Samba concert Tuesday 4th July

 

Dear parents, carers and grandparents,

You are invited to year 4's Samba concert on Tuesday 4th July at 2.45pm. 

The concert will be led by the Dorset music service teacher Mr Whitmarsh and will be a culmination of their 10 weeks samba drums unit. 

We hope that you can make it. 

Any questions please get in touch. 

 

This week's PSHE and our residential

 

In today's (Monday) 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 had lots of questions about what we covered and so I'm sure 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. 

You should have received an email from Mr Spracklen with details about our residential on Wednesday. Please note that children DO NOT need to bring school uniform for any part of the trip. If your child needs any medicines, including antihistamines please ensure that you complete a medical forms ASAP. You can complete one online or see a member of the year 4 team for a hard copy to fill in. 

Please ensure that your child has a labelled drink bottle and bring a snack and lunch for the first day (Wednesday). 

If you have any questions please get in touch. 

Kind regards,

The Year 4 team       

Residential preparation, Home learning and transition activities

 

Hello everyone,

This time next week, Year 4 will be on their second day of their residential! The children were sent home with a hard copy of the packing list on Wednesday and we discussed in detail what each item meant. If your child's list didn't make it home hard copies can be found here. On Tuesday afternoon, I will go through in detail what the class to expect on their residential, although if in the meantime you or your child have any pressing questions, please feel free to get in touch. 

Home learning 

I have been really impressed with the number of children returning their Home Learning. Well done everyone! This week's home learning is to do with money. Hard copies were sent home on Monday, although an electronic copy can be found here. 

Children are also strongly encouraged to practice their spellings on Ed shed if you. I will be updating their personalised lists but until I have managed to do that they should practice spellings from the year 3 & 4 exception words list called words to learn this year. For those people that prefer not to access Ed Shed an electronic list can be found here.          

Transition activities

There are a number of different activities in the calendar to prepare children for the middle school transition. 

26th & 27th June and 4th July - Meet the tutor day for children going to St Osmund's

Please could parents email me c.browne@princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk to let me know what time your child will be away from POW for these sessions. 

3rd July - Mrs Pluck and Mrs Ray from Dorchester Middle school will be coming to meet the children and answer any questions they have ahead of transfer day. 

4th July - Getting to know you writing activity with Ms Sprules and one of the year 5 tutors from Dorchester Middle school. 

4th July - Reading activities with Ms Lawrence from St Osmund's middle school. 

4th July - Samba drums concert at 2.45pm - everyone welcome. 

6th July - Transfer day where your child spends the whole day at the middle school they will be going to in September. 

Other Upcoming dates

Monday 26th June - Class photographs

28th to 30th June - Year 4 residential

3rd to 14th July - Inclusive sports fortnight

5th July - School closed (please see email from Mr Spracklen for details)

6th July - Transfer day

7th July - School closed (please see email from Mr Spracklen for details)

8th July - POWSA summer fair

12th July - KS2 sports day

14th July - Dance Day

20th July - Year 4 leavers assembly (details to follow)

If you have any questions about anything please get in touch.

Kind regards,

The year 4 team. 

   

Home Learning and this week's PSHE

 

This week the children have been continuing to develop their ability to tell the time using an analogue clock. We will continue give the children regular time telling practice, including 24hr and digital clock until the end of the year but any additional practice at home is always useful. 

Home Learning

This week's home learning is time based. All the children should have come home with a hard copy of the below time worksheet, although if your child's has got lost in transit and electronic copy can be found here:

Spellings

Again children should have come home with the spellings worksheet below but should it not have made its way home you can click here for an electronic copy. Children are also encouraged to use ed shed to practice their spellings whenever possible 

This week's PSHE

In this week's PSHE lesson we will be talking 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 ones 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. 

We won't go into the details of neuroscience with the children but 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, children will engage in role plays as either a teenager or parent to practice 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) 

At the end of the PSHE session, the children will be reminded that it s so important to talk to parents/carers/trusted adults as they can help us to work out the best thing to do.  

