Potion designing and Ice cube experiments

This week we have been using our imagination to think of some magical potions. We also designed beautiful bottles for them.

In science we have done an experiment to try and make ice cubes melt at different speeds. We found out how insulation makes a barrier to stop heat from melting ice cubes. Therefore the ice cube wrapped in tinfoil and felt melted a lot slower than the control ice cube. This was different from lots of the children’s predictions who thought it would be like a coat and make the ice cube warmer and led to an interesting discussion.
In maths we have continued our focus on times tables, looking in detail at the 3’s and 6’s.

The Final Roman Battle!

Hello everyone, In the week before half term we finished all our Roman crafts, put on our helmets and shields and marched our way to the hall to re-enact the final battle between Romans and Celts.

The children had lots of fun getting into the “Testudo” tortoise formation. Whilst the Celtic warriors threw javelins (made of foam) at them.

We have been hard at work the first week back from half term and have begun our Potions topic with creating our own magical plants to be special ingredients. Well done to everyone who has already handed in the science homework about solids, liquids and gasses. This provided some interesting discussions with the most controversial things being mayonnaise and butter!

In maths we have been looking at area of 2D shapes by counting up squares. Next week we will be focusing on times tables, starting with the 3s.

Wedding news, Boudicca comics and Roman shields

Thank you so much to all the parents who kindly donated to our card! Starzy and I had the most perfect day imaginable and shared so much joy with our family and friends.

Back in the classroom the children have made some excellent Boudicca comics, telling the story about her heroism in the face of the mighty Roman Empire. Please ask your child to tell you the story as they have been working hard to remember it.

In maths we have been looking at column addition and column subtraction so that we can now add and takeaway 4 digit numbers.

Finally we have started work on our life size Roman shields which will be finished next week.

Spellings will be uploaded to Google Classroom soon. Have a lovely weekend!

Fishbourne Roman Palace Trip

On Monday we had a wonderful day visiting the world class mosaics at Fishbourne Roman Palace. They have a great educational team there and Charley (our guide) gave us a very informative talk about Roman life. We explored a traditional Roman kitchen, learnt how to write Roman numerals and letters on wax and papyrus, tried spinning wool into thread and even built a free standing bridge with wooden blocks.
There is a beautiful garden with lots of curious herbs to smell and a museum with interesting artefacts. One of the things the children enjoyed most was just sitting and sketching the mosaics in the main room.
We all want to say a huge thank you to the parent volunteers who joined us on the trip, We couldn’t have done it without you.

Back in class the children have worked hard writing a detailed recount of the trip. In maths we have started looking at rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and nearest 100.

Next week is an exciting one for me personally as I am getting married in Brighton on Saturday the 8th October. I will be out of school on Friday the 7th.

Roman Soldier Boot Camp

We have had an energetic week in year 4, being put through our paces as we took part in Roman soldier boot camp. We measured our longest javelin throws and timed our 50m sprint. This was all to help us write a letter to Emperor Claudius, asking to enlist in his army to invade Britannia.
The children used lots of new Latin vocabulary like scutum, gladius and galea to sound more authentic. Please ask your children to see if they remember what they mean.

In maths we used lots of practical resources to explore place value and solidify what we have learnt about thousands, hundreds, tens and ones. If you have a dice at home you could even challenge the children to a game of “naughty or nice dice”, they will explain the rules.

Don’t forget there is no school on Monday 19th. We will see you all on Tuesday!

Marching Orders for Year 4's Roman Soldiers.

It has been brilliant to welcome all the children into Owl Class. We have begun life in Year 4 by learning about the strict discipline and order of the Roman army. Even though this comes more naturally to some children, They have all had a great time practising their marching formations out on the playground, amongst the rain showers. Next week we will be going through Roman Soldier boot camp in P.E., learning what it takes to join emperor Claudius’s army.

In Maths the children have been enjoying the “Guess the number game” and I’ve set them the challenge of playing it with a family member over the weekend. We are working on Place value and understanding the hundreds, tens and ones columns. Some children might even be ready to challenge themselves with 4 digit numbers.

