“But they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they will run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

Year 4 have been trying very hard this week to maintain their strength and resilience. This has largely been through the renewal of our ‘Tales Retold project’ and working as teams to produce practical and hands on pieces of work. The class have tried very hard to be vigilant in making the right choices and try their best and this improvement in their resilience has been so clear to see!

In Maths this week, Year 4 have continued practising their times tables daily. As a class, we have been primarily focusing on our challenging 7 and 8 times tables. Using The Daily Ten from Topmarks and TT Rockstars has been invaluable in boosting the class’ confidence and their fluency with their tables so please continue using such resources to practise at home. Also this week, Year 4 have started looking at remainders. This again has been testing the speed in which they can recall their times tables as well as then being able to apply those to number problems as we have been looking at how one number is divisible by another. Year 4 definitely found this new topic of Maths work a challenge however the resilience they have shown through the week in trying to master remainders is truly inspiring!

In English, Year 4 have started thinking about how the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories can inspire them to write their own animal creation story. As we spent last week looking at stories such as ‘How the Turtle got its Shell’ and "‘How the Birds got their Colours’, the class have had a lot of help in writing their own story explaining how an animal got their significant feature. We had all sorts of fabulous ideas such as ‘Why the sausage dog has a long body’, ‘How the snow leopard got its spots’ and ‘Why the hamster is so tiny’! Year 4 spent this week planning and describing their main character, creating their setting based on their animal’s habitat and finally starting to write the opening of their story. The staff in Year 4 were blown away by the amazing opening paragraphs that the children were able to come up with.

In RE this week, Year 4 spent time exploring why Jesus died on the cross for us and what this meant. The class tried to understand the magnitude of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice and selfless choice of giving his life to save us. The class then focused on the phrase ‘Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us’. Those children undertaking Holy Communion really recognised this as they say it in Mass every week. The class examined the meaning behind these words, how Jesus is the lamb of God because he sacrificed himself like lambs would have been sacrificed at the time Jesus was alive. That he takes away our sins through this sacrifice of himself and that because of this we need to be merciful and show gratitude.

In Science this week, Year 4 started their new topic of electricity! Year 4 learned that electricity is a natural source of power and is found all over the place such as; lightning, in bioelectricity found in living things and static electricity. We then explored how scientists spent years discovering how to utilise this electricity for people’s benefit. The class also learnt about the difference of alternating current and direct current, AC referring the the current in mains electricity and DC regarding the current in batteries.

In Topic this week, we have been looking at the last Anglo Saxon kings. As a class, we tried very hard to remember the chronology of the last kings to rule up to 1066 and the Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror’s reign. We examined how mean and brutal these kings were to each other and their subjects!

A reminder that our World Book Day is on the 25th of March this year!

Congratulations to our Award Winners:

Golden Award - William.

Writing Award - Poppy.

Maths Award - Joshua.

Thank you from everyone in Year 4!

'"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."' Jeremiah 29:11

Year 4 have gone into Lent, this week, with open hearts. The class are ready to step into this time of fasting and sacrifice with respect and sincerity. Year 4 behaved with such consideration during Wednesday’s Mass, receiving their ashes with consideration for everyone around them. A big congratulations to our four readers; Emelia, Charlotte, Joseph and Elsie!

In Maths this week, Year 4 have maintained their stamina in regards to their times tables. The class have been practising for up to twenty minutes first thing every day and the progress is now becoming visible! Please remember to keep practising for short spurts at home to make sure Year 4 can maintain their fluency and speed ready for June’s times tables check. Year 4 spent their main Maths lesson time exploring more about factors. Year 4 then used their developing knowledge of factors and applied them to their Maths questions. Year 4 looked at examples such as 55 X 5 and how this can also be written as 11 X 5 X 5.

In English this week, Year 4 have continued looking at the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories. Year 4 explored and responded to the story of ‘Why the Koala Bear has a Stumpy Tail’. We spent more time breaking down the main points within the story which helped us to understand the characters motives and their personalities. The class then delved into what they thought the message of the story is and how such Dreamtime stories do have deeper meanings to them as they are the Aboriginal tribes’ creation stories. Year 4 then created their own storyboards to map out and retell the Dreamtime story through art, a method the Aboriginals have always used.

Following our Aboriginal theme, the class produced even more art. Using real Aboriginal paintings as inspiration, we used natural coloured paints, all in dotted shapes, to try and pay homage to nature through art work.

Year 4 also used their creative sides during their DT/Science work. After all of the class’ learning during their Sound topic, we finished it off by making our own guitars. Year 4 focused solely on making the base today. The class focused on two main points; making sure there were no holes or gaps apart from the main space under the strings and making sure their strings (elastic bands) were not all the same length. The first point was to make sure the sound waves would not have too much space to escape, the second point was to ensure the guitars could have different pitches.

Congratulations to our Award Winners:

Golden Award - Emma.

Writing Award - Scott.

Maths Award - Zak.

Thank you, from everyone in Year 4!

"Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy." Pope Francis

As Lent is almost upon us, it is important that we use this period of time to reflect on our lives, just as Jesus reflected and fasted in the desert. As Catholics it is important that we consider everything we are so fortunate to have in our lives as well as trying and make significant sacrifices. Hopefully through doing this, we will be able to acknowledge that not everyone in the world is as privileged and advantaged as many are in this country.

Lent gives us the time and opportunity to reawaken our faith in the days leading up to Jesus’ ultimate gift to the world; his forgiveness. Therefore, through our own sacrifices of what is important to us in our lives, we can truly become closer to Jesus as we understand what it is like to give up something in aid of others.

As well as readying ourselves for Lent, Year 4 have had a very busy week involving their Viking projects. The staff in class were all blown away by the creativity and passion displayed through the children’s home learning.

