Welcome to Mrs Sharrocks's Year 4 Blog

Week Beginning 16/7/18

What an emotional week!

Firstly, I would like to say a huge well done to all of the year 4 children for their continuous effort throughout the year.  It has been an absolute pleasure to share your year 4 journey with you.  I would also like to thank all parents and carers for all of your kind words, cards and gifts, which are truly amazing. I feel very overwhelmed and spoilt.  I will certainly keep in touch and will come to visit as often as I can.

Thank you for all of your support this year.

Have a wonderful summer everyone.

Love from Mrs Sharrocks

Week Beginning 2/7/18

This week, Year 4 had great fun continuing with our ‘Battery Operated Lights’ unit in Design Technology. In this unit, the children have been enhancing their knowledge and understanding of electrical systems. We learnt about series and parallel circuits and different types of switches. Over the next few weeks, the children will be given the chance to apply their knowledge about electric circuits in a purposeful way by designing and making a battery operated light which will be controlled by a homemade switch. On Wednesday Year 4 had lots of fun making and exploring different types of switches. Next week they will decide upon the design criteria for their own light by considering who will use it, where it will be used and what for.

In Maths, we looked at the position of objects and figures and learnt how to describe positions on grids using coordinates. We examined the x and y axes and built an understanding of how coordinates are written. Next week we will learn how to translate shapes using the terms ‘left, right, upwards and downwards’ and will use coordinates to describe a figure following a translation.

Dates for you diary 

13.07.18 - Summer Disco (pm)

20.7.18 - School Closes for Summer

Week Beginning 25/6/18

What a fun and busy week.

In Maths, the children have been identifying symmetrical figures and drawing lines of symmetry. Year 4 had fun making their own symmetrical figures and worked hard when completing the other half of symmetrical shapes, some children used a mirror to help them because they were very tricky to complete.

In History, the children continued with our Anglo-Saxon and Scots unit and had a great time analysing and describing Anglo-Saxon artefacts. We looked at a typical Anglo-Saxon village and discussed the reasons why homes were built the way they were, and in a particular place. We compared the different sort of jobs people had in those days to the sort of jobs we have now.

On Wednesday, we had a lovely morning at Haydock Library learning more about refugees. The children went on a flag hunt to discover the different countries that refugees come from.

What a lovely way to end the week by having 'Friday Fun Day' on the bouncy castle. Thank you to everyone who brought money towards our summer fair fund.

Atendance - 97%

Dates for you diary

05.07.2018- Summer Fair @ 3.30-5.00pm (own clothes day) bring a bottle/cakes

13.07.18 - Summer Disco (pm)

Week Beginning 18/6/18

In Science this week, Year 4 enjoyed constructing a simple series electrical circuit and identified and named its basic parts; cells, wires, bulbs, switched and buzzers. The children had lots of fun predicting whether or not a lamp would light in the circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery. Children made a prediction based on a visual picture and then tested the circuit themselves.  They could then decide if the circuit was complete or incomplete. Great work Year 4!

On Thursday Year 4 was very excited to have a go of a new program called ‘Reading Plus’. Letters have been sent home with log on details and passwords for your child.  The Reading Plus programme simultaneously develops all three domains of reading–physical, cognitive, and emotional, by integrating them in one personalised online reading program.  Time will be provided for your child in school to carry out the activities on Reading Plus, however, children would also benefit enormously if they increase the number of sessions completed by doing some of them at home.

Dates for you diary

27.06.18 – Haydock Library Visit (Refugee Week)

05.07.2018- Summer Fair @ 3.30-5.00pm

13.07.18 - Summer Disco (pm)

Week Beginning 11/6/18

What a fun week we have had this week!

The children have continued to work hard on their writing by using lots of exciting sentences. They have challenged themselves to include personification, similes and pathetic fallacy in their Iron Man stories.

In History, we have been learning about the invasions of the Anglo-Saxons and Scots. We looked at where the invading troops came from and where in Britain they managed to settle.  The children enjoyed investigating how life in Britain changed as a result. Next week we will learn how the Anglo-Saxons influenced the English language, with an emphasis on the origins of some English place names.

On Thursday we had a great time during our Sports Day. Thank you to all friends and family who came to watch. I’m sure you will agree, it was a great event and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Congratulations to the red team who won this year!

Attendance 97%

Dates for you diary

20.06.18 – Haydock Library Visit (Refugee Week)

05.07.2018- Summer Fair @ 3.30-5.00pm

13.07.18 - Summer Disco (pm)

Week Beginning 4/6/18

This week the children have been busy in Maths exploring Area. The children began by finding the area of rectilinear shapes by counting squares. Children predicted the number of tiles required to cover an image then spent some time experimenting by covering  the surface of a picture with the tiles. Once we discovered how many squares covered the surface, we worked out how many tiles would cover half and a quarter of the picture. Some children noticed that to find the area of a rectangle, you multiply its height by its width.

On Tuesday, Year 4 practised our sports day activity the obstacle course. Children were really excited to try and crawl under the cargo net as well as tackle the other obstacles in their path.  I hope you can join us next week and watch the children competing.

