic and identified key features of that as a way to prepare for their focus for the term, the story of the Passover.

Please remember this term our PE days will be Monday and Wednesday. On Mondays, we are mainly in the hall working on our unit of Dance, whilst on Wednesdays (starting 17th January) the class will go swimming and will need the appropriate kit for that too.

Click here to download our Spring Term RHE programme.

Some key dates for the term:

1st February 2024- Young Voices Wembley

13th February & 15th February- Parent Consultations

14th February – Ash Wednesday Mass at OLSV (10am)

Home Learning

Home Learning Due back on Tuesday, 16th January 2024
Spelling Words ending in ‘-ous’ including those where ‘ge’ from the base word remains

https://www.edshed.com/en-gb

Next week’s words will be: merriment, happiness, plentiful, penniless, happily, prettiest,
nastiness, beautiful, pitiful, silliness

Reading https://readtheory.org/auth/login

Please complete 2 activities and update your reading log.

Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

Mathletics https://login.mathletics.com/

Please complete the assigned activities based on measurements.

 

 

Wednesday, 20th December 2023

Year 4 finished the term on a high! Party day on Monday including pass the Stocking and a very competitive Christmas pirate game; cake decorating with our Year 2 learning buddies AND meeting Father Christmas himself!!! Followed by talent show on Tuesday and a movie morning today.

The children did fantastically this term and deserve a restful break with family and friends! I am very proud of all of their achievements and their hard work and dedication to learning!

Thank you so much for all your lovely cards and generous presents; they were very much appreciated!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and healthy New Year!

Ms Varga

 

Friday, 15th December 2023

Our final full week of the half term has been very busy in Year 4.

The children had an opportunity to watch the KS1 Nativity dress rehearsal before attending their own Christmas music concerts on Monday afternoon. Huge well done to all children participating; your performances were brilliant!

On Monday the Year 3 and 4 children performed for us in a wonderful music concert.  Well done to all the singers and pianists!

On Wednesday, the class enjoyed a lovely Christmas lunch together:

We also spent time on our  D&T project creating prototypes for 2 further mechanisms, before applying these in our final Christmas cards.

Our class talent show on Friday has also been a huge success. Well done to all children who spent time practicing and gathered their courage to showcase their various talents from magic tricks to playing an instrument, dancing and singing! It has been an absolute pleasure watching you using your talents and doing your best!

I have been equally impressed by the home learning handed in this week. The children have done a wonderful job of presenting their learning to the class about special Christmas traditions from their chosen/home countries.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Ms Varga

 

Friday, 8th December 2023

This week the children in year 4 consolidated their understanding of the effect of multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 in Maths. They used place value sliders to investigate what happens to the value of each digit and how they move, compared to the decimal point that stays the same.

In English, the class focused on grammar and punctuation when they uplevelled their ‘Advent’ sentences by adding noun phrases, fronted adverbials and subordinating conjunctions/ clauses to them.

In RE, we prayed the Jesse Tree every day and opened a new envelope on our special class Advent calendar that contains beautiful prayers written by the children.

We also researched unusual Christmas traditions around the world, with a special focus on Iceland. Ask your children about the Yule Lads and the ‘horrid’ Christmas Cat! They will tell you all you need to know about these! 🙂

The highlight of the week, however, was our KS2 Advent Service, where the children performed beautifully. All readers, actors and singers- You deserve a huge well done! Your reverence created a wonderful atmosphere.

We also spent some time to further decorate our classroom:

During the last week of term, Pope Paul’s Got Talent is returning!  This is an occasion where each child is encouraged to share their talents either on their own or with a partner(s).  Each class will decide upon two entries from their own class that will go forward towards the whole school’s got talent competition.  Please encourage your child to participate.

Have a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Home Learning:  RE      Christmas Around the World

Please read the information on the poster attached.  The instructions have also been added to this week’s newsletter

 

Friday, 1st December 2023

The children in Year 4 have finished their Ice Palace stories in English and after some pair editing, they wrote them up in the neatest. It has been a real pleasure reading their brilliant narratives explaining Starjik’s dark origin. Very well done!

In Maths, the class moved onto scaling and correspondence problems applying their understanding of factors and products. We used bar modelling as a technique to help us visualise the calculations needed. The children also played a competitive factor-mining game, recalling all known multiplication facts.

In D&T, the class started their unit of work on mechanisms, learning about levers and linkages. The children built their first prototypes, creating a simple mechanism with 1 input and 1 output lever.

In Computing, we used Chrome Music Lab to create content online. The children enjoyed recording their sounds and using the website to alter it, represent it with drawings or to dissect the recordings into frequency waves.

Please remember, our Key Stage 2 Advent Service is on Wednesday, 6th December!

Have a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Home Learning Due back on Tuesday, 5th December 2023
Spelling Challenge words

https://www.edshed.com/en-gb

Reading Please log onto Read Theory and complete 2 activities.
Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/

Study Ladder Please practice your songs for the Advent Service

 

Advent Service 2023 – songs to practise

Please practise the songs for the KS2 Advent Service, using these videos to help you.