In Maths this week, Year 4 have spent time using their developed skill of written multiplication to solve problems. This has required them to recognise a problem, decide which operation and method they are going to use to solve it and follow multiple steps to get to a final answer. The class are getting much more confident at answering these sorts of questions independently! Year 4 have also been deepening their knowledge of multiplication by looking at number factors . The class have been broadening their understanding of number and investigating the different numbers, that paired together, multiply to make the same number.

In English, Year 4 have begun a brand new topic based around stories from another culture. The class have been learning all about the native tribes of Australia; the Aborigines. We learnt a little bit about their history and how these groups of people believe in the time of the Dreaming. This period of time, they believe, is when their ancestor’s spirits went through the land creating life and important points of the natural world before they themselves turned into this nature. We learnt that the Aboriginal People pass their cultural beliefs, their laws and their stories on through their words. They also pass this down through art, dancing and music. Year 4 then progressed onto beginning to look at some of these stories from the time of the Dreaming including; “How the Turtle got its Shell” and “How the Birds got their Colours”. Together, we explored these texts and the important messages they pass down to the people that read and believe them.

In RE, the class explored the idea that Jesus was both truly human as well as being truly God. This is a difficult concept to understand as it is hard to acknowledge that someone can be both human and God at the same time! We know that Jesus was inherently human as he was born to a young girl called Mary and took human form, he showed human emotions such as sadness when his close friend Lazarus died and he understood us as humans. However, Jesus was also the son of God and therefore a vital part of the Holy Trinity. Of course he also showed us willingly that he was truly God through all of the marvellous miracles he performed in aid of other people.

In PE, the class have begun their ball games topic and have been focusing this week on their passing and throwing. Year 4 primarily focused on chest pass today, exploring the shape your arms make to throw from your chest correctly. We also spent time considering how to aim correctly, throw the ball in the correct direction and maintain the right amount of power behind our throws. Year 4 showed real resilience during their PE time and worked together really well, even helping one another when they were struggling. They really let their Christian values shine through in this way!

Also please don’t forget to get your tickets for ‘Much Ado About Nothing’! Year 5 have been working so hard on all their scenes and are ready and raring to go!

Congratulations to our award winners:

Golden Award - Ruby.

Writing Award - Riley.

Maths Award - Joseph.

Please remember to keep up the home reading, especially as it is nearly World Book Day!

Also, those on the Holy Communion course please remember your books for Tuesday’s after school session.

Thank you from everyone in Year 4!

Have a Lovely Holiday!

Everybody in Year 4 would like to wish all families a very happy half-term break!

This week in Year 4, the class have been getting extremely busy with their learning.

During PE, they finally got to film their final Sound sequences using all of the gymnastics skills they have learnt over this half term. All of Year 4 were impressive, here were our winners!

Year 4 carried on expanding upon their creativity in their Maths work. After spending the week working on mastering their written multiplication with three digit numbers and working hard on our times tables facts, Year 4 got very busy indeed! The class worked in teams to plan, design, write instructions for and make their very own times tables games. Year 4 used pre existing games to inspire them and then created bigger and better activities of their own!

Congratulations to our Award Winners:

Golden Award - Isabella.

Writing Award - Avie.

Maths Award - Rion.

Thank you and have a happy half term, from everyone in Year 4!

Only one week to go!

How quickly this half term has flown by! Year 4 have completed half of their year already and will be in Spring Two will be here before we know it!

Congratulations to Year 4’s new School Council members Zak and Avie! The votes were counted and verified and the class had two clear winners! Year 4 are confident they will do a fantastic job.

In Maths this week, Year 4 have spent the week mastering their formal written multiplication. Year 4 spent more time exploring what it means to partition numbers into parts based on their ones and tens. Year 4 used part whole models to explore how a whole number can be split up into two different parts. Having a deeper understanding of how and why numbers are partitioned really aided the class in their written multiplication. In addition to this, Year 4’s times tables skills have really been improving! This has been another factor in helping Year 4 become more confident in practising the written multiplication.

In English, Year 4 have spent the week writing their explanation texts. Year 4 made sure they included the exciting adverbs and conjunctions they had previously collected in their books as well as using as much of the key scientific vocabulary surrounding the topic of Sound. Then, Year 4 started to write out their paragraphs, explaining all about; how sound is made, vibrations, sound waves, how sound travels through the ear and pitch and volume. The class’s writing was very impressive, the best piece they have produced so far this year! Handwriting is improving consistently, so much care is being taken with spelling and their subject knowledge about Sound really shone through their work.

In RE, Year 4 explored the eight Beatitudes attributed to Jesus. The class discussed these proclamations together and then carefully translated their meanings. As Christians, it is important that we understand why Jesus gave us these messages to help guide us in our journey to become closer to God. These proclamations, give us clear signs of the values Jesus wanted us to maintain such as; patience, kindness, mercy, honesty, fairness and many more.

In Science, Year 4 had a wonderful time testing the theory that distance affects the volume of a sound. We discussed why we thought that a sound is quieter at a longer distance and louder at a shorter distance, exploring how air particles affect how loud or quiet a noise is. To put this to the test, the class created their own cup and string telephones and practised communicating from close together and far apart.

Year 4 discussed how we could make sure the experiment was a fair test by using the same volume when we were communicating close together and far away. We also discussed how our experiment possibly was not fair, some cups ended up with bigger holes than others and we agreed together that that could affect how and where the sound traveled to.

In History, Year 4 carried on exploring King Ethelred and how he payed the Vikings not to invade Britain. The class used a Viking poem to bring out their acting abilities to act out the story of King Ethelred the ‘Unready’ failing in his fight against the Vikings! Everyone was split into five groups and each group were given a verse to bring to life. The class worked so well together, show casing how much they have developed their resilience and team work skills.

In Geography, Year 4 have been looking at where our food comes from. We looked at different types of food and which countries Great Britain get their imported food from. We were surprised to learn we get a lot of our produce all the way from China and India! Year 4 then looked at the negatives at importing so much of our country’s food. Some of the negative impacts we discovered were the effect food miles has on global warming in producing so much carbon dioxide, creating less work for local British farmers and how we may lose understanding of where our food specifically comes from. The class then ordered the nine negative facts about food miles from what they thought was the most serious down to what they believed to be the least serious.

