Welcome to Class 4
We are a Key stage 2 class of Year 4 and 5 children. Our Teacher is Miss Glover and she is helped by Mrs Priday, Mrs Arkwell-Smyth and Mr King. We are in the new outside classroom – very eco-friendly.
We enjoy learning maths, science and writing the most and we also like going to after school clubs. We think our lessons are really good and this year we want to do lots of topic work.
Welcome to Class 4, both to the new Year 4s and those returning into Year 5. I hope that you all enjoyed your summer breaks. All the staff in class 4 had a lovely relaxing time and we are feeling ready and excited for a great year.
The first topic for this year is ‘Habitats’. We will be focusing on the book, ‘Voices in the Park’ by Anthony Browne, during our English lessons. We will be exploring the themes of the book and should produce some excellent pieces of writing which we will hopefully be able to share with you over the course of the term.
In Maths we will be focusing on place value and the four operations. We will be improving our knowledge in these areas. As some of you may be aware, as of this year, Year 4 children will now be tested nationally on their times tables. Therefore, it is vital that children are practising their times tables regularly at home and your support with this would be greatly appreciated.
In Science we will be covering both the Year 4 and 5 curriculum on ‘Living things and their habitats’. Children will be learning about life processes of plants and animals, getting a chance to use classification keys and exploring the animals living in the local environment.
PE will be taught on a Tuesday, but, once again, please could all children have their PE kits in school every day with long hair tied back and earrings taken out.
In terms of homework, I will be sending out a homework sheet with a variety of tasks for year 4 children to complete over the term. All the activities will be linked to our class topic. For the year 5s, they will receive weekly SPaG and Maths homework in their brand-new homework books. I hope that this system will suit all the children and give the Year 5s an opportunity to begin to prepare themselves for the increasing demands as they progress into Year 6.
Each week, children will be given a set of spellings which they will need to learn for their weekly spelling test which will take place on Fridays.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to speak to me at the end of the school day.
Miss Glover
On Monday the 16th April, I woke up to a fantastic day ahead of me. Firstly, I had breakfast and then I got ready for school.
I arrived at school and got ready for the start of the fantastic day. I sat down at my table and Miss Glover did the register. Just the thought of the day and what we were going to be learning about, filled my mind with information and excitement,(Nicole)
On the coach, we all sat down and the teachers reminded us to put our seat belts on. I sat next to Isobel and we talked about her new glasses, the museum and our Easter holidays. We spotted a sign for Staverton Jet Age Museum and I was very excited. Eventually, we arrived. We got out the coach and sat down in the café to discuss the day ahead. (Elsie)
After, we followed Gary into the museum and we watched two videos. The first video was all about the first attempts at flight, there were some very entertaining ideas. Including one man who tried to attach propellers to a bike. We also learnt all about the Wright Brother! We also had a discussion about air forces. During the second video, we had to think about how people got around before planes. Did you know that it could take up to eight weeks to get to the USA on a boat? Now you can get there in under 5 hours. We also had the chance to learn about the ‘Mad Monk’, he built some wings and jumped off a tall tower, unsurprisingly he got hurt. (Alicia)
A short while later, Miss Glover organised us into groups. I was in Mr King’s group. We went into a marquee and were set a challenge to put together an airplane and use compasses to direct a plane in the right direction. (Lucie)
In the afternoon, our group went in the cockpits. There was a huge plane, an ejector seat and a small cockpit. I got to explore all of them- although not for long as there was so much more to see. (Alfie s)
Next, a man showed us the guns and genuine outfits that the officers wore. He also told us about the medals soldiers were awarded in world war one. I got to try on a RAF flying suit.
Then, a volunteer called Mike, showed us the Frank Whittle (invented by Frank Whittle) engine which was the first jet engine.
Lastly, we met a former Horsa Glider pilot who was involved in World war two, his name is Lesley. He let us ask him lots of questions and we were so grateful to be given this chance. (Max s)
Right at the last minute, Gary and the other volunteers handed us all a package with some more information and toys. (Max M)
When we got back to school, it was sometime and I went home and told my family all about the day. They thoroughly enjoyed listening to what we had done and at the end they told me they’d like to go there too! Overall, it was a fantastic day. (Evie)
School will be CLOSED all day on Friday 2nd March due to freezing weather conditions.
See you all on Monday for business as usual!
Today, we spent the day celebrating India. We were so excited to learn more about the country and even had the chance to participate in an Indian dance workshop- which was brilliant (although it tired us all out).
The children were really keen to try some Indian food; the Naans were a definite hit. The children had the opportunity to try some Indian sauce. They all enjoyed the Korma and some children even dared to try Vindaloo. The class have told me that they hope to try some more Indian food at home.
We spent the morning designing and creating our own Rangoli patterns. We talked about why people draw them and the meaning behind the colourful patterns. We tried not to get too messy, so used chalk instead of the traditional rice, flour and sand! We invited class 3 to join us with this and they loved working alongside the younger children.
As we are budding Geographers, the children used the ATLAS to locate India and its bordering countries.
Over all, we had a fantastic day- here are some photos we’d like to share with you.
Our School Council’s initiative this term was to adopt one of the WWT otters.
After some fundraising, we raised enough money to pay for one year’s adoption.
Last week, the School Council members went to the WWT to test out some brand new educational resources and at the same time, purchased the adoption pack. They were very excited – especially about the cuddly otter toy we got as well – another welcome addition to our school!
As a school, we feel really supported by the WWT who are always very generous when we visit them for class trips. The school council felt that we ought to ‘pay it forward’ and support our local environment by adopting one of their many animals. The whole school are interested in adopting a bird from the WWT in the new year, so fundraising will no doubt begin again – but this time with a brand new school council.