On Wednesday, we were very lucky to welcome the Music Service Tutor’s and watch them perform in school. This event allowed the children to listen to professionally trained musicians play a range of instruments. The tutors performed a variety of songs, some of which were very familiar to the children.  We learnt a lot about the different instruments and had a wonderful time guessing the name of the tune being played.

Have a great weekend,

Mrs Sharrocks

Attendance 95.33%

Dates for you diary

14.06.18 – Sports Day @ 1.00pm

05.07.2018- Summer Fair @ 3.30-5.00pm

13.07.18 - Summer Disco (pm)

Week Beginning 21/5/18

Another very busy week in Year 4!

This week the children enjoyed the start of our new writing unit ‘The Iron Man’. The children spent some time exploring different metals and thought of some fantastic vocabulary using their senses to describe them. During the week, the whole school looked at traditional tales, Year 4 focused on The Elves and the Shoemaker. After hearing the story, we shared lots of possible ideas for writing, the children voted to retell the story from the Elves’ point of view. The children wrote some fantastic versions of the story and on Friday we shared them with Year 2.  We had a great time designing and making our own shoes to go with our stories.  We certainly have some future designers amongst us. All of our fantastic work (shoes and all) are displayed outside the Sunshine Room.  Please feel free to come along to Mrs Barker’s coffee morning  on Friday and have a look.

During Maths, we have been learning all about perimeter. The children have enjoyed their tasks this week and are beginning to confidently find the perimeter of irregular shapes. Please remind your child that if they struggle with homework to please use the 'traffic light homework boxes' and an adult will spend some time looking at it with them.

Have a lovely half term everyone.

Mrs Sharrocks

Attendance 95.67%

Dates for you diary

04.06.18 - Wood Pit Disaster Library Visit.

14.06.18 – Sports Day @ 1.00pm

05.07.2018- Summer Fair @ 3.30-5.00pm

13.07.18 - Summer Disco (pm)

14.03.18

This week in PE, Year 4 has had lots of fun learning how to throw a javelin correctly. Children explored lots of different ways to hold the javelin in order to achieve the best distance. They also discovered the best standing position prior to throwing the javelin.

During out ‘European Art’ unit, the children have learnt about some great artists, architects and designers in history. A frim favourite of the children’s’ is Michelangelo. Many recognised the name from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…‘Michelangelo’ was actually named after the famous artists we have been studying. The children had a great time creating their own piece of work in the style of Michelangelo when he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

We had a lovely end to the week when we gathered together to celebrate the upcoming Royal Wedding. Different activities took place across the school to commemorate the event. Year 4 were put to the test and took part in a ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ style quiz all about the upcoming wedding. They are true experts about our Royal Family. Well done Year 4!

Have a great weekend.

Attendance – 98.37%

Dates for your diary

25.5.18 – class photographs

14.6.18 - Sports Day

5.7.18 - Summer Fair

13.7.18 - Summer Disco

Week Beginning 7.5.18

In Geography this week the children had lots of fun during our ‘Cracking Capitals’ activity. The children had clues such as pictures of different landmarks and a flag. Their challenge was to match the country to its famous capital. Children used atlases and symbols from a map key to help them.

During our brass lesson the children discussed the upcoming Royal Wedding and learnt how to perform the National Anthem. Below is a video of their 2^nd attempt, I’m sure you will agree they are amazing.

Have a great weekend.

Attendance – 95.42%

Dates for your diary

25.5.18 – class photographs

18.5.18 – Royal Wedding Celebration. To celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, children can come to school dressed in red, white and blue and donate £1 each, which will be donated to one of the Royal Family's charities.

Week Beginning 30.4.18

This week Year 4 continued with their unit on ‘Biographies’. The children learnt lots of facts about Tom Daley and placed them in chronological order. We then looked at the features that make a good biography and the sort of vocabulary we could include. The children wrote some fantastic biographies which were very informative with beautiful handwriting. Well done Year 4!

In Maths we have moved onto ‘Money’ and the children have worked together solving word problems and thinking of word problems of their own. They have used their knowledge of place value, particularly tenths and hundredths to help them.

For our Science unit ‘Sound’ the children had great fun exploring pitch. We discovered that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear. We looked at different musical instruments and discussed how each of them changed pitch. The children then made their own musical instrument (pan pipes) and considered how they changed pitch.

Attendance – 96.33%

Dates for your diary

25.5.18 – class photographs

18.5.18 – Royal Wedding Celebration. To celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, children can come to school dressed in red, white and blue and donate £1 each, which will be donated to one of the Royal Family's charities.

Week Beginning 23/4/18

This week the children have worked extremely hard on their writing. They used lots of different sentence types and showed off their creative talents in their big write this week, based on a Narnia theme. The children enjoyed using our hand-made wardrobe as a stimulus for their writing. It was lovely to see the children so engaged and eager to finish their writing the following day.  Excellent work Year 4!

In Maths the children enjoyed a practical task when learning more about decimals. The children used tape measures to measure different parts of their body to the nearest cm.  They then divided that figure by 10 and then by 100.  The children were experts by the end of the lesson.  I wonder if they can explain how to do this.

