Exploring the World of Artificial Intelligence in Year 4

Today, our Year 4 pupils began an exciting journey into the ever-evolving world of Artificial Intelligence (AI). As part of their new computing unit, we introduced them to this transformative technology that is reshaping industries and daily life.

What Is Artificial Intelligence? To start, we explored the question: What is AI? The pupils learned that AI is a tool that enables machines to mimic human intelligence. From understanding language to recognising patterns and even creating art, AI has the ability to process information and make decisions in ways that once seemed impossible.

How Is AI Being Used Today? We discussed real-world examples of AI in action, such as:

Virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa.

Recommendation systems on platforms such as YouTube and Netflix.

Self-driving cars and robotics in factories.

The pupils were amazed to learn that AI isn’t just a futuristic concept; it’s already part of our everyday lives!

The Future Potential of AI - Our conversation then turned to what the future might hold. Could AI help solve climate change? Could it revolutionise healthcare? The pupils shared their imaginative ideas, from AI-powered classrooms to robot doctors.

Hands-On Learning with AI Tools - Mr Spracklen gave an engaging demonstration of an AI music-building tool (https://aimusic.so/app). The pupils were fascinated to see how AI could create unique melodies, sparking a lively discussion about AI’s role in creative fields.

We also explored Google Gemini, an AI platform that can generate images. Pupils were inspired by its ability to create art from just a few words, showcasing how technology can combine creativity and innovation.

Finally, we looked at tools like Merlyn Mind, an AI system designed for classrooms, and ChatGPT, a tool that can support teachers by generating ideas, lesson plans and more. The pupils were curious about how these tools could make learning and teaching more efficient.

Why Teach AI in Year 4? The world of technology is changing rapidly, and by introducing our pupils to AI, we’re helping them become informed digital citizens. This unit not only develops their computing skills but also encourages them to think critically about the ethical implications and opportunities AI brings.

As we continue this unit, our Year 4 pupils will get hands-on experience with more AI tools, develop projects, and reflect on how AI can be a force for good in the world. Stay tuned for updates as our pupils dive deeper into the world of AI—they’re already buzzing with excitement!

#InspiredToLearn

Exciting times ahead (key upcoming events)

Hello everyone,

It's that time of year when the school entrance gets transformed into a winter wonderland. I was a parent before I was a teacher at POW and I still remember my first experience of the magic that is Christmas at POW. This year, our theme is the Jolly Christmas Postman. Year 4, like the other classes will take part in our inspired writing week. Year 4 will be writing letters with Ms Browne, Mrs March and the team from the Bank of Dreams and Nightmares. 

Tempest auditions

This week the children were given audition scripts ahead of their Tempest auditions next Friday. If your child's audition script didn't make it home the link can be found here.

Next week, the children will be asked to list up to 4 roles that they would like, although they will only be invited to audition for their 1st choice. 

Home learning

The children's home learning for this week is for the children to practice their lines for their audition. If they can learn them this really helps to free up their hands. Lauren from Razzmatazz gave the children some tips today such as line delivery and projecting their voice, using body language gestures and facial expressions. 

Spellings

The spellings for this week have been sent home and are available on spelling shed. For reference they are also here: 

Mrs Bernard's group:

RWI4

RWI5

Upcoming events

Monday 25th November - Inspired writing week launch

Tuesday 26th November - The bank of dreams and nightmare

Wednesday 27th November - Year 4 artwork display visit (see emailed letter)

Thursday 28th November - School disco

Friday 29th November - Christmas Craft day 

Friday 29th November - Tempest Auditions 

Odd Sock day tomorrow

 

It is Odd sock day tomorrow (Tuesday)

Apologies for the mistake 

Fire safety, Shakespeare, Home learning, Rugby and upcoming dates

 

Hello everyone,

Fire Safety

On Friday, the children watched a presentation from the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire service. 

The children should have come home with a handout about fire safety but the key messages were:

• Shut doors where possible (especially at night)
• Install fire alarms and check them weekly
• Discuss an escape plan
• Keep keys near doors and windows
• As a family decide on a meeting point - safe distance from the building. 
• If you find a fire - Get out, stay out and call 999

Shakespeare Play

This week the children learnt that our Shakespeare play this year will be The Tempest. In the next few weeks we will start getting the children more familiar with the play and will start auditions for the roles. 

The BBC has two great resources to introduce the Tempest to young audiences if would like to share these with your child at home. 

1) The Tempest in short

2) Cartoon adaptation of the Tempest (we have watched this is class). 

