VE day, Home learning and upcoming events

 

Hello everyone,

We’ve had a lovely few days in Year 4, and the children have been working hard rehearsing their class poem, ready to perform it at our VE Day assembly tomorrow (Thursday 8th May). Details about the event are included in this week's emailed newsletter, but just to confirm—parents, carers, and grandparents are all very welcome to attend.

Please note: There will be no hot dinners tomorrow, and Rocket Club sessions after school will not be running.

This week’s spellings are listed at the end of this blog. For home learning, we are focusing on times tables practice. Hopefully, this is already part of your child’s weekly routine—but if not, now is a great time to start! Regular practice will help prepare them for the upcoming Multiplication Tables Check in June, as well as support the expectations around times tables at middle school.

Children are being asked to either complete the paper times tables sheet or log in to Purple Mash and complete the Multiplication Tables Check, which has been set as a ‘2Do’. They are very welcome to do both if they wish!

A link to this week's home learning can be found here. 

As ever, please talk to a member of the team about any questions or concerns you may have. 

Upcoming events ( a ful list of dates can be found in theis week's emailed newsletter)

Thursday 8th May - 80th Anniversary of VE Day

Wednesday 21st May - Class trip

Thursday 22nd May - CAABU Workshops

Friday 23rd May - Last Day of term 

Monday 2nd June - Children return

Monday 2nd June - Multiplication Tables Checks start

Thursday 5th June - RSE parent's information session.

Friday 20th June - Year 4 special event

Week 2 in Year 4

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the glorious weather we’re having at the moment.

Since returning from the Easter break, the children have settled back into their learning with enthusiasm. We have, however, been working through a few minor friendship and communication challenges during playtimes. These situations are a normal part of growing up, and it's important to remember that children often need guidance and support to learn how to navigate social situations and build positive relationships.

As a class, we’ve talked about how we can be more thoughtful and respectful towards one another. Together, we agreed on a few key pointers to help us communicate kindly and effectively:

• Avoid making comments about someone else’s body or appearance.

• Don’t give advice or suggestions unless they’ve been asked for (unsolicited advice).

• Always choose kindness.

• Use the THINK method before speaking:

Many of the children responded positively to the THINK approach, and we’ll continue to refer to it regularly to help guide our interactions.

Leavers’ Hoodies – Reminder

If you would like your child to have a leavers' hoodie in time for the year 4 special event, please ensure you place your order as soon as possible. 

    

Home Learning

As next week is a short one, there will be no spellings sent home this Friday.

We have given out printed copies of this week’s home learning today to allow a little more time for completion. There are two tasks for the children to work on:

VE Day Poem

Year 4 will be reciting a poem as part of the VE Day anniversary. Children were given paper copies today, but you can also find an electronic copy here .

Design a Space Mission Patch

Children have been given printed sheets with instructions, but an electronic version is also available here. You can find more inspiration on the Science Museum website here. 

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Kind  regards,

The Year 4 Team

Upcoming events

Thursday 1st May - Parent Information session

Monday 5th May - Bank Holiday 

Thursday 8th May - 80th Anniversary of VE Day

Wednesday 21st May - Class trip

Friday 23rd May - Last Day of term 

Monday 2nd June - Children return

Monday 2nd June - Multiplication Tables Checks start

Thursday 5th June - RSE parent's information session.

Friday 20th June - Year 4 special event

Year 4 Parent Information session tomorrow

 

Dear Parents and Carers, 

It is the year 4 Summer term information session tomorrow (Thursday 1st May). We will be meeting in the staff room (not the hall) and it would be great to you there there from 9am. It's an opportunity to find out about the rest of the year in POW and ask any questions you may have. 

See you Tomorrow,
Ms Browne 

Year 4 Discovery RE: Exploring Commitment to God

Today in Year 4, we began our new Discovery RE unit by exploring the big question:

"What is the best way for a Jew to show commitment to God?"

We started our learning journey with a fun quiz asking when we are old enough to take on different responsibilities — like owning a pet, going to the shop alone, riding a bike to school with friends, or even making a cup of tea?

Working in talking partners, the children had lively discussions about their opinions, noticing that not everyone agreed on the right age! It was wonderful to see so much thoughtful debate and respectful listening.

The children then created timelines of their lives so far, marking important milestones like starting nursery, beginning school, or learning to ride a bike. This helped them think about how growing up is linked to taking on more responsibility.

Finally, we asked one last important question:

"When are you old enough to decide on your religion?"

The children's answers showed maturity and deep thinking, and we will proudly display them in our next lesson as we move into learning about Jewish commitment — including special milestones like Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies.