If you are on the Holy Communion programme, please remember to bring your ‘I Belong’ book on Monday ready for Tuesday’s session.

Congratulations to our award winners:

Golden Award - Bobby.

Writing Award - Emma.

Maths Award - Charlotte.

Thank you from everyone in Year 4!

"You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light." Psalm 18:28

The days are getting longer and the sun is staying out more and more, at last! January is almost done and it is not just our nights that are getting brighter everyday, but Year 4’s own light has been shining even more as each day passes. Year 4 have had a very positive week and have been trying everyday to make themselves the best they can be through their resilience and improving selflessness. They need to keep up the good work!

In Maths this week, Year 4 have moved on to learning all about written multiplication. It has been quite a challenge! The class started at the very beginning by practising their partitioning, using their place value skills excellently. Once Year 4 felt as confident as they could with their partitioning, they then proceeded to move on to the formal written method, using columns to multiply a two digit number by a one digit number. This written multiplication has really been putting Year 4’s times tables knowledge to the test! Please remember to keep practising times tables at home!

In English, Year 4 have started working on their brand new topic! We have joined our Science topic up with English so that we can work towards writing an explanation text about the Science of Sound. We have started to prepare ourselves for independently writing our own explanation texts by brainstorming all of the features we believe make an explanation text good at explaining a piece of information. These features include having headings and subheadings, direct questions, key vocabulary, adverbs, conjunctions, diagrams and lots more! We have also worked together to identify and record the key vocabulary that the class will use when they come to write an explanation text all about Sound.

In RE, Year 4 have been exploring ‘The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant’ and the messages that this parable gives to Christians. The main message in the story is all about forgiveness and how it is our responsibility as part of God’s family to make sure we forgive those that trespass against us as many times as they may need, just like God always forgives us. This particular parable really makes us think about the qualities and values that Christians can adopt to make them more forgiving and empathetic individuals.

In History, Year 4 learnt all about King Ethelred the Unready and his troubles with those pesky Vikings! Year 4 expanded upon their debating skills from last week week and showed off how much they have improved! Year 4 created arguments for and against the question; ‘Is it fair King Ethelred was called unready?’. Then the class learnt all about how King Ethelred would pay the Vikings to not invade Britain, this was called “paying the Dane”! We then challenged ourselves to even more civilised debating with the question; ‘Was King Ethelred right when he was “paying the Dane”?

This week Year 4 have also combined their Science topic of Sound into their PE lessons, using all the skills they have learnt throughout gymnastics. Year 4 spent two lessons creating their very own sequences and were challenged to use travelling, balances, rolls and jumps in these sequences. Year 4’s sequences represented how sound travels from being a vibration all the way through to being sound waves, electrical signals until it reaches the brain which tells us all about the sound we are hearing. Year 4 were wonderful! They not only created fantastic, technical sequences but also developed their teamwork skills as well as their independent resilience. The staff in school and from Blackpool Football Club could not have been more proud.

This week, Year 4 have been challenged to a brand new piece of sheet music for their recorders which they should have received on Thursday! Please remember to keep practising and to bring recorders every Wednesday.

Also a big well done to our Year 4s undertaking Holy Communion sessions, everyone was extremely impressed with the positive and respectful way in which the children conducted themselves. The groups spent time working through the order of the Mass and completing Chapter Five of their ‘I Belong’ books. Please remember to bring these books in on Monday!

Congratulations to our Award Winners:

Golden Award - Oscar.

Writing Award - Max.

Maths Award - Oscar.

Thank you from everyone in Year 4!

"And Jesus returned in the power of the spirit, into Galilee, and the fame of him went out through the whole country." Luke 4:14

Year 4 have had a very busy week indeed! Just like last week, Year 4 have spent much of this week reflecting and considering how they can be the best individuals they can possibly be and shine their light for all to see. Once again, we have been trying to be mindful of how to practise kind words and kind actions towards those around us as we strive towards our Christian values.

This week in Maths, we have continued practising our multiplication and division skills. We have spent the past week however, exploring our 7, 11 and 12 times tables and trying to master our understanding of these numbers. We spent more time using these numbers to solve problems that contain multiple steps and looking at how we know which operation to choose.

In English, we have continued exploring Narrative Verses through ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’. Year 4 spent time independently writing three verses for their narrative poem. We continued exploring how we could use powerful vocabulary to really engage the reader and use amazing, verbs, adverbs and adjectives! We also considered, as an extra challenge, how to make our verses rhyme to create an entertaining rhythm.

We also spent some time towards the end of our week practising our similes. Together we revised how a simile is a great way to paint a descriptive picture with words by comparing an object/living thing to something else, for example “The girl was as sad as rain.”.

In RE, Year 4 learnt all about The Parable of the Sower”. Year 4 learnt that Jesus told parables so that he could give us messages on how to be a true Christian through the stories he would tell his disciples. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus tells us that those of us who listen to and understand the true meaning of God are just like seeds that fall in good soil and grow well. Unfortunately, those that do not understand the message of God because they ignore it are like the seeds that fall by the path. Those that do not understand the message of God because they have let other obstacles stop them are like the seeds that fall on the rocks. Those that do not understand the message of God because they give it up when they face hardships or trouble are like the seeds that have fallen into the thorns.

In Science, we continued with our new Topic of Sound. Today we recapped on how sound is made by vibrations travelling through the air. Today Year 4 created their own exciting radio shows to explain how sound travels through the air, and through the ear t reach the brain using all their wonderful vocabulary. Year 4 also started learning the difference between volume and pitch. Through the help of a glockenspiel, Year 4 learnt that the volume, how loud or quiet a sound is, depends on how much pressure is used when hitting the keys on the glockenspiel. The class learnt that pitch, how high or low a sound is, depends on how big the key on the glockenspiel is. The smaller the key, the higher the sound and the bigger the key the lower the sound.

