Friday, 10th June 2022

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This week, the children in Year 4 took part in cross curricular activities, centered around the 3 main symbols of Pentecost: water, wind and fire.

On Tuesday, they performed a short poem in teams, thinking about effective expression and actions. Later that morning, after a brief introduction to hydropower, they designed water wheels using recyclable materials. They also posed ‘what if’ questions to change certain parts of their water wheels and further tested the improved models. In the afternoon, they learnt about floods then created beautiful pastel crayon pictures inspired by underwater scenes.

On Wednesday, the class looked at personification as a poetic tool in a range of short poems inspired by ‘the wind’. They then listened to musical pieces from Gustav Holst and Beethoven, identifying instruments and explaining how these create a specific effect- using words such as dynamics, tempo, volume, and tone. Later in the day, they followed instructions to fold paper into 5 different gliders then tested them outside, measuring their flight path accurately. In the afternoon, the children used water colour paint to create art pieces inspired by wind turbines. We also spent some time on preparations for next Tuesday’s Sports Day.

On Thursday, the children looked at poetry again, followed by History. The class revisited their learning from Year 2 about the Great Fire of London; placing the events in time and recapping the most important characters. They later created collage art with a similar theme. They also practiced shot put, javelin, sprint and hurdle as a further preparation for Sports Day.

On Friday, the children focused on the religious aspect of Pentecost, explaining the deeper meaning  of the Gospel, before meeting Fr Fidelis, who answered their questions in class. They completed their Pentecostal Week by attending Mass in the afternoon and enjoying a refreshing ice lolly outdoors.

A fantastic week of cross curricular learning for Year 4, which enabled the whole class to partake in practical activities. The children were brilliant at posing their own questions and created some remarkable art pieces. We hope you will enjoy looking at some of them in class on Tuesday!

Have a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Please see your Home Learning below:

Home Learning
Spelling Spelling Rule 29 – Word list – years 3 and 4 – fo- to h

https://spellingframe.co.uk/
Reading https://readtheory.org/auth/login

Please complete two reading activities and update your reading log.
Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

Please practice your mixed facts.

The window for the Government Multiplication Table Check has opened, and we are planning to run the official tests next week. The class will complete a trial run first, followed by the actual test online. 
Project Please carry on with your practical project of researching Tudor housing before building your own 3D model. See information in last week’s blog.

 

 

Friday, 27th May 2022

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Year 4 had yet another busy week to finish off this half term with.

Our main focus for the week was the Platinum Jubilee and children completed learning not only in History but through art and music. The class looked at 12 events from the Queen’s reign of 70 years and put them on a diamond sheet according to their significance. They thought about personal, local, national and global significance and argued how some of these events affected their own life. We also painted celebratory Jubilee plates as well as decorating Union Jack pinwheels. We learnt ‘Here’s to the Queen’- a celebratory song dedicated to the Platinum Jubilee, which the children performed beautifully during assembly.

On Thursday, 4 children from the class represented our school during the Oakmere Mini Marathon. Well done for Elsa, Lucy Lines, Eraldo and Panayiotis. We are proud of you!

The rest of the class attended Ascension Day Mass in the morning, where they sang beautifully and participated in the Service with great reverence and respect. Well done!

On Thursday, the children also participated in a Cricket Workshop where they tried ‘3 ball cricket’- a fast and very competitive game. What fun! After their session, the class took part in a lovely reflection as part of their Spirituality activities. The children also wrote prayers to a prayer partner in Year 1, which they gave out Friday afternoon.

They finished the week with a fantastic Jubilee day, dressing up to the theme of ‘Queens and Kings’, whilst eating their lunch in the decorated hall and having an afternoon snack on the field.

The children deserve a break now as they worked very hard this half term and again I couldn’t be more proud of their achievements! I wish you all a wonderful half term,

Ms Varga

Please see your Home Learning below:

Home Learning Due by Monday, 4th July 2022
Reading Please keep up your reading over the half term and update your reading record when you have a chance.
Project Over the next 5 weeks, I would like the children to research Tudor housing and build a 3D model of a Tudor building. It doesn’t need to be big and all materials are allowed however I would encourage using ones that are recycled.

Please see below a few examples:

 

 

Friday, 20th May 2022

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It has been another busy and interesting week in Year 4.

In Maths, the children extended their understanding of the long division through open ended problem solving activities whilst in English, they have written their final, extended, pieces in our playscripts unit. In RE, the class learnt about Shavu’ot, an ancient Jewish festival which they will link with Pentecost later in the term. In Science, the children read Topical Science articles whilst also completing their bedside lamps. At the moment we are experiencing some difficulties with our circuits, so I apologise in advance if the lamps will need some further support at home.

