What another busy week we have had.  On Monday we had the cricket coaches, Danny and Dan, come in to teach us how to play cricket.  The children were incredible! Their behaviour and teamwork were outstanding.  Well done Year 4 you made me very proud!

Maths – This week we have been looking at 2D shapes.  We have been identifying right angle, acute and obtuse angles.  We have also been recognising parallel and perpendicular lines and used all this knowledge to describe the properties of shapes.

English – In English we have been analysing explanation texts.  We looked at the features of an explanation text and based our writing around our own made up school.  The children then wrote a letter of application explaining why they should be given a place at their chosen school. 

 RE – This week we have been looking at how Jesus showed us how to live and how we can change our behaviour because of this.  We looked at images of sick people, the homeless and refugees and came up with ideas of how we can help them.  We then linked our ideas to scripture.

Science – We had a super practical lesson exploring how sound travels.  We made string telephones and discovered that we could only hear when the string was straight and tight.  We then wrote a paragraph explaining how sound travelled.

Geography – We have been investigating food from around the world.  We looked at lots of different countries and their popular foods.  We then identified those countries on a world map and wrote the different foods from that country.

Notices

• On the 13th February the PTA are holding a ‘silly sock day’ in aid to raise some money for our school library.  The children are to wear their normal school uniform but with the addition of some silly socks and a £1 donation.

• PE is back to normal next week.  Our indoor session is on Tuesday and our outdoor session is on Wednesday.

• The children have been given the opportunity to design the front cover of the programme for the Taming of the Shrew.  They need to draw and colour their picture onto an A4 sheet of paper (portrait) and bring it in by Monday 3rd February.  The picture could be of Padua, where the story is set, or a picture of the characters from the play.  There should be no text at all.  Thankyou.

Award Winners

Maths Award – This week the Maths Award went to Nevaeh.  Nevaeh has blown me away this week with her hard work and effort during our fractions lessons.  Well done Nevaeh!

No Golden Award or Star Writer Award this week due to us having Mass on Friday.

Homework

Maths – I have sent home a times table sheet for the children to complete.

English – I have sent home a sent on possessive pronouns for the children to complete.

Spellings for quiz on 7/2/20

Times tables - 12 times tables for quiz on 7/2/20

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. Love your neighbour as yourself. (Luke 10:27)

We have had a lovely week and have been working extremely hard.  We have been focusing on what Jesus taught us and how we can be good disciples of Christ.

We have also changed our learning partners this week.  The children have been brilliant and have adapted really well to their new partners.

Maths – This week we have been looking at fractions.  We have been exploring fractions of amounts by dividing by the denominator and multiplying by the numerator.  We have also been finding equivalent fractions and simplifying them.

English – In English we have planned and written our own version of the Bogeymen and the Trolls next door.  We used the text to come up with our own ‘spin-off’ story where the Trolls and the Bogeys faced another problem. 

RE – This week we have been looking at Jesus’ teachings. We looked at Jesus’ quotes from the Bible and explained what Jesus meant by them.  We then came up with ideas of how we can use Jesus’ teachings to change our behaviour.

Science – We undertook an ‘Hearing enhancer experiment’.  The children created a small and large cone out of paper and their partner spoke to them through it.  The children then decided which hearing enhancer made their hearing better. 

Geography – We have been investigating Food miles this week.  We looked at different foods and calculated the miles they have travelled to end up on our plate.  We then explored the positives and negatives of importing food.

Notices

On Monday afternoon we are having a cricket coach coming in to teach the children how to play cricket.  With this being said, we will have PE on Monday and Tuesday next week rather than Tuesday and Wednesday.

Some of the children forgot their instruments this week.  Please could all parents make sure their child has their instrument in school on Thursday for their clarinet or flute lesson.  Thankyou

I spoke to the children earlier in the week to remind them about the presentation and standard of homework being sent in. I appreciate that the children are busy at the weekends but some work has been hard to read. Please can you ensure that the children are completing their homework neatly. Thankyou

Award Winners

Maths Award – This week the Maths Award went to Elliot.  Elliot is a brilliant mathematician and works extremely hard in each lesson.  This week Elliot has blown me away with his explanations of different concepts.  Well done Elliot!

Star Writer – This week the Star Writer award went to Nathaniel.  Nathaniel has blown me away this week with the hard work and effort he has put into his writing.  The story he wrote was incredible and had not one but two problems in it leaving the reader on a cliff-hanger.  Well done Nathaniel!

Golden Award – The Golden Award went to Hallie.  I have noticed, especially over the last couple of weeks, how kind and considerate Hallie has been towards others.  She has praised other children’s successes and supported them when needed.  Well done Hallie!  

Homework

Maths – I have sent home a fraction of amounts sheet this week.

English – page 65 and 66 questions 4, 5 and 6.

Spellings for quiz on 31/01/20

Times tables - 9 times tables for quiz on 31/01/20

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Another week in Year 4.

What a busy and exciting week we have had.  We have been working extremely hard on learning our times tables and have had a few ‘times table challenges’ in class.  The children’s times table knowledge is incredible all the hard work is really paying off.  Well done Year 4!

