Year 4

Y4 News 28.3.24

Frog invasion!

It all happened at around 8 on Tuesday. The Year 4 class at Lace Hill were rudely invaded by an army of frogs and lily pads. Still to this day Year 4 are very confused as to why this happened. Mr West, the year 4 teacher, reported, "I just don't understand why they invaded our classroom!"

The class have taken inspiration from the picture book ‘Tuesday’ by David Wiener. 

Year 4 interviewed an old lady, a local resident and Detective North who works for the local police station. 

The children explored the difference between open and closed questions and how these can be used to write quotations to help with their newspaper articles.

In science we have been learning how to keep safe around electricity and in computing we have been learning about what AI and machine learning is. 



Y4 News 31.1.24

In Year 4 this term we have enjoyed finishing our character flaw stories. We really enjoyed sharing these with Year 5. In maths we have been working hard on applying our knowledge of times tables to answer multiplication and division questions. In reading we enjoyed learning about refugees in our class novel 'Home Ground' and are now reading 'The Firework makers daughter'. 

In art this time we have been learning about sculptures. We understand that sculptures can be made by different materials and we use skills such as carving, modelling, casting or constructing. So far we have made, soap sculptures, wire sculptures and shadow art. 

Y4 News 8.12.23

What a whirlwind this half term has been! We have been so busy in Year 4. 

In reading we loved exploring The Butterfly Lion. We had so much fun making predictions and trying to connect all the dots in the book. We have now moved onto Dead Good Detectives - another Jenny Mclachlan book which we enjoying so much! The children have been spotting patterns and similarities with the previous novel - The Land of Roar. Our passion for reading has really come to fruition this term and we can't wait to carry on exploring different books!

In maths, we have been learning our times tables and the children should now be practicing all of their times tables. In writing we continue with the mythical creature theme and wrote non-chronological reports about dragons and unicorns. The children were so creative and came up with so many fantastic ideas. We have now moved on to writing our Character Flaw stories and the children have taken a liking to the villains. 

In computing the children have been exploring physical computing and have been programming Micro:Bits to turn them into alarms! They have impressed me with their resilience as this can be challenging. In history we have been learning about how the leisure and entertainment industry has changed over the last 100 years and in science we have continued to explore animals and habitats. 

Next week the children will be looking forward to making their slingshot cars in DT and learning all about the Christmas Story through the local churches. 

Y4 News 13.10.23

Year 4 have loved our class novel this half term. The children have immersed themselves in the story - we have been coming up with our 3 word reviews for 'The Land of Roar'.

Imaginary

Adventurous

Courageous 

Next term we will be looking at the Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo.

In maths we have now finished place value and will be moving onto Addition and subtraction. 

We have also just finished writing our defeat the monster stories which we loved sharing with Year 3. Next week we move onto our non-chronological reports about mythical creatures.

In history we finished our unit on Victorian life; we ended with a great lesson pretending to be in a Victorian school. It made us appreciate how lucky we are to have such an amazing learning environment.

Y4 News 15.9.23

We’ve had a great start in Year 4. The children have truly emersed themselves in our reading and writing. In reading we are loving ‘The Land of Roar’ - a fantasy story about twins who enter their imaginary world. 

In writing, we have been learning about what makes a good defeat the monster story.

We have been exploring place value in maths and started learning about our new topics: habitats, Victorians, online safety and sketching. We can't wait for the rest of this term. 

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Y4 News 7.7.23

Year 4 are finishing the academic year in style. After performing brilliantly in sports day, they lined up and stood beautifully for our whole school photo. Across the board, the class performed excellently in their national times table test, returning above national average results. Learning is still ongoing with the children exploring digestion in Science and asking the question, Does Prayer Change Things? in RE. Finally, they all enjoyed their morning in Year 5 with Mrs Brewer and learning about what they can expect come September.

