Our Design and Technology sessions ended with us all painting our shields with a base colour and then adding our patterns using chalk pens. I was really impressed with the skill each child showed and the overall finished products. 

We started the week by taking part in a Roman workshop led by master storyteller Matthew Bellwood. We acted out different Roman scenes from battling in the amphitheatres to then taking a walk down a Roman high street. The experience really helped consolidate a lot of our previous learning as well as teaching us so many intriguing facts. 

This week, we have focused a lot of our time and energy into making Celtic shields. We learnt that the Celts were a group of tribes that lived across northern Europe and Britain. We started the week by looking at different Celt shields and talked about the difference between them and Roman shields. We then created a design drawing from our inspiration. We noticed that some of our designs were a little too intricate so we had a go at redesigning our shields in preparation for building them. 

The building stage saw us draw out the outline of our shields and cut them out using scissors. We then created shield bosses (the middle part of a shield) by stacking cardboard and glueing it on – which made a relief. Next week, we will complete the painting of our shields. 

On Tuesday, we welcomed Reverend Sharon into our class. She spoke to us all about the life of a reverend and what she does in her working life. The children asked some incredibly thoughtful but most importantly respectful questions. 

On Wednesday, we continued our Roots and Roots project by walking into the woods. We were greeted by the soft sounds of music as we met professional musician Ford. We then ventured further into the forest and took part in more creative tasks. One group explored the different trees we could see and wrote an amazing poem and the other group created a dance to represent the autumnal leaves falling to the ground.

In Science, we explored the digestive system, learning about the different organs involved and their specific roles. One of the highlights was an experiment where we made our own “poo”, simulating the process of digestion and mimicking how each organ contributes to breaking down food. It was a fun and messy way to understand how our bodies work.

In English, this week we wrote our warning story. The children did an excellent job of transposing their work from plans to finished pieces. We were blown away by the quality and their use of everything we have been working on. In Maths, we finished our place value topic by looking at rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000.

On Wednesday, we had a fantastic History afternoon. We learnt all about Roman soldiers and the power of the Roman army. We learnt by taking part in our first retrieval relay – which both staff and children enjoyed. Following this, we used our retrieval skills once more to label a Roman soldier.

Finally, we ended the week by being crowned Year 4 TTrockstar champions – which is down to the children’s exceptional work ethic.

It has been another tremendous week in Year 4!

During our Writing sessions, we constructed our shared writing plans. The children had some amazing ideas and all the teachers are really looking forward to reading their work. In Maths, we continued to explore place value by using a variety of manipulatives from place value counters to base ten. The children all worked really hard and showed great resilience when flexibly partitioning numbers.

In our Science learning in class we began an experiment looking at the effect different drinks have on our teeth. We put a boiled egg in a glass of milk, water, Diet Coke and coke to mimic the effect they have on our teeth. We made some observations about their colour. The plan is to observe them after the weekend, hopefully our classrooms don’t smell too bad!

Another fantastic week in 4A!

In our Reading sessions, we began our class novel ‘The Firework-maker’s Daughter’ by Phillip Pullman. The children have really enjoyed reading the story and they are itching to hear what happens next. During Writing, we learnt our new model text by acting it out. It is always so impressive to see the children internalise the stories with such ease. Below is a picture of our class story map it would be great if you could try and practice it at home. Next week, we will be starting our shared planning and writing to create our very own warning tales. 

We have had a fantastic first week in 4A!

I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone and getting ourselves back into our daily routines. 

The children have been working incredibly hard in many different subject areas. In our English sessions, we have been learning ‘The Book’ by Michael Rosen. I have been blow away by the children’s enthusiasm and ability to learn the poem so quickly. Within our Maths learning we have been looking at place value by using base ten to create 3-digit numbers.  

P.E. will take place on Tuesdays so the children will be able to come into school wearing their P.E. kits

In Maths, we have been learning about lots of different types of angles such as acute, obtuse and right angles. We used a piece of artwork by Kandisky to help identify them in a real life context. 

On Wednesday, we took part in our Sports Day at Leeds Beckett Headingley Campus. Despite the warm weather, we still had a fantastic day. Staff were so proud of the children’s sportsmanship, teamwork and resilience throughout the different activities.