In History, Year 4 carried on learning about the Vikings. This week, we learnt how to debate! After learning about the most important Anglo-Saxon kings and the Most famous Viking kings, Year 4 were challenged to a “kingly debate”. In their learning partners, the class either adopted the persona of Alfred the Great or King Gustrum. They then had to formulate their very own arguments as to why they deserved to rule over the kingdoms within England. We had some very passionate medieval kings in the classroom!

This week, Year 4 carried on with their Paul Cezanne inspired fruit basket sketches. We recapped on how to make lighter shading and how to produce darker shading by the different pressures we could put on our pencil. We used these shading skills to cast shadows across our pieces of art and ad to the realism effect inspired by Paul Cezanne. We then explored how to sketch by lightly creating small lines to form bigger shapes.

A reminder for those undertaking the First Holy Communion that the Welcome Masses for the New Year are this weekend on Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 10:30am and to bring your “I Belong” books to school with you for Monday next week.

Congratulations to our Award Winners -

Golden Award - Zak.

Writing Award - Hallie.

Maths Award - Ola.

Thank you from everyone in Year 4!

Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations. Psalm 96.

How time is flying! Year 4 have spent much of this week reflecting on how we can be the best individuals we can possibly be. We have considered how to practise kind words and kind actions towards those around us as we strive to fulfil our Christian values.

This week, our collective worship focused on this Sunday’s Gospel; The Wedding at Cana. We discussed how this was Jesus’ first public miracle and explored that this was an early sign from Jesus that he was the Messiah that the world had been promised. We thought about how Gospel readings each have their own message, teaching the values that God wants to see shining through us. We also thought about how reading and really understanding these stories is a beautiful way to bring us closer to God and into his family.

This week in Maths, we have spent more time practising our multiplication and division skills. We have spent the past week focusing primarily on our 6s and our 9s and trying to gain a deeper understanding of these two numbers. We spent time focusing on what the operations of multiplication and division actually mean and why these operations are the inverse of one another.

In English, we have continued exploring Narrative Verses through ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’. Year 4 spent time utilising their artistic skills to create a story map of this Narrative Verse. Using pictures really helped the class understand the chronology of the story and was a fun way at remembering the poem and key moments within it. Following this, we then started to gradually plan out our own verses. Firstly, everyone came up with their own main character, including their name and which species they belong to. Then, Year 4 planned how their character would travel, using some amazing adjectives to add sparkle to their writing. Finally, Year 4 planned where their character would go on their adventures and most importantly, why they were going there.

In RE, the class learnt all about Jesus’ first presentation at the Temple. The children wrote wonderful newspaper articles, reporting about Jesus’ memorable presentation at the Temple. Year 4 also explored who Simeon was and his amazement at seeing the chosen one, God on earth. Year 4 used their previously learnt skills of writing a newspaper to make their work stand out.

In Science, we continued with our new Topic of Sound. Today we recapped on how sound is made and expanded upon this further with how sound is heard. Year 4 learnt about how vibrations made travel through the air as sound waves, hitting particles as they go along. Once they get to the ear, they travel through the ear canal and are turned into electrical signals by special cells in our ears, these electrical signals then go to our brain. The children were so enthusiastic about this process, all desperate to answer the questions during our discussion. We even acted out this process, one pupil was our ear, one our brain and the other moved around as electrical signals! Year 4 really are becoming scientists.

In History, Year 4 carried on learning about the Vikings. We tested ourselves as a class to see how much we could remember about the Vikings from last week. We managed to remember that the they came from Scandinavia on long boats, invaded Great Britain from the North and that they raided and pillaged Monasteries for their valuable goods. Some children even remembered that the Vikings stole Bibles and sold them back to the Priests they had taken them from! Year 4 then used this knowledge to create their own Vikings factual poster, as well as having a go at drawing what they thought they would have looked like. (Much to our disbelief, they did not actually have those infamous horns on their helmets)!

This week, we also had a look at the artist Paul Cézanne and some of his favourite still life work, particularly that of his famous Still Life with Fruit Basket. We discussed how realistic his paintings were and that their melancholy feel was probably because of how miserable Paul Cézanne was in his life! We then talked about the different colours he used and what effect that has on an audience. Finally, we got out our pencils and had a go at practising our tonal shading. We explored how a lighter grip on your pencil will create a lighter shade and pressing down hard will make the shade darker. Year 4 then tried to gradually transition from one shade to the next, getting ready for doing the final piece!

Congratulations to our Award Winners -

Golden Award - Chase.

Writing Award - Jack.

Maths Award - Rion.

Thank you from everyone in Year 4!"

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem." Matthew 2:1

Happy New Year! Everyone in Year 4 hopes you all had a very merry Christmas and happy start to 2022.

There have been lots of wonderful tales from over the Christmas period and even some photographs of amazing creations! Thank you so much to Joseph who spent his holidays reflecting on the Nativity scene.

This week in Year 4 we have spent time exploring the story of the three wise men and their journey from the East, all the way to Bethlehem to visit Jesus. Father Frank and Miss Haggerty were particularly impressed with Year 4 when attending Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany on Thursday. The class answered lots of questions about the three wise men’s journey and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Father even asked if we had brought over our most sensible class to Church that day!

In English, we spent some time writing about the Epiphany story, retelling the narrative of the three kings using all the skills they have learnt so far in Year 4 such as using paragraphs, adjectives and similes!

In English, we also began our brand new Narrative Verses Topic. We have begun looking at an old favourite to help us in our understanding of Narrative Verses; The Owl and the Pussy Cat! We have used this poem to practise our expression when reading aloud, to identify adjectives and adverbs in a text and to guide us in understanding how a Narrative Verse tells a story.

We also looked at the context of The Owl and the Pussy Cat, written in 1871 by Edward Lear who loved making up nonsense words such as “runcible” and “piggy-wig”. Hopefully, Year 4 will be able to use the examples of the Narrative Verses they have read to eventually plan and write their very own!