In History, the children drew conclusions of Tudor times using different portraits of Henry VIII, whilst in Computing they used new formulae to calculate mean average and sum in Spreadsheets whilst also formatting their graphs from the previous week. In PE, the children further consolidated their bawling, fielding and batting skills by playing short cricket games. In Art, the class used their drawing and shading skills to create Tudor themed symmetry portraits. On Wednesday, the class celebrated National Numeracy Day by participating in a Guinness World Record attempt of the highest number of participant in a live multiplication recital as well as completing a budgeting exercise (a challenge of surviving one day on £20 with NO support from home at all). Fantastic conversation about needs and wants!

Next week, the children will participate in a Multiplication Table Check ‘simulation’ to gain some practice before the actual event next month. The simulation will involve practicing logging on and running the test -all in a separate room in groups of 5. The purpose of this simulation is to allow the children to experience exam settings and to eliminate stress or anxiety so on the day, they be familiar with the surroundings and feel confident.

I wish you a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Please see your Home Learning below:

Home Learning Due by Tuesday, 24th May 2022
Spelling Spelling Rule 27 – Word list – years 3 and 4 – ci- to ea-

https://spellingframe.co.uk/
Reading https://readtheory.org/auth/login

Please update your reading logs and be ready to present them on Wednesday
Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/
English Please be ready to present your A4 research based on some interesting, ‘crazy’ inventions on Monday. (See last week’s blog for details)

Friday, 13th May 2022

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This week, the children in Year 4 used their artistic skills to complete creative learning pieces.

First and foremost, they added their final touches to their bedside lamps and attached any last details, such as paws, ears, etc. They then built their own simple series circuits with 2 light bulbs and a handmade switch securing the wires with insulation tape. They will test their circuits on Monday and insert them into their models to complete this long but enjoyable D&T/Science project.

During the week, they applied their learning of tints, shades and tones in painting as well, when they created pieces based on the ‘Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon’- our playscript Writing unit.

In Science, extending their plant learning, the children had planted mung beans which, over the last two weeks, grew large enough to be planted into soil.

In Maths, the class moved on to long written division-chunking- using place value counters and familiarising themselves with the new layout, whilst in English they finished their planning, finalising all dialogues for next week’s big writing.

In RE, the class explained the meaning of the Ascension story according to Luke and in Topic moved away from Geography to introduce their new unit-The Tudors.

The children also completed tests to support the Multiplication Table Check- which is approaching fast. I am very pleased with their results and how well they cope with the time limit and the pressure of such formal tests. Well done!

I wish you all a lovely and sunny weekend,

Ms Varga

See Home Learning below:

Home Learning Due by Tuesday, 17th May 2022
Spelling Please log onto Spellingframe and practice this week’s spelling words.

Spelling Rule 26 – Word list – years 3 and 4 – br- to ce-

https://spellingframe.co.uk/
Reading Please log onto Read Theory and complete 2 activities. Please also update your Reading logs.

https://readtheory.org/auth/login
Multiplication Please log onto TT Rockstars and spend some time practicing your mixed facts.

https://ttrockstars.com/

Very well done for Panayiotis and Eliana for their amazing progress and scores!!!
Research- for Monday, 23rd May In support of our next English unit-Explanation text- I would like the children to research some interesting inventions from around the world. In this unit of work, the children will design their own ‘crazy’ invention (based on a short extract from Wallace and Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions) and write a detailed explanation of their use.

To help the children come up with inventive and engaging ideas, I would like them to research a few interesting or revolutionising inventions. They can print a picture of them or draw them. add labels or captions. Maybe explain what they do in a few bullet point.

This is a planning activity, so just as before, I would like an A4 piece of paper with some invention ideas and bullet points so the children have some background facts and ideas to rely on when designing their own inventions.

Here are just a few ideas 🙂  PLEASE BE AWARE THAT MOST OF THE SITES INCLUDE POP UPS AND THE CONTENT WILL NEED CHECKING BEFORE THE CHILDREN ACCESS IT.

Friday, 6th May 2022

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After a lovely long weekend, the children accomplished a lot this week.

In Maths, the class further consolidated their application of the formal written multiplication by playing two very competitive games, ‘Crooked Multiplication’ and ‘Sabotage’. In English, they turned a poem into a playscript, applying all text and language features of the genre such as dialogue, stage directions and adverbs/adverbial phrases. The children then decided to turn the ‘Bank robbery’  scene from the ‘Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon’ into a playscript and promptly started planning their dialogues. In Science/D&T, the class started working on their switches, whilst also assembling their models; gluing together the different parts and drilling holes (assisted of course by me). In RE, we looked at the Rosary, researching its structure as a prayer before then reflecting on the first three of the Glorious Mysteries by writing short prayers. The class also celebrated Mary, the Mother of Christ by partaking in a beautiful May Procession today-we couldn’t have asked for a more glorious day to show our respect and leave flowers to the Mother of all.

