What a fantastic week! In English this week, we have continued with our work on the story ‘King of the Birds’. We have begun adding actions to the story to help us retell the story and have completed story maps of our own.

In Maths, we have been working on our multiplication and finding patterns in the 9 times tables.  We have also been applying our knowledge of the times tables to multiply larger numbers using grid  method.

My favourite part of this week was swimming every day and we had a fun session today to celebrate the end of our swimming block! We hope we get to go again soon!

Happy weekend all!

Year 4

Fractions fun for everyone, sharing things into equal parts has been our maths focus this week. This is a concept that can often be confusing for children but if you can reinforce their learning at home over the Christmas period by sharing festive food into equal parts e.g., Yule log, Christmas cake, Pizza or Sprouts, that would be great. The children did show a good understanding in class and I’m sure they would be pleased to show off their knowledge at home. Applying knowledge in a practical everyday setting is an excellent way to consolidate previous learning.
Yesterday, we finished our work on narrative, the children showcased their new story writing skills, including the use of direct speech to create the most wonderful stories. As a Teacher it is very pleasing to see the progression they have shown since September.
Our Science investigation on Forces was fascinating. Subject specific vocabulary included gravity, air resistance, propulsion and friction. The children investigated which material would be the best to use when making a parachute, they tested 3 different types of material, cotton, cardboard and plastic. Please ask them to explain the results and their conclusion, they are all very good young scientists.
It has been announced today that the school term finishes on Monday. It would be lovely if the children could wear their Christmas jumpers once more for our last day of term. I’m looking forward to our last day together and hope to have the chance to enjoy some seasonal fun to celebrate what has been an incredibly busy term with lots of lovely learning.
It has been my very great pleasure to teach Year 4 and thanks to all of you for your help and support at home. The children’s learning is certainly a partnership between the teacher and parent. I know Mrs Lloyd is excited to get back in January and I look forward to teaching the class on Friday’s.
On Tuesday I will share some home learning activities on Hwb to ensure the children have work to complete until the end of the week.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year!

Miss H Hughes

This week Silent Night was performed to perfection, DVD’s are available for purchase and we hope you enjoy the Christmas celebrations we have recorded. We had a lot of fun doing our part and rumour has it that there is also a section of the DVD devoted to the staff dancing in front of a pink Christmas tree. A must-see experience which will raise a smile I’m sure. Thank you for helping us to look great on the day, the Christmas jumpers were fantastic.
Mrs Lloyd came to visit us on Wednesday and helped the children create Christmas cards on j2e which was a lovely way to send a special message to friends.
This week our maths focus has been on halving and doubling 2 and 3-digit numbers. The children worked well and have shown a good understanding. Ask them to show you how to do it at home, they’re very good.
Our work on narrative continues, the children have also completed a reading comprehension linked to our text, ‘To the Edge of the World’. We were looking for verbs and adverbs in the text, maybe this is something you can do at home when reading together. Other ideas when reading together at home to improve reading comprehension could include asking questions when the children read. Ask them to describe the character and setting using adjectives. Discuss what the characters may be thinking at a particular point in the story. Talk about alternative endings. Then ask them to write about their favourite character in the story or write a short book review. These are lovely activities to complete on a regular basis and this will certainly improve your child’s reading, comprehension and writing skills.
It has been another busy week but thoroughly enjoyable. It is an absolute pleasure to teach Year 4, they are really fantastic, enthusiastic and hardworking young people.
Stay warm and have fun this weekend.
Kind regards
Miss H Hughes and Mrs Evans

Friday 27th November 2020

We had a wonderful ‘Blitz Day’ yesterday. It was amazing to see the children dressed up, it really was like taking a step back in time. Spam sandwiches and jam tarts were the stars of the show. The children really have gained a good understanding of what life was like during WW2 over the course of our studies and it was lovely to be able to celebrate their work. Thank you for all of your support at home enabling them to enter into the party spirit by dressing them in costume from the era.

Also, many thanks for your support today. It’s very generous of you all to support the cancer charity fundraiser; I’m sure the money raised will make a difference.

Column subtraction has been our focus in maths. This week the children have put their knowledge of place value and subtraction to good use and have done well to solve mathematical problems.

In English the children have been creating story maps about our class story ‘To the Edge of the World’. They have also been using Pie Corbett actions to retell it and it was an absolute joy to see them fully engaged as a whole class. They really are fantastic young people.

Next week we’ll be recording our song as part of the whole school Christmas concert. Their Christmas jumpers look amazing and rehearsals have been going well. I hope that you will enjoy their performance which will be available to watch on the DVD.

We were once again blessed to have Mrs Lloyd join us on Monday and Thursday. She dressed up with us on Thursday and really does cut a delicious spam sandwich!

Have a great weekend.