It was a brilliant start to our Discovery RE unit, full of reflection, responsibility, and big questions! 

Well done Year 4! 🌟

Exploring Rivers Using Digital Mapping

Today in Geography, our brilliant Year 4 pupils took part in an exciting and immersive lesson exploring rivers across the UK – with the help of Digimap for Schools.

Using Chromebooks, the children learned how to navigate digital maps, zooming in and out, adding layers, and pinpointing key features of rivers from their source to their mouth. Working in pairs and small groups, they explored major rivers such as the Thames, Severn, and Trent, identifying tributaries, meanders, and estuaries along the way.

The lesson built on pupils' digital skills, as they learned how to use interactive tools to annotate maps and locate landmarks.

We were especially impressed by the curiosity and collaboration shown throughout the session. Pupils asked thoughtful questions like "Why do most rivers flow to the sea?" and "What happens when two rivers meet?" – sparking some wonderful class discussions.

One highlight was watching pupils trace the journey of a river from its source in the hills all the way to the sea, realising just how much ground it covers – and how it connects places, people and ecosystems.

We’re so proud of how confidently our pupils used Digimap and can't wait to explore more geographical topics using this powerful tool.

Welcome to the Summer Term in Year 4

 

Welcome back to the Summer Term in Year 4!

I hope you all had a restful break. Towards the end of this blog, I’ve included a list of key dates and events to help you plan ahead for the Summer term. 

Parent Info Session

Next week, we’ll be holding a Parents and Carers Information Session on Thursday 1st May at 9am, and I’d love to see as many of you there as possible.

There has been a post on Facebook suggesting that the parent info session includes a workshop with your child. Just to clarify, this is not the case for Years 3 and 4. Instead, I’ll be sharing what’s coming up this term, including details about the Multiplication Tables Check, how you can support your child at home, and information about key events such as the leavers’ assembly and middle school transition.

The session will also be a good opportunity to ask any questions you may have about these topics—or anything else on your mind. I hope you can join us.

Class Trip and VE Day event

We’re looking forward to our final class excursion of the year on Wednesday 21st May. This will be an exciting activity day, including wall climbing and kayaking. Letters with full details will be sent home shortly. If you’re interested in volunteering to help on the day, please do email me as soon as possible—spaces are limited due to us travelling in a smaller coach.

In addition, please keep an eye out for a message from Mr Spracklen regarding our 80th Anniversary of VE Day event on Wednesday 8th May. As part of the celebration, Year 4 will be performing a selection of poetry and written accounts from the Second World War. Your child’s piece will be sent home early next week, and I’d be so grateful if you could support them in practising their reading at home. 

Summer term reminders

As we head into the summer term, it’s a good time to check that your child’s school jumpers and cardigans are clearly labelled—this really helps us reunite them with their owners if they’re taken off during the day and left behind.

With the sunshine beginning to make more of an appearance, you might also like to start sending your child in with a labelled sun hat, and as always, a water bottle each day is really important to help them stay hydrated and focused.

Home learning

For this week's home learning the children are being asked to imagine and write about their own dream home or dwelling (tree house for example). They will be sent home with paper copies tomorrow or an electronic link to this week's home learning can be found here. This week's spellings to learn are at the end of this blog and children will be given paper copies on Friday. 

Upcoming events

Tuesday 29th April - Bikeability

Thursday 1st May - Parent Information session

Monday 5th May - Bank Holiday 

Thursday 8th May - 80th Anniversary of VE Day

Wednesday 21st May - Class trip

Friday 23rd May - Last Day of term 

Monday 2nd June - Children return

Monday 2nd June - Multiplication Tables Checks start

Thursday 5th June - RSE parent's information session.

Friday 20th June - Year 4 special event

As ever, please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns. Hopefully see you on Thursday 1st May. 

Kind regards,

The Year 4 Team

Year Four Recreate the 'VE 80' Logo in Computing

 

Animating History: Year Four Recreate the 'VE 80' Logo in Computing

As part of our whole-school preparations for the upcoming VE Day 80th Anniversary Street Party, Year Four pupils have been blending creativity and computing skills to bring history to life in the digital world!

In today’s Computing lesson, pupils explored ‘2Animate’, a powerful and pupil-friendly tool on Purple Mash that introduces animation techniques in a fun, accessible way. Their challenge? To digitally recreate the official ‘VE 80’ logo— a bold and symbolic design that will be proudly displayed across our school during the celebration.

Pupils experimented with frame-by-frame animation, layering and colour blending as they replicated the red, white and blue emblem. Some even added their own imaginative touches, incorporating waving flags and fireworks to give their animations a celebratory twist!

