INTRODUCING THE TEAM

Miss Annie McMullan

Class Teacher

Year 4

What happens in Year 4?

In Year 4, we work to nurture and encourage the feelings of independent thinking, learning and decision making. To achieve this, we guide the children to make decisions on how to present work, how and when to complete homework, and also how to learn best. Children often ask questions; instead of giving them the answers, we encourage the children to think for themselves so that they learn skills which are vital for Year 5, Year 6 and for adult life.

Maths and English

We aim to ensure that the children know and understand particular key skills. Apostrophes, commas, times tables and key spellings are just some of the things children in Year 4 are expected to use accurately.

The Wider Curriculum

We use a cross-curricular approach to enhance the learning experience for the children. In Year 4, there are many exciting Science topics that the children enjoy studying, such as: food chains, sound, electricity, and gases. Fun and engaging History topics, such as the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings and Ancient Egypt, are also taught through an enquiry approach that often fire the imagination of the children. Throughout the year, the children will also develop their speaking and listening skills by participating in a range of performances, including a Christmas production, the Easter Service, and a Class Assembly. Furthermore, the children are encouraged to become physically active and are taught to lead healthy lives. They learn about dance, gymnastics and team games. The children also learn how to swim competently and confidently over a distance of at least 25 metres. Participating in sporting activities enables the children to become physically confident in a way that supports their mental wellbeing and fitness. In addition to weekly PE sessions, the children have the opportunity to engage in competitive sporting events with other local schools. During these events, the children enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing with each other, taking pride in their achievements. Sporting events help build character and embed values of fairness and respect.

Moving from pencil to pen

Year 4 is often the year that children earn their ‘pen licence’ — that peak of handwriting neatness that allows the children to use a pen for writing tasks in school. The children enjoy having a goal to aim for and work hard to raise the standard of their handwriting.

 

Year 4 2021 – 2022

27th May 2022

We have been learning all about the Queen's life in the 1950s to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. We looked at her coronation, and crowned our own Queen of Crondall.

We created our stained glass windows and commemorative coins, all whilst learning Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley to perform to our parents.

20th May 2022

Today, we celebrated our whole school Science Day! We started the day with a science demonstration by Mr Rabani from Court Moor School. He showed us loads of amazing science experiments.

 We also researched a famous scientist to learn more about their amazing discoveries.

 To finish off the day, we designed an experiment to answer the teachers' very important question - which biscuit is the best for dunking? We dunked different biscuits into water to see how many dunks they would last before breaking. The clear winner was the chocolate digestive. 

4th May 2022

For the last couple of weeks, we have been learning to play the Steel Pans with Hampshire Music Services. We started by learning how to play a note on the Steel Pans with one beat and with a roll. We have also learnt a couple of short pieces, including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We are learning all of the pieces by listening to Mr Jones playing, rather than reading music.

We are looking forward to performing to parents in a few weeks!

26th April 2022

Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination...

When we got into school, our classroom door was closed with a sign saying we needed a Golden Ticket to enter. Using our orienteering skills, we searched for clues around the field and playgrounds to earn our Golden Ticket. When we got into the classroom, we made our on crazy creations, just like Willy Wonka. This kicked off our new Scrumdiddlyumptious topic.

16th March 2022

We’ve had a busy week in Year 4! Mr Jones from Hampshire Music Service took us on a musical journey to Brazil by teaching us to play the Samba drums. We worked as a team to create an awesome piece of music! We used little rhymes to help us, such as ‘Bing Bong’ and ‘High, Low, High, Banana’.

   

In Science this half term, we are learning about States of Matter. This week, we have been learning about density, and how liquids have different densities. We created a liquid rainbow by pouring liquids of different densities on top of each other. We then created ‘Lava Lamps’ to apply our learning. 

9th March 2022

We have had a fantastic first couple of weeks back! During the first week back, we celebrated World Book Day by dressing as our favourite book characters. Who can you spot?

We also went on a school trip to the Gilbert White Study Centre, where we conducted a river study and went on a long walk up the Selbourne Zig Zag. We learnt a lot about the features of a river and the creatures that live in them. We even met a talking tree!     

We shared out fabulous projects that we made over half term. Everyone research a natural disaster and we learnt loads from the fantastic models, presentations and posters!

16th February 2022

The last few weeks have been really busy! We had our Health and Safety Week, where we learnt how to keep safe on the roads and on the internet, as well as what to do when we don’t feel safe with help from the NSPCC. We learnt how to keep our teeth healthy with top tips from a dentist and how to keep our minds healthy with some calming yoga. It was a wonderful week!