We had a lovely end to the week when we went to the East Lancashire Railway, which linked to our ‘History of the Railway’ topic. We had great fun going on a steam train and playing I spy games en route from Bury to Rawtenstall.  We learnt lots about how a steam train works and all the jobs different people have on board.  Afterwards, the children enjoyed their time exploring in the Transport Museum and were really excited to build their own moving vehicle and tested its speed on a ramp. We had some truly amazing designs.

Have a great weekend Year 4!

Attendance – 97.33%

Dates for your diary

25.5.18 – class photographs

18.5.18 – Royal Wedding Celebration. To celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, children can come to school dressed in red, white and blue and donate £1 each, which will be donated to one of the Royal Family's charities.

Week Beginning 16/4/18

Welcome back everyone!

We have had a very exciting and busy first week back. In English, the children have started our new unit ‘Biographies’ and have enjoyed looking at the structure and content of a biography.  I am looking forward to next week when the children will research a celebrity of their choice to write their own.

In Geography, we had a great start to our ‘Europe’ unit. The children experienced being on a mock aeroplane and had to go through passport control with their passports (imitations only, please don’t worry they haven’t sneaked their actual passports in).  The children were extremely excited to enter the classroom which was turned into an aircraft. They even had me and Mrs Ramsdale at their ‘beck and call’ as we were dutiful cabin crew.  We used atlases and globes to discover which countries comprise Europe and which bodies of water surround it.

On Friday we had some special visitors from Amnesty International to talk to the children about Asylum Seekers and what it is like to be a refuge. The children listened to a story about a little boy called Navid who left his country with his family and travelled to the UK for safety.  The children used a world map to locate the UK and Iran to see how far their journey was. The children discussed what they could do to welcome someone like Navid into our school to help him settle and feel welcome. We enjoyed hearing about other famous names who were also refugees and who have brought some amazing talent into our country. I wonder if the children can remember who they are. (Albert Einstein, Freddie Mercury, Mo Farah, and Dejan Lovren).

Have a lovely weekend.

Y4 attendance was 97.50% this week

Dates for your diary

27.4.18 – Y4 East Lancs Steam Train Visit

Week Beginning 26/3/18

Wow, another busy week in Year 4. Where is the time going?

This week the children have enjoyed learning all about form poetry, in particular Haiku Poems. I can’t believe how brilliant the children are at poetry, they certainly have enjoyed it.   I wonder if any of the children can tell you about any of the features they have learnt?

In Maths, the children continued with Decimals and solved lots of problems using tenths and hundredths. Some have found this a little tricky, but they have persevered and their hard work has definitely paid off.  Fantastic efforts Year 4!

Thank you to everyone who managed to come to our Brass Performance on Thursday. I’ve never seen the children so nervous.  I am sure that you will agree that they were simply amazing, I am so proud of each and every one of them.  They have progressed so much over the past two terms with the brilliant guidance of Mr McIntyre. I can’t wait to see what other pieces of music the children will learn next term.

Thank you for your help and support over the Spring term and I hope you have a lovely Easter break.

Dates for your diary 

16.4.18 – School re-opens Summer Term

27.4.18 - Y4 Steam Train Visit

Week Beginning 19.3.18

In Maths this week, the children have worked extremely hard with their ‘decimal’ unit. We started by looking at tenths and exploring how we can divide 1 into 10 equal parts.  The children used their knowledge of fractions to show 1/10 as a decimal, thinking about place value and where the decimal point belonged. Later in the week the children were given a problem to solve; they were asked if it was possible to use three number discs (1 and 0.1 only) to make 1.2, they were then asked if it was possible to make 1.2 using 12 number discs. The children worked brilliantly together to prove if this was achievable.

On Friday, we had some important visitors. The Community Police Officers came to visit us to talk about anti-social behaviour, knife crime and staying safe whilst out and about with our friends.

 Y4 attendance was 92.67% this week

Dates for your diary

26.3.18 – Children’s University Graduation (pm)

27.3.18 – Easter Bingo @ 5:30pm

29.3.18 – School Closes for Easter

16.4.18 – School re-opens Summer Term

Week Beginning 12.3.18

In English this week, the children have continued with the Write Stuff unit ‘Aladdin’. We looked at creating a wide range of different sentence types such as; noticing sentences, actions and feelings, adverbials and smell. The children really enjoyed using pathetic fallacy in their writing by referring to weather features to reflect a particular mood.  I am so proud of the progress you are making with your writing. Keep up the hard work Year 4.

It was lovely for the children to have some time exploring the variety of books at the Book Fair this week.  I know the children were eager to bring parents in to have a look a share some of these wonderful books.

In science this week, we investigated materials as they change shape.  We looked at the processes of melting and freezing and how a material’s particles behave when they change state.  The children had a great time planning an investigation and making predictions to find out the ideal temperature of water that is best for melting chocolate. The children developed lots of skills to accurately measure the amount of water, record the time taken to melt the chocolate and used equipment such as thermometers to carefully measure the temperature of the water.

On Friday, we had a lovely time with Sandra and the staff at Christ Church as we learnt more about the Easter story. The children took part in visiting different areas of the church which told different parts of the Easter story as well as participating in arts and craft activities.  It was lovely to see the children so engaged and asking thought provoking questions relating to the Easter story.  As always, the children had lots of fun partaking in a mini Easter egg hunt.  Well done Year 4!

