Good afternoon,

It was lovely to see so many of you this week during our open afternoon and again at the mini marathon event at Oakmere School. Thank you for taking the time to come along—it really means a lot to the children (and to us!) to share these special moments with you.

We’ve had a wonderful final day at school before the break, made even better by the fantastic weather! The children enjoyed spending time outside and ending the half term on such a high note.

Over the break, I’ve set up a little TT Rockstars competition to keep the children’s maths minds ticking and to help boost their confidence ahead of the National Multiplication Checks, which will take place in the first couple of weeks back after half term. I’ve explained to the children how the competition will work, but please do encourage them to log on and have a go whenever they have a spare moment. A little bit of practice here and there can make a big difference!

I hope you all have a lovely half term and that you have something nice planned, whether it's a trip away or some well-deserved rest at home.

 Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Mrs Friedmann's Spelling Group

 

guide

learn

history

believe

reign

Egypt

myth

pyramid

century

popular

Mr Chanter's Spelling Group

 

centuries

pyramids

Egyptians

hieroglyphics

mystical

dynasty

mysterious

reigning

opposition

popularity

 Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you’ve all had a lovely week. Can you believe how quickly this half term is going? It really does feel like the shortest one yet – it’s flown by! That said, we’ve certainly packed a lot in. From VE Day celebrations to the excitement of PGL and, of course, our weekly swimming sessions (sadly, only one more to go!).

Here’s a little round-up of what we’ve been up to in Year 4 this week:

English
The children have done a brilliant job finishing off their biographies on Howard Carter. We’ve now moved on to writing newspaper reports about his famous discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. We kicked off by looking at real newspapers and discussing their key features – headlines, captions, quotes and how news is now often read online instead of in print. The children are really getting into the role of journalists!

Maths
Money, money, money! For some reason, this topic has really captured the children’s interest – they’ve been incredibly enthusiastic. We’ve been working on comparing and ordering different amounts and converting between pence, pounds and mixed amounts. This is something we’ll continue with next week as we explore solving problems involving money.

Geography
In our rivers topic, we’ve started looking at some of the UK’s and the world’s most famous rivers. The children used atlases to locate rivers like the Thames, the Amazon, the Nile and the Mississippi. We discussed their importance, where they flow from and to and what makes each one unique. It was great to see how confidently the children used the atlases to find locations and follow the rivers’ paths.

Science
This week, our science lessons were all about vertebrates. The children learned how animals with backbones are grouped into five main categories: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. We explored the characteristics of each group – such as how they breathe, whether they lay eggs and if they’re warm or cold-blooded – and then created flow charts to help us sort animals based on these features. A lot of great thinking and discussion took place!

Computing
In computing, we’ve moved onto game coding. The children are using Scratch to build simple games and have been learning how to make characters repeat actions using loops in their code. It’s been brilliant to see how quickly they’ve picked this up – some have already started designing their own versions of popular games. Watch this space – we might have some future game designers in our midst!

Looking ahead to next week...

• We have our open afternoon on Wednesday – it would be lovely to see many of you there!

• It’s also Walk to School Week, so we’re encouraging the children to take part however they can – even if it’s just parking a little further away and walking the last bit.

• The Year 3/4 Cranborne Cup will be taking place (children involved have already been told).

• On Friday, the children will be heading off to the KS2 Mini Marathon at Oakmere

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Friedmann's Spelling Group

 

learn

different

people

friend

again

climb

laugh

anyone

everyone

through

Mr Chanter's Spelling Group

 

centuries

guide

material

reign

believe

different

interest

popular

exercise

position

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you’ve got a lovely weekend planned and are managing to enjoy the weather in some way!

As you know, we joined the rest of the country in celebrating VE Day yesterday and what a brilliant day it was! The children had a great time at our ‘Street Party’-themed picnic out on the field. We listened to music from the 1940s, played traditional games and really got into the spirit of the celebration. A huge highlight was getting to see some real World War II artefacts kindly loaned by a parent—including an actual air raid siren! We even got to hear it in action while we were outside.