We have finished learning about sound in Science. We made cup phones and used what we had learnt to explain how they work.

This week, we were lucky enough to see a real chinook land on the field by our school! We got to go inside and ask the pilots lots and lots of questions.

2nd February 2022

We have had a busy few weeks in Year 4! In Geography, we have been learning all about volcanoes. We have learnt about where lava comes from by looking at the structure of the Earth. We made our own Earths with all 4 layers (Inner Core, Outer Core, Mantle and Crust).

We have been learning about how different tectonic plates can cause volcanoes to form. We used Oreo biscuits to see how the different tectonic plates move.

In Science, we have been learning about Sound. We designed an investigation to see whether bigger pinnae (ears) allow you to hear better. We used cards to give ourselves bigger ears.

12th January 2022

We have started the year off with a bang! Our new topic is called ‘What a Disaster!’ and we have started learning about volcanoes. As part of our Stunning Start, we used our maps to find different volcanoes around the world. We then went on to make our own volcanoes.      

Suddenly, a massive eruption took place on our playground!

We found a mysterious clue in our classroom that lead us on a scavenger hunt through the school. It lead us to the library, where we found the book Escape from Pompeii. This started our new English unit.

 

8th December 2021

We have created our own Illuminated Letters in Art this half term. We used the first letter of our first name and drew something that began with this letter around it. We coloured them in using colouring pencils and painted some sections with gold paint to make them stand out.

     

26th November 2021

Today, we spent the whole day learning about Electricity. We learnt about electricity moves around a circuit and what happens if the circuit isn’t complete. We used electrical equipment to build a circuit that would light up a bulb.

 

After this, we looked at conductors and insulators. We designed an experiment as a class to test different materials to see whether they are conductors or insulators. We predicted what we thought the results would be, then completed the experiment to see if we were correct.

  

In the afternoon, we created our own switches to turn a bulb on and off. We used split pins, paper clips, tin foil and card to create different types of switches.

 

10th November 2021

We have been presenting our half term projects to our class. Our task was to research a Stone Age creature and present the information in any way. Our ideas were so inventive! There were Top Trumps, fact files, presentations, models, booklets and even a song! We really enjoyed learning about the creatures that lived in this time. We’re glad the saber tooth cat isn’t around in Crondall!

     

22nd October 2021

Today is the last day of our residential! We tidied our rooms and had our final inspection. Kestrel Room scored 19.5/20 and won the Star Room award for the second time. Well done girls! Our first activity was Stubbington Fox. We looked at how foxes adapt to survive its habitat. We the became foxes and used maps to find clues hidden around the conservation area, whilst trying to hide from the farmer (Mrs Cronin) who tried to catch us!

We also played a small game to teach us about how bats use echolocation to find their food.

Finally we learnt how trees work. We worked together as a class to show the processes

 

It was then time to wave goodbye to Stubbington Study Centre and head back to school. We had a fantastic time on our residential!

21st October 2021

Day 2 at Stubbington Study Centre and it has been a busy one! After waking up (very) early, we had a room inspection by centre staff. Kestrel room scored 16.5/20 for their room and won the Star Room award. We then started our first activity, where we travelled back in time and became Anglo-Saxons. We studied some artefacts, then took part in some activities such as rope making and shield design.

     

After lunch, we built dens in the forest using 3 sticks, 3 pieces of rope and one tarpaulin. A mysterious “rain cloud” appeared out of nowhere, so we were able to test our dens to see how waterproof they were. Can you spot 6 dens in this photo?

    

We also went pond dipping today. We managed to catch loads of different creatures and identified them using the classification keys.

      

We have another exciting evening of activities planned, including badger watching at the hide. We are having the best time, and can’t wait to tell everyone about our great trip when we get home.

 

20th October 2021

We have arrived! We are so excited to be here at Stubbington for the first day of our residential. We hopped off the bus and headed to our first activity – Earthquake. We worked in teams to make our way through an assault course and deliver some important survival equipment.  

After lunch, we had a tour of the site and visited the tuck shop. We have been organising our rooms ready for inspection tomorrow!

   

We are looking forward to our evening activities and a fun-filled day tomorrow!

29th September 2021

We’ve had a busy first few weeks back at school. We have been reading The First Drawing in English, which is about a boy who creates the world’s first drawing of a mammoth in his cave. We became real cave people in the classroom, and drew the story of our first week at school on the walls.

     

In Science, we have been studying living things in our school environment. We went on a bug hunt in the school grounds and caught lots of different creatures. We created a class information book about the things we found on the field.

