Welcome to Fox Class!

Use this page to keep track of what our little foxes have been learning in Year 4...

ALERT: FOXTASTIC NEWS!!!!

I just want to say that since having Year 4 at the beginning of September, they have come on in leaps and bounds. The children are growing with confidence and independence. Their eagerness to learn is just absolutely fantastic! Everything I teach them, they are trying to apply at a more mastery level throughout all subjects. Overall, I am one very proud teacher and I just wanted to share this news with you all!

Yearly Curriculum Overview (Year 4)

I have attached a yearly overview of all the topics and everything that will be taught in Year 4. Please be aware that the teaching order of these may change. 

A Musical Day at the Apex!

This year, Fox Class have been learning to play the violin. They were able to showcase their new talent by taking part in a mini musical celebration at the Apex with lots of other schools! Obviously, Fox Class stood out and had the best techniques when playing their musical instrument!

Our topic for this final half term is...

Our topic for this half term is 'Queen and Country'

We are extremely proud to celebrate the Queen's 90th Birthday! 

Our Topic this half term is...

Once upon a time...in Tanzania

Computing and Geography

The children have worked in pairs to create a leaflet about Tanzania. Within the leaflet, the children needed to included information about where Tanzania is located as well as the countries population. They have also included information about three of the main locations within Tanzania: Mount Kilimanjaro, National Serengeti Park and Zanzibar Beach. 

With regards to the computing curriculum, the children have produced a leaflet using the software, Microsoft Publisher. Various skills were shown, such as: copying and pasting; changing font size and colour; adding borders and backgrounds, along with formatting designs. 

Literacy 

In fox class literacy lessons, the children have being analysing a range of folktales. We have specifically looked at folktales that originate from Tanzania. 'The Ape, the snake and the lion' is the story the children have been writing about. The pieces of writing the class have produced are amazing. Do feel free to come and have a look at any time!

Mount Kilimanjaro

The children have been learning about one of the main attractions in Tanzania. The volcano is considered dormant, but not yet extinct; thousands of people climb it every year!  

The children have been learning about how volcanoes erupt, and what causes eruptions. Foxes have also been extremely lucky, and were able to make their own volcano and erupt it using the standard ingredients of baking soda and vinegar. We did have to discuss the chemical reaction of the volcano when it erupted though! (science link!) Take a look at our volcanoes!

Science Day!

Science day was an extremely exciting day for foxes. I gave them an investigation: Is dough a conductor? That was their hypothesis for the day. They had to make predictions, carry out the investigation, express their findings and conclude their results. Overall, the children had an enjoyable day and learnt lots about electricity, conductors, insulators and electrons! 

Religious Education

We have been learning about the Pentecost. We now know that the Pentecost is a celebration of the churches birthday, so we baked cakes for the occassion!

The children had to choose a religious symbol from the bible story 'Wind and Fire'. This is the story that explains the meaning of Pentecost. Ask your children what the symbols mean - they will know! 

Art and Design

In Fox Class, we have been learning about the artist, Piet Mondrian. The children have researched lots of facts about him, and have studied his most famous piece of artwork, 'composition'. 

The children identified all the features from his work. They included: he only used primary colours and black; the use of straight lines and you can only see rectangles. We then transferred Piet Mondrian's style and created our own Top of the Pops logo! Come and take a look...

Religious Education

Our topic this half term has been 'Christians on a Mission'. We have been looking at the missions God has given his disciples, missions within religious stories and missions we could give people ourselves. 

This week Fox Class learnt about ‘The Great Commission’. In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. The children have created their own Great Commission for a friend to adhere to. These commissions all relate to our school value – friendship! 

SPaG: Fronted Adverbial Phrases

In Fox Class we have been learning about adverbial phrases. Adverbial phrases are a group of words that describe a verb or adjective. They describe how, when, where of how often something is happening. The word 'fronted' refers to the phrase going at the start of a sentence followed by a comma. Take a look at some of the children’s' sentences...

Some Bright Spark - Howard Carter

As part of our 'some bright spark' topic, we have been designing our own torches. We've had to use our knowledge of electricity to make circuits that allow the torch to light up. We made a complete circuit by using soldering tools to connect all the wires and components together!

We have also designed, and made the torches ourselves. The purpose of the torch is to get young people to become archaeologists. What could you find with these torches?

Physical Education

Within Foxes PE lessons, we have been learning various gymnastics movements. This half term, I have linked it to our theme of Egyptians, and gave the children the opportunity to create a sequence of Egyptian Yoga movements. Take a look!

SPaG (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation)

Since September, Year 4 have been working really hard within their SPaG lessons. So far, they have learnt about: complex sentences, prepositional phrases, adverbs, adjectives, nouns, verbs, determiners (articles), compound sentences as well as how to use apostrophes correctly! They will be SPaG experts by the end of the year! Below is some of the children's whiteboard work...

Some Bright Spark

Our whole school topic this term is 'Some Bright Spark'. In Year 4, we will be learning about the Egyptian era, focusing on Howard Carter and his discoveries. Here are some questions that the children want to find out during this topic...

Friday 13th November: Children in Need

The children enjoyed coming into school in their pyjamas, and donating money to Children in Need. It was a great day!

Science

This term in science we have been learning about the changes of state. We have been sorting a range of solids, liquids and gases and identifying their properties. We have also analysed the particle structures within each of these forms. We are now investigating how the particles in a solid, liquid and gas can be changed by applying the process of heat or cooling.

Exciting Music News!

All of the children in Year 4 will be learning to play the violin. Every Wednesday, they will be taught a music lesson which will be lead by a specialist music teacher (Mrs Prentergast). Each child will have their own violin, and we hope that they will be able to take them home just before half term so you can all enjoy the beautiful sounds they make!

Sports Week

Louise Jukes, a GB Olympic Handball Player, came to Barnham today to share her experiences and encourage sport throughout the school. She delivered an insightful assembly that motivated the children to set achievable goals to become the best they can be! In addition to this, all classes completed a handball workshop. Eagle class learnt the techniques of handball, and then used these techniques to score goals. It was a great day!

The Circus

Hawks and Eagles were extremely lucky to take part in an hour circus workshop involving juggling, poi and plate spinning. Here are a few pictures that were taken during the day...

Science - Living things and their habitats

Eagles have recently visited the Barnham Cross Common to investigate wild life and living things for part of our science topic. Here are a few snaps of the day...

This half term our topic is On a dark, dark night. The children have created a mind map of all the learning that want to achieve this half term, why not take a look...

Science

This half term Eagle Class have been learning about Electricity. The children have had lots of fun learning about the various components of a circuit and creating some of their own. Take a look...

Owl Pellets

Eagle Class had a very exciting afternoon carrying out an Owl Pellet Lab Report.  The children had the opportunity to work in groups to dissect owl pellets. They predicted what they would find in them, and then they recorded their results using an owl pellet bone chart!

School Trip

Hawk and Eagle class were extremely lucky to have the opportunity to visit the School and Farm Country Fair at Trinity Park. The children thoroughly enjoyed the day and were very engaged in learning from and about the exhibitions and demonstrations.