In our English lessons we have done some creative poetry about owls in the style of William Blake’s Tyger Tyger. We have also looked at the statutory word list for year 3 and 4 and this weeks spellings are all taken from there. I have enjoyed reading with the children this week for the first time. Please ensure your child is bringing their reading record and reading book to and from school each day. We are also reading a class book; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Children are welcome to bring in their own copy to school if they want but it’s not essential.

Camp out photos and End of the Year

Well done Owls for all your amazing work this year, it has been a pleasure to teach every single one of you! I hope you get a wonderful break over the summer and spend quality time with your family and friends. The last few days we spent doing lots of science and design and technology: making bottle submarines, beetle models and our very own battleships games.
I have been so impressed watching your increased independence and this was most evident at the Camp Out when everyone was able to adventure, explore and play in the woods so wonderfully. We had a brilliant time, not to mention more sleep than was expected!
Here are some of my favourite photos from the trip.

Art Week - Mythical and legendary birds

Art week has been so much fun! The children have explored lots of different mediums and gone through the process of exploring, designing, practising and producing some incredible pieces. We took a twist on the school theme of “birds” and focused on mythical and legendary birds.

Since we have been learning about Anglo Saxons in our topic, we took a closer look at the flag of Sussex. This is based on a design recorded in 1611 in a book called “Kingdom of the South Saxons”. It has 6 yellow Martlett birds on a blue background. The Martlett is a mythical bird which actually has no feet and therefore never stops flying. The children created polystyrene templates of a martlett which they then printed onto flags using fabric paint.

We also looked at Legendary birds from Pokemon and learnt about Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno. Another mythical bird in popular culture is the Phoenix, particularly Fawkes from Harry Potter. We did marbling to make a colourful background then traced outlines onto it and cut it out.

We can’t wait to show you all our flags pictures and more in the gallery next week on Friday.

States of Matter investigations and Climate Action day.

Wednesday saw the schools first Climate Action Day, led by Mrs Jesse and her team of helpers. The children had great fun with lots of educational activities and we chose our class focus. We want to reduce our climate footprint by turning lights and devices off whenever possible. This includes having a light and screen monitor in the classroom responsible for turning everything off when we leave. All the small changes can make a difference.

We have had a great start to our potions topic this term and are really getting to grips with the increased focus on science this half term. Thank you to all the children who completed potion homework, these have been displayed in our classroom.
The children did two different experiments with ice cubes. In the first they had to speed up the melting process. In the second they had to find ways to slow the melting down. We learnt about the uses of salt and how important insulation is.

In maths we have been measuring perimeters. We worked as teams to draw shapes on the playground in chalk.

Roman Re-enactment!

This week we have been extra crafty and made our wonderful Roman shields and helmets. We were finished painting, tying, folding, cutting, sticking and stapling just in time to rush out onto the field and demonstrate the battle formations we have learnt about.

The favourite is always “the tortoise” where the children use their shield to protect themselves from Celtish foam javelins.

In English we wrote letters home to Rome to explain what life was like in Roman Britain.

In Maths we have been learning column subtraction, and using our place value knowledge to exchange when necessary.

Mosaic Making

This week the children have really shown their creativity and artistic skills in creating their own mosaics.

We have also been learning about Roman Numerals in maths and have introduced negative numbers on a number line.

We looked at reasons why the Romans wanted to invade Britain and how their designs are quite similar to many things we still use today. In English the children are writing the thoughts of a warrior on the evening before a battle. This includes prayers to the Roman Gods and Goddesses which have learnt about.

Fishbourne Villa Trip

We had a fantastic day out on Monday as we boarded a coach and hopped over to Chichester to visit Fishbourne Roman Villa. It was such a nice feeling to be taking the children on an enriching and exciting trip again after almost 2 years of having to stay at school.

Luke and Isla M show off the Roman Prince and Princess outfits.

