The children have been working hard over the past couple of weeks despite the very hot weather! We have been very busy across the curriculum and the children have produced some fantastic pieces of work, showing off all that they have learnt in Year 4.

In English we have been debating whether children should wear school uniforms or not, both classes have written excellent discussion texts with reasons for and against the argument. The children thought very carefully and came up with some great advantages and disadvantages including: comfort, cost and being able to express their individuality. They certainly put forward a very persuasive argument!

During Science lessons, children have been very passionate about the effects humans can have on other living things and their habitats. As well as using their endangered animal research to create some excellent PowerPoints and posters, they have researched about the effects plastic has on our oceans. In groups the children rehearsed, directed and produced some brilliant videos explaining the impact and what we can do to help.

Reminder for sports day (Tuesday 3rd July):
The children should come to school dressed in their PE Kits please and wearing a T-shirt in their house colour. 
They must all have a sun hat to wear and please apply sun cream in the morning- it is going to be a hot day!
Please note house colours have now changed:

Jupiter – Green
Saturn – Red
Mars – Yellow
Neptune – Blue

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine!

The Year 4 team.

It has continued to be a busy half term for Year 4 but we are particularly proud with how the children have approached and coped with their end of term assessment tests and dare I say even perhaps enjoyed the opportunity to show off all the knowledge and skills they have gained this year.

As well as assessments, the children have also had chance to complete some fun science lessons and have been on 'An invertebrate hunt' and making classification keys with liquorice allsorts!

Just a reminder that children will need their 'memory box' bits for Monday in Ash class. (please see homework book)

Have a lovely weekend

The Year 4 teachers.

Royal Wedding Celebrations

The wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle

On Friday 18^th May we will be linking with the Infant school to celebrate the royal wedding.  We would like all the children to wear red, white and blue (a non-uniform day) in the spirit of the occasion! 

During the morning there will be a range of cross-curricular royal activities. There will also be a charity run –  to raise money for the NSPCC. Please don't forget to sponsor your children!

The infants will be collecting money to go towards funds being raised for Jossie’s life saving treatment. If you would like to contribute to that collection as well, do please send in some money and we will add it to the collection in the infants.

In the afternoon, weather permitting, there will be a 'street party' outside.
The children will need to bring in a small, disposable plate of food to eat at the street party (please note that we are unable to store in the fridge).  They will not need a lot of food as they will have had lunch an hour earlier.  As there are some children in school with a severe nut allergy, we politely remind you to ensure that your child's party food is nut-free.

We are looking forward to a great day with the infants. Fingers crossed for some more sunshine!

English

Over the past two weeks the children have been working incredibly hard on writing their own Greek myths. They have thoroughly enjoyed this and produced some fantastic pieces of work. They should all be very proud! Next week we will be moving on to a non-fiction unit - discussion texts.

Maths

We are coming to the end of our unit on properties of shapes, position and direction. This week the children have been plotting coordinates to create their own polygons and translating 2D shapes. Next week we will be focusing on addition and subtraction, revisiting mental and written strategies including estimating and using the inverse.

Science

We have kicked off with our new topic this week- 'Living things and their habitats' It was very interesting before starting to hear the different questions the children have about the unit and what they would like to find out. We were finding different ways to group animals and the children came up with some fantastic criteria.

A request from the year 4 team-

As part of our creative curriculum topic we are planning a trip to Harpenden town on the 22nd of May. We will be conducting surveys, following a trail and answering questions and finally going to the town hall to meet the Mayor. We would really appreciate if there are any parent helpers available that day, if so please could you let us know at pick up/drop off or at the office.

Have a great weekend.

The Year 4 team  😊

Welcome back!

The children have all settled back well into the 'Summer' term. After a brief spell of wonderful, warm weather we are now back to April showers. It hasn't dampened spirits in Year 4 and we have carried on regardless.

In English, the children have been learning about different Greek myths resulting in writing a 'wanted' poster for an on the loose Minotaur and a diary entry for Theseus; after successfully slaying a mythical creature in a dark and gloomy labyrinth. Here are some examples of the children's work:

Finally, it was time. We entered the labyrinth. The labyrinth was made of blood-stained red quartz. My sword had an obsidian blade and a diamond hilt studded with rubies. Now my quest had begun. I asked the other 13 children to wait at the door holding the string so I would be able to find my way back through the twisted maze.... Soon I could hear the ferocious bellow of the Minotaur echoing around the maze. Scared, I sprinted forward, hoping to find the beast.... (Tom )

Next week, we will continue the theme and the children will be writing their own stories incorporating some of the features they have learnt about.