Y4 News 9.6.23

Year 4 have had a good first week back after half term and are getting stuck into the last few weeks of this academic year! In English the children will be writing a Tale of Fear which I'm very much looking forward to, and consolidating the Year 4 punctuation goals. In Science we're going to be learning all about the digestive system and after looking at Ancient Egypt in history, we're going to be looking at modern Egypt today in geography. What with sports day, assessments, transition and the school fete, the next few weeks are looking super busy!

Y4 News 19.5.23

Year 4 have had a good week enjoying the spring sunshine and Mrs Brewer's new outdoor reading den. In English we have been focusing on recount writing and to this end the children have been recounting funny anecdotes much to everyone's amusement. Their hot task will be to write the best funny anecdote they can. In maths we have finished our unit on Time. Next week we'll be devoting the whole week to times tables games and activities to prepare them for the national times table test.

Y4 News 5.5.23

Year 4 have been away on their bushcraft residential where they learned a lot about team work as well as some outdoor first aid and knife skills. Back to school and they are now starting a fresh unit on time. There's a prize of an analogue alarm clock available for whoever makes the most progress in this unit. In English the children are starting to write their own portal stories. They'll be sending their characters back in time for an adventure. Finally in History the children are learning all about Ancient Egypt and the pharoahs, a fascinating period of time and one which they are thoroughly enjoying.

Y4 News 17.3.23

Year 4 have had a great week and continued their excellent work. The children all worked hard on their assessments and did themselves proud. 

In English, we have started a new unit of non-fiction explanation writing. The children all enjoyed receiving a personalised letter from Archibald Hepworth, Professor of Dragonology at Oxford University. The letter explained why dragons are extinct in England. It's certainly got the children wondering...

Our excellent record in reading continued with 2 more children entering the Accelerated Reader Club Millionaire. This is an exclusive club for children who have read more than 1 million words and there are currently 4 millionaires in Year 4, with another 2 well on their way. We have 12 children in the Century Club as well, these children have read over 100,000 words which is incredibly impressive. I know that more will join soon and the genuine enjoyment of books and reading is wonderful to see.

In maths we are continuing with Decimals and looking forward to our unit on Money. In RE, the children reported back on how giving up something they liked for a week and swapping it for a different activity made them feel. In general, they were pleased with themselves and felt a sense of achievement.

We have a full STEM day to look forward to next Friday with a visit to Gawcott Solar Farm coming up (look out for the trip letter soon), so it's full STEM ahead until Easter.

Y4 News 24.2.23

Year 4 have had an action-packed week with a visit to Bekonscot Model Village definitely the highlight. We visited this as part of our understanding of settlements and the children enjoyed a train ride and making moving models that they brought home with them.

In maths, we have finished our unit on fractions and will be starting on decimals next week. Decimals will lead onto money, so do please spend as much time as possible talking to the children about pounds and pence. It will really help them.

In writing we are working on a new narrative - Defeat the Monster! The children are having great fun thinking about what their monster is going to be. Ask them to tell you about their monster in as much detail as possible. 

In History this half term we are studying leisure and entertainment in the 20^th Century and in RE we are asking the question, Should believers give things up? In science we are studying famous scientists and inventors. This week the children researched Alexander Graham Bell and his many, extraordinary achievements.

Y4 News 20.1.23

Year 4 have had a great week learning about area in maths and continuing with their excellent character flaw writing. In science they created simple electrical circuits which they absolutely loved. In geography they learned about how different place names can tell you who originally settled there, and in RE they learned about what is generally considered to be the biggest coming together of humanity on earth - the Hindu Kumbh Mela festival. Finally they enjoyed making paper rabbits to celebrate the coming of the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.

