Year 4 have had an outstanding first term, packed with new learning, exciting challenges, and enriching experiences!

In maths, we've tackled tricky column addition and subtraction, even solving multi-step word problems. In English, we've mastered the art of writing complex sentences, all while exploring fascinating stories about the ancient Greek gods and goddesses. Science has seen us dive into the water cycle, and thanks to a catchy song, we now understand it inside out. In art, we've unleashed our creativity, crafting powerful wax-resist prints, and in PE, we've become skilled rugby players.

History has transported us to Ancient Greece, where we've become true historians, uncovering the secrets of columns and artefacts from the era. In RE, we've delved deep into the religious values of Hinduism, broadening our understanding of different cultures and beliefs. And that’s just a taste of everything we've achieved!

Take a well-deserved break this half-term, rest up, and get ready to step through a certain magical wardrobe next term... who knows what adventures await!

We have been blown away by Year 4's writing this week. They have all written amazing descriptions of Theseus defeating the mighty Minotaur. They all used fronted adverbials, expended noun phrases and ambitious vocabulary. Make sure you look out for them in the Year 4 corridor when you visit. Just to give you a quick insight, read a snippet of Zachary's from 4C. 

With a quiver in his step, Theseus entered the ink-black labyrinth. Cautiously, he went through the haunted maze. With trepidation, he clutched onto a long piece of string hoping he wouldn't get lost. Ferociously, the monster charged at Theseus. He had no choice but to swing his weapon and kill it!

A message from the teachers:

"We have had the most amazing year with you all. We will miss you all so much as you head off on your next adventure. Thank you for always trying your best and for being kind, helpful and polite. Wherever you are off to next, please know that we have enjoyed teaching you so much. Thank you Year 4, you're the best!"

On Tuesday afternoon, Year 4 shared some of their wisdom with the Year 3's. They all said how lovely it was to know more about the amazing year they have ahead of them. 

The last two weeks in Year 4 have been as jam-packed as always. 

We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about King Henry VIII. We have had excellent discussions about whether he is a hero or a villain and some very interesting facts and opinions have been shared. 

In art, we have been learning how to paint 3D objects by mixing pallets to reflect lighter and darker shadows. 

In maths, we have been interpreting statistics from charts and graphs. We have been carrying out investigations in science to support this learning and looking for patterns in data. 

We can not put There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom DOWN! We just want to read and read and read. It is absolutely captivating and hilarious. Every Year 4 is gripped and we can not wait to find out what happens next! Bradley Chalkers is such a complex  main character, and it has been brilliant putting our inference and retrieval skills to great use by unpicking why he might act the way he does. 

We are also so pleased the sun has made an appearance. As you can see from the photo, the children are really enjoying being outside as much as possible. 

Thank you to all the Year 4 children for putting on such an excellent assembly last week. They all learnt their lines, lyrics and dance moves so well, delivering them confidently to a big crowd of parents, siblings, teachers and all of Year 3! You may have heard a rendition of a 'Don't' poem during the assembly. We have been looking at a wide variety of poetry in English at the moment, including those by popular children's author, Michael Rosen. Every child in Year 4 had the opportunity to write and perform their own version of the poem based on activities at Juniper Hall. It has been very entertaining to read and hear some of the imaginative lines. Some examples below: 

Don't flush a shrew down the loo,

Don't take a roach on the coach, 

Don't give a pheasant a Christmas present,

Don't throw computers at the tutors

Don't lose an earring whilst orienteering!

In addition to the assembly, Year 4 have been progressing their sketching and shading skills in art, have created wonderful branching databases in science, learnt about the story of Abraham in RE, progressed to playing the clarinet in music and everyone has been trying really hard in their reading, putting into practise their inference, prediction and retrieval skills. In maths, we finished our topic on decimals and have just started looking at position and direction. 

Year 4 have come back to school raring to go and ready for any challenge, which was particularly helpful when faced with a dilemma on only their second day back. 

The children had to work in teams to transport a jug of water from one side of the playground to the other as quickly as possible. 

Sounds simple enough, however, there were just a few catches! They weren't allowed to touch the jug at all with any part of their body, and they needed to keep as much water as possible in the jug. 

It was brilliant to see how well everyone worked in their teams to move the water steadily, but speedily across the playground, completing the challenge in a variety of different ways. 

Well done Year 4, we will be using even more of these problem-solving skills next week during our trip to Juniper Hall!