Ash - Year 4
Friday 27th June – highlight of the week - Sports Day
This week sports day took place on Wednesday. Spirit was evident in spades as the children cheered each other on in their House colours, while competitors fiercely pitted against each other on the track and field in the afternoon.
An excellent day of sport was met with hotter than expected weather conditions to make for what many pupils and staff have called “the best sports day ever!” The day was contested between the four houses (Rowan, Hawthorn, Rowan and Alder) and all students were able to compete to high levels whilst showing exceptional sportsmanship within the values of our school. The morning session was focussed on mass participation sports and this saw uptake in a wide range of sports and fun activities such as Football, Yoga, circuit training, athletics/welly wanging, basketball/netball shooting, gymnastics/parkhour, football and even Zumba. With the whole school field, playgrounds, sports hall and lunch hall filled with ongoing activities created an amazing atmosphere; the pupils were so excited and enthusiastic.
The afternoon session saw the whole school community come together to take part in the track events. All students and staff witnessed some stand out performances from students and staff when it came to singing and dancing! Once again, the students demonstrated our values through their encouragement and support of all students. After a full day of sports, aimed to suit all abilities and include as many sports as possible we were treated to a fantastic singing performance accompanied by Mr Lee on the drums. The overall winning house was Rowan – many congratulations! Well done to everyone involved in what was a wonderful day in our school community.
Friday 20th June - highlight of the week - Roman Day
What an unforgettable day Year 4 had as they journeyed back nearly 2,000 years to the time of the Romans! Led by the brilliant Mistress Silvia, our young historians immersed themselves in all things Roman to bring their learning to life — especially their fascinating studies on the Roman impact on Britain and the dramatic Boudiccan Rebellion.
The children arrived dressed as Roman citizens, soldiers, and rebels, ready for a full day of hands-on workshops and discovery. They rolled up their tunics and got creative with a wide range of activities: crafting intricate mosaics, designing wax tablets, moulding clay charms, working as “metal” smiths, and even making traditional Roman bullas — protective amulets worn by Roman children to ward off evil spirits and show their freeborn status.
They also prepared Roman-style bath bags filled with fragrant herbs and flowers — a sensory delight! Throughout the day, pupils explored what daily life was like in Roman Britain and how the mighty Roman army was organised. Some even suited up and re-enacted military drills, marching and forming impressive formations just like the Roman legions.
Adding a touch of drama, the children brought ancient stories to life through performance, before the day came to a triumphant close with the Romans (cheered on by our students!) celebrating their victory over Boudicca, the fierce Queen of the Iceni.
A huge thank you to our amazing parent volunteers — Mrs Walker, Mrs Powell, Mrs Quatermain, Mrs Taylor, Mr Hoey, Mrs Powel, Mrs Butler, and Mrs Neal — and an extra special thanks to Mrs Leith for her help in organising such a fantastic day. Your support helped make this Roman adventure one to remember!
Friday 13th June
This half term we are reading 'Escape from Pompeii'. We will be using this text to write our own newspaper reports all about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius! Non-fiction writing such as information texts about Pompeii and volcanoes will also be completed. Next week we will write setting descriptions about the wonderful city of Pompeii before tragedy struck.
In Computing we will research and write about the history of Pompeii and learn about what life was like before and after the volcano erupted.
Building on previous understanding, in Maths we started a new topic – time including how to tell the time and understanding and converting Units of Time .
Friday 30th May
In English we have explored a variety of Arthurian legends and compared similarities between myths and legends. We also watched an animation which generated an interesting debate about the difference between 'fact' and 'fiction' - thus the difference between history and myth. We concluded that while it is pretty clear that some of the more mystical aspects of the Arthurian legend are make-believe, there still remains much debate about whether King Arthur and his knights were also made up or if the legend is based on real people.
As we followed the adventures and misadventures of King Arthur and his brave Knights of the Round Table we explored the characters’ feeling using drama and acting out.
We then delved into symbolism and allegory such as the round table representing chivalry and equality- the fact that the table is round allowed all the knits to have an equal place alongside King Arthur. We also considered the sword Arthur used – Excalibur as representing his power and responsibility as king.
We culminated this unit by writing our own myths/legends using a variety of techniques such as using ‘show not tell’ sentences and figurative language. The children also created a toolkit for how to build suspense which included mysterious elements; using punchy sentences; rhetorical questions and ellipsis.