This activity not only deepened pupils’ understanding of digital media but also offered a meaningful way to connect with the significance of Victory in Europe Day and the enduring importance of remembrance, gratitude, and unity.

Keep an eye on our school displays — and our website — as we share some of the fantastic animations leading up to the big event on Thursday 8th May 2025.

Well done Year Four — a wonderful example of learning with purpose and creativity!

End of an amazing term

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

What an incredible term we’ve had! From our Shakespeare performance to the singing concert and class assembly, not to mention the handball tournament—there has been so much to celebrate. The children have worked exceptionally hard, and many are showing growing maturity as we move towards their final term at the Prince of Wales School.

Middle School Transition

Families will find out which middle school their child has been allocated on 16th April. For more details about the next steps, please refer to this Dorset Council Link. Once we know which schools the children will be attending, we will begin the transition process. We will keep you informed about visits from key staff at the middle schools and any other important dates. Additionally, your child’s middle school will typically contact you directly via the email address used during the Dorset Council application process.

Home Learning

This week’s home learning includes:

🔹 Maths Problems – Sent home last Friday. Online copies are available here.

🔹 Collage Items – Children are encouraged to bring in any items they would like to include on their collages. These should be small, stickable objects that reflect their interests and fit on an A3 sheet.

Looking ahead, on Friday, the children will receive a science-related home learning task. They will be asked to count and create a tally chart of the number of electrical sockets in each room at home. This data will be used in their science lesson on Thursday 24th April. Online copies of the home learning sheet will be available here.

Next Term

We have lots of activities to look forward to next term including Samba Drums, The Life education visit, Bikeability and our class trip to Bryanston activity centre (letters will come home next term).   A list of upcoming dates can be found at the end of this blog. 

We all hope you have a lovely school break.

Kind regards,

The Year 4 Team. 😊 

Upcoming Dates:

Friday 4th April - Last Day of Term

Tuesday 22nd April - All children return to school

Wednesday & Thursday 23rd & 24th April - Life Education visit

Tuesday 29th April - Bikeability

Monday 5th May - Bank Holiday 

Thursday 8th May - 80th Anniversary of VE Day

Wednesday 21st May - Class trip

Friday 23rd May - Last Day of term 

Farm Trip Tomorrow

 

Year 4 have their farm trip tomorrow morning (Wednesday 2nd April). 

Please can your child bring a pair of wellies (or shoes that you are happy to get muddy) and home trousers to get changed into.  

Athelhampton House

 Hello Year Four Families

On Wednesday we had a wonderful trip to Athelhampton House and Gardens. The children learnt so much about Tudor times and what it was like to live and work at Athelhampton House. The children visited a range of different rooms in the house and learnt about what happened in each room, from the kitchen to the King's bedroom. In the Great Hall the children got to investigate, ask questions and find out about lots of different replica Tudor artefacts. They were fascinated by the interesting facts that they learnt about each object. We hope they came home with lots of facts to share with you too. 

Thank you to our parent volunteers for their help.

The Year Four Team

Creating Letters with 2Logo

Today, our Year 4 pupils explored the world of programming through 2Logo, part of the Purple Mash Computing Scheme of Work. In Lesson 2 of Unit 4.5, we focused on using Logo commands to create letters of the alphabet. This was a fantastic way to develop coding skills while reinforcing spatial awareness, logical thinking and problem-solving.

What We Learnt

During the lesson, pupils used a range of Logo commands, including:

• FD (Forward) and BK (Backward) to control movement.

• RT (Right Turn) and LT (Left Turn) to adjust angles.

• PU (Pen Up) and PD (Pen Down) to control drawing.

The challenge was to program the turtle to form letters, experimenting with different angles and lengths to create shapes accurately. Pupils quickly discovered that some letters were easier than others – straight-line letters like L, T, and E were more straightforward, while letters with diagonal or curved elements, like A, K, and R, required more precision.

Next Steps

In our next lesson, we’ll be expanding on this knowledge by creating more complex shapes using procedures. Pupils will learn how to save and reuse their commands to build more efficient code – an important step in developing computational thinking.

Final Thoughts

This lesson was a brilliant way to apply mathematical concepts like angles and measurement in a practical coding task. Pupils demonstrated resilience and problem-solving skills and we’re excited to see how they progress in their next computing challenge!

 

Our assembly, dates and homelearning

Hello everyone,

I can’t believe how quickly this half-term is flying by—Easter will be here before we know it!

