Welcome Back to Autumn Term 2! 🍂

We hope you all had a lovely half term and managed to enjoy some well-deserved rest and time together. We hope the children are feeling refreshed, ready and excited to come back for another busy and exciting half term in Year 4!

We have lots to look forward to over the coming weeks, with plenty of new learning, exciting opportunities and fun along the way. Here are a few reminders and things to look out for as we get back into our school routine.

🏃 PE and Swimming

PE will continue to take place on Wednesdays, so children should continue to come into school wearing their PE kits on this day. Swimming will also continue as normal on Thursdays. Please make sure children have everything they need for their swimming lessons each week.

👕 School Uniform

A little reminder to please make sure that all items of school uniform are clearly named, including jumpers, cardigans and coats. We had quite a few items go missing last half term, and it can be tricky to reunite these with their owners when they aren't labelled! Your help with this would be really appreciated.

🚒 Fire Safety Visit

On Tuesday, we will be welcoming Dorchester Fire Service into school! They will be talking to the children about fire safety, including how to stay safe around bonfires and fireworks ahead of Bonfire Night. This will be a great opportunity for the children to learn some important safety messages and ask any questions they may have.

🪷 Diwali Dance Workshop

On Friday, we will be taking part in a special Diwali Dance Workshop! With Diwali taking place on Sunday 8th November, the workshop will give the children an opportunity to learn more about this special celebration, which is often known as the Festival of Lights. The children will get to explore some traditional dance movements, enjoy the music and have lots of fun along the way!

🎭 Shakespeare by the Sea

We have something very exciting to look forward to this half term! The children will be finding out which Shakespeare play we will be performing at this year's Shakespeare by the Sea Festival. We are really looking forward to getting started with this and seeing the children's enthusiasm and creativity shine through.

Auditions will be taking place in a few weeks' time, giving everyone the opportunity to get involved and explore the different characters. Scripts will then be coming home towards the end of term so that the children can begin familiarising themselves with their parts. We can't wait to see how our performance takes shape!

🍁 Looking Ahead

We have a busy but exciting half term ahead of us, and we are looking forward to seeing the children continue to grow in confidence, challenge themselves and make the most of all the opportunities on offer. There will be lots of learning, laughter and new experiences along the way!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We hope the children have a fantastic start back and we are looking forward to another brilliant half term together.

Let's make Autumn Term 2 a great one!

Miss White, Mrs Burgess, Mrs Thomas and Mrs McConnell

Year 4 Weekly Blog 🌟

What a wonderful week we have had in Year 4, full of learning, laughter and fun!

We have been lucky enough to go on two exciting trips this week! First, we visited Maiden Castle Farm, where the children took part in a range of evacuee activities and experienced a little of what life was like for children during the Second World War. We also visited Thomas Hardye School to meet an author. The children thoroughly enjoyed both experiences, and it has been lovely to see their enthusiasm for learning outside the classroom!

In Maths, we have continued to develop our skills in column addition and subtraction, focusing on calculations that involve more than one exchange. The children have been working hard to apply their understanding and show their methods carefully.

In English, we continued reading The Matchbox Diary. The children explored different sentence types and used the characters in the story to help them develop their ideas and writing.

In Science, we continued investigating states of matter. We explored materials such as rice and sand, which can flow and be poured like liquids, even though they are made up of tiny solid pieces. The children enjoyed discussing what makes these materials different from liquids!

Looking Ahead to Next Week 🌾

Next week, we will be celebrating Harvest Festival. The children brought their poems home on Friday, with their speaking parts highlighted. Please continue to practise reading these together at home. They do not need to learn the words by heart, but it would be lovely for them to feel confident with their lines. Please also encourage the children to practise the Harvest song shared in the email on Arbor.

Finally, if your child did not take part in the gardening activities last week, please could they bring in their evacuee costume for our upcoming activities.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. Have a lovely weekend, and we look forward to another fantastic week in Year 4! 😊

Miss White, Mrs Burgess and Mrs Thomas

Year 4 Weekly Blog

Another great week in Year 4! 

In Maths, we have been learning how to use the column method to add and subtract 4-digit numbers. The children have been working hard to develop their confidence and accuracy when calculating.

In English, we started our new book, The Matchbox Diary. We explored different boxes, including one containing a matchbox filled with a range of interesting items. The children made predictions about why these objects might be important and began exploring the characters’ feelings and emotions. We are looking forward to finding out more as we continue reading!

In Science, we explored the characteristics of the three states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. The children thought about how they are different and how we can identify each state.

Looking ahead to next week… Please remember to refer to our previous communications for details about our upcoming trips. The children will also be taking part in our evacuee gardening activities, so please make sure they bring in their evacuee costumes on the next 2 Mondays.

Have a lovely weekend! 😊

Miss White, Mrs Burgess and Mrs Thomas

What an amazing few days at Hooke Court!

What an amazing few days at Hooke Court!

What a fantastic residential we have had! Our Year 4 children have been absolutely amazing from start to finish, and we couldn't be prouder of them.

Our two-night stay at Hooke Court was WW2 themed, giving the children the opportunity to step back in time and experience what life was like during the war. They took part in lots of exciting activities, worked together as a team, challenged themselves and, of course, had plenty of fun along the way!

