Transported back in time
Year 4 thoroughly enjoyed a trip to two museums in Hull today.
Streetlife Museum of Transport
We all climbed aboard at the Streetlife Museum of Transport and enjoyed all the sights, sounds and smells of the past. There are over 200 years of transport history on display. The children walked down a 1940s high street, boarded a tram and enjoyed the pleasures of a carriage ride. Our big topic ‘Transport‘ starts next week so today’s trip was a great introduction to transportation through the ages. Enjoy our photos with your child. Question them about the visit.
From ‘bone shaking’ early bicycles to horse drawn carriages fit for royalty, the museum was packed with exhibits from various periods of time.
Hull and East Riding Museum
In this museum, we entered a world where 235 million years of history has been brought to life. From majestic mammoths to Saxon invaders, Year 4 travelled through history up to modern Britain. Walking through an Iron Age village, entering a Roman bath house and looking at the stunning mosaics were just a few of the displays to stop and study. We discovered a mysterious crew of wooden warriors and saw some medieval treasures!
What a geographical afternoon!
This afternoon, the Year 4 class enjoyed a topic lesson with a difference. We studied maps (old and new), identified different countries and their capital cities, read a poem called Globe Trotter, began work on a class piece of art, visited the local shops and carried out a locality survey.
Location survey
We asked different people if they could spare five minutes to help us with our survey. Members of the public were very willing to answer some questions and commented on how polite the children were.
- “What is your main concern about the area?” “The parking and the traffic.”
- “What is your main reason for visiting this area today?” “I’m talking a walk with my child and visiting the shops.” “How often do you visit this area?”
- “Almost every day.”
We will be interpreting the data collected and then it will be put into different kinds of charts.
Ordinance survey maps
The children searched for our school on the map.
Jess stated: “Well, our school won’t be on that map because it was built in 1915 and this map is before that date.” Good knowledge, Jess!
The shape of the land
Following a task to identify countries by their shape, borders and coastlines, work began on our very own version of the British Isles.
Using paint mixed with glue the land was transformed. To add different textures we also sprinkled sand on top of the paint. This created a rugged effect. The children will be carrying on with this project over the next few lessons.
Adding mountain ranges, rivers, towns, counties and a few famous landmarks will complete our work. Stay posted to see the unveiling of the United Kingdom as you’ve never seen it before!
Using stencils, some children created images adding coloured sand to represent different countries.
Best of British themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 04 October.
Please contact the office, by Wednesday 26 September, if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
KS2 fruit tuck shop returns on Tuesday 25 September
Our popular Key Stage 2 fruit tuck shop runs every Tuesday playtime and regularly sells about one hundred portions of fruit.
The dates for the tuck shop for this year are:
- Autumn term: Tuesday 25 September 2018 to Tuesday 18 December 2018 inclusive
- Spring term: Tuesday 08 January 2019 to Tuesday 26 March 2019 inclusive
- Summer term: Tuesday 16 April 2019 to Tuesday 16 July 2019 inclusive
This year, we’ll continue with the pre-payment option so that you pay in advance for the whole year for your child to have fruit from the tuck shop. We know that some children like to buy more than one portion of fruit, either for variety or to top up their packed lunch and we can also offer the option of paying for two items.
As an incentive for selecting the pre-pay option, we’re able to offer you one week per term free. Therefore for this year, you would pay for 32 weeks and receive fruit for 35 weeks. The cost for one portion of fruit for this year is £6.40 and the cost for two portions is £12.80.
Please note that payments are non-refundable and should be made via School Gateway. If you prefer your child to pay in cash on a weekly basis, that’s fine – we’ll continue to operate this system. Each portion of fruit costs 20p.
If you would like to pay in advance for your child to visit the tuck shop, please do this via School Gateway, under the payment option, by Friday 21 September 2018.
Thank you for your support for the fruit tuck shop.
Reading
Every week, we have a ‘Love Of Reading‘ session.
The aim is to encourage the children to read for pleasure; the session allows them time to enjoy their chosen texts.
Alongside this, we’ll hear groups of children read as a guided session with an adult. This allows us to focus on particular skills required to aid reading for this age group. The age-related expectations can be found on the school website. These are worth looking through. They are used in reading as specific objectives and a focus for each group.
We began with the objectives below.
- Can fluently read a set text appropriate for their age.
- Apply phonic knowledge and skills to read unfamiliar words.
All children have been given a reading book and a target page. It’s very important that the children do not read beyond the set target page.
In addition to this, we encourage the class to bring books from home. Topic related books are always a good idea. The books can then remain in our reading area for others to enjoy – with your permission of course!
Around the World in 80 Days
This is our first class novel. We’ve read the first chapter and completed a retrieval activity based on who, where, why, when, how and what type questions. Ask your child what they know about the main character, Phileas Fogg, so far.