This week, we have welcomed Mrs. Aplin, a trainee teacher, to Year 4. She will be with us until early July and brings a wealth of experience, having previously worked as a teaching assistant at Westfield School. Mrs. Aplin embraces the Therapeutic Thinking approach, and we’re confident the children will love learning with her. As part of her training, she will gradually take on more teaching responsibilities. You’ll often see her at the front door in the mornings, so please feel free to share any general queries or low-level concerns with her. Of course, if you need to speak to me or another member of the team, we are always happy to help.

Comic Relief & Our Class Assembly – Friday

This Friday is Red Nose Day—and also our class assembly! Children are encouraged to come to school in red non-uniform, and if you’re able, donations for Comic Relief would be much appreciated.

Assembly Costumes:

• TV presenters – If possible, something smart to change into would be great, but no worries if not.
• Gladiators – Please wear sportswear; we will provide T-shirts.
• Contenders – Sportswear would be ideal, but school PE kits are absolutely fine if that’s easier.

Home Learning & Spellings

Home learning continues to be set on Fridays:

• This week's home learning (due this Friday) – link here 
• Next week's home learning (designs due 21st, collage items due 27th) – Link here

Spellings for this and next week can be found at the end of this email.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards,
The Year 4 Team xx

Upcoming dates

FRIDAY - (21/03/25) - RED NOSE DAY 2025

FRIDAY - (21/03/25) - 15:00 - Year Four Class Assembly

SATURDAY - (22/03/25) - POWSA EASTER BINGO

WEDNESDAY - (26/03/25) - Year Four Class Trip

WEDNESDAY - (2/04/25) - Year Four Farm trip

MONDAY - (07/04/25) - EASTER HOLIDAYS BEGIN

TUESDAY - (22/04/25) - ALL CHILDREN RETURN

FRIDAY - (25/04/25) - SPRINGFEST 2025  

This week's spellings:

Next week's spellings:

Exploring 2Logo

Today, our Year 4 pupils embarked on an exciting journey into the world of programming with 2Logo!

The lesson focused on understanding the structure of the language and learning how to input simple instructions to create shapes.

Learning Objectives:

• To learn the structure of the language of 2Logo.

• To input simple instructions in 2Logo.

Success Criteria:

• Pupils can identify common 2Logo commands and understand their functions.

• Pupils can follow simple 2Logo instructions to create shapes on paper.

• Pupils can use 2Logo commands to generate shapes digitally.

To kick off the lesson, we introduced the basic commands of 2Logo, such as FD (forward), BK (backward), RT (right turn), and LT (left turn). Pupils explored how these commands could be combined to create different shapes and patterns.

Next, we engaged in a practical, hands-on activity where pupils followed a set of Logo commands on paper to draw simple shapes. This step helped them visualise the connection between instructions and output, reinforcing their understanding before moving to the computers.

Finally, the pupils applied their knowledge by using 2Logo on-screen, inputting commands to create digital shapes. They experimented with different sequences, refining their skills in problem-solving and logical thinking.

The pupils were enthusiastic and engaged throughout the lesson, demonstrating fantastic perseverance and curiosity. We look forward to building on these skills in future lessons as we continue our programming journey!

Understanding Malware and Computer Viruses

In today’s Year Four Computing lesson, Mr. Spracklen guided the class through an important topic in the world of technology: the risks and benefits of installing software, including apps. Our young learners were introduced to the concepts of malware and computer viruses and explored how they can protect themselves online.

What We Learned

We started with an engaging discussion about malware, which refers to software designed to harm, disrupt, or gain unauthorised access to a computer system. The class then focused on understanding what a computer virus is: a type of malware that spreads by attaching itself to other software, causing damage or disruption to the system.

Students were particularly fascinated by the fact that a computer virus can replicate itself and spread without the user’s knowledge. They also learned how important it is to stay cautious when downloading software, especially from untrusted or unfamiliar sources.

E-Safety Posters: Putting Knowledge into Action

To wrap up the lesson, the class put their new knowledge into practice by creating e-safety posters using Google Slides. The students worked hard to design vibrant and informative posters to raise awareness about the risks of installing malicious software and how to stay safe online.

Each student had their own creative take on the topic, combining bright visuals and key messages. Some of the posters featured helpful reminders like “Think before you click” and “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!”—perfect advice for keeping devices safe from harm.

Success Achieved

By the end of the lesson, our Year Four pupils had successfully met the Success Criteria:

• They could identify the risks of installing both free and paid-for software.
• They learned that malware is harmful software designed to cause damage or steal information.
• They understood what a computer virus is and how it spreads.

This lesson was an excellent opportunity for students to apply their e-safety knowledge in a fun and creative way, while also learning vital skills to help protect themselves in the digital world.