12/10/18

Hello Year 4.
I cannot believe how fast half term is approaching! The children are working really well and impressing me more and more each week with their hard work and attitude to learning. All children have been given a parent consultation slip with their allocated time on it. Please email me if you do not receive this and I can confirm your appointment time.

This week’s highlights:
We have had a fun filled week of learning, continuing with the practical style of learning that the children are really enjoying. We have been integrating Spanish into our everyday routines and I have been really impressed with the children’s pronunciation and willingness to give it a go…even if I got called Mr Bradford a few times! In science we made clay models of teeth to reinforce our learning on the shape, size, texture, position and names of the different teeth. In maths the children have been playing interactive games and board games focusing on place value to help with multiplication and division. We had a special guest visit us in history, and the children had the chance to ask lots of questions about the history of Potters Bar. In Art we used torches to help us with shading light and dark for our objects which represents ourselves, and a massive CONGRATULATIONS to Alana for winning the firework art competition! We are all so proud of you and the class were so supportive and happy for Alana when she won. Our mindfulness song of the week was ‘Conqueror’ chosen by Veer–Ram and the children really enjoyed picking out the lyrics which meant something to them. We also listened to ‘Firework’ in English to get some inspiration for metaphors and similes. We looked at the importance of using descriptive language in songs as well as writing.

Next week:
Next week is ‘celebrating differences’ week, and a lot of our learning will be focused around raising awareness and tolerance about the differences that exist between all people.

English:
This week we will be looking at a different picture book each day which symbolises the difference in all of us. The children will be creating writing pieces based on these stories.

Spellings:
Please can I ask for you to continue practising spellings at home, as the children will be having their weekly spelling test on Friday. The spellings this week are as follows:
- calendar
- caught
- centre
- century
- certain
- circle
- complete
- consider
- continue
- decide

Maths:Next week we are looking into mastery questions for multiplication and division and begin looking at how to work our word problems. The children have all decided the times tables they are focusing on this week, so please ensure they are practising at home. The children need to be fluent in the times table with speed and accuracy before they can move on. From now on, I am going to be giving out the weekly maths investigation on a Friday and I will be posting it on the  blog so that you can look at it over the weekend if you wish. This week our maths investigation was chosen by Edward!
Maths investigation:
Add one line to the set of numbers below to turn it into a time.

 |0  |0  |0

Science:
Next week we are going to be focusing on different food chains and making our own both physically and in written and picture form. 

PE:

Please can I remind you that children need trainers for PE on Monday, a swimming kit on Wednesday and a football/PE kit on Thursday. I am going swimming this week so I am really excited to see how much progress you have made!


Apologies for the mistake in last weeks blog, our class assembly is November 30th. 

Have a lovely relaxing weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Monday!
Miss Bradford

05/10/18

Hello Year 4!
Another fabulous week of learning with lots of children becoming free readers and receiving pen licences!

Highlights of the week:
We have had a very practical week of learning to help our understanding of difficult concepts. The children have really enjoyed getting up out of their seats and solving problems practically. For example, we were singing and dancing greetings and numbers in Spanish. We also had a practical maths task where children were sorted into groups of different numbers to develop a deeper understanding of division. We also had a science lesson investigating all the different types of teeth and we even got to look at some puppy teeth and compare them to human teeth! The children also had the chance to share objects from home that represented themselves. It was so lovely to hear about all the individual things that make us different and the children really impressed me with how respectful they were to each other during this sharing time. On Monday we will be sketching these objects in our art lesson. I have told the children they are welcome to keep these in the classroom, or take them home over the weekend and bring them back on Monday. So please don’t worry if you forgot your item this week, there will be an opportunity to share on Monday.

This week we started to introduce slippers in the classroom. This idea comes from the Norwegian education system and statistics have shown that wearing slippers or comfortable socks in the learning environment helps to reduce anxiety and stimulate calmness. I have certainly seen the children become more relaxed with their work and more determined to have a go, so we will continue to use these in the classroom. However, I have explained to the children that this is not compulsory and they do not need to take part in this if they do not wish.

Our song of the week was ‘Don’t stop believing’ and the children have been reflecting on what this means to them in their learning. We have been discussing the importance of making mistakes and having a go to help us learn and progress.

Next Week:

Spellings:
In English, children have been using the strategy ‘does it look right?’ with spellings that do not follow the phonetic rule. This is a really important skill for learning spellings and it would be great if you could encourage this at home too, because as we know, the English language does not always follow the rules! Please ensure you are practising spellings at home as we will be having our spelling test on Friday.
This week’s spellings are:

-          address

-          answer

-          appear

-          arrive

-          believe

-          bicycle

-          breath

-          build

-          busy

-          business

English:
The children have now finished their poetry unit on riddles, and today we edited our work and produced fantastic riddle stories. I have sent children home with a poetry competition letter that they are welcome to take part in. They can use some of their riddles they created in class or come up with their own poems. There are prizes for the school with the best entries so it would be fantastic if we could get as many submissions in as possible. The deadline for this is the 19^th October. Next week we are moving onto report writing based around our local history topic.