On Wednesday Dan Worsley came in to do a writing workshop with the children.  We explored a piece of text he had written about an alien and collected a few ideas for our own writing.  We then looked at the vocabulary we can use to show people how we were terrified when the alien appeared.

 Maths – This week we have been looking at subtracting 3-digit and 2-digit numbers from 3-digit numbers.  We have also been exploring how we can multiply 3-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers.   

English – We have continued looking at the story of ‘The Bogeymen and the Troll next door’.  We looked at how it was written in first person and what evidence we had to support this.  We also looked at how the story would change if it was written from a different point of view.

 RE – We have been exploring the story Simeon and the presentation of Jesus at the temple.  We looked at Simeon’s behaviour and gave reasons for his actions. 

 Science – This week we have continued with our ‘Sound’ topic and have been investigating how humans hear.  We then looked at how animals hear and gave reasons for why some animals can hear better than humans.   

 Geography – In Geography this week we have looked at seasonality and the benefits and limitations of this.  We also explored how some food come from field to fork. 

Notice

On Wednesday I sent out a letter regarding our trip to Old Holly Farm if you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact me.  Thankyou

Award Winners

Maths Award – This week the Maths Award went to Mia.  Mia’s confidence in Maths have increased greatly.  She always has her hand up ready to answer questions and her explanations are incredible.  Well done Mia!

Star Writer – This week the Star Writer award went to Sienna.  Sienna wrote a beautiful two paragraphs based on the work we had done earlier in the week with Dan Worsley.  The vocabulary she used was incredible showing she was scared rather than telling the reader that she was scared.  Well done Sienna!

Golden Award – The Golden Award went to Isabella.  She is such a positive role model not only for Year 4 but for the entire school.  She is hardworking, kind and considerate all the time.  Well done Isabella!

Homework

 Maths – I have sent home a column subtraction word problem sheet this week.

 English – Page 64 (Paragraphs) Questions 1,2, and 3.

Spellings for quiz on 24/01/20

Times tables - 8 times tables for quiz on 24/01/20

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Happy New Year!

What an incredible start to the year we have had. The children have returned from the holidays engaged and eager to learn.  I have been very impressed!

 Maths – This week we have been focusing on 4-digit numbers.  We have been rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000 and been counting in multiples of 100s and 1000s.  We have also been adding and subtracting 10 and 100 from 4-digit numbers.  Some of the children became ‘teachers’ and explained to the rest of the class how to solve their calculations.

 English – We have started our new topic in English which is about a story called ‘The Bogeymen and the Troll next door’.  We explored the summary of the text and created a mind map of what information we knew.  We then read the full version of the story and identified the different features it had.

 RE – We have begun our new theme of ‘Jesus, the Teacher’.  We have been learning about how Jesus was born a Jew and have investigated the different symbols of Judaism.  We then compared the Jewish religious symbols to the symbols of Christianity.

Science – We have started our new topic on Sound.  We had a discussion about what sound was and went on a ‘Sound Hunt’ around school.  We tried to find different sounds and then identified what part vibrated to make the sound. 

Geography – We have looked at our new topic ‘Food for thought’.  We explored how food has changed over time and created a timeline of the most popular foods. 

Notice

From Friday 28th February – Sunday 1st March 2020, Evie will be performing in a fantastic show for all the family.  ‘The World At Your Feet 2020’ is a production that celebrates the best of song and dance including Riverdance, Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary and Musical Theatre by the elite students from Blackpool’s Whittaker Dance and Drama Centre (est 1952).  Tickets can be bought from The Grand Theatre Box Office either in person, over the telephone (01253 290190) or online at www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk.

Award Winners

Maths Award – There was no Maths award.

 Star Writer – This week the Star Writing Award went to Georgina.  The vocabulary Georgina used when describing the thoughts and feelings of the characters in our Guided Reading sessions have been fantastic.  Well done Georgina.

Golden Award – The Golden Award was given to Jacob.  Jacob has blown me away with this positive attitude to learning.  His hard work and effort in every piece of work is incredible.  Also, his eagerness to do well and achieve is outstanding! Well done Jacob!

Homework

Maths – page 9 (1000 more or less)

English – pages 14 and 15 (Clauses)

Spellings for quiz on 17/01/20

Times tables - 7 times tables for quiz on 17/01/20

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Time flies when you're having fun!

WOW! I cannot believe we have come to the end of our first term together in Year4!  I am absolutely loving every minute with the children their personalities and little characters are really coming out. 

We have had a lovely, creative week together.  On Tuesday we explored the story of ‘The Santa Trap’.  We read about a child named Bradley who was mean, horrible little boy so Santa left him a present of socks.  He decided that because of this he would trap Santa and steal all the presents.  The children then created their own scene and characters.  They then made their own ‘Santa Trap’. 

We watched the dress rehearsal of Year 1 and 2’s Nativity.  We also had a special Christmas assembly with Dan Worsley where he acted out and told us some of his new stories.

On Wednesday we had the Key Stage 2 Carol Concert.  The children’s singing was incredible, and they made me incredibly proud. 