HomeLearning

Thank you to those parents that have helped their child log onto the Power Maths games. These games help to reinforce the learning we are doing in class and the children's feedback has been really positive which is great. If you need a reminder as to how to login, please check out the previous blog for details or click here. 

This week's home learning will be maths based and will help the children practice previous learning they have done on column addition ahead of the year 4 column addition learning. Children will be given paper copies of their home learning on Tuesday but online versions can be accessed here.  

New RWI spellings will be given out in week 3 but please encourage your child to practice their personal spellings this week. These are on spelling shed but paper lists are available on request. 

Thank you for those people that are working with your child to record their reading in reading records. Regular reading practice is such a valuable home learning activity and any reading and talking about books helps your child even once they are fluent readers. 

Rugby

Congratulation to the children that took part in the recent rugby festival. Not only did they learn team work and rugby skills they also did incredibly well. They won most of their games and didn't lose any of them!

Thank you so much to the parents that came to support the team. 

     

 

Upcoming dates and events in November

Monday 11th - 11am Whole school act of Remembrance

Tuesday 12th - Lion's Roar2024 presentations

Tuesday 12th - Opt in for Flu Immunisations deadline

Tuesday 12th - Odd Socks Day

Thursday 14th - Wear something blue for Diabetes day

Friday 15th - Children in need day. Non school uniform with spotty theme 

Friday 15th - Flu immunisations

Monday 25th - Inspired writing week

Friday 29th - Christmas Craft Day

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

Kind regards,

The year 4 team

No swimming today

 Dear Parents and carers,

Due to the rugby festival, there is no swimming today. 

All children should be collected from school at 3.30pm (unless they have Rocket Club). 

Welcome Back

 

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to Year 4. We hope your child had a happy and enjoyable half term break and are ready for the second half of the Autumn term. 

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday 5th November - All children return

Thursday 7th November - Rugby festival. Children were given the opportunity to nominate if they would like to take part in this and those children chosen have been informed. Please note that there will be no swimming for those children remaining at school. 

Tuesday 12th November - Lion's Roar presentation to the rotary club and Mayor of Dorchester

Friday 15th November - Children in Need

Monday 25th November - Inspired writing week 

Friday 20th December - Last Day of term 

Shakespeare 

This week the children will learn what Shakespeare play we will be performing in February. From this term until the performance week, the children will have weekly drama sessions with Razzmatazz on Friday afternoons. We anticipate that Ellie from Razzmatazz and Ms Browne will be conducting auditions for the main roles of our play in the next 2 - 3 weeks, although we will share more information about what to expect shortly. 

Home Learning

We have been really impressed with the home learning that has been returned so far this year. Helping your child establish good home learning habits and routines really helps with the transition to middle school. In addition to the weekly home learning task, we strongly encourage your children to practice their spellings, times tables and to read (and record in reading records) regularly.      

To help reinforce the maths learning in class, year 4 will also start trialing Power maths maths games. On Thursday the children will practice logging on and will come home with their Power Maths games login details. For details about how to login please click here. The games this week will be based on rounding which is what the children are currently studying.

This week's home learning task is a grammar quiz. The children will come home with paper copies but and online version can be accessed here.   

The children in Ms Browne and Mrs Bernard's groups will also come home with spelling this week:      

Ms Browne's group 

Mrs Bernard's group

RWI spellings and personal spellings are also on spelling shed which we recommend as an interactive way for your child to learn spellings. 

Year 4 behaviour and communication

It was wonderful to meet with many of you during our parent evenings last term. Ten minutes can fly by, so if you'd like to arrange additional time to discuss your child's progress at any point throughout the year, please don't hesitate to reach out.

In Year 4 and across the school, we are focused on helping children learn how to communicate and conduct themselves with kindness and respect. We believe that these behaviours are essential to their personal and academic success and, as with any skill, they need guidance and practice—both at school and at home. Through our PSHE lessons and weekly assemblies, we work to develop the skills and character our children need for a positive future.

Our Relationships, Behaviour, Discipline, and Ethos Policy is designed to promote prosocial behaviours while addressing any challenges that may arise. We can only address less desirable behaviours if we're aware of them, so we encourage you to keep us informed. If your child shares any incidents or concerns with you, please feel free to email Ms. Browne, Mrs. March, or Mr. Spracklen. This will help us log and address issues in a timely manner.

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to foster a safe and nurturing learning environment for your child.

Kind regards,

The Year 4 Team. 