In Maths, the class have spent time mastering multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000. We have used place value charts to help us understand our thousands, hundreds, tens and ones and the value of each depending on an amount. Year 4 have also worked very hard at understanding how a number may become greater than or less than depending on if it is multiplied or divided by 10, 100 or 1000. It is not adding or taking away a zero! Year 4 then utilised this skill of something being 10, 100 or 1000 times greater or less than in their multiplication and division. For example, we looked at number facts such as 12 divided by 4 equals 3 to then establish what 120 divided by three would be?

In Science, we started our brand new topic of Sound! We spent time learning about how sound is made from vibrations that travel through the air as sound waves. Year 4 then put on their investigating caps and had a lesson of exploration, making different sounds from different objects and comparing them in a school sound survey! We also witnessed how the sound from the banging of a drum can travel through the air to make rice dance on a piece of cling film.

In History, we began learning about the Viking invasion in England. Beginning in the late 8th century, the class ordered their own timelines to learn about an initial overview of the chronology of the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons up until 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. We also learnt about how the Vikings were raiders and invaders who came from modern day Scandinavia (such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark) to pillage other nations.

In PE, we have been very lucky to keep our Friday sessions from Blackpool Football Club for another term! We have started a brand new topic on Gymnastics. Year 4 learnt more about how to properly warm up our bodies for exercise through different stretches and have spent this week focusing on different types of balances through working with a partner to mirror and counterbalance. Year 4 then performed the sequences they came up with in front of the class.

Congratulations to our Award Winners!

Golden Award - Rion.

Writing Award - Elsie.

Maths Award - Chase.

Just a reminder during these uncertain times to remain vigilant against the spread of COVID 19. Please keep testing regularly especially if there are signs of symptoms and keep up with the government guidance.

Thank you, from everyone in Year 4!

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him…” John 1:9-10

Merry Christmas everyone!

Year 4 have had an exciting week of music, crafts and Christmas competitions.

Please find attached our school link for Year 4, 5 and 6’s Carol Service here: https://vimeo.com/657783425.

Our Golden Award winner this week was Scott!

Thank you to all the families who have supported Year 4 in our Autumn term, all of the staff from Year 4 wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

"Lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” Isaiah 40:9-11

What a wonderful week it has been! Year 4 have not let the strong weather dampen their Christmas spirit and have worked through the week showing real, independent resilience.

All of the staff in Year 4 along with Miss Haggerty, Mrs Ormerod, Father Chris, Father Frank and Father Tim were immensely proud of the children who received the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday evening. The children enrolled on our Holy Communion programme carried themselves with dignity and respect, listening and responding to the service that was held and shining their lights brightly for the entire Parish to see.

Year 4 also showed off their voices when recording their carols and narration parts for the KS2 Carol Service, standing beautifully and trying their best to represent their school’s ethos.

In Maths this week, Year 4 have spent more time working on the perimeter of all sorts of 2D shapes, including triangles and rectilinear shapes. Year 4 practised their mental addition skills while adding up all the sides of these shapes to find the total of the perimeter. Year 4 also got out their trusted rulers to measure in CMs the length of different shapes to find the perimeter.

In English, Year 4 have been working very hard writing up, editing and perfecting their own independent pieces of poetry. As a class, we have looked at Christmas poems to inspire us in writing our own. The children spent time thinking of Christmassy vocabulary to build their own poem. Year 4, then spent time looking at the varying rhyming structures that could be in a poem’s stanza and then deciding if they wanted their poem to rhyme or not. Year 4 made sure they were including similes, alliteration and plenty of adjectives when writing up their poem, impressing the staff in Year 4 with what they produced!

In Spanish, Year 4 continued revising their greetings and the different members of a family. They also spent time learning all about how Christmas is celebrated in Spain. We learnt how to say “Merry Christmas”, “Feliz Navidad!” We also learnt about how Christmas celebrations begin on Christmas Eve and the food and celebrations that are involved here. Year 4 were also highly amused to discover that in Spain, the 28th of December is their very own April Fool’s Day equivalent called, Dia de los Santos Inocentes!

In PE, Year 4 have come along miles in their team working skills, playing the best games of hand ball the staff had ever seen! The class worked hard together to make the games fair, show resilience and be supportive of both their teammates and their opposition, even congratulating other teams for winning!

With only one week to go until our Christmas Holidays, the staff in Year 4 wanted to say a big thank you to all the support we have received from parents. Work done at home both on resilience and academically has shone through.

Congratulations to our Award Winners:

Golden - Ola.

Writing - Zak.

Maths - Hallie.

From all of the staff in Year 4.

"We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son." John 1:9-18.

Only two weeks to go! How fast the time is moving through Advent and towards the new calendar year! The children in Year 4 have well and truly immersed themselves into the Advent season this week in a number of ways. Firstly, they have all made their own Advent promises to Jesus, asking him to guide them in their Christian values as they navigate their way through the festive season. Secondly, the children performed their now much beloved Advent song during Mass for Father, receiving high praise for their “melodic” voices. Finally, Year 4’s whole classroom has been decorated to celebrate Advent with the addition of a good fairy who has been getting up to all sorts, such as bringing new gifts for our prize jar!

In Maths, Year 4 have absolutely excelled in their new topic of measurement. The class have quickly grasped converting whole metres into kilometres as well converting as quarters, halves and three quarters of kilometres into metres! The class then applied these skills to problem solving. Year 4 have also begun investigating perimeter of shapes, again grasping this concept very quickly and working hard to apply this into real problems.

In English, Year 4 have begun a brand new poetry topic. As we are in the Advent season, we decided to read poems all about Christmas with the intention of writing our very own perfect poems! We have started by looking at all of the features used in writing poetry. These include, rhyming, alliteration, similes, lots of adjectives and writing in stanzas. Year 4 started to come up with their own vocabulary as well as similes and alliteration, all in preparation of completing their own independent piece of poetry!