 Although we have been busy, we have been doing some fantastic learning.

 Maths – This week we have been consolidating our learning from this half term by doing Christmas code breakers.  We also had our Maths assessment.

English – With the children creating their own scene and Santa Trap the children wrote their own version of the story changing it to include their own Santa trap.  These pieces of writing were incredible!

RE – In RE we have been looking at Mary and Joseph and giving reasons why they said YES to God.  We then recapped the other Bible stories we have been looking at over the term and made links between them.  The children then explained how they can change their actions based on their understanding of the lessons from the stories. 

Important notice

School reopens on Monday 6th of January.

Award Winners

Maths Award – This week my Maths award was given to Jensen.  Jensen is a brilliant Mathematician and words really hard in all lessons. Well done Jensen!

Star Writer – I gave my writing award to all of Year 4.  I couldn’t choose just one person as all of the children’s writing around our ‘Santa Trap’ theme were incredible! Well done Year 4!

Golden Award – My Golden Award this week went to Elliot.  The hard work and effort Elliot puts into every piece of work is incredible.  He constantly tries his best and always challenges himself to do more.  Well done Elliot!

Homework

I am not setting any homework over the holidays. 

Have a wonderful Christmas and I will see you all next year!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Another week in Year 4

What a week we have had in Year 4! The children have been doing lots of writing in different subjects and have blown me away with the pieces they have written. They have included everything we have learnt so far including fronted adverbials, expanded noun phrases and pronouns. They were all a joy to read. Well done Year 4!

Maths – This week we have been focusing on volume and mass. We looked at how we can convert grams into kilograms and millilitres into litres. We also presented our findings in the form of a bar chart.

English – In English we have been concentrating on our theme of ‘Kevin the Carrot’. The children wrote a detailed story about what had happened in the video clip and included fronted adverbials, pronouns and dialogue.

Science – This week we created a local habitat survey. We looked at our surrounding area and noted the impact some changes have on our environment and also what we could do to help.

History – This week we have been exploring the Bayeaux Tapestry. We found out that it was 70 metres long and isn’t a tapestry but is a piece of needlework.

RE – In RE this week we have been looking at the Annunciation. We watched a video clip of when the Angel Gabriel visited Mary. We then discussed why God chose her and how she trusted in God so much she agreed to become his mother.

Important notices

We are holding our Carol Concert at 2:30pm on Wednesday (18th) at church we would love to see you there!

There is no wider opportunities (clarinet) on Thursday (19th).

We are collecting tokens as part of ‘The Sun’ newspaper Books for School campaign. If we collect 3500 tokens we will be sent £600 worth of books. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou.

Please can I ask all parents to make sure that they sign their child’s reading record as it is the only record we have of you child reading at home.

Award Winners

Maths Award – The Maths Award this week went to Hallie. Hallie has blown me away this week with her hard work and resilience during all our Maths lessons! Well done Hallie!

We had no Star Writer or Golden Award this week as we watched the Reception Nativity.

Homework

Maths – 3 games on Times Table Rockstars.

Reading

With it being our last week of term next week I will not be quizzing the children on their spellings or times tables.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

‘When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world’

As a class this week we have been looking at how we can be kind to each other.  Each group were given a scenario where the children were unkind.  The children acted out the scene and we discussed the unkind action that had taken place.  We then gave the children who performed the scenario ‘advice’ on what their characters should do in that situation.  The acting skills of all children and the advice they gave blew me away!  Well done Year 4!

Maths – This week we have been focusing on multiplication and division.  We have been looking at what happens to the digits when we multiply numbers by 10 or 100.  We have also been looking at the column method of division which leave a remainder.

English – In English we have been really working hard on our descriptions.  We have focused our writing on ‘Kevin the Carrot’ (2018) Christmas advert where Kevin’s family is locked away inside a castle by the Wicked Parsnip.  The children wrote their own description of the castle and the indoor setting.

Science – We have been exploring classification keys this week and created our own about woodland creatures.

History – This week we have completed our newspaper report on the Battle of Hastings.  I was extremely impressed with the detail and effort all the children put into their work!

RE – In RE this week we have been looking at the time of Advent and how we can serve others.  We then created our ‘advent promises’ where we wrote a promise of how we can serve others at home and at school.

Important notice

We are collecting tokens as part of ‘The Sun’ newspaper Books for School campaign.  If we collect 3500 tokens we will be sent £600 worth of books.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thankyou.

Please can I ask all parents to make sure that they sign their child’s reading record as it is the only record we have of you child reading at home.

Award Winners

Maths Award – The Maths Award this week went to Jack.  Jack’s hard work and effort in Maths has blown me away this week.  He has been even choosing his own challenges! Well done Jack!

Star Writer – We had two writing awards this week.  The writing award for last week went to Theo.  Theo’s recount of a lion coming into a school playground was incredible.  Well done Theo!

My writing award for this week went to Nevaeh for the accuracy and detail she had put into her newspaper report on ‘The Battle of Hastings’.  Well done Nevaeh!

