Welcome to Year 4!

The staff in Year 4 are Mrs Padley (4P), Mrs Symington (4S) and Mrs Bingham.

We are looking forward to the year ahead with a range of exciting activities.  We have some fantastic trips and visitors lined up to help us with our learning.

Our PE days are Wednesday and Friday, so please remember your kits on those days.

Remember to bring your Reading Book and diary and ask for your book to be changed.

A huge thank you to the adults who attended

the Welcome Meeting!

If anyone has any further questions don't hesitate to ask.

Welcome Meeting

Thursday 26th September 2019 

 9 - 9.30am

Everyone Welcome

When we were in Year 3

When we were in Year 3 - 2018-2019

Here is some important information:

• PE is on Tuesdays and Thursdays; please ensure your child bring their school PE kit on these days.
• Home Reading Books change on Tuesdays for 3P and on Wednesdays in 3K.
• Water Bottles: cups are not provided for children (there are not washing facilities in the classroom) so please send your child in with their own, named water bottle.  We have fountains for them to fill up with fresh water when needed.  Please do not send in squash.

Our Creative Curriculum

We have six fantastic topics planned for this year, including: Tremors, Tribal Tales, Heroes and Villains, Gods and Mortals, Urban Pioneers and Predator.  These topics come complete with engaging texts and wonderfully fun activities and events.

Tremors

Text: Oliver and the Seawigs

For this topic we enjoyed exploring the Lapworth Museum of Geology in the University of Birmingham.  We learnt so much about our ever-changing earth and all of the exciting 'tremors' occurring constantly below our feet.  We planned and built our own volcanoes using recycled materials and the children loved watching them erupt in a fizzy mess!

Tribal Tales

Text: Stone Age Boy

For this topic we will be visiting Sarehole Mill for an exciting day learning about Prehistoric Birmingham. We will be learning about how people of Britain developed over thousands of years from the Stone Age to the Roman Invasion. By the end of the term, we will have written amazing stories about being transported to the Stone Age and created Iron Age jewellery using a range of materials. 

Heroes and Villains

Text: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

This topic starts off in the HOT SEAT!  The children will learn all about the villainous Cruella De Vil and take turns role playing.  What motivates her dastardly deeds?  Why must her fur coats be made exclusively from puppies??  Throughout the half-term, we will be using music and art to discuss how villains and heroes are portrayed- what words are used, what musical melodies, which tones and shapes convey meaning. Then we will discuss real world heroes by learning about different charities and the good they do, locally and further afield.  

We won't limit the learning either- in English, we will be reading different villain's speeches before writing and performing one of our own- in front of a green screen!

Gods and Mortals

Text: Groovy Greeks (Horrible Histories)

We launched this theme by hosting a very fun Ancient Greek Day!  The children came dressed in their finest bedsheets, ahem, Ancient Greek clothing and learnt all about Ancient Greek myths, inventions, warfare and games from our guide from Portals to the Past.  With the children properly enthusiastic, we moved on to discovering the birthplace of democracy and why it continues to be so important today. We considered what we had learnt about the Stone Age and used a timeline to place ourselves in the Bronze Age and then compared Greek history to our own British history.  We studied the city-states of Athens and Sparta and compared what made them so similar, yet so very different.  We made mosaics and read the story of Pandora's Box shortly before using Ancient Greeks patterns to make our own tempting Pandora's Box.  

Urban Pioneers

Text: Belonging

We are artists! A local graffiti artist, Panda, will come and work collaboratively with the children to plan, design and paint a graffiti style piece of artwork for the entrance ramp along the Key Stage 1 playground. The children have submitted their ideas and now we wait to see what Panda creates!  He will also lead an artistic workshop where we will talk about the difference between graffiti as art or a nuisance.  We discuss what urban means and study our urban surroundings.  We have studied maps of different major cities and discussed what makes Birmingham similar and different to Dubai, New York or Berlin.

Our text this term is a wordless picture book called 'Belonging'.  Every picture is a view out of a family's back window into their garden and neighbourhood.  We get to know the family and their neighbours, with a Reading skill focus on inference and articulation of ideas. Using our own ideas, we write a long narrative about the main character, Tracy, as she grows up and becomes a part of the wider neighbourhood.

Predator!

Class Text: The Butterfly Lion

We kicked off this topic with a trip to Dudley Zoo!  We were lucky and had a fantastic day in the sun.  We enjoyed participating in a workshop in which we learnt all about predators, prey and how their bodies are formed, especially their teeth.  We were amazed to see different animal skulls and teeth from different animals, but our favourite part was getting a chance to meet the animals. We met a guinea pig called Harvey, a ferret called Magic and a hedgehog. After our workshop, we enjoyed having lunch in the sunshine and then viewing the animals. We especially enjoyed walking through the meerkats and the lorikeets as you could interact with them! We will be learning more about the food chain, starting from producers to prey to predators. In English, we are writing a dual narrative- a story written from the perspective of the predator AND the prey- at the same time!