Y4 attendance was 95% this week

Dates for your diary

26.3.18 – Children’s University pm

27.3.18 – Easter Bingo @ 5:30pm

29.3.18 – School closes for Easter

16.4.18 – School re-opens

Week Beginning 5.3.18

This week Year 4 had a great time on our PGL residential.

During our stay, we took part in some truly amazing activities.

When we arrived, we were given a tour around the PGL site. There was no time to waste and after lunch, the children were taken to their first activities. They all had great fun taking part in Canoeing, and Low Ropes. Canoeing was a firm favourite, however it was really tricky to paddle and head in the right direction. (The wind didn’t help).  The Low Ropes activity was a test of courage, communication and team work and the children were fantastic supporting each other.

Another favourite was Abseiling. The tower was over 10 metres high and the task was to walk backwards off the top, gradually working back toward ground level.

A few or our children obviously fancied themselves as a bit of a Robin Hood or Maid Marion during our Archery activity. Children learnt new skills and discovered it was all about technique rather than strength so it was nice to see everyone have the opportunity to excel. The children listened extremely well to the instructor, who taught us how to use a bow and arrow safely, and give us advice on how to hit the bullseye.

During the afternoon, one of our activities was orienteering. The children worked in small teams to locate control points across the ground of the centre.  This activity helped children improve decision making, map reading and correctly judging distances.

On our final day, children took part in one of my favourites; the Sensory Trail, where they followed a rope to see what surprises awaited them. The children were blindfolded so the leader needed to inform the children what sort of obstacles lay ahead and they needed to rely on all their senses to tell them what was happening.

On the Giant Swing, the biggest decision was ‘How high will you go?’ The children were harnessed into a two seater swing before the rest of the group started hauling them up to 10m high. It was up to the children to decide how high they wanted to go before pulling the release cord, which sent them hurtling down towards the ground, before swinging up towards the sky. Nothing like the swings we find at our local park

I am so proud of all the children, some were completely out of their comfort zone but they still had a go and really pushed themselves to achieve. The support and encouragement from the rest of the groups was fantastic, I am certain that this residential helped strengthen lots of peer relationships and hopefully lots of wonderful memories.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to the amazing staff that came along. Their help and support was incredible and without them, the trip would not have been possible.

Attendance - 99.33%

WELL DONE YEAR 4, WE WON THE ATTENDANCE THIS WEEK

Dates for your diary

W/C Monday 12^th March – Parents Evening

Wednesday 14^th March pm – Easter Visit to Christ Church

Tuesday 27^th March Easter Bingo 5.30pm

Week Beginning 26/2/18

In Science this week, Year 4 continued with our unit on states of matter. Using bottles of fizzy drinks, the children identified the materials they could see, as well as their states. We then looked more closely at the bubbles in the fizzy drinks and watched a short film to introduce Joseph Priestley, the scientist who discovered carbon dioxide and invented fizzy drinks. The children were then presented with a question - Do Gases Weigh Anything? Year 4 worked really hard in their groups to plan and carry out an investigation to answer this question. Fantastic scientific enquiry Year 4!

On Monday, the children voted for their favourite home learning project. based on 'The Railways'. I am sure you will agree they all look amazing.  Thank you to all the children who took part in this task and for sharing them with us.

On Wednesday, we had a great time sharing books with parents during our ‘Enjoy a book’ session. Thank you to all the parents who came to read with their child. 

This week the children also took part in a Tobacco Education Workshop. This was very informative and the children learnt about some of the risks involved with smoking, as well as some strategies that can protect them against peer pressure. The children took this opportunity to ask lots of questions about smoking. Fantastic participation Year 4!

Have a lovely weekend.

Dates for your diary

 Year 4 PGL residential 7th March - 9th March. If you have any questions or queries about this trip, please do not hesitate to contact me. If your child requires a school packed lunch, please return the reply slip no later than Monday 5th March.

Please remember that PE is every Tuesday (make sure you bring your PE kit into school)

Brass is every Thursday (please remember your instrument)

Week Beginning 9/2/18

Welcome back Year 4.  We hope you had a lovely half term break.

Year 4 have had a fun filled week this week.  The children had a great time during PE with Miss Fisher.  This term the children will be learning how to play Volleyball.  Each week they will learn a new skill and put this into practise during the session. I know how competitive the children are and I'm looking forward to seeing their new skills develop.

On Wednesday, Year 3 and 4 had a great time during their Sky Try Experience at Langtree Park. During our visit we took part in lots of fun activities which had lots of cross-curricular links to literacy, numeracy, PE and PSHE. We enjoyed learning about the history of St Helens and Rugby League and the children took part in a variety of practical activities including team building tasks, healthy eating workshops and competitive rugby drills.  The children were complimented on their outstanding behaviour.  Well done Year 4!

Thank you to all the children who completed the home learning task. The work that the children have shared so far has been amazing.  It is lovely to see the children so enthused and putting so much time and effort into their learning.  Over the next few weeks, we will be learning all about the development of the Railways in Great Britain and the history of the railways and significant early locomotives. We will also investigate some important historical events, such as the opening of the first passenger carrying railway lines and the Rainhill Trials and some of the key people who were influential in the development of the railways.  If any family members have experience of working on the railways and would be willing to come in to school, we would love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Attendance - 98.97%

WELL DONE YEAR 4, WE WON THE ATTENDANCE THIS WEEK!

