Hello everybody,

I am pleased to introduce myself as your child's new teacher. We are going to be updating the website as much as possible this year as I know it is really interesting to see photographs of your child in action. It is also a great starting point to discuss what your child has been doing in school.

This year, we are going to be looking at the key topics of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. We will also be looking in detail at Europe (including the countries, flags and capitals) and natural disasters including volcanoes and earthquakes. 

Finally, we really need to focus on knowing all of our multiplication facts to 12 X 12 as we have the multiplication check that will be happening in June. Each child must know each fact and be able to input it into a computer within 6 seconds. 

The trips that we have planned for this year include: Peak Venture, weekly swimming lessons and Leeds City Museum.

I am looking forward to working with all of your children and I am sure that we are going to have a great year.

Mr Brocksom

We have identified a group of children who have been struggling with division with remainders (including using the bus stop method). They have been working hard in a small group with Mr Brocksom and are dramatically improving.  I am really proud of them and they need to keep this up. We have talked about asking if we don't understand and not just pretending that everything is okay. It is my job to teach and I am always here for you!

In History, we have been learning about Boudicca as part of our unit on the Ancient Romans. We have been debating Boudicca's choices on whether to rebel against the Roman invasion. Half of the class thought it was a good idea but half of the class did not. It was a perfect time for a class debate. The children really enjoyed this and all spoke respectfully when sharing their ideas.

We have been finding out about volcanoes in Geography. We have each chosen two different volcanoes and we have been able to find out facts about them including: location, date of last eruption and size. The children enjoyed being able to choose their own two volcanoes and they enjoyed being able to compare them both. After we finished, we looked in the atlases to found out exactly where these volcanoes are and in linked it nicely with our Geography unit looking at Europe and also our History unit looking at Greece and Rome. I wonder if you know a very famous volcano that erupted in Italy near Naples. It is known for destroying a nearby town beginning with P. 

Every two weeks, Year 4 get the opportunity to read with the Year 1 children. Half of our children go to Year 1 and the other half stay in Year 4. Between them, they choose which book they would like to read first and both children get a chance to read to each other. It is so nice to see our Year 4 children being kind and nurturing to the younger children. Well done Year 4! Keep it up!

In DT, we have been making books with moving parts. Over the last half term, we have practiced the skills we need to make a book and the children have designed their own books. These books feature the monster characters the children developed on 'World Book Day'.

We have now completed our books. The children have all been able to make a book to show the skills they have practiced and developed in their DT lessons. Their books have terrifying pop out monsters, shy monsters hiding behind windows and feature the children's fact files about their monsters. 

 Today, we have been looking at people's choices for the different food that they eat. We discussed how people eat different foods for a range of different reasons including: religion, social influences and ethical beliefs. We also completed some drama to see how people would/ should react in different situations. 

We looked at, and acted out, this scenario:
Adam went to John's house for tea. Adam was a vegetarian but John did not know. John's nan made them burger and chips for tea as it was John's favourite but Adam could not eat it.

We discussed how each person would feel in the situation. We discussed what could happen next. We debated whose fault this situation was. It was really interesting to get the different ideas from the whole class. 

In addition to this, we have also been discussing the importance of sleep and the positive effect that an adequate sleep can give you. We spoke about what helps us get to sleep and what stops us from getting to sleep. It was really interesting and unique as what helps some people get to sleep actually stops others from getting to sleep.

Today, we completed some work looking at the coronation of King Charles III. We thought about what we would do if we were King/Queen for the day. All of the children had some really good ideas. The children below thought about the following ideas:

Completing charity work for cancer.
Making the lives better for different people.
Getting rid of all racism.
Completing drawing groups for people.

All of the children presented their ideas well to the class.

This week, we have finished our sewing. We have created pencil cases which show the skills that we have been learning. We have been looking at running stitch, back stick and whip stitch. We have also looked at applique and other embellishments. Finally, we have looked at adding buttons and press studs. We created a fantastic final design and then attempted to make them. 

Year 4 have been incredibly lucky and have been invited to take part in a writing competition by none other than David Walliams. Yes, THE David Walliams. We have received two letters from him and he has asked us to write stories that take place in a school for inspiration for his new book that he is going to release in 2023. The work that has been produced so far is some of the best writing that they have done all year! Today, the children are copying up their work into best in order to prepare it to be sent off. I can't wait to see if we receive a reply!