In RE, the children have been exploring the greatness of God’s mercy through the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Many in Year 4 commented on the kindness and graciousness shown in the story and how God cares for every single one of the living things he created.

In Science, Year 4 have continued looking at living things and their habitats. This week we have linked our knowledge of humans, animals and plants to our current world today. This includes looking at how habitats are changing and how the environment is being changed both by natural and (primarily) human destruction. Year 4 have made reports documenting animals that are endangered and the environmental changes that are responsible for this.

In Topic, Year 4 finally presented their news reports to the class! We suddenly had a room full of News Anchors, Reporters, Foreign Correspondents and even Howard Carter himself! Everyone was brave enough to get up to perform and all had produced something to be proud of.

Congratulations to our Award Winners:

Golden Award - Ayson.

Writing Award - Isabella.

Maths Award - Lexi Rose.

Just a quick note from all the staff in Year 4, can home reading be done everyday, even if it is just five or ten minutes. Thank you to all those that are working so hard with home reading and homework!

Also, with the rise in cases and the new Covid variant around, can we make sure we are testing if any symptoms are noticed to make sure that we can decline the spread of the virus.

From everyone in Year 4, thank you!

"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect." Matthew 24:44

With Advent almost upon us, the whole of year 4 have been reflecting upon the meaning of this time of the year. As Advent is a time of waiting for the coming of Jesus, Year 4 have explored the different ways in which they can shine Jesus’ light in their everyday lives.

One of the qualities, important to Advent, we have focused on as a class is that of kindness. In fact, Year 4 have challenged themselves to a seven day kindness challenge that encourages them to stop and think about their everyday actions and how they affect other people.

In RE, the theme of waiting and being patient has also been explored through the parable of the Prodigal Son. The kindness the father showed his son when he was wronged has been an example to the children in showing patience and forgiveness to others.

In Year 4’s English and Topic, we have continued to explore our journalistic sides. The class have worked tirelessly on typing up, editing and planning the publishing of their journalistic recounts. The class spent time making sure the universal features of a newspaper were in their work. We now have an abundance of newspaper articles all about the first hand discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb!

Year 4 have also kept their investigative hats on in Maths. The class have worked so hard throughout their Problem Solving with Addition topic in Maths, including using inverse operations, two step problems, finding the difference and much more. All up to four digit numbers!

In Science, we have continued looking at Living things and their Habitats. The class impressively remembered the definitions for vertebrates and invertebrates and have used this knowledge to be able to classify living things based on their characteristics and record their findings. Year 4 also spent time looking at classification keys as why it is important to group all of the species of living things on our planet.

It was so wonderful to see so many families at Church last weekend in preparation for Holy Communion and I look forward to continuing to celebrate the season of Advent in the same way in the weeks to come.

Congratulations to our award winners this week:

Golden Award - Joshua.

Writing Award - Oscar.

Maths Award - Emma.

"God’s love is unbounded: it has no limits!" Pope Francis.

Last week in Year 4, we spent our time trying to show love to one another. We have discussed together why it is important to be kind to each other as a Class of Kindness. We have also tried to recognise what our emotions look like in order to help us identify positive thoughts, for feeling positive empowers us to be kind.

In Maths, Year 4 have worked very hard on finishing off their subtraction topic, subtracting up to five digit numbers! The class have also spent time practising their exchanging so that they can feel extremely confident using column subtraction independently.

In English, Year 4 have been working hard with their publishing partners as they continue producing their own Ancient Egyptian newspaper article. Last week, they spent time writing out the first drafts for their article, incorporating everything they have learnt about the features of a newspaper. Year 4 have made their writing exciting by using adjectives, alliteration and even challenging themselves to use amazing punctuation like exclamation marks and ellipsis!

In RE, Year 4 have been spending time with Mrs Parker exploring the different reasons Christians go to Church. They have also been investigating the important symbols within Catholicism, symbols including the Sign of the Cross. The class have been studying how the Sign of the Cross represents the Holy Trinity and why we make this sign both in Church and at school.

In Science, Year 4 have continued looking at different animals and their habitats. Last week, the class used everything they have learnt about animal classifications and food chain producers and consumers to group living things in another scientific way. Year 4 explored both Venn and Carroll diagrams and even recorded their own Venn diagram.

In Topic, Year 4 have formed their own production team to create a journalistic recount of the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s Tomb, in a different form. Each production team have been planning a script as a team and casting different roles to eventually create their own news report to record and broadcast across the school.

Please remember to practise spellings each week for Monday’s spelling tests. The class are performing so well with their scores, let’s keep up the good work!

Also a reminder to be vigilant against the spread of head lice.

Congratulations to Friday’s award winners:

Golden Award: Joseph.

Writing Award: Chase.

Maths Award: Emelia.

“When you know better you do better.” – Maya Angelou

Year 4 have returned to school renewed after their half term break! It has been wonderful to see year 4 come back to school with a fresh sense of determination and resilience.

In English, we have been rejoined by our much loved theater workshop group. Year 4 have continued to learn about and grow their resilience through exciting Drama activities and retelling stories. In class, we have incorporated our Ancient Egyptian Topic into our Non Fiction writing. Year 4 have spent time planning out their own Newspaper article including its name, headings and layout. Hopefully very soon, the children will have edited and published their very own newspaper recount about discovering Tutankhamun’s tomb!

In Maths, Year 4 have spent time practising their column subtraction and using these methods to solve word problems. The class have shown much resilience during their Maths work, persevering when they make mistakes and never giving up!

In Science, Year 4 have started looking at living things and their habitats. We have been looking at different types of habitats and the kinds of flora and fauna that would live in that natural environment, we had a lot of fun as a class discussing the different animals we could think of! The class also started to investigate how those animals have adapted to survive in those habitats.