The children were a little nervous when told they would be trying out life as a slave in the Roman workshop. However it turned out to be a real treat with so many hands on activities provided by the kind, educational staff at the villa. They were spinning wool, building arches, writing on wax tablets, designing mosaics, cooking and grinding flour by hand in the kitchen.

After lunch and a good run on the field, the children explored the museum and stared with wonder at the exquisite, original mosaics. It is incredible to think that these masterpieces are almost 2000 years old! We did some sketching and then headed outside for the sights and smells of the traditional Roman herb garden.

The children were brilliantly behaved throughout the day and I want give a big thanks to Faye and Anna for volunteering. We have already done a report of the day in our English lessons but the children now love pointing out to me just how many photos of Fishbourne they find in different Roman non-fiction books. It really is one of the best preserved Roman sites in the country and we are lucky to live close to it.

In maths we are still working on place value by adding 10, 100 or 1000 to different numbers. Don’t forget to keep up with times tables practice and please ask your child which maths birds level they are on.

Week 1 for Owl class and key info for year 4.

It was lovely to meet all the children properly and I want to wish a big welcome to year 4 for all the parents too! To begin life in Owls class we wrote some descriptive poetry about owls using the style of William Blake. They look brilliant up on the walls of our classroom. In maths we are going over our knowledge of place value and we will be exploring numbers in the thousands next week. Our topic this term is "I Am Warrior!" and we will be learning all about the Romans. So far we have been learning key facts and some Latin names for things. Ask your child what a “pugio” or a “gladius” is to see if they can remember.
I have been checking Google passwords for all the children and I am creating new passwords for those that have forgotten theirs over the holidays. We will send a letter home next week with the new one so don’t worry if it doesn’t work currently. It really helps things in class if you can avoid changing them. I have also sent home a letter with login details for tt rockstars as we use this a lot in Year 4.

Key things for you to keep track of in Year 4:

Our P.E day is Thursday and our Forest school day is Friday.

Reading records: Myself or a TA will read with your child every week and write in their reading record (This will start from week 2). Whilst they should be reading everyday for at least 10 minutes, I award house points for children that have at least 3 days of reading per week in their books. It doesn’t have to be an adult writing the entry since in the children are old enough to do this sensibly.

Times Tables Books: I expect children to do 3 columns per week of any times table they need to work on. These will be checked on Friday and house points will be given to those who have practised.

Times Tables Rockstars: I will check for at least one login per week and I will award house points on Friday morning for those that have used it.

Spellings: These will be given out on a Friday afternoon via Google Classroom and tested on the following Friday morning. The children will be given a couple of chances to practice in class during the week.

Homework: This will usually be posted on Google Classroom on a Friday and due in by the following Thursday. For this week answer the question:

Can you think of anything we use today that dates back to Roman times?

That’s all for now and please don’t forget to respond to the Fishbourne Villa Trip letter by Wednesday 15th. We are going on Monday 20th!

Mr Butler

An energetic start to the term with sports week!

We have had many treats this week. Firstly Mr Butler got to do his favourite thing for a whole day and teach ultimate frisbee to every class in the school. The children did really well and especially those year 4’s who came to the new after school club, you got double frisbee this week!
On Wednesday the playground looked a little different with a massive “Cave bus” parked in it. The children loved exploring the tight passages inside with their helmets and flashlights.
On Thursday we learnt some break dancing moves and tried our best at street dance.

Finally, Friday was our sports day and the children ran extremely fast, competed heartily and cheered on everyone for taking part.

In the classroom we have been looking at our new topic “Blue Abyss” writing poems about the sea. We also took a dive right down to the Challenger Deep, the deepest, darkest spot of the ocean.

In maths we have been looking at pictograms and bar charts for statistics. Please keep up times tables practice as we are doing the national multiplication check soon. There is currently a battle between boys and girls on tt rockstars!

What a Whirlwind term in Year 4!