In Computing, the children created a scoresheet, inputting data on a Spreadsheet before devising the correct formula to carry out calculations. In PE, we played short but very intense cricket matches and it has been lovely to witness the improvements the children  achieved in terms of technique but also confidence.

Have a lovely weekend,

Ms Varga

Please see your Home Learning below:

Home Learning Due by Tuesday 10th May 2022
Spelling Log onto Spelling frame and practice this week’s spelling words.

Spelling Rule 25 – Word list – years 3 and 4 – a to bi-

https://spellingframe.co.uk/
Reading Log onto Read Theory and complete 2 exercises.

https://readtheory.org/auth/login
Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

Log onto TT Rockstars and spend some time practicing your mixed multiplication facts. Very well done to the children for improving on their time in class, where we are completing table checks in 6 seconds/questions.
Study Ladder https://www.studyladder.co.uk/

Log onto Study Ladder and complete the activities in your assigned pod. They are all centered around the use of speech and conjunctions; two aspects of writing we are going to rely on when completing our final piece of the term.

 

Friday, 29th April 2022

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Although a day shorter, the children in Year 4 had a very busy week.

In Maths they have practiced using formal short multiplication without and with regrouping, whilst in English, after some acting, turned playscripts into narrative using speech punctuation correctly.

In Science, they classified conductors and insulators using simple series circuits, whilst in RE the class interpreted Luke’s second post-Resurrection Gospel and looked for evidence for our beliefs.

In PE, we further consolidated our bawling skills by practicing the over arm throw before incorporating it in some simple cricket games.

In Computing, the children explored simple features of a spreadsheet (Excel) and later added data to their document whilst also carrying out some calculations using ‘autosum’ function.

In Art, the class explored 4 core concepts in painting, such as, tint, shade, tone and primary colours which they then applied in a silhouette picture.

Now that the weather is consistently milder, the class returned to their daily mile exercise and it has been lovely to see their enthusiasm. Well done for Eraldo and Caitlin for winning this week’s ‘daily mile nominations’.

I wish you all a lovely long weekend,

Ms Varga

No Home Learning this week-please read when you can.

Friday, 22nd April 2022

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The children in Year 4 looked very well after returning from their holidays. It has been lovely to hear about their trips and experiences during spending time with family and friends.

In Maths, the class moved on to formal written multiplication and division, building physical models and representing their calculations in different ways whilst in English, the children started their new unit of fiction genre; playscripts. They will write their scripts for a series of scenes using Mini Grey’s adaptation of the Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon.

In Re, we looked at the Resurrection according to Luke and drew beliefs from the Gospel, whilst also reading and understanding the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus. Thank you so much for those who took the time to create their Easter Gardens; they look beautiful!

In Geography, they finished off their unit of the Sunshine State, looking at peninsulas and their features, whilst in Science, the children will carry on investigating electricity, conductors and insulators further this term. We also recorded our observation of our competition sunflowers; thank you again for those children who took care of the plants during the holidays. Our tallest is already 9.9cm!

In PE, the class enjoyed a lovely afternoon in the sunshine introducing their new topic: cricket. The children thoroughly enjoyed the different games and did very well and batting and fielding.

I am delighted to announce that I have managed to secure a class trip for us in the second half of the Summer Term when we are going to visit Waltham Abbey and partake in a whole day Tudor workshop in the Epping Forest District Museum including dressing up, artifact handling, a treasure trail and even using proper quills to create Tudor bookmarks. Details will be shared closer to the date.

Have a lovely weekend and Happy St George’s Day tomorrow,

Ms Varga

Please see your Home Learning below:

Home Learning Due back by Tuesday, 26th April 2022
Spelling Please log onto Spelling Frame and spend some time practicing this week’s homophones before you test yourselves on them.

Spelling Rule 23 – Homophones and near-homophones (3 of 4)

https://spellingframe.co.uk/
Reading Please log onto ReadTheory and complete two tasks. Please also update your reading records and be prepared to present them on Wednesday.

https://readtheory.org/auth/login
Multiplication Please log onto TT Rockstars and spend some time practicing your mixed facts

https://ttrockstars.com/
Study Ladder https://www.studyladder.co.uk/

Please log onto Study Ladder and complete the assigned tasks in your pod all related to multiplication word problems.

Friday, 1st April 2022

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Year 4 have had a busy last week to the end of the  Spring term and even in my absence, I know that they have worked very hard in class.