Harvest Celebration this Friday

 

It is our harvest celebration this Friday (18th). It will start at 9.15 and should finish around 10am. Following the assembly parents and carers are welcome to try some biscuits that the children have made. This should only be for around 5 minutes directly after the assembly. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances there was no home learning given this week. We would still love it if your child could continue to find their Autumn creativity (if they haven't already) as well as continue to practice spellings, times tables and read regularly.  

Upcoming dates

Friday 18th Oct - Harvest Festival assemblies KS2 9.15 - 10am

Monday 21st Oct - Early Parents' evening

Thursday 24th Oct - Late Parents' evening 

Friday 25th Oct - Last Day of term

Wellies for Friday, Home Learning and upcoming dates

 

Hello everyone,

I hope you and your child had a relaxing weekend after their successful residential last week. The children were amazing and should be very proud of themselves.

Food, Faith and Farming weekend has started with lots of related activities this week and next. On Friday of this week children should attempt to come to school dressed as a WW2 evacuee for our farm evacuation experience. It has been very wet recently so please ensure that every child has some mud-proof boots or wellingtons please.

Homelearning

A hard copy of this week's home learning should be coming home today (apologies for the one day delay). As well as regular reading, practising times tables and spellings, children have been challenged to be creative and create something related to Autumn. 

 

Spellings

The children have been given their RWI spellings and they also have their own individual spelling lists. 

I strongly encourage children to regularly practice their spellings, on spelling shed if possible although I can provide additional paper sheets as required.

There are other activities on spelling shed but the optimal way for spelling practise in below:

Upcoming dates

From Monday 7th Oct - Food, Faith and Farming fortnight

Friday 11th Oct - Farm visit as a WW2 evacuee (dress up)

Friday 18th Oct - Dress as a farmer

Friday 18th Oct - Harvest Festival assemblies KS2 9.15 - 10am

Friday 18th Oct - Autumn Fest 5 - 7pm

Monday 21st Oct - Early Parents' evening

Thursday 24th Oct - Late Parents' evening 

Friday 25th Oct - Last Day of term

    

Home learning information and residential update

 

Hello everyone,

We have a busy and exciting week ahead of us with our popular writing workshop "The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares" on Tuesday and our residential trip from Wednesday - Friday. When packing for our residential, please can you label any snacks/ treats that your child may want to bring. It would be particularly helpful if they were in a plastic bag, container or a zip lock bag. Food items always need to be collected by staff to avoid pests in dorm rooms but it is particularly important where children in the class have certain allergies. 

Home learning

This week's home learning is for the children to continue to work on their TinkerCAD creations for their ROAR projects. Mr Spracklen has created a helpful youtube video which should help explain how to access TinkerCAD logins. You can find this link here. 

I understand that it is not always possible to complete the main home learning activities but I strongly recommend regular reading, spellings and times table practice wherever possible. The effects of regular practice cannot be overstated.  

Spellings

We have been in an assessment period during our spellings sessions identifying those words from years 1, 2 and 3 that the children still need to learn. The children have been tested on 130 words and now have their own personalised and individual spelling lists. 

Today the children were sent home with the first 20 of these spellings to learn. In class, the children will have two mornings per week where they will also be given time to work on their own personal spellings. I am only giving children 20 spellings at a time from their lists to learn but will give parents the full list at parents evening (I can email these before at your request)

 

I am also in the process of uploading the full list of all of their individual spellings onto Edshed/ Spelling Shed. With each list being individual to each child it is quite a time consuming process but I hope to have this done by the end of next week at the latest. 

After Hooke Court, the children will also be given new RWI spellings which they will be tested on weekly or fortnightly (dates will be on the sheets).   

Children will not be tested on their personal spellings until January 2025 although it is hoped that children will regularly practice their personal and weekly spellings as often as possible. 

Upcoming Dates 

Tuesday 1st October - The bank of dreams and nightmares

Wednesday 2nd - 4th October - Residential

From Monday 7th Oct - Food, Faith and Farming fortnight

Friday 11th Oct - Farm visit as a WW2 evacuee (dress up)

Friday 18th Oct - Dress as a farmer

Friday 18th Oct - Harvest Festival assemblies KS2 9.15 - 10am

Friday 18th Oct - Autumn Fest 5 - 7pm

Monday 21st Oct - Early Parents' evening

Thursday 24th Oct - Late Parents' evening 

TinkerCAD: Year Four Home Learning Help

Today in Computing, Year Four enjoyed using TinkerCAD again. Across the class, we are starting to develop some CAD enthusiasts while others are still getting to grips with what you can do with this powerful piece of software. 

One of the fantastic features of TinkerCAD is that you don’t need to start from scratch—you can take an existing design and ‘tinker’ with it! For this week's home learning, Mr Spracklen encourages pupils to find a design they like and make their own modifications as part of their #ROAR2024 project.