We have had a great 6 weeks looking at our amazing topic “ Road Trip USA!” . We wrote postcards from New York, exploring the sights and taking a closer look at the Statue of Liberty. We discovered the most famous landmarks across different states and planned a busy five day itinerary jam-packed with adventure. We even learnt how to type emails to and from some of the fanciest hotels in the world. The last few weeks have been focused on Native American culture and we memorised some traditional stories off by heart. We even created our own stories and artwork so make sure you ask your child to re-tell it to you, possibly even around a campfire in the most traditional way! We also released our pet tadpoles into the nature area pond. A huge thank you to Skyla’s family for finding them for us and William’s family for caring for them in the Easter holidays.

In Maths we have looked at telling the time and working with money. Our times tables knowledge has been getting so good that we were even able to beat Year 5 in a Battle of the Bands contest on Times Tables Rockstars. We did not fair so well against Year 6. I hope everyone keeps up their practicing since the times tables check is approaching just after the break.

In science we explored simple circuits and made lightbulbs light up after learning about Thomas Edison’s discoveries. We also made our own push switches. In P.E we have been learning Ultimate Frisbee and I look forward to seeing lots of Year 4’s in my afterschool club, starting on Thursdays after half term.
I hope you have a fantastic half term and I can’t believe we will be in the final part of year 4 when you return! Our next topic is “Blue Abyss” and we will be journeying to the very deepest parts of the ocean.

Mr Butler

Growing Tadpoles

Year 4 are looking after some tadpoles. They are growing fast and very soon they will be frogs, ready to be released into the wild.

Week 5 - Making helmets and battle speeches!

We’ve had a productive week finishing our Roman helmets, or cassis as we say in Latin! The children will be able to take these home on Monday, along with their shields, they are ready to ward off any Barbarian invasions.
In maths we have been working on written methods of addition. We’ve used resources to demonstrate how to add 3 digit numbers together and use the key term exchanging when two of the digits add to more than 9. The children should be able to explain this term with hundreds, tens and ones columns.
The real highlight of the week was performing our soliloquies, with special guest Miss Moss Silverson present to see progress the children have made with their writing. We listened to actors performing Roman and Celtic soliloquies on the eve of going to battle and then created our own. We are lucky to have some lively performers in the class that really got into character and gave some fierce speeches!
We have now started our weekly spellings, this weeks focus is -ly endings. New spellings will be added to our Google classroom on Friday afternoon and children will be tested on Thursdays. Please get in touch if you need help with accessing this, thanks to those parents who have already been in touch via google classroom. The children have been told if they are in Green or Blue group.

Owl Class Roman Battle Re-enactment

Week 2 in Owls Class

This week I’ve been so impressed by the Creative Writing everyone has done. I had to pick 4 pieces to share with Mr King for head teachers awards!

It all started when we received a letter from Emperor Claudius asking for recruits to join his Roman army to invade Britannia. We picked our new Roman names, held a mini Boot Camp outside to test our skills and then began to persuade Claudius why we would be a good fit for his army. We also learnt some key Roman terminology so they can tell their pugios from their cassis!
In maths we reminded ourselves of number lines and figured out how to round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000. We have also begun completing the Year 3 assessments as these weren’t able to happen in June.

Every child should now have a reading record and times table book to take home with them. Ideally these will be practised as often as possible. Just 10 minutes at a time is fine, a little and often is better than one big practice a week. I will award House Points to children that have read 5 times a week and done times tables 3 times a week.
Any questions please get in touch by the school office.
Mr Butler

Week 1 in Owls Class

We had a great first week in Year 4!

It was lovely to meet everyone properly and welcome them into our freshly painted and decorated classroom. To begin life in Owls class we wrote some descriptive poetry about owls with creative illustrations. In maths we are going over our knowledge of place value and particularly focusing on numbers in the thousands. Our topic this term is "I Am Warrior!" and we will be learning all about the Romans. So far we have made Roman Mosaics and begun reading some ancient Roman myths. Can you think of anything we use today that dates back to Roman times?

Mr Butler