Y4 News 16.12.22

Year 4 have had an amazing start to their year and have been a pleasure to teach. They have worked hard and studied the water cycle, the Victorians, Living Things and Their Habitats, how sound is made, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, rolling numbers, swimming, story writing, newspaper report writing, My Side of the Mountain, I Was a Rat, Judaism, French, the true meaning of Christmas, drawing, coding, PSHE, PE and a little bit of music. They have visited the Chiltern Open Air Museum and taken part in Christmas Unwrapped at St Peter's Church in Buckingham. 7 children in the class achieved 100% attendance and every week there was something or someone to celebrate.

The children all deserve an amazing Christmas and break and I look forward to seeing them again next year!

Y4 News 2.12.22

Year 4 had their assessment week this week and I couldn't be more proud of them. The assessments are between 25 and 40 minutes long and the children have to stay quiet and concentrate throughout this time. They all achieved that very well and their results are helping me as a teacher to see where I need to take them.

In English we have started our unit on newspaper report writing. By the end of term they will have written a newspaper report about an event of their choosing utilising the features of a newspaper report. In History our work on the Victorians continued and the children had fun making their own version of a popular Victorian toy - the cup and ball. 

In Science we investigated what materials were best for soundproofing and in RE the children analysed well known Christmas carols to try and understand their messages.

Finally, we finished our first class novel, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and started our new one, I Was a Rat by Philip Pullman.

Y4 News 18.11.22

Year 4 had a brilliantly fun day on Wednesday as they spent a day learning about life in Victorian Britain at Chiltern Open Air Museum. The day started off rainy and wet, but by the time we reached the museum the sun was shining which was just as well. The children attended 3 different workshops in 3 different original buildings that have been re-erected at the museum for preservation and educational purposes.  The first workshop, Lighting in Victorian Britain, had the children learning all about lighting prior to electricity and they all got to make their own beeswax candle. Next it was on to a workshop about Victorian toys. The children were fascinated by these old-fashioned toys and found them very challenging. Lunch was in an old Nissen hut and then finally they were under the strict guidance of Gordon who taught them how to make a clay brick. The children were astounded to realise that people were expected to make 800-1000 bricks EVERY DAY. It was a great day out and really added to this half term's history unit - The Victorians. Many thanks to our parent volunteers who came along and make these trips possible.

In maths, the children continued their unit on multiplication and division. In Science they had fun exploring how volume and pitch can be changed on a glockenspiel, and in RE they learned about refugees and compassion.

All in all, an action packed fun week.

Y4 News 4.11.22

Year 4 started this half term with a bang! Literally in the case of our science lesson. We have just started a new unit on Changing Sounds and this week we performed an experiment to see if we could 'see' sound! The children had to make some pretty loud noises in order to do this and they embraced this opportunity to make as much noise as possible with gusto!

In maths we have started a new unit on Length and Perimeter. Do feel free to quiz the children on how many mm there are in a cm (10). How many cm in a m (100). And how many m in a km (1000).

In English we are back learning how to write fiction and the children will be working towards writing their own finding tale.

We have left behind geography this half term and are instead focusing on history: in particular, the Victorians. The children were amazed to hear about children as young as 4 being put to work in this period of time and hopefully feel very lucky to be 8 or 9 years old 2022 rather than 1862. 

Finally, the children in Year 4 have read a combined total of 1,149,769 words since we started Accelerated Reader and it's only November! Please do encourage your child to read their reading books so that they can come in and take a comprehension test. Every test passed means the words they have read count towards our overall total and prove that the reader has not only read the book, but understood it.

Y4 News 14.10.22

Wow, the last full week of this half term is over and the time has flown! Year 4 are now definitely in the groove and settled into a new routine.

In science we have completed our unit on Living Things and Their Habitats. This culminated with the children researching an endangered species and the reasons why it is currently endangered. In geography we have also finished learning all about water. In the next half term we are switching to history and will be looking at the Victorians.

As you know, Year 4 is the year where the children sit the national Times Table Test. They've been learning to 'roll their numbers' and should currently be able to perform the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10 times tables. Do be sure to ask them! Have a lovely weekend everyone.

