Year 4
Welcome to our Headline of the week. This will give you a small taster of some of the learning taking place in your child’s class.
The children have had an amazing start to the new school year.
We hope you enjoy reading our Headlines each week.
21/07/23
In maths Year 4, have been finding angles, this extended to understanding the different angles in shapes. Children were grouping shapes into different categories and finding the different angles, naming them as either, acute, obtuse or right angle and explaining their reasoning.
14/07/23
In geography, Year 4 have been using their now, strong atlas skills to look back at prior learning and recap their knowledge of countries in Europe and their many capital cities.
07/07/23
In geography, the children have been looking at geographical features of Italy. They are using their geographical knowledge of Italy to travel to the different regions. They are giving each other directions of how to get from one place to the next and whether they will find human or geographical features there, and what sort of features they are, such as volcanoes in Mount Etna in Sicily.
30/06/23
In maths we have been finishing off our money learning. The children have been applying their calculating skills with money to solve problems using all four operations in real-life contexts, including multi-step problems.
23/06/23
Year 4 deserves another congratulation for lovely their performance at the Barnet Schools Music Festival. They were patient with all the preparation demand needed to make the evening run smoothly. We are very proud of them.
16/06/23
In Maths, Year 4’s topic is money. We have been working with money to understand how to price things and give correct change. We have been using our understanding of the decimals to extend our learning on to money.
09/06/23
Year 4 have returned to school from the break with a ‘ready to learn’ attitude. Year 4 have been developing their comprehension skills through information retrieval, inference and answering comprehension questions based on the class text.
25/05/23
In Art we have been exploring primary and secondary colours. We have been creating our own monochromatic colour palettes, keeping the same hue using the primary colours; red, yellow, blue and added black and white each time to create different shades and tones.
19/05/23
In English, we are learning about persuasive writing. The children have been given a random position to argue; they are discovering that being able to argue either point of view on an issue is a good skill. They have been thinking, discussing and developing points which they will elaborate on, while drawing evidence from the text.
12/05/23
In English year 4 have been working on expanding their understanding of adverbials and front adverbials. They have been choosing animals from a list of exotic animals and creatively thinking of ways they could be causing mischief and chaos if they were kept as pets.
Year 4, have been writing lists of things that the animals have been doing in their houses and extended this by building up the images using adverbials and punctuation for impact.
05/05/23
Year 4 are working really hard in Dacapo. They have been practising to play various songs and different pitches on the recorder that they are enthusiastic to share.
28/04/23
In PE, Year 4 have been using movement and balancing skills to create dance sequences in small groups. Encouraging children’s physical, mental capabilities, and strengthening their body. Therefore, developing coordination, rhythm and building confidence and self-assurance individually and as a group.
21/04/23
In English, Year 4 have been working in groups to discuss views for and against the maintenance of animals in zoos. Using sugar paper, they are working together to formulate informative reasons on both sides of the argument.
31/03/23
In PSHE, we were extending our learning from the sessions offered to us by BICS through the friendship workshop. Children were acting out friendship scenarios, that sometimes go wrong in their own social groups and showcasing a peaceful process that could help them find a resolution that would benefit them all. They followed 5 steps; breathing when feeling unsettled; I statements, explaining to the other person how their actions is making them feel; repairing the harm, by finding ways to make it better and finally, moving forward and the best ways to do this.
24/03/23
In Jewish Studies, children have been developing the use of Microsoft apps to create hagidahs, they were all given different parts to work on. They have been using pictures and information to bring it all together into one interesting and easy to read book.
17/03/23
In D and T, Year 4 have been using, lolly sticks, bottle caps, hot glue, straws and various other objects to make sling shots cars. They have been working hard to design and construct their vehicles and they are taking good form. We are excited to see what the finished product will look like.
10/03/23
Year 4 have been working on developing their communication skills in a friendship workshop. The emphasis was placed on listening to each other and sharing ideas, to build a steady tower with every member of the group contributing.
03/03/23
We have been fortunate to have a specialist music teacher come into year 4 to help us get started preparing for the Barnet music festival. The children impressed her, with their awareness of the songs. It was a very productive session.
24/02/23
In computing we have started looking at Data handling. The initial focus is to build an understanding of the importance of data in accurate weather predictions and it addresses aspects of the Year 4 Science curriculum relating to evaporation, from the first term, where we looked at the water cycle, and measuring temperature in Celsius in the ‘States of matter’ topic.
10/02/23
Year 4, have started their very first Friendship group session this week. Children are beginning to think about the importance of having someone to play with and talk to. And how they contribute to a positive sense of mental wellbeing, encourage learning and develop interpersonal skills.