Dates for your diary

 Year 4 PGL residential 7th March - 9th March. If you have any questions or queries about this trip, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please remember that PE is every Tuesday (make sure you bring your PE kit into school)

Brass is every Thursday (please remember your instrument)

Week Beginning 6/2/18

In Science this week, Year 4 learnt about ‘food chains’. The children looked at a variety of different food chains and discussed how they were constructed and what the arrows represented in each of them.  The children enjoyed labelling the different parts of each one, identifying producers, predators and prey.  We had lots of fun creating own food chains which included lots of different vocabulary. Well done Year 4!

In Geography, we looked at the Prime Meridian and time zones. The children discovered that the term ‘meridian’ comes from a Latin word that means’ midday’ and that the Sun crosses each meridian halfway between sunrise and sunset. We learnt that the Prime Meridian is the line of longitude 0°E/W. We used atlases and globes to locate the Prime Meridian; subsequently we were able to see which countries it passes through. Finally, we learnt about the significance of time zones (including day and night). The children enjoyed using a ‘times around the world poster’ to support them in calculating the time in different locations around the world.

This week was our assessment week at swimming. The children have progressed amazingly over the past five weeks and many managed to achieve their 10 or 25 metre certificate. Congratulations to all the children for their efforts and a huge well done for such outstanding behaviour.

Have a great half term everyone!

Dates for your diary

School Re-opens Monday 19th February

21/2/18 - Y3 & Y4 Sky Try Experience (am)

23/2/18 Valentine's Disco £2 entry fee (refreshments on sale)

 Please remember that PE is every Tuesday (make sure you bring your PE kit into school)

Brass is every Thursday (please remember your instrument)

Week Beginning 28/1/18

This week, Year 4 children have worked really hard solving word problems involving fractions. All the children can confidently identify an improper fraction, mixed fraction and equivalent fraction.  Some have been challenging themselves to change fractions into their simplest form and explain how they have knew this.

In Science we have been learning about the functions of teeth and exploring whether animals have the same type of teeth as humans. The children had fun identifying teeth of Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores. We asked the question, does the diet of animals affect the teeth they have?

Later in the week we learnt about scientific questions and chose different scientific enquiries to answer them. The children then set up their own fair test to find out if any of our daily drinks cause tooth decay. Don’t worry, the children didn’t use real teeth, instead of teeth, we used boiled eggs with shells on as this is similar to enamel on a tooth. The children have been making careful observations this week and have been accurately recording their observations using scientific language.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Dates for your diary

The final payment for our PGL residential is now due.  Please remember to send in your payment card.

21/2/18 - Y3 & Y4 Sky Try Experience (am)

 Please remember that PE is every Tuesday (make sure you bring your PE kit into school)

Brass and Swimming is every Thursday (please remember your instrument and swimming kit)

Week Beginning 22/1/18

Another busy week!

In Art this week, Year 4 continued with our unit ‘British Art’. We looked at artwork created by Thomas Gainsborough and discussed how his landscape work became famous because of his quick, light coloured paintings.  The children analysed lots of his paintings, focussing on what was in the foreground, middle ground and back ground.  We then studied a piece of his art called ‘Mr and Mrs Andrews’, the children split the painting into a grid, this helped them to emphasise the colour and content of that particular area. The children then recreated their own section of Gainsborough’s famous painting.

In English we started our new unit ‘Chronological Reports’. As a stimulus, we have been reading a book called Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine. Using the story, the children discussed different words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination. Year 4 was extremely eager to hear the rest of the story to find out what happened to Henry’s family when they were sold at the slave market. I am looking forward to next week to hear the children’s response to the rest of this inspiring story.

Have a great weekend.

Attendance - 97.58%

WELL DONE YEAR 4, WE WON THE ATTENDANCE THIS WEEK!

Dates for your diary

1/2/18 - Y4 Highland Games at Lansbury Bridge (children have been informed)

21/2/18 - Y3 & Y4 Sky Try Experience (am)

 Please remember that PE is every Tuesday (make sure you bring your PE kit into school)

Brass and Swimming is every Thursday (please remember your instrument and swimming kit)

Week Beginning 15/1/18

What a busy week!

Year 4 have worked their socks off this week! We have been using fraction walls to help recognise and show families of common equivalent fractions. Some children used their multiplication and division facts to help them.  We also used picture representatives to help identify mixed number fractions.  The children were really competitive to demonstrate wether the numerator and denominator could be changed into its simplest form. Well done Year 4!

In Computing we continued with our unit on ‘Animation’. The children had great fun using 'Pivot Animation Software' to create a stick figure that could run, jump, or perform gymnastics. They were very patient making slight changes to make their stick figure appear to move, this was achieved by moving the handles on the stick figure slightly, which added a new frame. The children discovered that when the figure moved, a grey version of its previous positon was in the background, this helped to show how much the figure had changed (onion skinning).  When all the frames were complete, it was great to see the children play their entire frame in sequence to test the animation. I am looking forward to next week when the children add other characters and backgrounds to their animations.