Maths:

We are continuing our work on multiplication and division. Please ensure that you are practising timetables at home, but also encouraging your children to explain what multiplication and division means. We have been using a lot of resources and physical representations to show what it means to multiply and divide.

Extra information
I have included a tab with information about Sharing Assemblies. If you click on the link at the top the page titled ‘Sharing Assembly’, you will find a list of all of the assembly dates and the children’s names.

Our class assembly is on the Friday 30th November which seems far away, but it is fast approaching! It would be great to see as many of you there as possible if you can make it.

Please make sure you are reading at home, completing Mathletics and finding time to look over your spellings. Have a lovely weekend and I am looking forward to seeing you on Monday. 
I wonder if Alan the Alien will pay us another visit this week….

Miss Bradford

28/09/18

Hello Year 4!
I can’t believe it is the end of week 4 already! The term is flying by and the children are now really settled into the routine and expectations of Year 4.

Highlights of the week:
This week has been really busy and the children have been really excited by the arrival of the book fair. (It is still here until Tuesday, so don’t worry if you haven’t had the chance to pop in yet). It has been a busy week and we even had an alien leave a letter in our class which we discovered in our History lesson! The children have been creating riddles this week and they really enjoyed sharing these with the class today. Their ideas were so inventive and they managed to trick many of the adults too! We have continued to develop our growth mind-set, as the children listened to “Reach for the stars”. We now have stars that the children have made hanging from the ceiling to remind them to always try their best. Their resilience is really developing, particularly in maths, where we are enjoying our weekly maths investigations. We even used drama to find the solution to this week’s problem!

Next week:

Maths:
We are starting a new topic on multiplication and division. The children had a times table test this week so please keep practising at home. They will be tested on the same tables next week, but this time in mixed order, unless I have told you otherwise.

English:
We are continuing our unit on poetry and entering a poetry competition!

Spellings:
This week the spelling focus is homophones (words that sound the same but have different spellings). Children will have a spelling test on Friday, unless I have told you otherwise, so please keep practising at home. The spellings are as follows:

-      piece and peace

-      weight and wait

-      aloud and allowed

-      sum and some

-      their, there and they’re

Science:
We are continuing our investigation on teeth and analysing the difference between animal and human teeth.

Art:

Next week in art we are beginning to design our montage, with the title ‘All about Me’. Therefore, it would be great if the children could bring in items from home that represent themselves. This can be photographs, souvenirs but no electronic or breakable devices please. We will be discussing them and the children will be given the opportunity to draw them.

Unfortunately due to the building work we are not holding a Harvest festival, however we are collecting cans and non-perishable for a local charity. Children can bring these in any day next week.

Have a lovely weekend in the sunshine, and I look forward to seeing you on Monday, focused and ready to learn. Please don’t forget to keep reading and completing mathletics. I look forward to giving out lots more certificates for your achievements!

Miss Bradford

21/09/18

Hello Year 4!

We have had another busy week of learning, and the children are continuing to impress me with their hard work and positive attitude to learning!

Highlights of the week:

This week we have been focusing on building resilience in the classroom and the children have been really challenging themselves in class, which has made a huge difference to the work they have produced. In particular, the children have been showing their determination with a maths investigation, trying out lots of different solutions and combinations to get the right pattern.  We have also been focusing on mindfulness by looking at different song lyrics which promote self-confidence and self-belief. A class favourite seems to be “THIS IS ME” from The Greatest Showman!

Next week:

Maths:
We are finishing our topic of addition and subtraction and the children will have a times table test on Friday, unless you have been told otherwise by myself.

English:
We are finishing ‘Bill’s New Frock’ on Monday and moving onto a unit on poetry. 

Spellings

Children have been given spellings today to take home to practise, unless I have told you otherwise. There will be a spelling test on Friday. Here is the list of spellings: 

-          treasure

-          measure

-          pleasure

-          enclosure

-          closure

-          pressure

-          exposure

-          leisure

-          disclosure

-          reassure

Science:
We are continuing our work on the digestive system and looking specifically at the role of the teeth. We will be discussing potential experiment ideas for this topic.

PE:
Children have P.E on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. They will be swimming on Wednesdays, so please remember swimming kits. The children are also working on Football this half term so please ensure they have appropriate kit as they will be outside.

I am also in the process of arranging a trip to the Potters Bar museum linking to our topic ‘Local History’. I will update you as soon as I have more information on this.

I will also be sending home information regarding Sharing Assemblies this week, so you are prepared in advance for when it is your child’s turn.