Friday 6th May
Working with Money in Maths, we have recapped what the different coins represent and how much they are worth. Guided by Mrs Ellis, this supported the children to buy different items from the ‘made up’ shop. They also used this knowledge to help them calculate change, which they did using the part whole method, the number line and the column method.
We then moved on to calculating what coins we would need and tackled a variety of word problems with larger amounts of money. This supported them in calculating change and combining amounts. We even used a real Theme Park menu to work out costs / change when buying lunch out as a family.
Easter Church Service ⛪🐣🌷 and activities with Reverand Richard and his team
Recently we ventured to our local church in the the sunshine for our Easter service. We heard the story of Easter, and joined in with hymns and Easter songs! Everyone was so well-behaved and it was lovely to have the whole KS2 together to celebrate Easter.
Back at school we enjoyed a variety of workshops including making flowers to represent new life and drawing and cutting around hands to symbolise the light.
Thank you Reverend Richard, his team as well as the parent helpers (Mrs Walker and Mrs Neal) who provided supervision and support whilst walk to and from church.
Science in action with Year 4s constructing simple series electrical circuits, identifying and naming their basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers. Great understanding of insulators, conductors, electric appliances and the health and safety advice concerning these.
Balancing freeze frames in P.E as part of putting together a dance routine
Friday 4th April
Making pop up Mother's Day cards. Here is to hoping that the mums have been treated to breakfast in bed as the children promised.
Friday 14th March
Over the past few weeks we continued following Edward's transformative voyage. Kate DiCamillo took us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hoboes’ camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we have been shown a true miracle — that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.
Given the significant changes in the protagonist and his mood analysis, we re-evaluated Edward and we were pleased he was no longer an anti-hero. We also learnt the features of letter writing and then drafted and published formal letters in role. In further helping us to connect with the characters and develop our creative writing, we explored and used the 'Show not tell' technique. This also helped us better understand the way authors show how the characters experience emotion in key scenes. Lastly, we reviewed the novel and considered the valuable lessons learnt by the main character and the way we can relate. Some children also wrote an alternative ending to the story.
World Book Day
We had a huge amount of fun celebrating our love of reading by dressing up in our favourite characters and taking part in a variety of activities such as watching the ‘Masked Reader’ video and then guessing which member of staff was behind each reading. We also had lots of adventurous entries for ‘Reading in an unusual place’ competition and then sharing a ‘Revolting Rhyme’ by Roald Dahl by no other than Little Red Riding Hood herself! Thank you Mrs Salt for all the hard work put in organising such a fabulous eventful day! Many thanks to parents for your efforts with the costumes and supporting the day and to children for their unmatched enthusiasm.
'Maths on the Move' morning session
In this active Maths lesson, we used subtraction with carrying to work out whether we are better at certain activities first or second time around. We completed each practical activity twice, working out the difference between our scores using column subtraction. Some of the activities included running, jumping, skipping and using ball skills.
To spice our learning up we challenged ourselves by using one decimal place subtraction as well as two decimal place subtraction. Thank you, parents, for joining us outdoors and for looking after those children whose parents couldn’t make it and to Mrs Ward for the brilliant idea and for organising it.
Friday 14th February
Marble Run Challenge
As part of the whole school, challenge, children in Ash class designed their own Marble Run. Their challenge: to make the marble take the longest time to fall the length of one group of tables.
Designs varied, with some great results. The winning group made their marble roll with a successful run from top to bottom with a time of 5.94 seconds. Well done to Henry, Charlotte, Autumn, Clara, Emilia and Ava!
We measured the length of the runs, and timed how long they took, calculating the marbles speed and finally evaluating the process to suggest improvements if we were to try the task again.
Our Year 4 students also enjoyed an out-of-this-world experience when entering the Wonder Dome mobile planetarium set up in the Sports Hall.
Stepping inside the dome, they were transported on a thrilling journey through the universe. The presenter-led show explored topics ranging from the formation of planets to the life cycle of stars, leaving students in awe of the vastness and beauty of space.
It was a truly immersive experience which took the children to distant parts of the universe. They saw stars forming, whole galaxies and were told the details of our solar system. Everyone enjoyed seeing the moving images projected onto the dome and many chose to take it all in lying down. It was a fantastic experience
The pupils’ curiosity grew as they learned about different planets and looked at a variety of moon rock and meteorite samples. We also considered the the possibilities of space exploration and learnt more about the Apollo mission and Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon.