Have a great weekend.

Attendance - 96.0%

Week Beginning 8/1/2018

Happy New Year and welcome back Year 4!

This week Year 4 were really excited to find a parcel which had been left in our classroom addressed to the children. Inside, we found our own Paddington Bear, a suitcase, a lovely diary and pen set. The children are really looking forward to taking Paddington home with them and writing about all the fun adventures they have together.

The children came back to school eager to learn. It’s a good job; we have had a really busy week and the children have given 100% towards their learning.  In Maths we started our fractions unit, counting in hundredths and sixths. Some of the problems have been tricky, but the children have continuously tried their best, particularly identifying mixed fractions on a number line.

On Thursday, Year 4 continued with their weekly brass session followed by our first swimming lesson. The children had a great time and they were praised by the swimming instructor on their super behaviour and great listening skills. A huge well done everyone!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Attendance - 97.9%

Week Beginning 18/12/2017

What a fantastic Autumn term we have had in Year 4!

This week the children have enjoyed lost of treats such as a cinema afternoon watching Paddington, our KS2 Christmas party and our own class party games and buffet! Thank you to everyone who donated food, the children were truly spoilt. 

Year 4 have worked extremely hard this term in all areas of the curriculum. I am looking forward to see what adventures and memories we will make next term. I am particularly looking forward to our residential to PGL.

Thank you very much to all who gave cards, gifts and well wishes to myself, Mrs Taylor and Mrs Ramsdale, we were all very overwhelmed with your kindness and generosity! Thank you!

We hope you have a wonderful break. See you in 2018!

Week beginning 11/12/17

What another busy week in Year 4.

This week the children continued with multiplication and division in Maths. Children are becoming morning confident using formal written methods to solve two and three step word problems.  Next term we will be looking at fractions

In Geography, children learnt about Queen Elizabeth and the modern royal family. Working together, children took part in a quiz and they matched statements and descriptions to the individual.  We then discussed what we would do if we ever met the Queen and we shared what question we would ask her. The children used the questions to write a letter to her majesty the Queen.

On Thursday, Year 4 had their weekly brass lesson.  They are really enjoying these sessions and are developing lots of skills. Mr McIntyre is extremely pleased with the progress the children are making. Well done Year 4! 

On Thursday night, Key Stage 2 performed their evening showing of The Grinch. For those of you who were able to attend, I'm sure you will agree that the children were amazing and did themselves proud.  Thank you to all the children who came back to perform.

We had lots of fun on Friday when we watched the Christmas puppet show. The children (and adults) thoroughly enjoyed it. In the afternoon, Year 4 went to Christ Church and took part in lots of fun, games and dressing activities.

Attendance: Year 4 achieved 96.32%

Dates for your diary

18.12.2017 - KS2 Christmas Party (pm)

20.12.2017 - Break up for Christmas

Week beginning 4/12/17

What a very festive week Year 4 has had!

We had a great time watching KS1 performance this week 'A King is Born'. We think that they did a fantastic job.  Key Stage 2’s performance ‘The Grinch’ is on Wednesday, please remember to get your tickets.

On Thursday, our Key Stage 2 Dancers and Pop Choir attended Christ Church for a festive Carol Service. The children performed for their families and friends, revealing what they have been learning over the past few weeks. The children were truly amazing.  A wonderful time was had by all.

On Thursday evening, children from KS2 Pop Choir took part in Parish Church Christmas Sing in St Helens.  It was an amazing event and a great opportunity for our children to learn a different body of work and perform it with other local schools. We were accompanied by a brass band and led by Dr. Kerem Sleith.

On Friday afternoon, we all had our school Christmas dinner! It was lovely to spend some time with the children celebrating the festive season together.

On Friday, our school celebrated Around the World at Christmas. We had lots of fun learning all about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries. Each class chose a different country, Year 4 learnt about Christmas traditions in Italy, this linked nicely with our International Partner School in Rome.  We then had some very special visitors to exchange our information with.  Year 1 came to share what they had discovered about Christmas celebrations in Spain.  The children were so excited; it was wonderful to see them eagerly discuss what they had learnt.  Year 1 even taught us how to sing a Christmas song in Spanish.  What a fabulous morning!

Attendance: Year 4 achieved 98.28%

Dates for your diary

13.12.2017 - KS2 Performance - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas AM and 6pm Performance

15.12.2017 - Year 4 trip to Christ Church Haydock

15.12.2017 - Christmas Jumper/Hat Day (bring in £1)

15.12.2017 - Puppet Show in School

18.12.2017 - KS2 Christmas Party (pm)

20.12.2017 - Break up for Christmas

Week beginning 27/11/17

What an extremely busy week!

In English this week, Year 4 continued with our author and letter unit.  We used the book Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett as a stimulus to help identify the features of a postcard.  We compared postcards and letters and discussed what was similar and different about them.  The children then wrote some fantastic postcards of their own remembering that it was a recount, in past tense with lots of descriptive language.  On Thursday, the children had a lot of fun exploring the layout of letters. They used different coloured shapes to help with the structure and content of their own letter to the author David Walliams. This helped them to identify what information was needed in each section. I am looking forward to putting our computer skills to the text next week when we type them up.