03/02/23
In Science, Year 4 have been expanding their understanding of circuits by looking at how switches affect a circuit. They began by making simple circuits, then extended it by adding a switch and explaining how the switch impacts the flow of energy.
27/01/23
In DaCapo, Year 4 have been using their fine motor and coordination skills by practising how to play different tunes on the recorders. They worked on creating the different musical sounds and how to put them together to create a desired rhythm.
20/01/23
Year 4 enjoyed their rugby session. The workshop helped them to improve on their courage, fitness, team effort and togetherness. The session aimed to build their confidence and self-respect while taking into consideration the need to rely on team members.
13/01/23
The children presented their finished dioramas about their Chumash learning to the class - they have all worked hard in their groups to create beautiful pieces of work!
06/01/23
Children have enjoyed their first PE lesson, with some outdoor, cardio driven, warm up games.
16/12/22
In English, we have been picking 3 characters from our English reading and explaining how they are feeling at 2 different times in the story, this was followed by discussions suggesting what thoughts would assist those emotions.
09/12/22
Year 4 have been conducting fun experiments this week, one of which was to investigate which tomato sauce was best for Kevin’s hotdog stand. Children were using Vienna sausages to check the density of 3 different sauces, and making a decision to help Kevin find the right ketchup for his hotdogs.
02/12/22
The children are making dioramas from the pesukim (verses) that we learn in Chumash and every week we add to our dioramas as we learn new pesukim.
25/11/22
Year 4 have been working in small groups to find how many different rectilinear shapes, they can make using 7 squares.
18/11/22
Year 4 started Wednesday morning, calmly engaging with the Anti-bullying session from Streetwise. They participated in activities encouraging them to think about how others may perceive their actions. They discussed the ways which people recognize abusive differently, for example, one person might consider swearing as an awful action, while another might be more offended physical actions of abuse and how to take all of these seriously to prevent hurting others.
11/11/22 .
Year 4 are silently developing their handwriting skills and demonstrating better letter recognition and formation while joining words using Nelson handwriting Scheme.
04/11/2022
In English, the children have been building on their creative skills by using descriptive language to encourage their partner to draw a mythical creature based on their imagination. They had to use effective adjectives, use of senses to describe the creature in detail and similes to help bring the creature to life.
21/0/2022
Well done to these children, who have been spending time developing their skills in Mathletics, TTRockstars and Spelling shed.
14/10/2022
Year 4 had a fantastic time burning off steam on their bikes and scooters. It was a fun and energetic afternoon. Children without scooters or bikes played games of football and javelin. They all had a lovely afternoon.
07/10/22
In English, Year 4 were drawing room plans and writing a brief report about these. They put their architect hats on and chose a room that they most admired; they designed these using architectural symbols.
30/09/22
Despite being a short week, Year 4, came in ready to learn. They were fully engaged in digital activities which were prepared for them by Miss Zairi in Ivrit. They are building up enjoyable and technical skills, while learning Hebrew.
23/09/22
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our newly appointed Digital Leaders and Library Monitors. They were all so happy to have been selected and announced in assembly. We wish these candidates well on their new journey.
16/09/2022
Year 4s first Ivrit session has started smoothly, it seems they missed Ivrit through the summer. The children engaged really positively in their lesson.
09/09/22
In English, we have been reading non-chronological reports about ‘Cool Architecture’; a book by Simon Armstrong. We have been reading reports and discussing the specific features of the text.
21/07/23
In science, we were creating our own percussion instruments called pan flutes in small groups. We horizontally held them and blew straight across the top to create sounds of different pitches.
14/07/23
In Maths, Year 4 were conducting fieldwork around the school playground. Children were hunting for angles, taking pictures of the area and explaining the angle by showing whether it’s a right angle, obtuse or acute angle. It was a fun lesson.
07/07/23
In Maths, the children have been converting between analogue and 12-hour digital times. They discussed the importance of understanding whether a time is taking place in the morning or the afternoon and how an analogue clock does not usually show am or pm. They have been recognising the difference between 12 hour clocks and 24 hour clocks. Children have made their own clocks to assist with this.
30/06/23
In science Year 4 have been conducting experiments to find out how the size of the pinnae affects the size of the volume of sound, a person’s ears can pick up. They have been using various objects to represent the pinnae and keeping it a fair test by managing the volume of the sound.
23/06/23
To practise spellings, Year 4 are engaging with word searches to help them learn new vocabulary. They are using this as an enjoyable strategy for improving their reading skills such as scanning, decoding, and word recognition, therefore, covering vital skill of reading fluency.
16/06/23
In PSHE, we have been building understanding of mental health. Children have been learning that mental health is a normal part of daily life, in the same way physical health is. They have discussed various ways of looking after their mental health and created plates of foods that are good for promoting a positive mental health and general well-being.