Golden Award – The Golden Award this week was awarded to Kayden.  Kayden has blown me away this week with how focused and eager he is to learn.  His hard work and effort has really paid off this week as he has produced some incredible pieces of work.  Well done Kayden!

Homework

Maths – page 6 (Counting in multiples)

English – page 8 and 9 (Pronouns)

Spellings - recap of spellings the children have been learning so far.  (Quiz of 15 randomly chosen spellings on 13/12/19)

Times Tables – recap of all times tables (Quiz of 20 randomly chosen times tables on 13/12/19)

The children need to be going on TT Rockstars at least once over the weekend please.  If anyone has any problems logging in please let me know.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

This week in Year 4

We have had another busy week in Year 4.  We have been working really hard on our column subtraction in Maths and recounts in English.  We have also been delving a little deeper into our text ‘The Butterfly Lion’ which we are focusing on in Guided Reading.  We have been using both inference and retrieval skills to understand the characters and plot a bit better.

Maths – This week we have been focusing on column method for subtraction.  We have also started to look at 3 digits by 1 digit multiplication.

English – We have been looking at recounts and how they can be presented in different ways.  We compared 2 recounts and wrote our own about a lion entering the school playground.

Science – In Science we have been using our notes from our Invertebrate hunt to classify the invertebrate we found.  We identified the different features of our invertebrate and wrote the habitat where it was found.  

History – This week we have been looking at the Battle of Hastings and have begun to write our own newspaper report on it.

RE – We have been looking at the questions we wrote last week and have compared the answers our peers have to our own.

Important notice

We are collecting tokens as part of ‘The Sun’ newspaper Books for School campaign.  If we collect 3500 tokens we will be sent £600 worth of books.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thankyou.

Please can I ask all parents to make sure that they sign their child’s reading record as it is the only record we have of you child reading at home.

Award Winners

Maths Award – The Maths Award this week went to Sam.  Sam has blown me away with his work on rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100.  Well done Sam!

Star Writer – No Star Writing award this week.

Golden Award – The Golden Award this week was awarded to Isabelle.  Isabelle has blown me away this week with her hard work and effort in every piece of work.  Well done Isabelle!

Homework

Maths –page 25 (Written multiplication)

English – page 20 and 21 (Adverbial phrases as introductions)

Spellings (Quiz 6/12/19)

Recap of the 4 times tables (Quiz on 6/12/19)

The children need to be going on TT Rockstars at least once over the weekend please.  If anyone has any problems logging in please let me know.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Science is magic that works!

The children have had another busy week of learning.  They have worked so hard practising their spellings and times tables at any opportunity they have had, and it has really shown in their scores.  

I have also been extremely impressed with all the children who have been doing extra work.  Lots of children have asked me to set them extra challenges and have been doing work at home.  Well done Year 4! 

On Friday afternoon we had an afternoon focusing on ‘What information can we share on the internet?’  We watched a video about 2 children called ‘Lee and Kim’ who were about give strangers their personal information.  Luckily ‘Superhero Sid’ stopped them and gave them important tips about sharing information online.  We looked at different scenarios and decided whether we should tell the person the information or not.  We then created internet safety posters,

Maths – This week we have been focusing on addition.  We have been looking at how we need to ‘carry’ a ten over or a hundred when we are calculating 4-digit additions.  We have also been rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000.

English – We have been looking at how we can change the theme of poems by swopping words.  We have also created our own stanza for the poem ‘At the end of the school day’.

Science – In Science we have been exploring our outdoor area.  The children went on a ‘bug hunt’ to search for invertebrates.  They explored the school grounds and with magnifying glasses they looked for bugs.  They then wrote the characteristics of the insects and created their own fact file about a bug they had chosen.

History – This week we have been looking at Viking longships.  We looked at the different parts of the boats and why they were built that way.  The children then pretended that they were going to ‘sell’ a Viking longship and created a leaflet describing all the features their ship had.

RE – We have been thinking about questions that we have about God.  We wrote our questions down then went around the classroom and asked two children to answer our questions for us.

Important notice

We are collecting tokens as part of ‘The Sun’ newspaper Books for School campaign.  If we collect 3500 tokens we will be sent £600 worth of books.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thankyou.

Award Winners

Maths Award – The Maths Award this week went to Olivia.  Olivia has blown me away with how hard she is working when learning her times tables.  Well done Olivia.

Star Writer – This week our Star Writer award went to Eliza.  Eliza has blown me away this week with her poem.  She included all the success criteria and created a fantastic poem.  Well done Eliza.

Golden Award – The Golden Award this week was awarded to Laciee.  Laciee is such a kind and considerate member of our Year 4 class.  She is always helping others and myself and is an absolute super star.  Well done Laciee!

Homework

Maths –page 12 and 13 (Rounding)

English – page 18 and 19 (Adverbial phrases)

Spellings (Quiz 29/11/19)

Recap of the 6 times tables (Quiz on 29/11/19)

The children need to be going on TT Rockstars at least once over the weekend please.  I have given all the children new log in details.  If anyone has any problems logging in please let me know.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham

Another exciting week in Year 4

This week all the children have made me incredibly proud! They have all been working so hard and other teachers have commented on how focused and hard working they are.