In History we learnt about Queen Anne and why she was important in creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The children had a great time showing what they had discovered by working together, taking part in a quiz. It was great to see what they knew about her coronation and her influence on Great Britain.

This week the children have worked really hard on this year’s Christmas Performance ‘The Grinch’. Rehearsals are going well and I am sure it is going to be a huge success. Don’t forget to get your ticket!

Thank you to all who managed to attend our PGL Residential meeting this week. I hope you found it informative and useful. Please don’t worry if you couldn’t make it, all the information has been sent home with your child. If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact one of the Year 4 team.

Have a great weekend!

Attendance – 95.21%

Dates for your diary   

6.12.2017 - Christmas Bingo and Enterprise Sale 5-6pm

7.12.2017 - Pop Choir Christmas Sing at Parish Church (children to arrive at 5:30pm, The concert is 6.30pm – 7.45pm. Tickets can be ordered through school).

8.12.2017 - All around the world at Christmas - Y4 will be learning about how they celebrate Christmas in Italy

13.12.2017 - KS2 Performance - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas / am and 6pm Performance

15.12.2017 - Christmas Jumper/Hat Day (bring in £1)

15.12.2017 - Puppet Show in School (am)

15.12.2017 - Y4 Christ Church Visit (pm)

18.12.2017 - KS2 Christmas Party

20.12.2017 - Break up for Christmas  

Week beginning 20/11/17

In Year 4 this week the children started our new unit Authors and Letters. We had a lovely morning exploring and discussing a variety of books by the author Roald Dahl.  The children learnt more about a blurb and what sort of information it provides the reader.  The children then wrote their own blurb for the fantastic story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Year 4 used fantastic persuasive phrases to encourage the reader to step inside and be part of the wonderful adventure.

On Wednesday, we had a great time writing letters to our international partner school in Italy. Each child in Year 4 introduced themselves to their pen-pal, telling them all about their hobbies, favourite food, favourite bands and lots more.  We then designed some lovely Christmas Cards to go with the letters.  The children were very excited to be sending our package and hopefully we will receive some mail of our own very soon.

Raffle tickets are being sold in school (£1 per strip) The winner receives a Kevin and Katie’s Christmas Adventure book, and two plush toy carrots to go with it. 

Have a great weekend!

Attendance – 95.67%

Dates for your diary  

30.11.2017 - Robin Hood Pantomime in school

30.11.2017 - Year 4 PGL Meeting 3.30pm Y4 Classroom

6.12.2017 - Christmas Bingo and Enterprise Sale 5-6pm

7.12.2017 - Pop Choir Christmas Sing at Parish Church (children to arrive at 5:30pm, The concert is 6.30pm – 7.45pm. Tickets can be ordered through school).

8.12.2017 - Y4 Christ Church Visit (pm) - Due to availability of the Mini-bus, this has changed to 15th December pm

8.12.2017 - All around the world at Christmas - Y4 will be learning about how they celebrate Christmas in Italy

13.12.2017 - KS2 Performance - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas / am and 6pm Performance

15.12.2017 - Christmas Jumper/Hat Day (bring in £1)

15.12.2017 - Puppet Show in School

18.12.2017 - KS2 Christmas Party

20.12.2017 - Break up for Christmas  

Week Beginning 13/11/17

What a very busy week!

Thank you to everyone who attended parents evening this week.  I hope you are as proud as I am with how well the children have settled and progressed so far!

This week the children have worked really hard on their writing.  On Tuesday, we wrote our own disaster story using the book 'Flood' as a stimulus.  The children really showed off their writing skills by using lots of effective sentences in their own stories. It was fantastic to see lovely similes, metaphors and weather imagery in their writing, as well as detailed and short sentences to create suspense.  It is obvious that the children have thoroughly enjoyed this unit.  Well done everyone!

We had a great afternoon on Thursday when we continued with our DT unit ' The Great Bread Bake Off'.  This week we discussed 'market research' and what would need to be considered before developing a new product.  The children thought that it was important to research products that are already on the market to make sure that you aren't repeating them and to see where the gaps in the market are.  I think the children's favourite part of the afternoon was the bread analysis.  We had great fun investigating and analysing the texture, appearance, taste and smell  of a range of existing products made by Warburtons.  At the end of the session we summarised our findings with the view of developing a new product.

Great work Year 4!

Attendance – 97.00%

Dates for your diary

20/11/17 – Road Safety Week

30/11/17 – Robin Hood Pantomime in school

Week Beginning 6/11/17

In mathematics this week the children have continued to explore multiplication. We have been learning our 6, 7, 8 and 9 times table. The children have used arrays, number lines and number sentences to help them recall and represent these times tables.  Some children have been using commutative law and inverse operations to help solve or check their answers to  word problems.

This week we have also been learning more out about Remembrance Day. On Thursday, the children wrote some lovely poppy poems with Mrs Fowler.

In DT, we started our new topic ‘The Great Bread Bake Off’. We learnt about events from the past that have shaped the way bread is made and sold today and discovered that Warburtons were and still are pioneers of the bread industry. The children enjoyed discussing key events that led to the success of the Warburtons brand and successfully placed key events in chronological order on a time-line.  I know the children are excited for our next lesson on bread analysis! Please make sure you return your permission slip by Wednesday.