09/06/23
We are learning Chumash again - this time Avraham is sending his eved (servant) to find a wife for Yitzchak. The children enjoyed acting out the first pasuk and we look forward to seeing how the story will develop.
25/05/23
In Science, we have been working on climate change as part of our living things and their habitats topic. Children were given a focus to build on; deforestation, urbanisation, global warming, intensive farming and nature reserves. Children used their research skills to research further and produce posters to help the raise awareness and encourage others to look after our environment.
19/05/23
This week, the children have been exploring different ways of making 1 whole by combining tenths. The class have been using various number bond resources to 10 to support them, for example using 6 + 4 when finding the missing numbers, as decimals it be would 0.6 + _____ = 1.
12/05/23
Year 4 are working in groups, using their computer skills to create PowerPoint slides that highlight their learning throughout the year. They are using effective communication skills and teamwork to produce an in depth presentation.
05/05/23
In maths, Year 4 are now working with decimals and in this lesson, they have been developing their skills dividing 2-digit numbers by 10. They have been demonstrating that they can partition 2-digit numbers in a part-whole model, on a place value chart and explaining what happens to a number when divided by 10.
28/04/23
When considering how our local environments are constantly changing in science, Year 4 have placed soil in two trays. One, which they have planted seeds into and another with no seeds. Over time we will watch them both to see which of the trays have changed over time and how.
21/04/23
In Science, we are exploring Living things and their habitats, focusing on the environment. In groups of 4 or 5, we have been looking at our school environment and considering how it has changed over the years, taking pictures of things that may have changed over time or any living things they may find.
31/03/23
In Geography, Year 4 have been developing an understanding of the different ways people found to cross over rivers and the challenges each method presented. Children were working in groups of 4 to make different bridges and test their strength. They used 2 piles of books about 10cm high to make the riverbanks. Then they use sheets of A4 card to span the gap between them. Once they were confident with their bridges they then tested the strength of their bridges by adding multi-link cubes on top of them, to see if it would hold the weight.
24/03/23
In Science, Year 4 have been searching the greenery to find and identify living things in their local area. Children have safely collected different mini-beasts and sued the research skills to find out if the creatures were Vertebrates, Invertebrates or exoskeletons. They extended this by finding if they were omnivores, herbivores or carnivores.
17/03/23
Year 4 went on a trip to the British Museum. Here they are engaging with Ms Pieters explaining Ancient Egyptian history to us, before delving into the depth of Egyptian life and Gods. She made a lot of meaningful connections to Judaism and brought the entire experience to life.
10/03/23
In Gymnastics, Year 4 have continued to build their fundamental movement skills, increasing confidence and competence individually and with peers. Our gymnastics session is aimed at providing them opportunities to master many of these fundamental skills whilst promoting creativity through small groups and individual sequences.
03/03/23
Year 4 are building on their use of grammar. They have been adding suffixes to verbs to change them into nouns. They have developed an understanding of how to change the function of the verbs. They then expanded on this by using the both the verbs and nouns in creative sentences.
24/02/23
In Maths, Year 4 have been looking at length and perimeter. The children have been using practical resources to measures different shapes and calculating their perimeter using the most efficient method.
10/02/23
Year 4 have thoroughly enjoyed eating all the delicious fruits. They have appreciated celebrating Tu Bishvat with other year groups, while marking the beginning of the new year for trees and acknowledging the various ways it contributes to our wellbeing.
03/02/23
To celebrate the Israel 75th Art project, Year 4 have been researching who they are, and where they come from. They have used this information to identify features that celebrate their individuality. They have shown this in their art work by sewing together their fabric artwork which expresses their heritage as one.
27/01/23
In Ivrit, children have been learning about the Israeli space week and they focused on Ilan Ramon and the spaceship Bereshit. They expanded their learning by making bereshits flying in space.
20/01/23
Following on from last week’s lesson, Year 4 were expanding on their knowledge of making a simple circuit, by testing different types of circuits as described on the sheet, to see if they will work or not, and explaining the outcome of each circuit.
13/01/23
In Science, children were given time to experiment with equipment to construct a variety of simple circuits. They were challenged to try and improve their circuits so that 2 bulbs glow more brightly, or using light and buzzer at the same time. If the circuit didn’t work, they were to investigate why.
06/01/23
Year 4 have returned back to school and settled down enthusiastically, eager and ready to learn.
16/12/22
In Ivrit, Year 4 have been learning to say key words and sentences introducing themselves, their friends and family.
09/12/22
In PE, children have been finalising their gymnastics sequences. They have been considering what movements and rolls are appropriate for the sequence, both as a team effort and as individual contributions.
