Beechwood Primary School

Year 4

2017-2018

Alice in Wonderland

This half term in English, we are learning a new portal story, Alice in Wonderland, focusing on developing our characterisation. To begin the unit with a hook, the children had the opportunity to make their own hats for a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Since then, the children have been working hard to learn the story off my heart and have thoroughly enjoyed it. We are looking forward to seeing the children progress in their writing as a result!

January

In Year 4 we have been studying the Romans and their impact on Britain.  The Romans have influenced our lives in many ways  One of these ways is through Art and Entertainment.  To deepen our understanding of this subject, we have been creating Mosaics during our Topic lessons.

November

Year 4 had an exciting first half term full of learning, new experiences and fun! To celebrate Black History Month, we decided to focus on culture, and had the opportunity to learn African Drumming. The children were taught the history of why African Drumming was used and learnt some of their own ‘call and responses’. In addition, we explored some of the fruits grown in the Caribbean. Finally, we looked at influential people and the differences they have made to history.

October 

Children in Year 4 had a great experience, taking part in an African drumming workshop. Watch the video below to see how well they did and the skills they picked up. 

The new cohort of Year 4 children have settled in well and adapted to the systems and routines in place. With a focus on Place Value, our maths lessons have been extremely successful with children using and applying their learning in a range of problem solving contexts. We have just recently started our new English topic based on the story ‘The Cobbler and the Dragon’ by engaging the children with an exciting hook of creating their own dragons. The children did some fantastic work and we are looking forward to seeing the writing they will produce alongside this.

2016-2017

Recorder Performance

Some of our Year 4 children have been learning to play the recorder. Listen to our performance below playing 'Mike Oliver's Tank top' as a duet. 

Heron Class Assembly

Heron class led a brilliant assembly on Thursday. Thankyou to all the parents who attended. All the children performed really well and taught Year 3 and Year 4 children about our value of the month Friendship. 

In year 4, we have been learning about The Romans and the influence they had on life in Britain. As part of our learning process, the pupils were taken to Verulamium Museum in St Albans. The city of Verulamium as it was known then was the third largest city of Roman Britain. The pupils got first-hand experience of seeing remains, ruins and small dwellings which were discovered during excavations in the 1930s. The pupils also had the opportunity to dress as Romans as well as explore the museums’ wide range of artefacts. They all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.     

In Year 4 this October, we have been celebrating Black History Month. We have thought about how black culture has influenced us today in a range of different ways. On our ‘wow’ day, the children began by looking at the history of black culture and how significant people in the past fought for equality. Some of the activities children completed throughout the day were: creating a fruit salad consisting of fruits found in the Caribbean; researching famous black athletes and making Top Trump cards as a game for Golden Time; studying African masks and the meanings behind the different shapes and colours on them before having a go at making their own. Some children were even given the opportunity to learn African drumming with Miss Scott!

Some children in year 4 have been learning to play the recorder. Watch the video below to hear them learning to play a new note. 

Year 4 have been settling well into their new year groups. The whole year group has now resumed their swimming lessons after a break over the summer holidays. All the children have enjoyed immersing themselves in their new Primary Writing Project story- The Mystery of the Hare and the Moon. 

Year 4 had a very busy few weeks, starting with the performance of our production, The Pied Piper, to parents and children in the school, showing off all of their hard work and excellent acting skills. After that, some of the children had the fantastic experience of attending a one night residential at Phasels Wood. They participated in activities such as orienteering, nature walks, team challenges and being part of a human football table! The children who stayed at school also had a fun couple of days when the Forest Owl company came to visit. The children went on mini-beast hunts, built tipis and ate popcorn by a campfire! Year 4 have had a great start to the Summer term and look forward to seeing what the rest of it brings!