We had a great end to the week. Year 6 performed a lovely Remembrance Service for the whole school, family and friends.  Some Year 4 children went to Haydock High School to read poems, readings and lay a wreath at their Remembrance Service.  Year 4 were praised on their wonderful reading skills and excellent manners.  Well done everyone!

Have a lovely weekend.

Attendance – 98% Joint WINNERS this week with Y1! Well done!

Dates for your diary

10/11/17 – Remembrance Assembly – 9:15am Family and friends are welcome to join us.

13/11/17 – Parents Evening Week (Looking forward to seeing you all)

20/11/17 – Road Safety Week

30/11/17 – Robin Hood Pantomime in school

Week Beginning 30/11/17

Welcome back!  We hope you had a great half term break. It has been wonderful to see so many of the children’s home learning projects for our ‘Riotous Royalty’ history topic.  I’m sure you will agree that they are absolutely brilliant.  Thank you all for the hard work you have clearly put in to this.

In English this week the children continued with our ‘Write Stuff’ unit. On Tuesday, we had an experience day; the children had great fun imagining that they had to urgently leave their home, taking with them six objects, due to a monstrous storm that was quickly approaching.  The children thought about how they would feel, what inner thoughts they would have and which items they would take with them.  It was lovely to hear about some really sentimental objects the children cherish. We used this experience to help create some fantastic complex sentences, similes and repetition sentences for effect. 

The children had a great end to their week at our Ugly Bug disco.

Keep up the hard work Year 4!

Well done!

Attendance – 95% Hopefully we will achieve 100% soon

Dates for your diary

10/11/17 – Remembrance Assembly – 9:15am Family and friends are welcome to join us.

13/11/17 – Parents Evening Week

20/11/17 – Road Safety Week

30/11/17 – Robin Hood Pantomime in school

Week Beginning 16/10/17

As part of our Science unit 'Animals and Their Habitats' and our Geography unit 'The Water Cycle', Year 4 went to Sankey Valley Visitors Centre.

Here we discovered more about the water cycle in our local area. We identified the local water course on a map and learnt about the cause and effect of water pollution.

Children discovered a lot during our trip and created a poster back at school to warn people about this global problem and what we can do to help.

The children had a great time comparing habitats on a global scale and discussed how animals adapt to their surroundings.

Have a wonderful half term.  See you when we return on Monday 30th October.

Attendance – 98% Hopefully we will achieve 100% next term 

3/11/17 - Deadline for orders for school photographs

3/11/17 – Ugly Bug Disco during school day - £2 per child for disco ticket, refreshments including hotdogs, sweets and drinks will be on sale at the disco.

7/11/17 – Deadline for Christmas shoebox donations. Please bring in either a toy, toiletry item or stationary item along with 50p.

13/11/17 – Parents Evening week

Week beginning 9/10/17

In Maths this week we started our new unit adding and subtracting within 10 000.  The children have worked hard on ‘finding the sum’ adding without renaming, adding with renaming and adding using mental strategies.

Some children found it useful to use concrete objects such as base ten, number discs and place value grids to help them understand the concept of renaming.  This helped the children understand why we needed to rename at each step. Year 4 did a great job of explaining the process of renaming by matching each stage of the expanded notation with its appropriate visual.

By the end of the week, the children were confidently adding numbers with up to 4 digits using the formal written method of column addition. Some children were able to estimate and use inverse operations to check answers to a calculation.

Excellent work Year 4. Well done!

Attendance – 97.84%

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Week Beginning 2/10/17

What a fun week!

In Geography this week, Year 4 discussed the question ‘Where Does Our Water Come From?’ We learnt that the water cycle is a closed cycle and there is no more or less water in now than there ever was; the same water goes around and around.

We also discussed possible problems with such a system. The children suggested that there may be a demand for water in areas where supply is low or unreliable, or waste water needs to be cleaned before it is suitable for drinking.

The children enjoyed watching a video clip explaining how water is treated and cleaned ready for drinking. Following this, Year 4 explored different ways in which they could set up their own filtration system by choosing different materials to help clean muddy water ‘sewage’. 

Finally we compared the children’s filtered water to a glass of freshly poured tap water and agreed that our filtered water still wasn’t safe to drink as the last step on the video clip added chlorine to kill off the bacteria that we could not see.

I think we will stick to the lovely fresh water we are lucky to get from our taps!

Great work Year 4!

Week Beginning 25/9/17

We have had a very busy week in Year 4!

On Wednesday, Grange Valley had a very special visitor. Each class spent some time with Jacqui Gray, the author of My Magical Garden.  Following her visit, Year 4 created some fantastic mindfulness poems, using emotive language to create an effect.  We continued with our English unit of persuasive writing and had lots of fun making persuasive posters.  Our aim was to persuade Year 3 to help save the rainforest and provide them with facts as to why the rainforest is so important.

We also had our first brass lesson with Mr McIntyre, he complimented Year 4 on their excellent behaviour and attitude to learning.  The children enjoyed getting to know their instrument, the sound it made and how to hold their instrument ready to perform.

Well done Year 4!

Attendance - Year 4 achieved 98.33%