02/12/22
In PSHE, we played a game of sharks. Aimed at enabling children to think of their class as a community, which they are responsible for and they have to look out for each other so the shark doesn’t eat their peers.
25/11/22
In PE, the children have continued to develop their hand-eye co-ordination to control the ball, and the pace of movement required to move around the required space in golf.
18/11/22
In science, our topic is States of Matter. Children have been sharing their prior knowledge of the subject and organising different materials into columns of solids, liquids and gases to show their understanding.
11/11/22
Year 4, have been reflecting on Remembrance Day. They have been discussing ‘What is Remembrance Day, when it is and why we wear poppies’. To mark the occasion, the children have made Remembrance Day bookmarks.
04/11/22
The children have started exploring addition and subtraction of 1s, 10s and 100s in Maths. The children have worked with 4-digit numbers, including the use of mental strategies and column methods. This later extended to adding two 4-digit numbers with exchanges in any column.
21/10/2022
In Maths, Year 4 have enjoyed decoding Roman numerals to modern numbers, understanding that I = 1, V = 5, X=10
14/10/2022
Year 4 had a chilled, yet exciting game of bingo as part of their fun Ivrit session. They played bingo in Hebrew showing that they have all become excellent Hebrew speakers.
07/10/22
Year 4 have spent time reflecting on their team building skills in PSHE. They created a web that joined them together, which showed them how to support their learning with their peers.
30/09/22
In PE Year 4, have been developing their defence skills. Working in small groups they were attacking and defending the balls from their opponents. A great way to start the day for them!
23/09/22
In Science, Year 4 have been using the meter stick to visualise what 7 meters of the small intestine looks like in real life if it was stretched out. The children were amazed that it actually fits inside our bodies.
16/09/22
Year 4 have been enjoying the many PE workshops offered to them. Here they are developing their skills in playing golf, led by SportsSchool coaching.
09/09/22
Year 4 have started off the term with geographic studies. They have been using atlases to locate countries and capital cities in Europe. It’s a topic they seem to enjoy very much.
My name is Ms Moshwe and I will be teaching Year 4. I am excited to share my creative mind-set on all aspects of learning and my enjoyment of looking back at historical events. I look forward to starting the year with the celebration of Rosh Hashanah with the children. On that note, working with me will be our Jewish Studies teacher Ms Pieters.
Through the various topics, children will be able to engage in explorative, investigative learning, expanding on existing understanding and acquiring new knowledge. They will work both collaboratively and independently. By encouraging children’s enquiry based thinking, resilience, respect, thoughtfulness, adaptability and development of positive communication, and more. We aim to support them to enhance their social skills through our IALAC rules and therefore, have a more responsible attitude to their own learning and growth. We look forward to all the active workshops in PE, that allow children the opportunity to realise the physical strengths and also the Barnet Music Festival which is quite a remarkable experience.
In English, we are dedicated to supporting the children to develop their writing skills, focusing on making appropriate choices of vocabulary and exploring how different sentence types can impact the outcome. We are placing an emphasis on their development of legible and consistent joined handwriting through the Nelson handwriting scheme and we will be offering handwriting clubs to children who need it most.
In Maths, The children will build on their mathematical skills, encompassing number and calculations, mental recall, problem solving, geometry and time and lots more. Lessons will be practical and interactive and children will be working both independently and collaboratively. We will be completing the Multiplication Tables Check in June, and so, the sooner children start to prepare the better, your support will be needed to reinforce the efforts made in school.
In Science, we will be starting the year by learning about animals including human beings, this topic looks closely at the food chains. This will be followed by living things and their habitats, children will explore how beautiful our planet is, the homes of different animals and how their habitats are changing and why.
In Jewish Studies, we will be sharpening and deepening our knowledge and understanding of the Tishrei festivals: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah. We will continue to build on our Chumash textual skills, focusing on the narrative of Avraham and Sarah’s hospitality to the three men visiting their tent. Linking to Literacy, Art and ICT we will explore relevant ways to apply the values we learn to our own lives.
We would like to continue building upon the home school relationship established in previous years, as I am fully aware of the vital role that you play as parents in your child’s education. Please use the Home School Liaison book any time you would like to ask questions, raise concerns or keep in touch.
Just a reminder, to support your child in school, please provide 1 box of tissues and 5 large Pritt Sticks 43g (only clear Pritt Stick no other make), a non-uniform cap to keep in school and for the boys, a spare named school kippa, also to be kept in school. Please also check your child has the full school uniform PE kit and the correct sized trainers. These should be brought into school on the first day of the term. The children can bring in fresh fruit or a vegetable snack in a named container each day. Please ensure all items of clothing are labelled with your child’s name.