     

During Democracy Day, we learnt about how people become MPs and how new laws are made. We had a whole class debate about whether or not school trips should be banned. Some of us were very passionate about school trips not being banned, as we are all very excited for our residential! 

8th September 2021

Welcome back, Year 4! It is amazing to be back at school and in our new classroom.

The children have settled in well and are already impressing us with their hard work. This week, we travelled back in time! We used the clues in the woods to work out that we were in the Stone Age. We used what we could find in the woods to create a shelter, something to keep warm and something to hunt with. We can’t wait to learn more about life in the Stone Age!  

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Year 4 2020 – 2021

7th July 2021

Last week we all had an opportunity to visit the allotment. There was much excitement with some of the children saying this was the highlight of their year. We are very grateful to all the adults who have helped create this wonderful space and the children are very eager to get back in there! Thank you.    

23rd June 2021

Sports Day

We had an amazing morning competing, challenging ourselves and being the best we could be. Please see our photos from the event.

      
        

11th June 2021

Today we had our ‘marvellous middle’ which consisted of a camp fire (without an actual fire as it was too hot!) on our school field, socially distanced from Year 3. The children had an opportunity to share their home learning which was outstanding. There were stories, poems and ‘stages’ presented and Mrs Harbord and I were truly inspired by the range of original and diverse creations the children have made. I have included pictures to showcase their work. Many thanks to the adults who supported the children. I hope you enjoyed it as much as the children did and you are equally as proud of them as we are.           

 

25th May 2021

We have been busy reading and enjoying traditional fairytales in our English lessons. However, this week the tales have become twisted from another viewpoint. Here is Elsie’s version of events in Little Red Riding Hood from the Woodcutter’s perspective.

Hello, please believe my story even though I came in late to the story of Little Red Riding Hood.  I mean look at me would I lie to you?  So this is how it all started, I was taking a relaxing stroll through the woods, seeing if there were any good trees to chop down. I was just walking past my Mother’s house. When I stopped dead in my tracks.

I heard an almighty scream of terror.  But I knew that scream… could it be my Mother? My Mother’s servant? My Wife?  But then I heard it again.  I thought for a moment then… how could I have been so stupid, it was my daughter!

I stormed in getting my arms ready for the swing of my axe when… but it couldn’t be… I couldn’t hurt him, it was my Mother’s wolf servant!  I mean look at me do I look like I’d hurt a loyal friend of my Mothers?  I couldn’t do this how could I?

Feeling humiliated I took a deep breath in, terrified of what I was going to do and swung my axe at him to scare him away.  Then scooping up my petrified daughter with my great big hands, I hugged her with love.  Putting her down, I walked over to my dizzy Mother helping her up. I was feeling guilty and vulnerable but brave at the same time.

Well that’s my woodcutter’s story thank you for listening.

By Elsie

 

We also had a visitor today to talk to our class about being us.

‘The lady showed us a video of Harold and his friends going to the theme park. They didn’t want to go on the same ride and then they felt sad they were not together. I enjoyed all of it, especially the bit where you could see in the body’ – Jacob

12th May 2021

We wanted to share our learning with you as you and give you a sneak peek of our classroom.

Here are some pictures of our outstanding art inspired by our woodland walk, our reading reviews on our reading tree and our research about the composer Sergei Prokofiev. Yesterday we listened to Peter and the Wolf and we really enjoyed listening to the different characters from the story.

Elsie – I think the music was really inspiring!

Elizabeth – I really enjoyed it because the music was very fast when the wolf came.

Charlie – At times it was very energetic when the wolf came in.

  

30th April 2021

This week we have been comparing fiction and non-fiction text with wolves in it. We ended the week by finishing ‘Walk with a wolf’ by Janni Howker and created a short description of the hunt scene. Please enjoy a sample of our amazing writing.

The Hunt

Trotting through the forest in the deep snow, skidding on sharp ice.

Hearing a crash in the bushes, they duck down low and lift their nose to a scent, then they run out backs bent.

They pounce on an old scared moose like a thunder strike and eat the moose with absolute delight.

Sleeping in an icy trench as snowy dreams fall on the wolves.

By Charlie

 

The Hunt

The wolves trot down the steep, snow covered hills with the cubs close behind. Wait. Sniff. Stop. Sniff. There’s a faint odour of moose. Slowly but steadily the pack sniffs it out.

Ready to pounce, they charge. The moose turns. He is old and weak… he was too late. The male wolf sinks his teeth into the moose. They feast.

Full bellied, they drift into a deep sleep under a soft pool of light.