 

The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares /Hooke Court class rooms / transition activities

 

Today, year 4 had a visit from the Bank of Dreams and Nightmares team. They delivered a dynamic, inspiring and creative workshop with the children. The whole class worked together to create a collaborative story that ended on a cliffhanger, whilst virtually an illustrator created illustrations to support the story.  The children then worked independently, with the support of some experienced writers, to create their own unique ending to this story. Next week each child will receive printed copies of their collaborative story and they will then add their own ending before being able to take the book home to keep. 

It was a wonderful morning of creativity and the children were certainly engaged. 

Hooke court room allocations

I will be asking the children to consider who they might light to share a room with when we go to Hooke Court. Whilst I can't guarantee they will be with the children they have chosen, I will certainly take their preferences into consideration. 

Middle school transition activities

Just a quick overview of some of the transition activities we have coming up for children going to DMS or St Osmund's in September. These activities will be a great opportunity for your child to ask any questions they may have and feel prepared for transfer day and September.  

Monday 19th June - Mrs Hudson will be spending an hour or so with the children to get to know them. 

27th June, 3rd and 4th July - Meet the tutor days at St Osmund's

3rd July - Assembly and meet and greet session with Mrs Ray and Mrs Pluck from DMS. 

4th July - DMS writing session (at POW)

4th July - St Osmund's reading session (at POW)

6th July -Transfer day

Finally, thank you for sending in hats and drink bottles. They really are vital in this hot weather. 

Kind regards,

Ms Browne, Mr MacBean, Miss Carney and the year 4 team

       

Summer term 2 in year 4

Hello everyone,

I hope you had a lovely half term break and managed to enjoy the glorious weather. Welcome back to the second half of the Summer term. Hopefully the warm weather will continue and so please can you make sure your child brings a labelled water bottle to school daily. On sunny days sun hats and sunscreen applied before school are also recommended.   

 

Year 4 learning

This term in maths, the the children will be learning about decimals, time and money. They will also be handling data which links to this week's home learning (see below). 

In English, the children will be given the opportunity to get creative - writing their own fantasy stories. They will also have a very special opportunity to work on their very own book which will be printed. 

In science, we will be starting a new topic on Electricity. Children typically enjoy this topic as the get the opportunity to work will electricity kits kindly lent to us from Dorchester Middle School. 

In PSHE the children will be learning about how their body changes as they get older and how they can manage their emotions and foster positive relationships. 

We will continue our popular Samba drums sessions with Mr Whitmarsh on Tuesday afternoons and on Fridays Mr MacBean will be teaching our new history topic which explores the early islamic civilisation in Baghdad. 

Home learning

In addition to times tables, reading and spelling practice, for this week's home learning we would like the children to complete a tally chart of the number of electrical sockets that are found in each room of the home. Each child will be sent home with a worksheet with a table to complete on Tuesday afternoon although an electronic version can be viewed here. 

It would be wonderful if EVERY child could complete this home learning activity and return it to school by Monday 12th June to use in our science / maths lesson on handling and representing data. 

We also strongly recommend that this term all children start getting into the habit of completing and returning their home learning every week (including reading records). Home learning completion is an expectation at middle school and so getting into good habits now will hopefully make the transition smoother for your child from September.

Upcoming Dates

6th June - 16th June - Children will be completing the national Multiplication tables check over the next two weeks. I will take small groups to a quiet space to complete the check. Most children will complete the check next week, although 10 children will complete the check on the 6th or 7th June. 

Tuesday 6th June - SPACE youth project. Class assemblies and workshops followed by a family drop in session at 15.10pm in the hall - all parents and carers welcome. 

Wednesday 7th & 8th June - Roundhouse activity (see letter)

Tuesday 13th June - Book writing workshop

Thursday 22nd June - Miss Carney, our trainee teacher's last day

Monday 26th June - Class photographs

28th to 30th June - Year 4 residential

3rd to 14th July - Inclusive sports fortnight

4th July - Samba drums concert at 2.45pm - everyone welcome

6th July - Transfer day

7th July - Dance day

8th July - POWSA summer fair

12th July - KS2 sports day

20th July - Year 4 leavers assembly (details to follow)

As ever please get in touch if you have any questions, comments or concerns. 

Kind regards,

Ms Browne, Mr MacBean, Miss Carney and the year 4 team 🌞