For some children, this was their first time away from home, and it was wonderful to see how much confidence they gained over the two nights. They supported one another, looked after each other and showed such independence. There were lots of laughs, some very tired children (and adults!), and so many moments that we know they will remember for a long time.

One of the best things about residentials is seeing the children outside of the usual school environment. We got to see different sides of their personalities, watch friendships grow and see children encourage each other when things felt a little tricky. They really did make us incredibly proud.

A huge well done to every single child for making the trip so special. We hope they come away with lots of happy memories, new experiences and stories to tell!

And finally, a big thank you to our wonderful staff who gave up their time to make the residential possible. It was certainly exhausting, but watching the children have such an amazing time made every minute worth it!

What a special few days — memories made that will stay with us for a very long time. ❤️

Year 4 - Week 4

 We have had another busy and exciting week in Year 4, with lots of fantastic learning taking place!

We have officially started our ukulele lessons, and the children absolutely loved their first session! 🎵 They were so excited to have the opportunity to learn a new instrument and had lots of fun learning how to hold and play the ukulele. It was lovely to see everyone having a go and supporting each other as they began learning some of the basics. We are looking forward to seeing how their skills develop over the coming weeks.

In Maths, we have continued our learning about place value. The children have been working hard to understand what happens to numbers when we add or subtract 10, 100 and 1,000. We have explored 10 more and less, 100 more and less and 1,000 more and less, using our understanding of place value to help us. We have also started looking at Roman numerals, which the children have enjoyed getting to grips with.

In English, we finished reading The Lion and the Unicorn. The children have really enjoyed getting to know the characters and exploring the historical setting of the story. To finish our unit, the children wrote their own historical narratives, using the skills they have developed throughout our learning. There were some fantastic ideas, and it has been lovely to see the children becoming more confident in their writing.

In Science, we have continued our work on states of matter. We explored the three states – solids, liquids and gases – and looked closely at how the particles are arranged and how they move in each state. The children have been developing their scientific vocabulary and using what they know about particles to explain the differences between solids, liquids and gases.

Have a lovely weekend, and we will see you all tomorrow !

💛Miss White, Mrs Burgess and Mrs Thomas💛

Year 4 - Week 3

Another super week in Year 4! 

We have had another really busy and enjoyable week in Year 4, with lots of exciting learning taking place across the curriculum.

In Maths, we have continued our work on place value, building our understanding of 4-digit numbers and thinking carefully about the value of each digit. The children have been working hard and becoming more confident when explaining their mathematical thinking.

In English, we have continued our work around our class book The Lion and the Unicorn. We have been exploring different types of sentences, looking at plurals and beginning to use personification in our writing. It has been lovely to see the children becoming more confident with experimenting with language and using ideas from our text in their own work.

Our Science lessons have been particularly exciting this week as we have continued learning about states of matter. We carried out an investigation using raisins and lemonade and observed what happened to the raisins. The children really enjoyed watching the changes and discussing what they thought was happening and how this linked to our learning about liquids and gases. 

We also had lots of fun in DT, where the children enjoyed making their own biscuits. They had to follow instructions carefully, measure their ingredients and think about the different stages involved in making their biscuits. There were certainly some very tasty results!

In History, we have now started our new topic on World War II. The children have begun finding out about this important period in history and are already showing lots of curiosity and interest. I am looking forward to seeing where their questions and learning take us over the coming weeks.

And finally… ukulele lessons start tomorrow! 🎶 The whole class will be taking part, and we are all very excited to begin learning something completely new together. I am sure there will be lots of enthusiasm, and hopefully some budding musicians in Year 4!

Another lovely week of learning, creativity and fun. Well done Year 4, for all your hard work! 

We are excited for another week together and can't wait to see what we get up to next.

Miss White, Mrs Burgess, Mrs Thomas and Mrs Hounsome

What a great first full week back in Year 4

We have had such a lovely week, and it has been wonderful to see the children settling into their new routines and getting stuck into their learning. They have worked really hard and it has been a great start to the year!

🔢 Maths: We have been exploring place value, focusing on 4-digit numbers. The children have been learning to recognise the value of each digit and have been using different representations to help them understand how numbers are made up. We have had lots of great discussions and the children have shown some brilliant mathematical thinking.

📚 English: We have started our new text, The Lion and the Unicorn. The children began by looking at the story and making predictions about what they thought it might be about. We have also been exploring the different characters and thinking carefully about their feelings, thoughts and actions. The children then had the opportunity to write in the role of the main character, Lenny, which produced some fantastic writing and ideas!

🔬 Science: We have started our new Science topic, States of Matter. We completed a cold task to find out what the children already know about solids, liquids and gases. It was great to see how much prior knowledge they could remember, and we are looking forward to building on this throughout the topic.

🏊 Swimming: Swimming has been a great success this week! The children have been fantastic and have really enjoyed getting into the pool. They have shown great enthusiasm and have been listening carefully to instructions.

Overall, it has been a brilliant first full week. The children have been kind, enthusiastic and hardworking, and we are so pleased with how they have settled into Year 4.

Well done, Year 4! 💛 

We are already looking forward to another great week of learning, fun and lots more exciting things to come! 🌟

Miss White, Mrs Burgess, Mrs Thomas and Miss Hounsome