By Amelia G

19th April 2021

If you went down to the woods today, you would have been in for a big surprise…Year 3 and our class were there for our stunning start. Armed with maps and compasses, we ventured into our ‘Woodland Wonder’ topic. We explored and navigated our way through nature.

Elizabeth – ‘We had a long walk and went Lee Woods’

Jacob – ‘Today we went to Lee Woods and we did a scavenger hunt and it was so fun!’

Elsie- ‘We went on a scavenger hunt and we were looking for particular leaves and sticks’

Amelia – ‘In the woods, we found a den’

Charlie – ‘We saw three hares running across the field’

Halle – ‘In the woods we found some badger holes’

Maddie – ‘I saw one tree which was in the shape of a H’

Amelia G – ‘We found a tree that looked like a whomping willow tree from Harry Potter’

Will – ‘We were exploring the woods looking for sticks and leaves’

Maisey – ‘I enjoyed exploring the different twigs, trees and leaves’

   

26th March 2021

We’ve had another busy week! We have all finished painting our moths (Amy Johnson inspired art), started creating our phenomenal flight bags and we had our fabulous finish yesterday.

In the afternoon, we had a zoom call with Matt Roberts who works as a chinook pilot. We were able to see inside the helicopter and ask him lots of questions.

Elizabeth – ‘There were a lot of chairs inside it!’

Jasper – ‘I can’t believe the blades were actually made of cardboard’.

Elsie – ‘It was very big and bigger than the normal helicopters that pass my house’.

Charlie – ‘It was amazing how much fuel it could carry’.

Amelia – ‘There were so many buttons I couldn’t count them all’.

We are looking forward to our learning next week!

19th March 2021

Everyone really embraced Red Nose Day today and really made us smile. We wanted to share a picture of us all looking amazing!

 

12th March 2021

This morning we had a visit from Sports Cool who ran an Olympics PE session. The children had an opportunity to demonstrate their team and sports skills. Here are some pictures…

   

8th March 2021

We have had an amazing first day back at school. My, they have all grown!

After waiting patiently we finally managed to fly our kites. There was very light wind but we didn’t let this stop us.  

After much deliberation the results were…

Best Flyer – Ellie

Best Design – Halle

Most Creative – Will

Well done to all of the children who took part!

16th December 2020

We had a lovely TEAMs call from Year 2 this afternoon. They wanted us to take part in their ‘Fabulous Finish’ which was called ‘The Explorer Factor’. Using the power of technology, both classrooms joined virtually as they tried to persuade us who was the most important explorer. We heard arguments for Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong. It was a difficult decision but an overwhelming vote was made for Neil Armstrong as he was kind and a good team player. Year 2 made us think and reflect on how he demonstrated our STAR values. We really enjoyed our meeting and want to say a big thank you to Year 2 for making it so exciting.

Year 2 also gave us feedback on our stories we wrote for them based on our work on ‘1001 Arabian Nights’ last week. They enjoyed the graphic novels and picture books. The stories are going to be stored in their book corner for Year 2 to enjoy. Well done Year 4!

15th December 2020

Today we had our ‘Fabulous Finish’ which gave us a chance to show off our ‘soap market stall’ (I’m not sure they would have had the glitter or the toy in a traditional market in Baghdad but we were very impressed with our creations!)

Here is a clip showing some of our bars of soap.

4th December 2020

We have had a phenomenally busy ‘Fun Friday’! After writing instructions to make soap, we made our own unique bars which have a variety of colours, fragrances and secrets inside. More will be revealed soon…

 

We have also been opening our class ‘acts of kindness advent calendar’. This week we have been smiling at people we meet, paying compliments, telling jokes and today, if someone was lonely we would be there for them.

 

As we have a very important date coming up next week, we have been preparing for it…here is a little clue.

26th November 2020

Following on from last week, we can now share some of our poems from our book we have published. I’m sure you will be as impressed and proud of our work as we are.   

18th November 2020

This week is ‘Anti-bullying Week’ and the theme is ‘United against Bullying’.

We have been looking at poetry around the theme of bullying in our English lessons and have been creating our own poems modelled on some examples we have studied. The children have considered what friendship means to them and how they can support each other. At the end of the week we will make our own poetry book with a collection of poems we have created to share with you. Below are a few examples so far.

I am the person

I am the person who can help,

I am the person who will never let you fall,

I am the person who can always be there for you,

I am the person who will stand up for you no matter what.

 

I am the person who goes down with you,

I am the person who helps you gain your strength,

I am the person who will walk you home,

I am the person who will always be your friend no matter what.