Once finished, pupils should share their final design by uploading it to Google Classroom or by emailing Mr Spracklen the .STL file (export to > .STL).

Mr Spracklen explains the task in more detail in the Y4 Home Learning Help video here: 

Trip to the Museum

 Hello Year Four Families

We had a wonderful time at the County Museum today. The children learnt about different habitats that animals live in. Animals big, all the way down to microscopic! They used magnifying glasses to investigate creatures close up.

We then had a chance to go down into the basement which was a real privilege, The children got to see where specimens are kept and how they are preserved and looked after. It really was amazing down there!

Back up in the museum we investigated how birds use different shaped beaks to eat different things. The children took on roles as spoonbills, tweezerbills, pegbills and scissorbills. It was interesting to see what they could collect and they learnt how different birds eat different things depending on their beaks. 

Lastly, we found out how a range of scientists collected information about their findings. We learned that many used field journals to do this. The children then had the opportunity to make their own.

We had a fantastic morning at the museum . . .  and beat the rain home!

I am sure the children will have lots to tell you about their trip today and will enjoy sharing their field journals with you this evening.

The Year Four Team

#ROAR2024

On Friday 20th September we welcomed Bill from the Dorchester Lions Club into Year Four to formally launch our #ROAR2024 project -

2024 is the ninth year of Lions ROAR. This inspirational competition is run by the award-winning education company, 8BillionIdeas and Lions Clubs British Isles. 

The unique Lions programme aims to inspire children and young people to think big and dream bigger about their ideas! 

For more information, please see: https://lionsclubs.co/MemberArea/home/lions-roar/.

Today, we followed up Bill’s input with a Computing session focused on idea generation and exploring what it means to ‘prototype’ -

We worked in our #ROAR2024 booklets to complete the following statement -

The problem my idea will solve is…

Future lessons will see us prototype our solutions in TinkerCAD.

Y4 trip to the museum

 
Reminder:

We are visiting Dorset County Museum this Wednesday (25th September) as part of the 'Urban Nature Project'.

The children will be leaving school at around 9.30am.

We will be eating our lunch at the museum so please make sure that your child has a rucksack that they can carry their lunch and a water bottle in. 

The weather looks showery at the moment so suitable wet weather gear is advisable.

The Year 4 Team

Home learning and upcoming dates

 

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and that your child is feeling settled and happy in year 4. Myself and the team are very happy with how they are doing so far. 

It is now officially Autumn and as we start 'welcoming' cooler days please can I remind you to make sure your child has a labelled coat everyday. We will launch our Food, Faith and Farming fortnight in a few weeks and have some lovely Autumn related activities to look forward to. 

We head off on our residential trip a week on Wednesday and you may be starting to put items aside now. Here is an electronic copy of the packing list but if you need a paper copy please ask a member of the team.    

Homelearning

The deadline for Home learning is generally Tuesdays when the children will be given their new piece of work. 

The previous home learning can be found here. 

This week's home learning (which the children will bring home on Tuesday) can be found here.  

Spellings

Most of the children will not have come home with spellings to learn yet. We have been assessing the common spellings that are helpful to know by year 4 and the children will then have their own personalised spelling lists. These will be ongoing spellings to learn and in addition tho these the children will have weekly or fortnightly RWI spellings to learn once RWI sessions start (hopefully later this week). 

Dressing Up

We have a number of dressing up opportunities coming up at POW and in Year 4. To help you get prepared I have listed those likely to happen before Christmas below. We don't expect or want you to spend lots of money on these, items that you already have with tweaks are very welcome. Please feel free to ask a member of the team if you need help with costumes. 

Upcoming opportunities for children to dress up include 

-  dress up as a WW2 evacuee  on Friday 11th October - link here for costume ideas

- dress up as a farmer on Friday 18th October 

- Children in need on Friday 15th November 

- Dress as an elf (possibly in December)

- Christmas jumper day (possibly in December)

Upcoming Dates 

Wednesday 25th Sep - Urban Nature project visit

Wednesday 2nd - 4th October - Residential

From Monday 7th Oct - Food, Faith and Farming fortnight

Friday 11th Oct - Farm visit as a WW2 evacuee (dress up)

Friday 18th Oct - Dress as a farmer

Friday 18th Oct - Harvest Festival assemblies KS2 9.15 - 10am

Friday 18th Oct - Autumn Fest 5 - 7pm

Monday 21st Oct - Early Parents' evening

Thursday 24th Oct - Late Parents' evening 

Please email me or contact a member of the year 4 team if you have any questions comments or concerns. 