In topic, we celebrated our first themed day! The children wowed the whole school with their Ancient Egyptian dress and their enthusiasm for the day. Year 4 spent the morning learning about hieroglyphics before using them to create their own pieces of writing. Year 4 then cracked a code of hieroglyphics to make their own dance moves which we put together to music! Year 4 then spent the afternoon, trying Ancient Egyptian inspired snacks and trying a range of activities such as, making pyramids and learning about old Egyptian Gods.

As the weeks go on, the teachers in Year 4 are so proud of the way the student’s resilience and team work skills are growing. All of the class are trying their best to be the best they can be and treat others how they would like to be treated.

Congratulations to our award winners last week:

Golden award - Oscar.

Writing award - Charlotte.

Maths award - Avie.

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another" 1 Peter 4:10

How time has flown by! Year 4 have been working very hard in the weeks leading up to their half term break and have been demonstrating their Christian values across their school life. Year 4 have continued to work on their resilience and have been exploring the different attributes that can make them a resilient member of their community. We have especially been looking at team work and communication skills this week throughout our curriculum.

In English, we have continued with our story-led resilience workshop with the Grand Theatre who were very impressed with the enthusiasm and work ethic of Year 4. The class also carried their resilience and team work skills through to their work on information texts and worked together to produce fantastic, colourful information posters about the Manchester Ridge-back dragon.

In Maths, we have started working on understanding negative numbers on a number line and even beginning to solve some problems using negative digits. The class showed great resilience and perseverance through this work as it was definitely a challenge to start with! We have also continued to dedicate our Fridays to practising our times tables and trying to be as quick as possible.

In RE, the class have been enjoying their Monday and Tuesday afternoons with Mrs Parker as they continue to explore and deepen their understanding of important Bible stories.

In Science, we have continued to investigate animals and humans. Year 4 have started to look at food chains and how they are constructed. The class have also extended their knowledge of food chains by studying the specific vocabulary that labels a food chain such as producers, consumers, predators and prey.

In Topic, the class have continued to explore the Ancient Egyptian process of mummification. We examined our mummified tomato from last week to observe the chemical change and the class found that it was starting to dry up and preserve! This experiment has helped us all to understand the physical process of mummification to then write about it, though we were aware that the subjects are quite different! Of course, the class also received a letter about Ancient Egyptian day on Friday 5th November, if there are any questions about the contents of the day or costumes, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

In Spanish, we have continued with our Singing Spanish to carry on practise our greetings and we have even begun to look at animals!

Congratulations to our award winners:

Golden Award: Frankie.

Writing Award: Lexi Rose.

Maths Award: Ruby.

Just a quick reminder to ensure homework is handed in/completed by Tuesday.

Thank you from all of the staff in Year 4.

"Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th." Julie Andrews

Year 4 have had a very active week this week! Our focus has been building up our resilience and all of year 4 have been working hard to understand and demonstrate the different qualities that make us resilient.

We have been very lucky in our English to be joined by professionals from the Grand Theatre who have been leading a workshop focusing on story led resilience! Year 4 have had lots of fun during the drama games and activities exploring some of their favourite stories. We have also used this workshop as an opportunity to examine the differences between fiction and non fiction stories in class.

In Maths, we have been spending lots of time on practising how to round to the nearest thousand using our place value columns. The class have been rising to real challenges such as rounding using five digit numbers! We have also been spending time on our times tables and working hard on remembering them as quickly as possible.

In RE, the children have been continuing looking at their Bible stories and have been exploring Jonah and the Whale. In class, we have also been keeping mindful of October being the month of the Holy Rosary and discussing how important these different prayers are to Catholics all over the world.

In Science, the children have been doing more work as Eco Warriors, fighting together to try and find small ways in which they can raise awareness to save their planet. We have also joined this thinking with the season of Creation that has just passed. As a class we have been trying to understand how important God’s creations are and the importance of looking after the world that has been given to us.

In Topic, we have had a very exciting week studying mummification in Ancient Egypt. The children got to see a process similar to mummification when we preserved a tomato in class and they cannot wait to see how the experiment develops over the next coming weeks. They also enjoyed hearing all about the gory process the Egyptians would have used thousands of years ago to mummify real people.

Thank you to all the support from home, it has been wonderful continuing getting to know families these last few weeks.

Thank you from everyone in Year 4.

"Let all that you do be done in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

How the weeks have flown! Year 4 have been spending time reflecting on the different ways in which we can live out our Christian values and “love one another” every day.

In English last week, the children continued working on building their own independent dilemma stories and have been growing in confidence every day! We have worked on making our writing exciting using; similes, alliteration and powerful punctuation. We also spent time exploring the five senses and how we can use them to create a vibrant picture in the reader’s mind. Through studying dilemmas, we have also reflected on the difference between right and wrong and how sometimes the “right” decision is not always easy.

In maths, we did our first end of unit check and all of year 4 worked very hard! We have started looking at more than and less then with four digit numbers and adding and subtracting thousands using our Place Value columns and number lines.

In RE, year 4 looked at the story of David and Goliath with Mrs Parker as they continue to explore the Bible and the moral lessons we can learn that we can then live out in our day to day lives.

In Science we have been exploring more about animals including humans by continuing to look at the digestive system and the important organs that keep our body healthy. The children have also spent some of their Science time looking at climate change and how global warming can affect living things on planet Earth as part of CAFOD’s “Eyes of the World” Campaign to raise awareness for climate change.

In Topic, year 4 have successfully started to analyse different Ancient Egyptian pictures to investigate how the Ancient Egyptians would have lived their everyday lives. They also did very well in a game of “Beat the Teacher”, having to create their own Ancient Egyptian quiz to test me!

The children are still enjoying their Singing Spanish lessons just as much as the teachers! We have continued practising our greetings and have started to revise our counting from last year as well.

Mrs Parker also started the first Computing topic last week, teaching year 4 how to start to programme their very own animations!

Congratulations to our award winners last week:

Golden Award - Riley

Writing Award - Ola

Maths Award - Ayson

It has been so lovely getting to know the families of the school.

From all of the teachers in Year 4.

"A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees"

Year 4 have made a great start to the new year! It has been wonderful getting to know one other and learning together over the last two weeks.