 

I am the person who is waiting for you at lunch,

I am the person who can stand up for you,

I am the person who will fight with you when you need me,

You are not alone, we fall together.

By Elsa

 

I am the person

I am the person who picks you up when you fall,

I will always be there for you,

I am the person who fights off the bullies,

I am the person who keeps you going,

I am the person who takes the blame.

You are like a brother to me so I would do anything to keep you going,

When I laugh you laugh,

When I cry you cry.

So I guess we’re best friends!

By Bede dedicated to Sam.

3rd November 2020

The children created thoughtful and considerate presentations as they made their speeches on Democracy Day this week for the position of School Council and Eco-Warriors.  We cannot wait to find out the results!        

22nd October 2020

As we come to the end of our first half term in Year 4, I wanted to celebrate all of the children’s learning so far. You may not be able to come into our classroom at the moment, so we thought we’d share some of our work with you.    

These are pictures of our reading rivers and our artwork based on ‘Midgard’.

We also enjoyed our ‘Crondall Strictly Come Dancing’ with Year 3 this afternoon. The children had the opportunity to showcase their performances with each other and celebrate the end of their dance lessons. Pictures of the dance will follow…

15th October 2020

This week we have been inspired by the text ‘Saving the unicorn’s horn’ and have been writing our own time slip stories. We have transported our characters from 2020 to a Viking village.

Here is an extract of George’s story for you to enjoy…

William had nothing to do. He couldn’t play with his brother because he was at a friend’s house. Finally he made up his mind, he would go on a long nice refreshing walk. So William pulled on his coat and started to head towards the woods. As he went further in, he came to a clearing where the ancient house stood. It had always been there but William had never dared to go in. It had shattered windows and a broken down door. Today curiosity got the better of him and in he went.

There was a cupboard and it looked very old. He decided to open it. Suddenly silver and gold flashed before his eyes. William felt like he was falling. Eventually he felt his feet on the ground and his eyes opened. He was in a tiny hut and it looked just like the room in the house. It had no windows and no beds. A hare hung from the ceiling. William was confused. He swung the door open and the stench hit him. It stank of sewage! Then he noticed the dirt paths and the horses pulling the carts. Huts just like his were on both sides of the muddy paths.

We will keep you posted!

30th September 2020

Today we have been using sources from archaeologists to prove/disprove a statement about the Vikings. We found out lots of different facts we didn’t know before!    

 

25th September 2020

We had a wonderful day out at Stubbington yesterday. The children displayed excellent behaviour and were a credit to our school. During the day, the children had many activities to keep them occupied and demonstrated our school value of teamwork. I am very proud of them all as I am sure you are too!

‘I really liked the ‘Earthquake’ obstacle course because we had to help everyone and it was a challenge because we had to carry lots of different items’ – Amelia S

‘When it was dark we saw the badgers. They liked to eat pizza – I thought that was strange!’ – Elizabeth

‘I really liked it when we had to run away from the Boyce bird because we had to complete the challenge at the same time!’ – Ellie

‘I enjoyed it when we were looking for clues about animals who lived at Stubbington. We found food that had been nibbled. My partner and I found a fox hole. We knew it was a fox hole because it was 26cm and our guide told us which animal it belonged to.’ – Jasper

‘I liked it when we had to climb the rope because it was a different experience’ – Maddie

‘I really liked the pond dipping because you can see all kinds of pond animals’ – Maisey

‘I liked it when we went to the adventure playground as it was fun!’ – Clementine

‘My partner and I found two newts and we named them…Debbie and Alfred’ – Amelia G

‘I liked looking for evidence of animals as we found a nibbled acorn’ – Elsie and Sam

‘I liked it when we saw a double rainbow. I’ve only seen one once before!’ – Elsa

‘We found two water boatmen and a water skater!’ – William  
      

17th September 2020

A Viking raid in Crondall?

It was reported that a group of Vikings sailed onto the playground disturbing the monks and locals, who were outside the monastery. Here are photos of the event that took place.  

YEAR 4 2020-2021

Welcome back!

9th September 2020

It has been amazing to be back at school and in our new class. We have all missed the children so much and I think the children are pleased to be back too!

The children have settled well into Year 4 and this week we have enjoyed our stunning start to our topic…The Invader Factor!

To begin, the children had to create a human timeline with significant dates in history (we even included some of our family birthdays too!) Then, as Saxon spies in teams, we had to have a look at a picture a man named Sven had left on the wall. This gave us clues to see what Vikings used when they invaded. We have already generated lots of questions we want to find out. Our class will tell you more once we have conducted further research!