We had our class mass on Wednesday.  The children took part in the mass by reading the gospel and psalm beautifully!  The children’s behaviour was absolutely incredible and their responses to Father were loud and clear.  Miss Haggerty, Father Jim and other parishioners commented to me about how amazing all the children were.  Well done Year 4 I am so proud of each and every one of you!   

Maths – This week we have been focusing on fractions.  We have been simplifying fractions, counting on in fractions and finding the decimal equivalent for fractions. 

English – We have been exploring the similarities and differences of two poems.  We have also been identifying and using adverbs.

Science – In Science we have been looking at invertebrates and the different characteristics they have.

History – This week we have been looking at Viking warriors.  We explored what armour and weapons they used and their beliefs.  We then created our own Viking shield.

RE – We have been recalling the different stories from the Bible about trust.  We then looked at the question ‘Do all believers find it hard to trust in God?’ and used examples from the Bible stories to help us answer it.

Award Winners

Star Writer – This week our Star Writer award goes to Jacob for his hard work and effort it every piece of writing.  Jacob has really worked hard on improving his cursive handwriting and it is beautiful.  Well done Jacob!

Golden Award – The Golden Award this week was awarded to Onalee.  Onalee has blown me away with her hard work and effort in all areas of learning especially reading.  Well done Onalee, I am so proud of you!

Last week our Golden Award went to Georgina.  However, she was taking part in a dancing activity so did not receive it therefore she received it this week.  Georgina has really been shining her light since being in Year 4.  She makes me proud everyday with how kind and caring she is towards others. Well done Georgina!

Homework

Maths –page 14 (Decimal Numbers and Fractions)

English – page 7 (Adverbs)

Spellings (Quiz 22/11/19)

Recap of the 3 times tables (Quiz on 22/11/19)

The children need to be going on TT Rockstars at least once over the weekend please.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

This week in Year 4

Thankyou to all the parent’s that came to parent’s day on Thursday.  It was lovely to meet you all. 

The children have had another busy week of learning.

Maths – This week we have been doubling and halving 2-digit numbers. We have also been looking at fractions.  We have been exploring equivalent fractions.

English – We have been continuing with our poetry theme.  We have been looking at a Haiku poem and the rules they have.  We also wrote our own Haiku poems about a subject if our choice.

Science – We have been investigating vertebrates this week.  The children created characteristics for each category, e.g mammals, fish etc, then created a diagram.

History – This week we have been exploring the different aspects of Viking life.  The children worked in groups to create posters about; religion and Gods, clothes and jewellery, art and craft, houses and food and finally, writing and rhyme.  The children then presented their findings to the rest of the class.

RE – We have looked at the story of Zechariah and how he found it difficult to trust in God.

Reminder

Please can I remind parents that children should not be coming in to school with nail varnish on.  Thankyou.

Award Winners

Star Writer – Lennon for his beautiful handwriting.

Maths Award – Evie and Nathaniel for their perseverance and resilience during Maths lessons.

Homework

Maths –page 29

English – page 6

Spellings

12 times tables

The children need to be going on TT Rockstars at least once over the weekend please.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

A busy first week back!

What a busy first week we have had.  On Wednesday we had a visit from a lady from the Blackpool Tower Circus.  She showed us historical images of the circus and the children created their own ‘act’ which we may see in future circus performances.

On Thursday we had Maths Day.  I was extremely impressed with the children’s outfits.  They all looked incredible!  We looked at famous mathematicians and tried to think of jobs where we didn’t need to use maths.  We created posters to promote Maths and how important it was.  We then created our own Maths games.  I have added pictures from Maths day onto the Year 4 Gallery section of the website. 

Maths – This week we have being looking at length.  We have been converting measurements from centimetres to millimetres and vice versa.  We also looked at how we can estimate length and measured the length of out playground.

English – We have started our new theme of poetry.  We read two poems and then closed our eyes to create an image in our minds.  We also acted out a poem and created ‘freeze-frames’ with our bodies.

Science – We have begun our new theme of ‘Living things are their habitats’.  We looked at what characteristics living things had and created a poster. 

RE – We have been looking at how Christians trust in God.  We explored the story of ‘Jesus calms the storm’ and discussed what we can learn from this miracle.

History – This week we have been comparing the Anglo-Saxon justice system to the modern day justice system.  We explored the different punishments the Anglo-Saxons performed then came up with our own punishments based on some scenarios.

Important notice

• Apologies that I had to cancel Parent’s day.  I have arranged another Parent’s day on the 7th of November please ensure that you have an appointment with me.  If not, please call the office to arrange one.  Thankyou.

Homework

Maths – page 42 and 43 (Units)

English – page 42 and 43 (Commas for Writing Lists)

Spellings for our quiz on the 8th November

7 times table for our quiz on the 8th November

Times Table Rockstars (at least 1 game over the weekend)

Award winners

We had no awards this week.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

This week in Year 4

I cannot believe we have come to the end of our first half term together.  The children have blown me away with the way they have settled in and lived up to the expectations Year 4 brings.  What a fantastic start to the year we have had!