Please make sure you are reading at home and filling in reading records. It is also important that your children are bringing their Mathletics books in daily so we can see the learning that has been completed at home.

As always, if you have any queries please do not hesitate to either email me or see me at the end of the day.

Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Monday!

Miss Bradford

14/09/18

Hello Year 4! We have had such a fantastic week of learning! I am so proud of all of the hard work and effort the class have put into their work this week. Keep it up!

Highlights of the week:

This week we have had an introduction to all of the subjects we are studying in Year 4, and the children have made a brilliant start. I was particularly impressed with our science work where the children made life-size drawings of the digestive system, using different materials to represent the different aspects of the body. The children produced AMAZING entries for the firework art competition using oil pastels, crayons and chalk. The class have also really enjoyed reading ‘Bill’s New Frock’. Today we did some hot-seating where a few children volunteered to step in role as the main character, while the other children got to ask  the character questions. The class generated some brilliant questions and justifications for the character's actions and feelings in the story. The girls also really enjoyed their netball game at Stormont, and Mr Mills said he was really impressed with how well they played.

Next week: 

Maths:
We will continue with addition and subtraction of single, double and triple digits and comparing numbers using <, > and equal signs. We will also have a times table test this week. This is nothing to worry about. The children have discussed with me what times tables they would like to work on so please make sure you are practising at home.

English:We will continue reading ‘Bill’s New Frock’ and developing creative writing skills as the children will write an alternative ending to the story. I will also be giving the class a list of the statutory spellings that the children are expected to know by the end of Year 4. Please do not let this worry you. This is just so that the children have a goal to work towards. We will be covering all of these throughout the year but we will have a mini test this week so you can see how many you already know!

Science:The children will be creating their own quiz on the functions of the digestive system.

Art:We will be looking at 'Junkyard art' and discussing our opinions of this type of art.

PSHE:We will be looking at what makes a positive school community and how we can be a leader and a role model in our school.
ICT:This week we are exploring how a computer works by creating and taking part in communication and instruction activities.

History:We are going to be investigating the impact of WW2 on potters bar history.
Spanish:We will be learning how to greet one another in Spanish.
P.E:Children have P.E on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. They will be swimming on Wednesdays so please remember swimming kits. The children are also working on Football this half term so please ensure they have appropriate kit as they will be outside.
RE:We are going to be discussing what is worship and what different religions believe worship is.
Please make sure your child is reading at home and practising their times tables and spellings as much as possible. Every child now has a Mathletics record and reading record so please make sure these are updated. Mathletics is a great resource for children to develop their maths skills online so please can I ask that you try and find time for the children to go on this. 

I am looking forward to seeing all your smiling faces on Monday morning!

Enjoy the weekend!

Miss Bradfordnbradford@littleheath.herts.sch.uk

07/09/18

Hello Year 4.

Welcome to the new school year! It has been so lovely getting to know you all over the last few days and I have been really impressed with how well you have settled in.

This week we have been doing a lot of activities focused on developing self-confidence, self-belief and thinking about what a 'Growth Mindset' means to us and how we can show this in and outside of the classroom. We have also been completing a lot of teamwork activities including building the tallest tower out of a range of materials. I was so proud of the resilience and co-operation that was shown during these tasks.

Next week:

Maths
We will be focusing mental addition and subtraction. We will also begin practising our times tables next week, but we will not have a times table test until the following week. The children have decided which times tables they would like to work on first.

English
This week we will begin reading 'Bill's New Frock'. The children will be discussing characters thoughts, feelings and actions through a range of drama activities. We will be focusing on diary entry writing and children will complete a diary entry in role as the main character. Spellings will not start until the following week.

Science:
We are beginning our topic on 'Animals including humans' by learning about the digestive system. The children will get the opportunity to create an artistic representation of the digestive system using a range of different resources.

Art:
In art we will be completing some observation drawings and focusing on practising skills and promoting the belief that 'everyone can draw'.

PSHE:
We are looking at 'belonging' and what makes an effective 'Year 4 class team and family'.

ICT: 
This week we are exploring the importance of being safe online by creating and performing an eSafety presentation.

History:
We are beginning our topic on our local area (Potters Bar) and looking at different timelines to represent different periods in History.

Spanish:
This week we are recapping our knowledge of Spain and Spanish culture. If anyone has been to Spain on holiday and has photographs or souvenirs they would like to share, you are more than welcome to bring them in. We will be focusing on greetings in Spanish.

P.E
Children have PE on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. They will be swimming on Wednesdays so please remember swimming kits. The children are also working on Football this half term so please ensure they have appropriate kit as they will be outside.

I am really looking forward to a full week of learning. Enjoy the weekend and please make sure you are reading at home. See you on Monday!

Miss Bradford