Kind regards

Miss H Hughes and Mrs Evans

Friday 20th November 2020
This week the children started work on story writing with a focus on direct speech using speech marks. They were shown a picture of a mountain in our ‘cold write’ and asked to write a story using their imagination. The stories they wrote were enchanting and I look forward to seeing the work they produce as we continue with our narrative lessons.
Column addition has been our focus in maths this week. The children have put their knowledge of place value and addition to good use and have done well to solve mathematical problems.
During our topic lessons we have been exploring the power of propaganda posters during WW2. The children created their own posters which are displayed with pride in our classroom gallery.
We’re looking forward to our celebration day next Thursday. It will be fascinating to see the children taking a step back in time as they dress up in 1940’s fashion. I am hard at work trying to put my own 1940’s look together, the children have suggested that I don’t use gravy browning as tights, as they did back in the day, and I think I’ll take their advice.
We were blessed to have Mrs Lloyd join us on Tuesday and Thursday. It was lovely to have her with us in class and I know that she was very impressed with all of the children and their hard work. She said their books were beautiful which made us all feel very proud.
I hope that you all have a safe and enjoyable weekend.
Kind regards
Miss H Hughes and Mrs Evans

Pudsey Bear came to town today!

Thank you for helping us to celebrate and support Children in Need. The children enjoyed modelling their outfits in our fashion show, taking part in the raffle and had a good try during the ‘pin a bandana on Pudsey’ game.

This week the children worked well to develop their poetry writing skills and created some beautiful imagery poems. I am always impressed by the insight and maturity behind the work they produce as young people. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing them share their work with the class.

During maths we have been using our knowledge of telling the time, to work out the duration of television programmes listed on a timetable. We have also been measuring showing our answers in cm and mm.

Topic lessons have had a focus on rationing and food available during WW2. The children had to work through maths problems using their knowledge of weekly rations and also created a healthy eating food plate.

The children have worked very hard this week and it was lovely to see them enjoying themselves during our Children in Need charity day.

Have a great weekend.

Kind regards

Miss H Hughes and Mrs Evans

The children have been very well behaved and hardworking this week. We have had a lot of pleasure creating our Blitz display board and its quite literally a work of Art! It’s been wonderful to see the children working so well as a team.

We have been busy making a start on Imagery Poetry and the children will be writing their own WW2 Blitz imagery poem next week. We’ve looked at lexical sets relating to WW2, identified features of imagery poems and have completed a Blitz senses spidergram. If you could think of some similes over the weekend that could be added to their poems next week that would be great. A Simile compares two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.E.g. He was as cool as a cucumber. Her smile was bright like the sun. Also, if you could think of a metaphor, that would be very useful. A Metaphor is a comparison of two things that does not use ‘like’ or ‘as’. E.g. Heart of gold. The apple is a little green sun, bright and round. Please don’t worry if you are unable to think of anything as this is something we will be doing next week. Any support at home is greatly appreciated though.

During maths we have been looking at analogue and digital clocks. Time is always a tricky concept to grasp, so please continue to support your child with their understanding of telling the time.

Mrs Jones will be extending her reach, working with children across the school and to allow her to do so we have a new teaching assistant Mrs Evans. Mrs Evans has already made a positive impact with her presence and support this week and has even joined in with a game of football at playtime. She is a very welcome addition to Year 4.

Thanks to Mrs Jones for all of her kindness, support and help.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Miss H Hughes and Mrs Evans

Half Term has arrived!

The children did really well to maintain focus and concentration on lessons this week when I know most of them were ready for a break.

The non-chronological reports about shelters went very well; their work is certainly something to be proud of. Next half term we will be focusing on Poetry and Narrative which I’m sure the children will thoroughly enjoy.

During Maths we will be focusing on measurement and time for the first couple of weeks. If you can spend some time at home getting the children used to using a cm rule and drawing straight lines that would be great. Also, having a look at the clock and talking about how to tell the time. Please continue to focus on times tables too.

The Halloween party was a great success. The children really enjoyed dressing up and sharing their talent in our ‘Halloweens got talent’ show. The children had lots of fun and we shared a laugh or two which was lovely.

Stay safe and have a lovely half term holiday.

Kind regards

Miss H Hughes and Mrs Jones

Friday 9th October 2020

It’s been another busy week of learning in Year 4. We’ve started doing ‘Missions’ this week in our topic lessons and I was so impressed with the way in which the children completed the tasks. They certainly are mission experts! We had some fantastic work produced in the major and minor tasks session. The children had the opportunity to explore their senses imagining what they would see, think, feel, smell and hear when they arrived in Wales from London for the first time as an evacuee in 1939. They also wrote letters home as evacuees which were insightful and touching to read.

Our non-chronological reports on animals were amazing and thanks so much to all of you who supported your child with the research at home.

Maths has been great too! We have been focusing on mental multiplication and division. Please keep a focus on learning the 3, 6 and 9 times table at home. This week we discovered that if you double your 3 times table you get the 6 times table. Also, if you treble the 3 times table you have the 9 times table. We’ve also been adding 9 to numbers; we found a really simple strategy to do this. Instead of having to put the biggest number in our head, and use our fingers to count on. We just add 10 to the number and then subtract 1. These strategies are making us clever mathematicians.

We have sent home usernames and passwords this week. Activelearn is the same as the hwb username and password (but without the @hwbcymru.net). Please encourage the children to become familiar with logging on, as we use the Chrome books weekly during guided reading activities. It’s important to enter the information carefully to avoid being locked out of the account.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Miss H Hughes and Mrs Jones