Maths – This week we have been looking at Time.  We have been looking at how times can be represented differently on analogue and digital clocks.  We have also been looking at the 24-hour clock and intervals of time.

English – In English we have been looking at how inventors may ‘pitch’ their idea to potential investors.  We decided what made a good pitch and worked with our learning partners to create our own pitch to the class on a gadget called ‘Holo-World’

Science – We have been looking at how humans can impact on food chains.  We investigated how humans harm habitats through deforestation and urbanisation and created an information poster.

RE – In RE we have been making links between Bible stories and the actions of Christians.  We discussed how we show we trust in God and how we follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

History – This week we have been exploring the story of King Offa.  We looked at the dyke he created to stop potential invaders and created a film reel of the story of King Offa beheading his daughter’s future husband.

Important notice

In a previous blog I said that the children need to be going on Times Table Rockstars at least 3 times a week.  Just to clarify this includes once at the weekend.  If the children are unable to go on at the weekend, then iPads will be made available for the children to go on it during break time on a Monday.

Homework

I have not set any homework for half term although I would like the children to go on Times Table Rockstars at least once over the holidays.

Award winners

We had no awards this week as on Monday we had our Harvest assembly and we had no Golden assembly.

Have a lovely half term break!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

‘How far that little candle throws it’s beams’ – William Shakespeare

What an action-packed week we have had! Year 4 have been certainly ‘throwing their beam’ not just in the classroom but all around the school! Well done Year 4 you make me more and more proud every week! 

On Monday we explored the Shakespeare play ‘The Merchant of Venice’.  First, we looked at images of the play and organised them into what we thought was the correct order.  Then we read a synopsis of the text then discussed the different themes. 

We also had the pleasure of working with Miss Heim-Sarac and Year 3.  The children were split into small groups and given a scene to act out.  The children blew Miss Heim-Sarac and I away with their acting skills, they were incredible.  On Tuesday we had the privilege of watching the Royal Shakespeare Company perform ‘The Merchant of Venice’.  We had a great time!

Maths – This week we have been focusing on the column method for addition and subtraction.  We used base ten as a visual representation on how we need to ‘carry’ ones or tens over to help us solve the questions. 

English – We have been focusing on Information texts and this week we have created our very own information text on how to keep your mobile phone safe.  We have also been looking at noun phrases and how we can use these to describe settings.

Science – This week we have explored how environmental changes can impact on wildlife, habitats and food chains.  We created fact files on the impact of urbanisation, pollution, deforestation and natural changes such as earthquakes and noted the effect of living things. 

RE – In RE we have been making links between the Bible stories of Moses and David and Goliath.  We created a mind map and compared the beliefs and actions of Moses and David. 

History – We have been looking at ‘Danegeld’.  Danegeld was a payment made by the Anglo-Saxon King Ethelred the Unready to the Vikings to stop them from raiding Britain.  The children analysed a poem written about Danegeld and match it to statements about Danegeld. 

PE – This week we have been focusing on our throwing skills.  We have been working hard on our chest pass and bounce pass.  The children played a game where they had to pass the ball without it being caught by the defender. 

Important notice

Last week I sent out the log in details for the children to access Times Table Rockstars at home.  I would like the children to have a go at least three times a week this should include at least once at the weekend to improve their fluency.  If you have any problems with logging in please let me know.

Homework

Maths – page 18 and 19 (Written Addition and Written Subtraction)

English – page 16 and 17 (Noun Phrases)

Times Tables – On Thursday (17th) I am going to quiz the children on the times tables they have learnt this half term.  These include all the times tables apart from the 7’s and 12’s.  I’ve sent home a times table fact sheet to help the children learn them.

Spellings – I have sent home 8 spellings for the children’s quiz on Thursday (17th)

Award winners

Maths Award – This week my Maths Award went to Molly.  Molly’s time table knowledge is incredible.  She has blown me away with her scores on her times table tests and has been applying her knowledge to working out fractions of amounts.  Well done Molly!

Star Writer – My Star Writer Award this week goes to Isabella.  Isabella’s writing is truly outstanding! The effort and detail she puts in is absolutely incredible and I love reading her work.  Well done Isabella!

Golden Award – This week the Gold Award went to Jensen.  Jensen is an amazing role model in Year 4.  He constantly works hard and tries his best even when he is finding something difficult. Well done Jensen!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Shining our light

What a week!  The children have blown me away with how hard they have been working and have shown great resilience if they have found something quite tricky.  We have been really shining our light.  Well done Year 4!

Maths – This week we have been looking at multiplying 2 digit by 1 digit numbers.  The children have worked extremely hard and have used their growth mindset when they have found it difficult.  We have also been looking at fractions of a number.  We had to use our knowledge of fact families from last week to help us solve the questions.

English – We have started our new theme of Information texts.  We discussed where we can gather information from came up with questions we would want to ask if we were looking at buying a new mobile phone.  We also analysed the information text ‘Greatest gadget of them all’ and looked how it was presented it in a way which included a story about a character named Emily.

