Monday, 7 July 2025

Things to watch and things to do

 


Dear parents and carers,

As we race towards the end of term, here are some reminders of things to do and things to look out for over the next few weeks:


Date

Things to Watch

Things to Do

Tuesday 8th July

Athletics start for year 4 at 10am. 

Please send your child to school with their PE kit, water bottle, hat and sunscreen.

Wednesday 9th July


Please send in a reusable plastic bag so your child can begin bringing home their school books and booklets.

Thursday 10th July


Please share your child’s leavers song choices by this date. 

Thursday 10th July


Please send your child to school with their leavers’ hoodies every day from now until they have recorded their leavers’ speech. You may also like to help them practise reading it at home.

Friday 11th July

Dance Day 

14:30 - 15:30


Tuesday 15th July


Deadline to return leavers assembly seating slips

Tuesday 15th July

Samba Drums performance 

15:10


Thursday 17th July


Please send your child to school with their swimming kit for their last POW swim.

Tuesday 22nd July

Leavers assembly

Doors open 9.45am. 

Assembly starts 10.30am

You and your child are welcome to come dressed for an awards ceremony.

Tuesday 22nd


Early pick-up: please wait for your child at 15:20 at the front of the school.


Thank you all for your continued support,
We look forward to seeing you at our end of term events,

Kind regards,
Ms Browne & the Year 4 team

Wednesday, 2 July 2025

Today's PSHE Lesson





In today’s PSHE lesson, we discussed menstruation (having a period), erections, and wet dreams. We also talked about how babies are made from a sperm and an egg, and how this relates to why periods happen. The children were very sensible and asked lots of great questions. I have advised the children to speak to parents and carers if they have any additional questions. The children in this class did not ask in class how the sperm and egg come together, although this is a question that children may ask at home. Typically, most PSHE schemes introduce teaching about sexual intercourse in Year 6; however, you know your own child best and will have a good sense of what information they are ready to understand. If you would like any support or advice on this topic, please feel free to ask.

Monday, 30 June 2025

Samba drums concert & other dates


 

Year 4 Samba Drumming Performance

We are excited to invite families to watch Year 4’s Samba drumming performance on Tuesday 15th July at 3:00pm. The children are eager to showcase the skills they have developed while learning these vibrant new instruments.

We hope you will be able to join us and celebrate their hard work. 🤞


Other Upcoming Dates
Tuesday 1st July - Year 4 transfer day (visit new middle schools)
Friday 4th July - Railways 200 day & Ms Aplin's last day with us
Saturday 5th July  - POWSA summer fair
Tuesday 8th July - KS2 Sports Day (am)
Thursday 10th July - KS2 Skateboard academy workshops
Friday 11th July - Dance Day 
Tuesday 15th July - Samba drums performance 3pm - school hall
Thursday 17th July - Year 4 last fun swim
Friday 18th July - Herd of elephants exhibition 
Tuesday 22nd July - Leavers assembly and last day
Wednesday 23rd July - INSET and start of the summer holidays 


Rock, Paper, Micro:Bit!

Today in Computing, our Year Four pupils coded their very own Rock, Paper, Scissors game using the BBC Micro:Bit – and it was brilliant fun!


Building on our growing coding knowledge, pupils learnt how to use the Micro:Bit’s accelerometer to trigger the game with a shake gesture

This meant that simply shaking the Micro:Bit would kick off a random selection – rock, paper or scissors – using clever logic, variables and random number generation.

Our pupils were so excited to test their creations and challenge each other – it was wonderful to see them debugging, improving and sharing ideas like real programmers!

👉 Don’t forget: 

Please return your child’s Micro:Bit pack every Monday, ready for our next Computing lesson.

We’d also love to hear how your child is getting on with their Micro:Bit at home! 

Any success stories or photos? 

Please email them to:
headteacher@princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk

We’re incredibly proud of our young coders – keep it up, Year 4!

Thursday, 26 June 2025

Home Learning and upcoming dates

 


Hello everyone,

We hope you and your child are enjoying this final term in Year 4 at the Prince of Wales School. It has certainly been a busy time, and there are still many exciting Inspired to Learn activities ahead. Upcoming dates are listed below. 

Mrs Ray from DMS and Mrs Hudson from St Osmund’s have now completed their visits to POW, and they are looking forward to welcoming your child on the transfer day next Tuesday. You should have already received information from your child’s new middle school about what to expect on the day. As a quick reminder, children should wear their Prince of Wales uniforms, but should be dropped off and collected from their new schools on Tuesday.

Home learning

With lots happening over the coming week, including transfer day, we would like this week’s home learning to focus on supporting the children’s emotional wellbeing. As we discussed earlier in the year, it is important to help children develop strategies to regulate their emotions, especially during times of change. To support this, I have shared some helpful videos and suggestions below which you may find useful to explore together at home.