As a class, we have been working on our Golden Rules and how we can practise these in our day to day school life.

Our learning this week …

In English we have been exploring the key features of a dilemma story together and how we can navigate difficult decisions in our own everyday life. We have also been discussing what we think makes a story interesting. Some ideas we had were, using expression, powerful vocabulary and exciting punctuation. We are gradually working towards adding our own fictional chapters into our Lost or Stolen? dilemma story!

In Maths, we have been focusing on our place value columns, specifically up to 4 digit numbers. We have also been investigating number lines that go up to 10,000.

Mrs Parker has enjoyed getting to know the children during RE on a Monday and Tuesday afternoon. The children have been impressing us with their creative and artistic skills to learn about the Bible during these sessions.

In Science, we have been learning how to group animals into different classifications, including the group in which humans belong to; Mammals. We have also been studying our body’s digestive system and all of the different organs we have that work to keep us healthy.

In Topic, we have successfully started learning about Ancient Egypt and we spent time last week exploring modern day Egypt on Google maps and comparing that to an Ancient map of Egypt. The class came up with some excellent similarities and differences!

The class and I have really enjoyed our Singing Spanish sessions, going over what they did last year and introducing some new phrases. These included phrases such as, “Good Morning”, “Good Afternoon” and “Good Evening” as well as extending our responses to “How are you?”.

Finally, in our PE, we have been lucky enough to be joined by a coach from Blackpool Football Club, helping us with our invasion and defending skills through some exciting games.

Congratulations to our award winners on Friday:

Golden Award - Poppy

Writing Award - Emma

Maths Award - Zak.

Just a quick reminder that the children will be given homework on a Friday that is due in on the following Tuesday. Also, Mrs Parker will be doing the class spelling tests on a Monday afternoon.

From all the teachers in Year 4.

“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” Amelia Earhart

Year 4 have made a great start to the new year! It has been wonderful getting to know one other and learning together over the last two weeks.

As a class, we have been working on our Golden Rules and how we can practise these in our day to day school life.

Our learning this week …

In English we have been exploring the key features of a dilemma story together and how we can navigate difficult decisions in our own everyday life. We have also been discussing what we think makes a story interesting. Some ideas we had were, using expression, powerful vocabulary and exciting punctuation. We are gradually working towards adding our own fictional chapters into our Lost or Stolen? dilemma story!

In Maths, we have been focusing on our place value columns, specifically up to 4 digit numbers. We have also been investigating number lines that go up to 10,000.

Mrs Parker has enjoyed getting to know the children during RE on a Monday and Tuesday afternoon. The children have been impressing us with their creative and artistic skills to learn about the Bible during these sessions.

In Science, we have been learning how to group animals into different classifications, including the group in which humans belong to; Mammals. We have also been studying our body’s digestive system and all of the different organs we have that work to keep us healthy.

In Topic, we have successfully started learning about Ancient Egypt and we spent time last week exploring modern day Egypt on Google maps and comparing that to an Ancient map of Egypt. The class came up with some excellent similarities and differences!

The class and I have really enjoyed our Singing Spanish sessions, going over what they did last year and introducing some new phrases. These included phrases such as, “Good Morning”, “Good Afternoon” and “Good Evening” as well as extending our responses to “How are you?”.

Finally, in our PE, we have been lucky enough to be joined by a coach from Blackpool Football Club, helping us with our invasion and defending skills through some exciting games.

Congratulations to our award winners on Friday:

Golden Award - Poppy

Writing Award - Emma

Maths Award - Zak.

Just a quick reminder that the children will be given homework on a Friday that is due in on the following Tuesday. Also, Mrs Parker will be doing the class spelling tests on a Monday afternoon.

From all the teachers in Year 4.

Our learning this week…

In English, we have been completing our creative writing stories on Hamir’s adventure. We have been drafting and editing our work before completing our final piece. We have also been producing our leaflets linked to the harvesting of our lettuces. We had lots of fun tasting the lettuces this week. Please see Class Dojo for some pictures!

In Maths, we have been exploring time, making conversions between days, weeks, months and years. We have been using our knowledge to solve a range of word problems, developing our reasoning skills.

In RE, we are continuing with our topic ‘Belonging to the Church’. We considered the ‘Liturgical Calendar’ and researched the meanings of the different colours associated with the Church seasons.

Reading Book Challenge….

Just a reminder, due to the success of our last challenge, we have decided to begin a new ‘Reading Book Challenge’,

There will be prizes for first, second and third, the winners will be drawn from a hat for the children who have read five times a week consistently throughout the duration of the challenge. Last time the prize was cake with Mrs Ormerod! So…. Keep reading and quizzing Year 4!!

Reading Record Reminder:

Please sign your child’s reading record so we are clear that their book needs changing - Many thanks

Spellings and Times Tables…

As it is the last week, there will be no spelling and times-tables tests on Friday 16th July. But please continue to practise your tables on TT Rockstars!

GULP CHALLENGE: REMINDER

The ‘Gulp Challenge’ has now finished, please can the children bring in their completed cards on MONDAY if they haven’t already. Many thanks

Homework; Learning By Questions

This weeks activities can be accessed by following this link : https://www.lbq.org/Login.

Today’s password is: 9y2g

REMINDER The link will only remain live for the rest of today.

The children have been using this website ‘Maths Frame’ in class to practise their times tables, please follow the link to complete more practise at home… Times Table

Golden Award winners this week… Franchesca and Ollie

Maths Award… Lily T

WELL DONE TO ALL OUR AWARD WINNERS THIS WEEK!!!

And finally, we are all looking forward to our Class trip to the Cinema on Wednesday 14th July and our Teddy Bear’ picnic lunch on our last day of term on Friday 16th July. Remember to bring your blanket, what a lovely way to celebrate our last week in Year 4!

Enjoy the weekend!

Best regards

Mrs Parker, Mrs Ormerod and Mrs Debowska.