Science – This week we have been looking at food chains.  We discussed the different parts of a food chain and we able to use scientific vocabulary to describe them.  We then created our own food chains and explained each part using the correct scientific term.

RE – We have looked at the story of David and Goliath this week.  We discussed the actions of David and how he bravely stood and faced Goliath with no armour.  We also discussed that David trusted in God to protect him and the Israelites.  The children then created their own ‘jar of courage’ with the ingredients David needed when he faced Goliath.

History – This week we have been investigating the Viking raid on Lindisfarne.  We looked at how the Vikings destroyed the monastery, stole all the treasures and killed the monks who lived there.  We then wrote a letter pretending we were a surviving monk to King Ethelred explaining what had happened.   

 Important notice

We have now finished our Yoga session for this half term.  With this change in timetable I have now moved our outdoor slot from a Friday to a Wednesday.  The children will still have their indoor PE slot with Mrs Parker on a Tuesday.

Homework

Maths – pages 32 and 33 (fractions of amounts)

English – page 4 (nouns)

Times Tables – I have sent home the 8 times table fact sheet for the children to learn for our quiz on Friday (11th)

Spellings – I have sent home 8 spellings for our quiz on Friday (11th)

Award winners

Maths Award – My Maths award this week went to Sienna.  Sienna has blown me away with her resilience and maturity in Maths.  She constantly tries her best and will always ask for help when needed. Well done Sienna!

Star Writer – My Star Writer award this week went to Elliot for his incredible piece of writing on the Viking attack on Lindisfarne.  The descriptive language he used really made me think I was there.  Well done Elliot!

Golden Award – My Golden Award this week went to Kourtney.  Kourtney is such a positive role model in our class and always works hard.  The effort and detail she puts into each piece of work is truly outstanding! Well done Kourtney!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Another busy week!

What a fun and exciting week we have had in Year 4! The children have really settled into the Year 4 routine and are living up to the expectations that Year 4 brings.

Maths - This week we have been working super hard on our times tables. the children have been exploring fact families and have been using the concrete objects of hoops and bean bags to help them. I’m very impressed with how hard that children have worked! Keep it up Year 4.

English - We have planned and written our own chapter for the dilemma text ‘Lost or Stolen’ where our character Chandra faces another dilemma. The children have blown me away with their writing they were a joy to read!

Science - This week we have been looking at the digestive system. The children were able to label and describe the function of each part of the digestive system. They were also able to describe how food passes through it and wrote a piece about ‘The journey of a cheese sandwich’.

RE - We have been analysing the story of Moses this week. The children were able to recall the story and analyse the reasons behind the actions of Moses. The children’s thoughtfulness when analysing the reasons showed me that they are all true disciples of Jesus.

History - This week we have been looking at how England was divided into 7 kingdoms. We discussed that each kingdom had their own king and how each kingdom would invade the other.

European Languages Day - On Thursday we spent the afternoon creating our own fact file about Germany. We looked at German facts, numbers and colours. We also coloured the German flag and were able to locate Germany on a map of Europe.

Reminder

Unfortunately today some of the children were quite disappointed with their scores on their times tables and spelling quiz. After speaking to the children quite a few admitted that they had not learnt them. Please could I ask all parents to remind their children of the importance of learning both spellings and times tables as it is part of their homework. Thankyou.

Awards

Golden award - This week the Golden award was given to Declan. Declan is an amazing role model in Year 4 and is constantly on task and working hard. Well done Declan.

Star Writer - This award was given to Kourtney. Kourtney has produced some outstanding pieces of writing this week. The attention to detail, handwriting and content of her writing is truly outstanding. Well done Kourtney.

There was no Maths award this week as on Monday we welcomed our new reception children to our school family.

Homework

Maths - Page 22

English - Page 62 and 63

4 times tables facts and spellings for our test on Friday.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Another lovely week in Year 4.

What a lovely week we have had in Year 4! We have been extremely busy being authors and scientists.

English - We are continuing looking at our dilemma text ‘Lost or Stolen?’ This week we pretended to be one of the characters and created a ‘conscience alley’ where our character seeked advice on the dilemma she faced. We have also began to plan our own chapter for the story which we will write next week.

Maths - We have been working extremely hard in Maths this week. We have been adding 2-digit numbers mentally, placing 4-digit numbers on a number line and recognising multiplication and division facts for the 6 times table.. The children also had a small 3 times table quiz, please ask your child for their result.

Science - This week we have done an experiment to investigate the effect different drinks have on our teeth. We submerged boiled eggs in; cola, orange juice, apple juice, water and milk. We then observed them at the same time for 3 days and noticed how the eggs were cracking, peeling and changing colour.

RE - We have been looking at the Bible and exploring how God speaks to us through it. The children were able to find references in the Bible and could explain what message God was sending to us.

History - We have been continuing with our Anglo-Saxon theme and have been describing the different jobs the Anglo-Saxon people had. The children were particularly interested in the fact that the children did not know how to read or write and would hardly have anytime to play.