This weekend's spellings are calendar, caught, centre, century and certain.

Y4 News 7.10.22

Year 4 had another good week and I'm extremely proud of them. In maths we started a new unit on addition and subtraction. The children are now moving up to 4 digit numbers, but realising that so long as they stay in the same column when they do their calculations, they can add up the world!

In English we have also started a new unit on non-fiction persuasion writing. Get ready for them to start trying to persuade you to use less plastic in your lives.

We managed to get in quite a lot of outdoor learning this week which was good because the weather is only going to get worse from here on in. The children did a plastic pollution hunt on the field and also had a look to see what kind of manmade environmental dangers to wildlife we could find on the school grounds.

Finally, the children enjoyed a lovely Harvest assembly this morning. Thank you for all your kind food donations which are on their way to a local foodbank.

This weekend's spellings are: bicycle, breath, build, busy, business.

Y4 News 30.9.22

Year 4 put in another excellent week’s work and came to the end of both their first English and maths units of Year 4. They all wrote amazing ‘warning tales’ in English that I had the pleasure of reading this evening and I’m so proud of how brave they are as writers. I demanded interesting stories and I definitely got them. In maths we have finished our unit on place value and are moving onto more advanced addition and subtraction. We had great fun in geography this year preparing our classroom for a flood, and we also got to finish our science from last week and officially classify the invertebrates we found on last week’s hunt down by the canal.

We learned about Jewish Festivals in RE and the children created their own Seder plates. The official Jewish Seder plate features different foods to remind the Jews of their past. The children were asked to imagine they had to leave their homes and live far away and what foods would they put on their plates to remind them of home.

Finally, most of the children had fun learning their spellings and participating in Monday morning’s optional spelling quiz. There’s a catch me token for every correctly spelled word. This weekend’s 5 words to practice and learn are:

although

answer

appear

arrive

believe

Y4 News 23.9.22

Year 4 have continued their good work in school and enjoyed a mini field trip yesterday to the old Buckingham Canal. Once again, I was very proud of them as they were extremely well behaved and sensible during the walk to and from there. Thanks very much to Faith, Max and Ava's mums who all came along to help me and Ms James keep everyone safe. Once there we went on an invertebrate hunt as we are studying Living Things and their Habitats in Science. It was also a useful trip for both our English and Geography lessons. In English we are learning to write a warning tale and our model text emphasises the dangers of disused canals if you're not sensible around them. In Geography we are studying all things water. In fact, in class this week we made actual clouds in jars. 

On Thursday we also had 100% attendance in class. Keep up the good work, Year 4!

Y4 News 16.9.22

t's been another exciting week in Year 4, not least because the children started their swimming lessons. They all had a great time and were beautifully behaved on the walk to and from the Swan Pool which is very important.

In maths we've been continuing our work on place value and learning to work with 4 digit numbers. In English we have 3 main targets for this unit - perfect punctuation, using expanded noun phrases (adjective, adjective noun) and making sure we use adventurous vocabulary to make our writing as interesting and engaging as possible.

In Geography we learned about the water cycle on Wednesday. Ask your child to tell you what evaporation, condensation and precipitation are. 

On a personal note, I'm really beginning to get to know the children and consider myself fortunate to have such a bright and fun class to teach.

Y4 News 9.9.22

Year 4 have had a great start to the new term and new year. A huge focus this year is on perfect presentation in our books and all the children are trying really hard. Being proud of what you do is a big part of doing well, so we want to make sure that all the children take care and achieve their best possible results.

We've had a busy week doing English, maths, geography, music, French, PE, science and RE. Here are a couple of photos of the children having fun coding on the laptops. We've also started our class novel - My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George which is a great story about a boy who runs away to live off the land. The children are already excited to hear that some of the things we are reading about in the book, they will actually be doing at our bushcraft residential.

Swimming also starts next week, so there's lots to look forward to.

Year 4 Gallery