Year 4

In the Spring term we have been exploring new and interesting topics , from the Vikings to the human body we have used real life situations whenever possible to support our learning. 

In English we have read, appreciated and composed our own pieces of writing. While reading 'Leon and the Place between' we even created a beautiful, finalised piece of work. We used our understanding of pattern and collage in Art to help us create booklets inspired by our text to display our successful writing proudly. 

In History, we have been learning about the Vikings and have used different retrieval techniques to concrete our learning. For example, we used the grids in the playground to write down or draw everything we could remember about the Vikings, we each remembered different things so contributing to each others grinds allowed us to remember everything we had learnt. We also had the opportunity to make our own Viking boats, with their typical shallow draft, oars for windless days and shields to help protect them. 

In Science we did an experiment, using eggs in different liquids to investigate what might happen to our teeth in these different liquids, we predicted what we thought would happen, ensured it was a fair test and recorded the results. It was really interesting to note all the changes to the eggs, and a little smelly! We also discovered the important features of a food chain, and ordered our own. We have been learning about the stages in digestion and even got to eat some biscuits as we discussed what would be happening to the biscuit at each stage of digestion. 

There has been a lot of great practical learning happening in Year 4, both in school and outside.

Year 4 have had the privilege of taking part in Forest School this half term, where they have had to work as a team using a range of tools to build a Bug Hotel for the school grounds - what a wonderful way to support bug life at St Sidwell’s!

As geographers, Year 4 have been thinking about how we can live more sustainably. They started this topic with a visit from ‘Plant and People’ who helped to plant a tree and bury a time capsule full of postcards with the children’s hopes and dreams for the future - there is a plaque in the school grounds marking the burial spot, entitled St Sidwell’s hope for 2074! They also conducted an experiment which allowed them to see how chemical energy can change to electrical energy using a potato clock, this enabled them to understand how we can use natural resources to change energy. The class also did an environmental survey of the school, looking at what we can do to make the school more sustainable and coming up with an action plan to do so.

Science learning has been great fun too! To help the children to explore the different habitants and living organisms within our school grounds, they took part in some pond dipping in in our school pond - they even found a newt!

We love music at st Sidwell’s and some of our Year 4 children have performed in Rock Steady to a live audience. All children have been learning how to play the xylophone in their music lessons alongside some popular music tracks.

In addition to all this wonderful and exciting learning, the children have continued to work hard on developing their writing, reading and maths skills where we are very proud of the progress they have made!

There has been a lot of great practical learning happening in Year 4, both in school and outside.

In English, they have used their knowledge of the Romans to support their understanding of our current text 'Escape from Pompeii'. The class are very talented at writing stories and have really enjoyed being able to write this story through the eyes of different characters. We have used rich discussion, drama and debates to share and encourage new ideas.

The class have been working really hard in Maths this term, practising decimals and fractions. Using lots of physical resources, from fraction action snap to huge hundred squares, we have found many different ways to show a fraction and convert this to a decimal. The class also continue to practice their times tables everyday and are really confident with this, calling them out without support.

Year 4 have been learning about the Romans in history, creating their own version of Hadrian's wall, using a range of different materials to help consolidate their learning. They also wrote their own letters in response to the oldest surviving letter written by Claudia Severa. The class also had the opportunity to create a map for their own Roman towns, including all the typical features. While pretending to be owners of gladiators, the class tried to make their own gladiator schools and advertise these using posters.

As part of their previous Geography learning, the children were lucky enough to visit West Town Farm to learn how a sustainable farm operates. From making wild garlic using the garlic they found and picked themselves to feeding the sheep and drawing with charcoal the class got an insight into all the ways in which we can live more sustainably. The children leant a lot as well as having such as fabulous time.

The children have been learning about electricity in Science, particularly circuits and how they must be complete in order to make a light work. They had a go at making a human circuit, using an energy stick to demonstrate how any break could prevent the electricity from flowing to the lamp.

In Art, the topic this half term has been 'Festive Feasts'. Year 4 have been making food out of oven clay, art roc and air drying clay ready for their parents' picnic. They have experimented with lots of different media, in this way, as they have had to use clay, plaster, cardboard and paint. Looks yummy!

Year 4 love going on trips! As well as the farm, they visited Exeter Cathedral where they took part in lots of very interesting activities. This linked perfectly to their R.E. learning as they got to take part in activities all related to Ascension to Pentecost. They made their own flame crowns, this being a common image associated with Ascension, made their own instruments and acted. All of which secured their knowledge in this topic.