Suggested activities and resources to support emotional regulation:

Square breathing – Breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, breathe out for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts. You might like to follow along with a square-breathing video such as this one

Taking a pencil for a walk – Give your child a pencil and a blank page and let them draw a continuous wiggly line without taking the pencil off the page. Afterwards, they can colour in the shapes created, which is a calming and creative activity.

5-4-3-2-1 grounding – Encourage your child to notice:

  • 5 things they can see

  • 4 things they can touch

  • 3 things they can hear

  • 2 things they can smell

  • 1 thing they can taste
    This is a simple but powerful grounding technique to calm busy minds.

Colouring – Using mindful colouring sheets or free drawing can help children focus and relax. There are many printable designs available online, or you could create your own.

Body scan – Encourage your child to lie down, close their eyes, and focus on each part of their body, noticing any tension and gently relaxing. Here’s a guided body scan for children  you might find helpful.

GoNoodle – If you’d like something more active, GoNoodle offers short, movement-based mindfulness activities, which many children enjoy.

Gratitude journaling – Take a moment together each day to write down or draw something they feel grateful for. This can help children shift focus to positive thoughts.


As ever, please get in touch with a member of the year 4 team if you have any questions or comments. 

Kind regards,
Ms Browne & the wonderful Year 4 team.  

Upcoming Dates
Friday 27th June - Bikeathon
Friday 27th June - POWSA NON-SCHOOL UNIFORM DAY 
Monday 30th June - Inclusive Sports Fortnight begins
Tuesday 1st July - Year 4 transfer day (visit new middle schools)
Friday 4th July - Railways 200 day & Ms Aplin's last day with us
Saturday 5th July  - POWSA summer fair
Tuesday 8th July - KS2 Sports Day (am)
Thursday 10th July - KS2 Skateboard academy workshops
Friday 11th July - Dance Day 


Wednesday, 25 June 2025

This week's PSHE lesson

 



We had two PSHE lessons this week. 

My feelings are all over the place
Yesterday (Tuesday) we talked about emotions and how during puberty emotions and feelings can be heightened. 


The neuroscience behind brain development in adolescence is fascinating and  understanding the development of teenagers' brains can help us understand physically why they may have certain reactions. One part of the brain which can explain why teenagers can suddenly start interpreting hostility and conflict from events and spoken words (that adults may see as neutral and well intentioned) is the limbic system. The limbic system is responsible for processing emotions such as anger and sensitivity to danger and as this area develops teenagers and preteens can become very sensitive to perceived criticism and potential threats. Meanwhile the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for reasoning, thinking, logic, creativity and controlling one's behaviour, doesn't fully develop until the mid twenties. This is why teenagers and young adults can be ruled by their emotions and can have less regard for potential consequences. 

I thought it may be helpful for you as parents and carers to have an understanding of why your child might start acting differently in the future and to try to not take these behaviours personally. 

In class, will shared some role plays as either a teenager or parent to demonstrate the art of compromise exploring potential areas of conflict, using the below approach:

Listen. Share. Sort

I listen to you and understand your feelings and thoughts.

I share my feelings and thoughts

We sort this out together (finding a compromise) 

This is a method we will continue to try to model and use in class. It might also be something useful to use in school.

All Change
In today's (Wednesday) PSHE lesson we talked about the changes that children should expect as they start puberty and the proper names for male and female body parts. The children didn't seem to have many questions about what we covered but it may be the case that many of them would like to continue discussing puberty with you at home. In next week's PSHE lesson we will be discussing periods and wet dreams in more detail.

Monday, 23 June 2025

Lighting Up Our Learning!



Today in Year Four Computing, our pupils took their next big step into the world of digital technology with Lesson 2 of our BBC Micro:Bit project – and it was all about building a Night Light!

Using the BBC Micro:Bit built-in light sensor, the children learned how to code a light that automatically switches on when it gets dark – just like a real control system. This hands-on project helped them explore how inputs (like sensors), outputs (like the LED light), and computer code work together in smart devices.

We also introduced a key new concept: conditional logic (IF/ELSE statements). Pupils discovered how computers use logic to make decisions, depending on whether something is true or false – for example, “IF it’s dark, THEN turn on the light!”

Alongside this, we explored how infinite loops (REPEAT FOREVER) are used in programming to make systems respond continually to their environment – a great way to deepen our understanding of how computers interact with the real world.

Today’s success criteria:

I can code a Micro:Bit to make a light that switches on when it gets dark using sensors and logic.

I can explain that sensors are inputs that sense things in the real world.

I can explain how computers make decisions using true/false logic.

     

Our pupils are doing brilliantly with their coding adventures and showing real curiosity about how technology shapes the world around us.

👉 Don’t forget: please return your child’s full Micro:Bit Home Learning Pack every Monday, so we can continue building on this fantastic progress in class.

For any questions about the project or to find out more, feel free to contact Mr. Spracklen at:
📧 headteacher@princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk

Keep coding, Year Four! 🚀