Here we are in the final term of the year. It is sad to think that this is the last time we will be greeting Team Cyan and Team Turquoise after a holiday break. All we can do is enjoy the time we have left and be excited for them to move on into Year 5 as we know they’ll all do brilliantly!

This week has seen us meet Olympian Danny Crouch, learn to take a self-portrait in the style of Cindy Sherman (see below) and revisit topics like newspaper report writing and volume at a greater depth than before.

English

As we kick off this term, we are diving back into writing newspaper reports with Year 4. I must say, the class did such an excellent job last time that this time around we are adding in much more detail and pulling together a lot more of our writing skills.

In our writing sessions, we have been focusing on the difference between reported and direct speech. We have explored how we can switch between using the two styles to make our writing more engaging for the reader. It's been wonderful to see the children getting creative with their use of speech in their reports.

This term, our book of focus is 'I was a Rat' by Phillip Pullman, the talented author behind 'The Golden Compass'. So far, the children have been introduced to the characters Bob and Joan, an old couple who receive an unexpected visit from a boy who keeps insisting that he was a rat. Despite his peculiar habits of tearing things up and struggling to eat properly, there seems to be a sweeter side to him. He possesses a wealth of knowledge about the life of rats, yet the mystery remains - where did he come from?

Maths

This term in maths, our focus has been on volume and capacity. We have been busy converting between litres and millilitres, using our knowledge of fractions and decimals to help us. Towards the end of the week, we moved on to scaling measurements.

One of the questions we tackled was: If a recipe makes 2 smoothies, how can we work out the amounts needed to make 4 smoothies? This exercise helped the students apply their understanding of measurements and scaling practically.

PSHE

Our focus this term in PSHE is ‘Your words can hurt’. We talked about how mean words can affect us, even if the person who said them apologises. We looked at a song called ‘Wall in my Head’ and attempted to make a music video for it (unfortunately, technology doesn’t always play along).

We also talked about how we can give genuine compliments to people that will also stick around long after they’ve been said. We discussed how complimenting someone’s character can be thoughtful and make someone’s day.

Home Learning

Since we are back to newspapers, and particularly reported and direct speech, we would love you to act as a journalist and interview some people in your life. You can maybe ask any grandparents what school was like for them or ask a sibling for a funny story from their class. Take notes or record your interview and then write it up as if it was part of a newspaper. You can, of course, add pictures, captions, headlines etc. if you like!

Get creative and have fun!

Spelling

In spelling this week, we are looking at contractions. The words you need to practice are:

haven't    mustn't   doesn't    shouldn't       I'm

could've    aren't    they'll     wouldn't      we've

Red words: separate, surprise, purpose

Dates for Term 6

17th June - Book fair in school

5th July - 3.15-5pm Summer Fair

10th July - Sports day KS2 9-11.30 and Year R/KS1 1.45-3

11th July - Music evening with Mr Redwood

12th July - School reports out to parents

15th, 16th, 17th July - Transitions days (children to spend these days with their new teachers)

18th July - Inflatable fun day and year 6 leavers party 3.30-6

19th July - School finishes at 2pm

 

We hope you have a wonderful week.

The Year 4 team 😊