In maths, the children have been developing their knowledge of symmetry in polygons and creating some of their own symmetrical patterns.

During science lessons, the children have continued to investigate using electrical components and designed their own experiments to test different conductors and insulators.

Our Creative Curriculum topic on Harpenden has begun with looking at the children's own perception of Harpenden as well as looking at an overview of the history of the town since Roman times.

Sorry no photos yet...

Have a lovely weekend
The Year 4 team

It has been a very exciting and enjoyable past few weeks in Year 4 and across Crabtree school.

World book day:

A particular highlight and the children's costumes were absolutely amazing.  The day was a great success!

Roman day:

A day enjoyed by all. The children were fully immersed into Roman times and got to experience a range of fun activities which we are sure you heard all about!

 

 

 

English:

Our take one book choice this unit was 'Where the wild things are', a very popular choice with the children. This week they have had a go at creating their own wild things and using expanded noun phrases, similes and metaphors to describe them.

Science:

Year 4 are getting stuck in to our new unit electricity, this week and next we will be looking at simple circuits and their components. Groups have been investigating different ways to make a circuit and if it is complete or not.

The children are also very much looking forward to science day on Monday (19th) where we will be completing experiments and activities all day based on our unit.

Maths:

This week the children have been working so hard on their assessments and we are really pleased with the focus, resilience and effort that they have all shown. Well done!

Dates coming up:

Monday 26th March- trip to Verulamium museum

27th and 28th Parents evening

Thank you for you continued support and we hope you have a lovely weekend.

The year 4 team :)

Welcome back

We are looking forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday and hope that you have all had a relaxing and happy half term break. 

This half term we have plenty of exciting events happening kicking off with our class assembly on Friday 23 February. We hope that many of you will be able to attend to see a short presentation of some of the things that the children have been up to this term. 

Thank you in anticipation of your help with costumes and we hope to make it not too challenging to organise. 

If your child is playing a Roman or a narrator - then any kind of simple Roman costume will suffice. (An oversized white t-shirt and a belt can be most effective)

Roman soldiers will be provided with headpieces. 

If a slave - then as above but with no decorative details. 

Boudicca - a simple tunic. (We will dress her with cloak and jewels)

We hope the children have been learning their parts and songs ready to pull things together this week. 

The children will be able to use their costumes again for Roman day on 28th February for a fun filled day with Charlie Upton, where the children will become Roman Legionaries for the day and build two Roman ‘Onagar’ catapults that really fire missiles and a Roman battering ram.

Also in that week, we have a visit planned on the Monday from a local dentist who will help us carry out some short investigations into teeth hygiene. Please note that the dentist surgery involved wish to include photographs of the children on their website and we will be sending home a permission slips to check if you are happy for them to do so.  

Also in this week, will be World Book Day (1st March). This will be the closing date for our entry to our reading challenge set at the beginning of the month. We hope you have all being reading some new books from Crabtree's top 100 list!

The aim of the day is to celebrate and encourage a positive reading habit and we will be inviting the children to dress up or bring in a prop of a favourite book character. The day in school will also be a chance for us to get excited and inspired, whilst developing a love of reading.

Fast-forward to the end of the term, the final week before Easter holiday, the children will be immersed in all things Roman again, on our visit (sadly not to Rome!) but to Verulamium otherwise known as St Albans!

The week will round off with parent consultations 27/28 March. (Details will follow)

Plenty to look forward to...

Have a great weekend

The Year 4 team

The past two weeks have been very busy and jam-packed with exciting activities. The children have been working extremely hard and produced some fantastic work. A particular highlight being the (very messy) experiment the children conducted based on the digestive system.

It is fantastic to see the children to interested by this unit and continuing their learning outside of the classroom:

Next week we will be investigating tooth decay and it would be much appreciated if you have any empty jam or any other jars that could be sent in with the children on Monday. Thank you in advance!

Our cross curricular writing in English was a huge success.  The children wrote some very exciting, tense and dangerous challenges for Decimus Rex to face. We thoroughly enjoyed reading them and it was clear to see the children applying all the skills we have been learning in lessons into their writing. We will be starting a new unit next week on non-chronological reports.

In Maths we will be deepening our understanding of multiplication and division, written and mental calculations. However, it would be very helpful for those children struggling with time to continue practising this at home.

For homework over half term the children have been asked to make some Roman shields for our topic. Here is some inspiration from last year:

Have a lovely weekend.

The year 4 team 😊