Year 4

2024 - 2025

In our first week of Year 4, the children investigated the question 'What does it take to be a good Roman soldier?'. Today, they finally began creating their own Roman shields. This is a tricky task and there is still of designing and painting to do before we get to test them out. We are looking forward to showing you the finished shields next week!

This term, Year 4 are learning how to 'investigate'! The children loved observing what happens when warm water is added to a plate of skittles. The used their observation skills, drew detailed diagrams and wrote a scientific conclusion that explained the process of diffusion.

2023 - 2024

Year 4 have been learning how to sculpt and mould clay. We have been working in miniature to create a plate of food and dishes of our choice. Someone even made a birthday cake for one of the birthdays being celebrated in Copper Class today. We were all super impressed by the level of detail for the sausage rolls, cups, plates, slices and drinks being so carefully created today.

Year 4 have had the opportunity to attend Minster Bowls this week. They loved their time there.

Year 4 took their reading lesson outside into the sunshine this morning. They wanted to carry on even though it was playtime!

Art and Science joined up at Minster School this term and all the children in the school did a piece of art work with Science as the inspiration. We held a gallery tour for all the children to walk around the school hall and see each other's work. There were lots of comments from the children, saying how great it was to see what all the other children did in the rest of the school. Without a gallery like this, they wouldn't have known about the lovely work that classes got up to!

Year 4 were lucky enough to have some warm spring sunshine today to practise our Tennis skills. We tried forehands and backhands using the racket correctly. We also tried to do a 'rally' as well as learning how to 'outwit' our partner for scoring a target.

Year 4 have enjoyed their library session this morning. We were hunting for 'fronted adverbials' as well as just enjoying our books in a cosy, relaxed space.

After learning so much about plastic in our oceans for Earth Day today, Year 4 used a story book to respond creatively in their art work. We used the 'Painting with Scissors ' technique again, but this time our skills were amazing and we thought more about positive and negative shapes, colour and pattern. We tried to show the dangers our sea creatures are experiencing from plastic waste.

Year 4 enjoyed their first lesson of 'Inclusion Sports' for this term. They learnt all about Goalball, which is a sport created for the visually impaired. The Goalball has a bell inside so it can be heard rather than seen. Year 4 played interhouse games and it was lots of fun.

Year 4 used a Conscience Corridor to explore our RE question, 'Why do you think the events of the Last Supper happened as they did?'

We debated why Judas shouldn't have/should have betrayed Jesus. We had some fantastic, thoughtful and deep thinking answers, which helped us explain the question.

We combined our Numbers Day in Year 4 with Art and Design this afternoon. We looked at a piece of work by the artist Jasper Johns, called '0 through 9'. We explored his work to create our own piece using the same digits and thinking about line, shape, colour and patterns.

Year 4 have loved investigating how to 'Paint with Scissors'. They studied artists such as Henri Matisse and Romare Bearden, who used this cutting out technique for their own compositions. We used a painting by Pinturicchio to inspire our own creations. It was such lovely learning for us all.

Copper Class have been enjoying investigating the bridge balance in their gymnastics. They have worked hard to show gymnastic excellence, using different levels and different connection points with partner. They are focusing on pointing toes and extending movements for poise and body control.

Contour Lines

Year 4 have been learning all about mountains as part of our topic work this term. We have been looking at maps to see how higher areas of ground are shown using contour lines. We compared an area in the Lake District to Canterbury and East Kent and noticed how different the contour lines were! We looked at atlases and noticed the difference in height between Scotland's mountains and the Himalayas. It was a big difference!

Year 4 have been taking their learning outside for beginning their Maths work on understanding area. We created rectilinear shapes and found area using objects around our Forest School site. We then investigated rectilinear shapes using Post It note squares to describe area.

Year 4 had a fantastic trip to Richborough Roman Fort last week. They learnt so much about all that the Romans did when they arrived in Britain. We stood at the beginning of Watling Street, looked at many of the artefacts found on the site, answered quiz questions in the museum and completed challenges all around the ruins of the fort. We even managed to withstand the wind and everybody learnt something to take back to our Roman Topic this term.

Year 4 have produced some wonderful art work for Harvest. They worked really hard using a range of media, such as graded pencils, black and white pastels, charcoal, erasers to smudge and define, muted tone colouring pencils and watercolour. Decisions had to be made for placing images on the paper and how to make a composition looking at Autumn vegetables.

Yesterday, Year 4 were set a challenge - to choose a song and an artist to share.

This afternoon, we used those songs to inspire our art!

Year 4 had a great experience at Talking Football today. A chance to understand emotions and what triggers certain feelings.

Year 4 were investigators today using the map of the school to find clues.

The children have launched themselves into our project for this term called Playlist. Today the children made musical instruments following a well thought out design process including the skills that they have learnt in other subjects including maths and science! They'll perform along to a song tomorrow - we haven't decided what that will be yet!

Sports Practise is in full swing in Year 4!

Year 4 enjoyed painting their Diva Lamps - very delicate!

Year 4 made Diva Lamps using clay and are looking forward to painting them on Thursday - Light over darkness!

Copper Class would like to welcome Lakshmi to our classroom, the Goddess of wealth and good fortune. They are enjoying learning about Hinduism.

Copper Class enjoyed getting creative, thinking about 'Healthy Minds!'

Year 4 had a wonderful time in the Story Tent today. We enjoyed the story of The Kindest Red and shared what we think kindness is, what kindness says, what kindness does and what kindness does not. The children have been tasked with secret kindness missions to go on this week. Let's see if they choose to show you at home some kindness!

Spelling in action in Year 4!

Year 4 have loved Art this term. We have used Paste Resist to create patterns and then added stitching and sequins to them!

Year 4 have had a fantastic Viking Day at Kent Life. Here are Indigo Class and Copper Class enjoying our coach ride, making brooches, acting out our own Viking voyage on a long ship, learning all about weapons and formations, playing a great game of Tafl and visiting the lovely animals on site. We also met some Vikings around the site who told us about trading and what daily life was like at the time. There was so much to do - even in the rain! Well done Year 4 for a fantastic day.

Indigo Class have been loving Science! Exploring circuits, conductors and insulators over the past two lessons has been fantastic and we have thoroughly enjoyed our learning.