Kind regards,

The year 4 team. 

🍂🍁🎃🌰 😊

 

Y4 Computing - A1 W3

Today was a special day at The Prince of Wales School as we celebrated our 30th anniversary with a whole-school photo on the school field! 

To make room for this exciting event, we had a shorter Computing lesson than usual. But don’t worry – Mr. Spracklen made sure we still had a fantastic time.

In our combined Year Three and Year Four session, we delved into the amazing world of 3D printing. We learnt how to design our own 3D models using Purple Mash and TinkerCAD.

Mr. Spracklen also made a super cool promise: if we design something at home and send him the .STL file (with a bit of help from our parents or carers), he’ll print a mini version of our design using the new 3D printer recently purchased by POWSA!

What a wonderful way to celebrate our school's milestone and learn something new at the same time.

Happy 30th Anniversary The Prince of Wales School! 🎉📸✨

Help: Residential dormitory groups and dietary needs

 

Dear parents and carers,

As you know our class residential trip is fast approaching. I will look forward to talking through everything that you should expect this Friday afternoon (from 2.45pm), however the residential providers would like to know our dormitory occupants list a few days earlier than I was expecting. 

Therefore I will be asking children to choose 4 - 5 children that they would like to be in the same dormitory with tomorrow (Thursday 12th September) so that I can plan the dorm and give the residential providers list by this Friday.

I'm so sorry for the later notice but I would really appreciate it if you get talk to your child about this and help them be prepared for choosing 4 - 5 names. It is essentially just for sleeping and the class spends most of the waking hours together or in larger groups.  

If you have any questions or comments regarding dormitories I encourage you to email me these and I can factor them into the dorm plans (where possible). 

Please could parents also email me if your child has any dietary needs that we may not currently be aware of.  

If there is a year 4 social media parents group please could someone share this message on it. 

Thank you all for your help. 

Kind regards,

Ms Browne 

TinkerCAD

In Y4 Computing today, we were reminded how to login and access Google Classroom safely. From Google Classroom, we then joined Mr Spracklen’s ‘Y4 Virtual Classroom’ on TinkerCAD. 

TinkerCAD is 3D modelling software that we will use as part of our #ROAR2024 unit of work. 

TinkerCAD will allow us to design in 3D before printing on our school’s new 3D Printer (recently purchased by POWSA, thank you POWSA). 

Today, we go to grips with TinkerCAD using the following tutorials set by Mr Spracklen →

The children really enjoyed exploring this software and seeing their designs come to life in 3D. It’s a fantastic way to build their digital creativity and problem-solving skills!

Why not try this at home?

TinkerCAD is free to use and can be accessed from any device. It’s a great way to encourage your child’s imagination, and you might even want to try designing something together. You could start with simple objects like a keychain or toy and work up to more complex designs as you go.

Encourage your child to share their creations with family and friends or even bring them in to print at school. 

Have fun designing!

Week 1 in Year 4

 

We had a wonderful few days in Year 4 and I am so proud of how well the children have settled back into school.  

Thank you so much for returning so many swimming consent letters so far. Please could any remaining letters be returned ASAP. 

We have a busy term ahead of us and so I have listed a few dates below to help you track what is going on. This Friday 13th at 2.45pm we have our year 4 parent information session where I will give more details about what to expect in year 4. This will be followed by our residential adult and child session where I will talk through our upcoming residential trip with the class and their adults so that everyone knows what to expect.

Things to bring into school

- Please could all children bring a labelled jacket, drinks bottle and school jumper into school daily. 

- Children need labelled PE kits for Mondays (we can keep these in school and return them half termly). 

- Swimming kits and rain jackets are needed every Thursday during Autumn terms 1 & 2.

- Reading records into school every Friday please. Thank you to those people that returned their child's reading record last week. To conserve paper we would really like to reuse last year's records so please could you return any that you have at home by Monday. 

Upcoming Dates

Monday 9th Sep - Whole school bike show & KS2 bike workshops

Thursday 12th Sep - Y4 swimming starts weekly

Friday 13th Sep - Parent info & residential info sessions from 2.45pm

Monday 16th Sep - Individual and whole school photographs

Wednesday 25th Sep - Urban Nature project visit

Wednesday 2nd - 4th October - Residential

From Monday 7th Oct - Food, Faith and Farming fortnight

Friday 18th Oct - Harvest Festival assemblies 

Monday 21st Oct - Early Parents' evening

Thursday 24th Oct - Late Parents' evening 

Kind regards,

The Year 4 team 😊