Year Four were very excited to take part in a national experiment where they received a packet of 100 seeds from space. They grew them alongside seeds that hadn’t been to space and measure the differences over seven weeks. They were placed on the window sill in our classroom and the children have taken turns to water, photograph and log details about their growth.

This half term we have been studying different rocks.

They were all given their very own pebble to consider its journey and how it was formed.

They started their topic ‘Scavengers and Settlers’ on the grassy area at the back of the playground. Staring out at the mud, twigs and damp leaves they discussed how they could survive outdoors with nothing much else around. The children came up with ideas that we need water, food, warmth and shelter for survival and came up with suggestion of how cavemen would provide these for themselves.

Fashions from 1600 to present. the children enjoyed sequencing them in order.

We held our own Swap Shop where children brought in clothes to swap. The children re-used and recycled the garments into different items of clothing or accessories by cutting, sewing and sticking.

The children used their drawing and cutting skills to create tree silhouettes. They mixed paints to create shades of hot or cold colour for the backgrounds.

This half term we have become independent and responsible learners. We have learnt how to be organised, responsible to bring everything we need for each day and have a mature attitude to our learning. We have grown as leaders, planning and leading the rest of the school in their Circle Meetings.

To celebrate Road Safety Week we wrote a comic strip on how to cross the road safely. This was followed up by our ‘crossing the road’ activity outside.

The main focus for this half term was the ‘older’ generation. The children have written about their families, drawn family trees, spoken to older relatives about their past and found out from where their families and names originate.

The children have been learning about the Human Body. They have been labelling different bones of the skeleton and have consider what life would be like if we didn’t have any bones! They had great fun identifying the delicate bones of a real skeleton and positioning them in the right order. The children continued their studies by learning about Teeth and the Digestive System.

The children loved celebrating the Queen’s 90th birthday by making bunting, cupcakes, crowns, practising the National Anthem and learning the Sailors’ Hornpipe for the school party. They researched the Royal Family and even listened to Her Majesty’s first broadcast, at her young age of fourteen.

The children enjoyed studying the book ‘The Pebble in my Pocket’ by Chris Coady and Meredith Hooper’

A local artist gave a hands-on Pottery Workshop which gave the children an opportunity to practise the skills of coiling and smoothing to make a ‘Stone Age’ bowl.  The pots were left to dry out for a week before being taken to a kiln for baking. The children  are looking forward to using them for the salt water on their Seder tables. 

The children have been experimenting with one and two point balances and finding their centre in order to hold the positions still.  We will be linking our balances with travelling steps to form a sequence on and off the apparatus.

This half term the children in Year 4 travelled back in time to the 1960’s – 1980’s. We looked particularly at Fashion trends and how social events impacted on what people were wearing at the time. The children also found out about music, dancing, inventions and important news items of the decade.

Some children made models of the Iron Man incorporating electrical circuits which were made to light up his eyes.

We have immersed ourselves into our ‘Chocolate’ topic, the Science topic of ‘Solids, Liquids and Gases’ and have linked with a Year 4 class in Ghana.

Groups of children have invented exercise products to help older people exercise. They have considered the needs of older people and the physical challenges they might be faced with. The children created exercise routines for the elderly, using chairs to aid balance. A visit from Sid Nathan, an ex-boxer and world renowned boxing referee, really helped them with this. ‘Uncle Sid’ explained how he used to keep fit as a young boxer and the physical difficulties he is faced with now, at the age of ninety four. He explained how he tries to keep himself as mobile and active as possible. The children were delighted to see ‘Uncle Sid’ trying out some of their exercises on a chair.

The Olympics has been a large focus of our topic work this half term where pupils have designed an Olympic mascot using a computer program called Scratch and have researched the origins of this sporting event. This has led to fascinating research making comparisons between ancient and modern Greece.

The children enjoyed watching the volcano exploding.

The children patiently waiting to see what will happen!

Year 4 launched British Science week in an assembly for the whole school. They introduced the idea of encouraging Biodiversity to the area of wasteland at the back of our playground and set all the classes with the challenge.

The children have started planning their own Bug Hotel to place in the new environmental area.

Our classroom was transformed by depicting Fashions, material, a clothes rail of garments to try on and sort, a haberdashery store to improve our skills in measuring, solving money problems and multiplying using decimals. 

The children also enjoyed Art Week which was themed for Tu Bishvat and sewing fortune cookies for Chinese New Year proved tricky but fun! 

We have also been studying ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes and looked at features the author used to grab our attention.

We have enjoyed exploring our new playground!

We have embraced Remembrance Day with writing messages to soldiers and following instructions to make pinwheel poppies.

Another highlight this half term was a visit to Sydmar Lodge, where the older residents enjoyed hearing the children singing songs for the Chaggim and Shabbat. The children spoke to the older people about what they have been doing in school before visiting the Succah for some well deserved grape juice and biscuits.

All in all, a very busy time in Year 4!