In geography, after learning all about the features of a river, we headed outside to make our very own rivers using natural materials we found around us. The children worked in groups to include things like the source, meanders, tributaries, and the river mouth. It was great to see them using sticks, stones, leaves and even water to bring their rivers to life. They worked so well together and came up with some really creative ideas—photos of their work are below!

In RE, we read a traditional Hindu story and had some thoughtful discussions about the message behind it. We talked about loyalty and devotion—what those words mean, and how we show them in our own lives. The children shared some really thoughtful examples, from being there for friends and family to staying true to what they believe in. It was a lovely, reflective session.

In art, the class have been working on rainforest animals and creatures. We used viewfinders to zoom in on sections of different images, then the children enlarged and recreated those sections in four parts using drawing and colouring techniques. This really helped them focus on the detail, colour, and texture of the animals. Mrs Edwards popped in to see their work and was really impressed!

In English, the children used everything they’ve been learning to write a set of instructions titled ‘How to Mummify an Ancient Egyptian’. They did a brilliant job using sequencing adverbs, imperative verbs and some very effective adverbs to give extra detail. Their writing was both informative and, at times, hilariously gruesome—perfect for the topic!

Thanks as always for your support. Have a lovely weekend and we’ll see you next week! 

 Good afternoon everyone,

It’s been a lovely week in class and we’ve been fortunate to have such fantastic weather, which the children have absolutely loved. The highlight of the week has certainly been swimming in our amazing new pool. To say that the children have enjoyed their swimming lessons would be an understatement! They’ve really thrived in the water, walking away from each lesson with big smiles on their faces, eager to share what they’ve learned and how much fun they’ve had. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence and enjoyment grow. In addition to these swimming lessons, the children will continue to have their usual PE lessons but these will be on a Monday and Thursday until the half term break.

I think everyone’s energy levels have finally returned after our exciting PGL trip. It’s been lovely to hear the children chat about their time at the residential, and it’s clear that they had an unforgettable experience. They are already looking forward to the possibility of another visit in the future! If you haven’t yet seen the photos from the trip, you can find them on our class blogger page. There are some wonderful memories captured there!

In English this week, we’ve started reading The Story of Tutankhamun by Patricia Cleveland-Peck. The children have been thoroughly engaged with the book, and it has sparked some fantastic in-depth discussions. These discussions have helped them plan their writing, which includes persuasive texts where they express their beliefs on how they think King Tut died, as well as instructional pieces on "How to Mummify an Ancient Egyptian." Both of these writing projects will start next week.

In maths, the children have continued their work on decimals, with a focus on making a whole with tenths and hundredths. They’ve been practising partitioning decimal numbers and understanding the value of each digit, which is crucial for their understanding of place value. They’ve made great progress so far, and next week, they’ll be building on this by comparing and ordering decimals, as well as rounding decimals to the nearest whole number.

In science, we’ve started our new topic on Living Things and Their Habitats. The children have been grouping animals and plants based on their characteristics, using Venn and Carroll diagrams. It’s been great to see them apply their understanding in such a hands-on way. Next week, we’ll be focusing on classifying vertebrates into their groups—mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

In geography, we’ve started exploring the topic of rivers. Our first lesson covered the water cycle and how it provides us with the water we use. We also started looking at how rivers, lakes, groundwater, seas, and oceans are interconnected. Next week, we’ll dive deeper into how rivers are formed, which will tie into our understanding of the water cycle and the journey water takes to get to us.

Our project this term also links to this topic. I would like the children to create a model which represents the water cycle in any form they choose. This will be due on the first day back from the half term on Monday 2nd June.

Finally, I want to wish everyone a lovely bank holiday weekend! I hope the weather continues to be as fantastic as it has been this week so we can all make the most of it.

Thank you all for your continued support.