Where in the World?
Today, we began our mini topic of ‘Where in the World?’
The children studied maps, globes and atlases.
We started by looking closely at the United Kingdom. Then, the next step was to find all the capital cities.
- “Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland,” commented Harris.
- “The capital city of England is London,” answered Ethan.
Next, we’ll be looking at some aerial photos and identifying human and physical characteristics.
A great start!
What a great start!
The children returned to school today excited and ready to learn. We were impressed by just how quickly the class settled into a new routine.
It’s set to be a busy term full of exciting learning. We like to keep you up to date with what’s going on in class so please check this class news page regularly.
We begin with a mini-topic, ‘Where in the world?’
This will be a Geography-themed topic. The children will be learning to use an atlas, map and globe. We’ll study, name and locate countries and major cities around the world. As well as using ‘old fashioned’ methods to navigate, the class will look closely at modern technology (Google Earth) and how this has impacted on the way we can now easily locate places around the globe.
Place value, rounding numbers and comparing numbers are all on our maths agenda. Alongside this, there will be daily counting and times tables practise.
A lot of our reading activities will cross over and link to our topics. On a Wednesday, the children will have a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ session. Each group will be heard read from a guided book, focusing each week on a different skill necessary to aid comprehension and fluency. It is very important that your child has read to the given target page each week. During this session, we encourage the children to bring in a book from home. They’re welcome to keep this in the reading area for others to enjoy should they wish to.
Mr Owen and I are both around most of the time so please feel free to pop in if you’ve any questions or queries relating to your child or their learning.
Living and Learning
As we return to school, we begin our Living and Learning theme with a focus on manners: I can greet someone politely.
We’ll then continue by thinking about the ‘8 Rs for learning’. This theme is about promoting good learning behaviour for your child.
Each week, we’ll focus on two different ‘Rs’. We use an animal to symbolise each ‘R’, which might help your child remember all eight – can your child remember which animal matches the correct ‘R’?
You can support your child at home – we’ve listed a few ideas to help you below. Ask us if you’ve any questions or comments.
Download top tips for promoting the 8Rs for good learning behaviour.
I can show I am ready to learn.
Make sure your child is at school for a prompt start of 08:50.
Make sure your child has had plenty of sleep so they are alert and ready to learn at all times.
Encourage your child to ask lots of questions – that shows they want to learn!
I respond to feedback.
Ask your child if they remember their ‘stars’ and ‘steps’ in English and Maths.
I take a safe risk.
Talk about the difference between a safe and unsafe risk. At school, we want your child to take a safe risk by having a go at answering, even if unsure; trying something new and attempting harder learning.
I take responsibility for my own learning.
Provide time and space at home so your child is able to organise themselves: their PE kit, reading book, homework, spellings and tables… Don’t organise everything for them!
Make a link between rights and responsibilities: your child has the right to a great education, but needs to be responsible for their own learning.
I am resourceful.
Encourage your child to be organised so they can play with a range of different toys.
Encourage your child to try new ways to solve a tricky problem.
I am resilient.
Encourage your child to keep going! Set a tricky challenge or puzzle for your child to do.
Encourage your child to think of different ways of doing things.
Don’t let your child win when they play a game – they need to experience losing, too!
Celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn – be happy that your child found some learning hard and encourage them to ‘bounce back’ and learn from the experience.
I remember.
Make sure they have time to learn spellings, number bonds and times tables – a little practice daily is best.
Play memory games:
Kim’s game: show them objects for 30 seconds… can they remember all the objects?
Can they build up the sequence, ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple and a bike.’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a bike and a cucumber.’ etc … Take turns!
I reflect about my learning.
Talk with your child about what they’ve learnt, asking questions about:
how they learnt
why they learnt it
when they’ll use their learning
how they would teach this to someone else
what learning might link with what they’ve learnt today etc
As well as covering the 8Rs for learning, pupils will also learn about their rights and responsibilities.
Finally, we end the half term learning about democracy (one of the British Values). All children have the opportunity to experience democracy in our annual School Council elections. More details to follow.
Our full Living and Learning long term plan is available on the health pages and you can keep up to date with our weekly Living and Learning statements on the parent noticeboard in the playground and also on the school calendar.
Goodbye Year 4
All the staff in Year 4 would like to wish the class a fond farewell and lots of luck in Year 5. We have been so impressed by the children’s learning attitudes and desire to strive and do their best.
Each and every child has developed in more ways than I could list! They should all feel very proud of their achievements this year.
Thank you for all your support and the end of term gifts.
Enjoy the summer break! 
Mrs Freeman, Mr Owen, Mrs Charlesworth and Mrs Pearson
Holiday activities
Here are some more ideas for keeping active over the summer holiday.