The interactive format and stunning visuals helped to bring the science curriculum to life, hopefully sparking a deep interest in the wonders of the universe!
Friday 31st January 2025
In Literacy we have been enjoying reading and studying ‘The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane’. This novel is the driver for our writing and reading. In Guided Reading, we have been working on developing our vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarizing skills as part of whole class reading. The wonderful story begins with Edward Tulane, a China rabbit who belongs to a girl named Abilene. The family is wealthy and not only does Edward have fancy clothes to wear, but he has the love of Abilene as well. She absolutely adores him and spends all of her time caring for him. So far, we learnt that Edward is a surprising protagonist. We all agree that we MAY grow to love rather than enjoy him from the beginning. Frankly, he is rather stuck up and selfish at the start of the story. He doesn’t love anyone or even care about the little girl who cares for him so deeply. Edward finds humans annoying and boring. And then the adventure begins…
In Maths, we have moved on from informal methods for multiplication to formal ones such as using the column method to multiply 2- and 3-digit numbers by 1. We have also used the Bus Stop method for division.
This half term, Year 4s are dedicating themselves to football, where their passion, skills, and strategy are combining to create unforgettable moments on the school field. However, they didn’t start off this good; first they had to master the basics which we are continuing to work on.
Dribbling - The ability to keep the ball under control while navigating through defenders is crucial. Great dribblers like Lionel Messi and Neymar are able to glide past opponents with finesse, creating space and opportunities.
Passing - Football is a team game, and passing is at the core of how teams move the ball up the pitch and break down defences. Precision and timing are key when executing short passes, long balls, or through passes.
Shooting - Scoring goals is the ultimate objective in football, and being able to shoot with power, accuracy, and composure can make all the difference.
Defensive Skills - Defenders need to master the art of timing, positioning, and tackling. Great defenders like Virgil van Dijk or Sergio Ramos don’t just rely on strength; they read the game and anticipate attackers’ moves.
The children are all working hard and are making their own progress - I’m super proud of them!
Friday 17th January
In Maths this week the children learnt about facts and used factor pairs. They also practised multiplying and diving by 10 and 100 and used practical equipment to demonstrate and consolidate their understanding of multiplication and division.
In English the children considered the different stages of writing as they planned, drafted and published their own version of 'Coming Home'. A highlight of the week was going outside to share their poems and giving each other feedback using the steps to success.
In P.E. we recapped gymnastics with a focus on creating simple and complex balance poses in pairs. Take a look at our incredible gymnasts!
Friday 20th December 2024
Year 4 class enjoyed a week of festive fun. In English we read Morpurgo’s beautiful Christmas tale – ‘Coming Home’. The story quickly became a real class favourite, with children looking eager to follow the little robin’s epic journey, desperately battling to get back to his lady robin. Together we explored the importance of ‘home’ with the pupils engaging in meaningful discussions and spending time understanding just why the brave robin fought so hard to get to his.
The children also loved getting into the festive spirit by baking and decorating spiced and sweet gingerbread men cookies and then decorating them with icing, chocolate chips, sprinkles, marshmallows and smarties.
Lastly, we had great fun at our Christmas party. We enjoyed pass the parcel, playing musical statues and dancing to Christmas songs.
Happy Christmas 🎄 🎅 and a healthy 2025!
6th December 2024
This week has been busy in Year 4. We started off with a trip to the church alongside Key Stage 2 to learn about Christmas from the Christian perspective.
We have also spent some of this week working hard on our tests - we have completed all of the assessments ready for next week. It is really nice to be able to see how well everyone is progressing.
We are looking forward to welcoming Year 4 parents into school for their delayed parents evening and SEND reviews next week. Christmas will be in full flow for Year 4 - watching the Key Stage 1 nativity, the foundation nativity and the panto!
28th November 2024
MATHS NEWS - Looking for an app to help your child practise their multiplication tables and number bonds? Struggling to engage with Times Table Rock Stars? Look no further! Our White Rose maths scheme has a great 'one-minute maths' app. Take a look here.
11th November 2024
Year 4 has started reading the book 'Horrid Henry' in our English classes. They have settled well and is looking forward to writing character descriptions leading into writing their own Narrative. Please encourage them to read the book, even better if parents carve out some time to read with them. Discuss with them what the story is about, what type of person is Henry, why do they think the author titled the book Horrid Henry. They could even practice writing their own character descriptions at home before doing it in class.