In Maths, they completed their fraction learning by applying all that they have learned in problem solving situations, using bar models to help them identify calculations. In English, they have used picture prompts to work on aspects of writing such as using conjunctions, adverbials and speech. In RE, they looked at St Luke’s Gospel and interpreted the meaning of the events of Good Friday whilst also concluding their Lenten reflections.

In Science, they investigated conductors and insulators to ‘fix’ simple series circuits whilst partaking in some fun pre-Easter activities, including card making.

On Tuesday evening, the children sang beautifully during the Stations of the Cross Service, elevating the serene and reverent atmosphere with their voices. A wonderful performance!

On Wednesday, after a lovely guitar concert led by our talented musicians Samuel and Panayiotis, the children received the Sacrament of Reconciliation from Fr Shaun and a visiting priest whilst reflecting on their ‘journeys’ as God’s Children.  Click here for some photo highlights from this week.

I am so proud of the class for their hard work and dedication this Term. They have achieved so many goals and matured even more in their independence and attitude towards their learning. Well done!

Wishing you all a blessed Easter and a well-deserved, restful holiday,

Ms Varga

Please keep up your reading during the holiday and complete your Whole School Home Learning set by Miss Donatantonio (see link below).

220401 Whole-school RE learning letter – Easter Garden

 

Friday, 25th March 2022

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The children in Year 4 this week, moved on with their fraction learning in Maths and started working on adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator. In English, they carried on with the publishing process of their Non-chronological reports, as well some basic sentence work to prepare them for the next unit of work. In Science, the class constructed simple series circuits and thought about how to make the shortest and longest functioning loop as well as evaluating circuits for their function and repairing them when necessary. In Geography, they compared the climate in Florida with the UK, looking at climate graphs and interpreting data. In RE, the children reflected on the deeper meaning of the Last Supper according to Luke and drew beliefs from the Gospel relevant to their lives now. They also participated in Mass this morning; well done for Eraldo for his lovely reading.

 

I hope you have a lovely and sunny weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day with your families,

Ms Varga

Home Learning

Your Home Learning this week is to learn the lyrics of our Stations of the Cross Service hymns. The children had opportunity to practise them in class and in the hall this week, as well as at the Church but it was evident that they need more time to learn them by heart.

We will have a practice again on Monday, before the Service on Tuesday.

 

 

Friday, 18th March 2022

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It has been another busy week in Year 4 with Science week and St Patrick’s day just to mention a few.

In English, the class started their final writing pieces of non-chronological reports and wrote lengthy paragraphs based on their plant and animal species. They will write further paragraphs next week about their inhabitants and a conclusion before publishing their reports with diagrams, maps and keys using a book proforma. In Maths, the children investigated equivalent fractions; ordered and compared fractions and applied their understanding when solving one and multi-step problems using bar-models.

In Science this week, following the theme of British Science Week- Growth, we looked at some important questions, like what would happen if we stopped planting trees. We also participated in a school challenge of growing the tallest sunflower simultaneously investigating conditions attributed to plant growth such as temperature. The class discussed ideas then designed individually possible animal species that could live and grow on Mars whilst also completing observations around the school grounds. We tidied our class gardens as well and planting tulips as an addition to our already blooming flower bed.

On St. Patrick’s day we had the chance to applaud our fantastic talents who  performed amazing routines of Irish dancing. It has been a real pleasure watching them in their elements!

In RE, we read Luke’s Gospel of Palm Sunday and drew beliefs from the Scripture whilst in PE we carried on with our Roman themed dance choreography.

Next week, Mrs Carrey and myself would like to lead a crystal growing workshop in class. To support this, please may you send a clean, small (300ml or 500ml) plastic bottle in, labelled.  Thank you for your support with this.

Have a safe and lovely weekend;I hope you can enjoy the sunshine with your families!

Ms Varga

Please see your Home Learning below:

Home Learning Due by Tuesday, 22nd March 2022
Spelling Spelling Rule 20 – Possessive apostrophe with plural words

https://spellingframe.co.uk/

Please practice this week’s spelling words before testing yourselves on them.
Reading https://readtheory.org/auth/login

Please log onto Read Theory and complete two activities. Please update your reading log and be ready to p[resent it on Wednesday.
Multiplication https://ttrockstars.com/

Please log onto your account and spend time practicing your mixed facts. Well done for Eliana, our overall leader! Also well done for everyone who improved on their scores and the number of days played. We shall check again on Tuesday!
Study Ladder https://www.studyladder.co.uk/

Please complete the activities assigned to your pod. They consolidate our learning of mixed factions and equivalent fraction.

Please also practise the songs for the Way of the Cross Service, by clicking here.