Friday, 24th November 2023

This week, the children in Year 4 had multiple opportunities to learn whilst having fun.

On Monday, the choir spent the day at the Royal Albert Hall, whilst any remaining children worked on a clever, open ended Maths problem with Year 5 and 6 pupils, made props for our upcoming KS2 Advent service and finally designed and built their own Marble Run using only paper.

On Tuesday, we participated in a Multi Skills sports festival at Furzefield Centre, competing against local schools. The children had a go at frisbee, tennis, football, long jump and throwing. Even though it was cold and a bit wet, the class had a great time and it has been lovely to see them support and cheer for each other.

Later on in the week, we revised the use of fronted adverbials in English and planned for our second big narrative based on the story of Ice Palace that the children will write next week. In Maths, we focused on counting in multiples and representing multiplication number sentences with arrays and bar models.

In RE, we prayed the Lectio Divina and practiced for our Advent service whilst in Science, we used junk modelling resources to build musical instruments in order to investigate volume, pitch and the strength of vibration.

Please note, that next week, the children will need to walk to the Church on Wednesday (29th) and Friday (1st) for a rehearsal, so it is important that they have a hooded, warm coat on those days.

If your child told you that they have received acting parts in the Advent Service (St Lucia, Star boys, Attendants), they will need a simple outfit for the service. For boys: grey school trousers + a white top. That can be dad’s oversized T shirt/ a tunic/ a gown. Please NO bright logos! For girls: school tights/ leggings + a white top. That again can be a larger shirt/ T shirt, a white dress. The longer, the looser the white tops are, the better. Please do not feel, you have to buy or order a specific costume. Any existing large white top is perfect. Please send these to school in a labelled bag on Monday, 4th November 2023. Thank you for your support with this.

Have a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Home Learning Due back on Tuesday, 28th November 2023
Spelling Words where ‘ch’ makes a /sh/ sound

https://www.edshed.com/en-gb

Reading https://readtheory.org/

Please complete 2 activities or alternatively download the attached comprehension tasks.

A New Home- text

A New Home – questions

A New Home- answers

 

Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

( Super well done to Gabriella, who is in second place on our Whole School leader board with 227,732!!!)

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/

 

Advent Service Please practice our class song and read through your lines.

 

Friday, 17th November 2023

This week, as part of Anti-Bullying week, we have focussed on race, racism and what it means to be anti-racist.  We discussed key terms and cleared misconceptions before discussing scenario cards to gain understanding of acts of racism whereby a person treats another unfairly due to their race. Later on, we have participated in a group activity to find strategies when faced with an act of racism and to understand the difference between being non-racist and anti-racist.

In Maths, we consolidated column subtraction and extended our understanding of the formal methods by solving a complex Maths Mystery.

In English, we focused on one particular character from our book, Ice Palace and wrote first person accounts to explain who this character is and what it tries to achieve. We also read the remaining part of the book and mapped out any additional details using our story maps from an earlier lesson.

In RE, we prayed the Lectio Divina twice using Isaiah’s and Mark’s Gospels and their powerful messages. The children showed great reverence during these special prayer sessions and their reflections showed a deep understanding of their faith.

We also allocated parts to the Key Stage Two Advent Service and started learning our beautiful class song about St. Lucia in Swedish!

In Art, we moved on to creating our final pieces for this term’s Drawing unit, incorporating all techniques learnt.

In PE, we practiced ways of travelling and pair- balances using apparatus.

Next week Monday, the choir is out on their trip to the Royal Albert Hall. Children in Year 4, who are NOT part of the choir should come into school in their normal school uniforms as we are NOT going to have PE.

However, on Tuesday, 21st November, Year 4 is participating in a Multi-Skills Sport Festival at the Furzefield Sport Centre. CHildren should come in their full PE kit on that day, making sure that it’s appropriate for the weather (we might be outside) and they MUST have a coat as we are walking back from the Centre together.

Thank you so much for all parents who sent in junk modelling items. I can confirm that we have a rich selection of materials now which will enable the children to investigate sound using their hand made instruments thoroughly.

Have a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Home Learning Due back on Tuesday, 21st November 2023
Spelling Words ending in ‘-lly’

https://www.edshed.com/en-gb

Please log onto EdShed and practice this week’s spelling words.

Reading https://readtheory.org/auth/login

Please log onto ReadTheory and complete 2 activities or alternatively download the attached Comprehension papers.

Cobweb Morning- text

Cobweb Morning-question

Cobweb Morning-answers

Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

Log onto TT Rockstars and practice your mixed facts.

Advent Service Please learn the words to our Swedish song, St. Lucia. Children should have the words with them, as we sent them home on Thursday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhpNnj8BOO0

Children should only learn the first verse and the chorus repeated.