Competitions

Mrs McVey has launched two competitions this week.

1. Design a ticket for the RSC Merchant of Venice production at school. If the children would like to enter please could they complete their entry on an A4 piece of paper with their name on the back and hand it in to me. The closing date is on Monday (23rd) and the winner will have their design printed on the tickets that will be sold in school.

2. Design a poster for European Languages Day which explains why is it important to learn a language? What are the benefits? Again, could entries be on an A4 piece of paper with their name on the back and hand it in to me. The closing date is Tuesday (24th) and prizes will be given for the best designs.

Homework

Maths - Ordering and comparing numbers (both pages)

English - Prefixes mis and dis (both pages)

Times tables - I have given the children the 9 times table fact sheet. The children need to learn these please as they will have a short quiz on Friday.

Spellings - I have sent the children home with some spellings. These spelling will be part of a dictation passage the children will be doing on Friday.

Awards

Maths Award - This week the Maths award was given to Brodie. Brodie’s perseverance and resilience during our Maths lessons has been absolutely incredible. Well done Brodie!

This week with having the school photographer in unfortunately we have not had our Golden Assembly therefore we have not had a Golden Book award or a Star Writer award.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

This week in Year 4 ...

I cannot believe we are already at the end of our second week together. All the children have settled in really well and I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them.

We have had a busy week of learning and the children have created some beautiful pieces of work! Lets keep it up!

Maths - In Maths we have begun to look a 4-digit numbers. We have been looking at how we can write these in words and what each digit means. We have also been comparing numbers using the greater than or less than crocodiles.

English - We are still focusing on our dilemma text ‘Lost or Stolen?’. This week the children have written their own blurb for the story using interesting words. We have also been focusing on inverted commas.

Science - In Science we have been looking at teeth. We have been able to identify the different types of teeth and describe the functions. We also compared human teeth to the teeth of different animals.

History - This week we have examined an Anglo-Saxon settlement. We discussed the different features and planned our own settlement.

RE - We have been looking at the Bible. We discussed what it was and why it is important. We were so lucky that Father Jim popped in to visit us during our lesson so the children were able to ask him some really interesting questions.

The children had their first wider opportunities lesson with Mrs Benson. The children seemed to really enjoy it and Mrs Benson came to find me to tell me how impressed she was with the class. Well done Year 4!

Award winners

Golden Award - This week the Golden award was given to Lila for her constant hard work and positive attitude to learning. Lila is a joy to teach and is constantly eager to learn.

Maths Award - This award went to Isabelle who has completely blown me away with her love for learning and growing independence in Maths.

Star Writer Award - The Star Writer Award was given to Cianna. The English work Cianna has produced this week has been incredible, the detail she gives to each piece of writing makes me want to read more and more!

Homework

English - Pages 60 and 61

Maths - Page 8

Children also need to practice their 3 times table fact sheet as they will have a short quiz on Friday 20th.

Again, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Welcome to Year 4!

Hello and welcome to Year 4.  Each week I will write a blog to keep you informed of what the children have been learning.  I will also include homework tasks and any important notices.

I have been absolutely amazed by the children this week.  I am so proud of the maturity, enthusiasm and the positive attitude to learning the children have shown me.

We have been working extremely hard this week and have began our exciting learning together.

Maths - We have been looking at number bonds to 10, 20 and 100.  We have been also looking at what we need to add to a number to reach the next multiple of 100 and what we need to subtract to get to the previous 100.  The children have created some fabulous pieces of work that I am very impressed with.

English - We have completed our star reading tests this week and have been looking at a dilemma text called ‘Lost or Stolen?’  The children have been investigating the language used and identified the dilemma in the story.

Science - We have started a topic on animals including humans.  We have been looking at nutrition and what a healthy diet consists of.  The children also created their own menu’s of a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.

History - We have began to look at our topic of Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.  We discussed events we already knew about and placed them on a timeline.  We also mind mapped what we already knew about the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. 

RE - This week we have done some work on Our Lady.  We have discussed why Mary is so important to us and thought about her feelings when the angel told her she was going to have the Son of God.  The children also wrote out the Hail Mary in beautiful handwriting and decorated it.

I have given the children homework this week;

Maths - pages 2 and 3

English - pages 36 and 37

Important notices:

• P.E days are on a Tuesday and Friday.  Tuesday is our indoor session and Friday is our outdoor session.  During the Autumn term the children will also be taking part in a Yoga session.  Please can I remind parents that children with earrings must come into school either without earrings in or be able to take them out themselves.

• Your child will come home with a reading book and log.  Please sign and date when your child has read.  I expect the children to be reading nightly.  Once the children have read a book then they will then take a test on accelerated reader to check their understanding of the book.

•  I will put homework details on the blog every Friday.  As in Year 3 homework is given out on a Friday and is due in on a Tuesday.

• The children will be coming home with spellings each week for them to learn as they will have a test every Friday

• Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to chat about your child.  You can call or email school but I am also around at the end of the day if you would like to catch me then.

I am so excited that I have such a lovely class and for the year ahead.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cunningham-Kay