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Year 4

 

Year Four Team

 

Year 4 is made up of three classes: Cloudjumper (Miss Danesi); Stormfly (Ms Edmead) and Toothless (Mrs Perkins).  Other adults in Year 4 include Mrs Martin and Mrs Lowe.  We have been inspired by characters from the book How To Train Your Dragon, characters who live our school values just like we do. 

 

In Year 4 we have some fantastic themes - learning is thematic meaning each term we focus on one theme through our reading, writing and wider curriculum. By learning in this way, we deepen our understanding, become critical thinkers and develop both knowledge and skills in key areas.

 

Our themes in Year 4 are:

  • Journeys
  • The Anglo Saxons
  • Mountains and Volcanoes
  • It’s All Electric
  • It’s All Electric
  • Vicious Vikings

 

All our themes give us the opportunity to acquire new knowledge, develop our skillsets, apply our Featherby Values and develop our 6Cs: Character, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking and Citizenship. Our learning in school is built around these areas and linked in with a class read. We love sharing what we have learnt in school but learning also happens outside the classroom and our homework and wider reading opportunities are one way this happens. It is important to us that we are always learners whether we are in school, at home or out and about in the world. Events we look forward to are our Big Outcomes where we welcome parents and visitors into school to share in our learning with us; this is one of the times you will see our 6Cs in action! 

 

 

Journeys

Our first theme is inspired by our class read Dick Whittington and his life and journeys which we learn about as we interweave with English, geography and science. We learn about the journey Dick Whittington took in the U.K. and then wider journeys across to North Africa. We continue to develop our web of knowledge on the human body by learning about teeth and the digestive system. To refine and enhance our creative skills we make bags which Dick Whittington could use for his journey. Our class read and Dick Whittington give us the opportunity to write poems, reports and playscripts. 

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Anglo Saxons

The Anglo Saxon theme returns us to concepts and knowledge we acquired in Year 3 when looking at the Roman invasion of Britain. We recall this knowledge and build upon it by comparing the invasions and the effects on British culture, technologies and beliefs. We further our knowledge on the Anglo Saxons by creating Celtic Patterns and producing bread and stews based on Anglo Saxon recipes. Our science journey continues with a focus on the human body for how we hear and how sound travels. Our class read this term is Beowulf where we learn about this hero and the adventures he undertook, the villains he battled and what he did to support his people. This inspires our writing outcomes newspapers, stories with historical settings and instructions. 

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Mountains and Volcanoes

This terms theme is always an awe inspiring theme as we learn about the true strength of the natural world. We acquire knowledge around how mountains and volcanoes form, where they form  and the reasons for this. This is interweaved with our science learning as we study changing states from gases, through liquids to solids. This theme gives us the opportunity to be practical and learn through enquiry and experiments. We continue to develop our web of knowledge through our art learning where we produce paintings of scenes for effect looking at the raw strength of nature. Our class read this term is Heidi where we will write non-chronological reports, poetry and stories. This is a truly exciting theme and one we look forward to. We are able to recall and return to our geographical skills when we learn about rivers in Year 5. 

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It’s All Electric

This term is the start of our two term focus on electricity and the theme It’s All Electric. Our class read is Three Cheers For Inventors which we use to support writing outcomes of explanation, biography and instructions, we also use our wider knowledge from the theme to produce these outcomes. Our main thematic driver is science this term where we learn how to produce a range of circuits and controlling factors. We develop our skills through enquiry and practical experiments. Our learning is further in history by focusing upon how the increase in electrical items and support have allowed for more leisure time and the effect of this on society. 

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It’s All Electric (part 2)

We continue to deepen our web of knowledge on electricity this term with a focus on the impact of humans on the environment, habitats and animals. This term we have an environmental theme where our class read is Spud Goes Green, supporting us to produce a different range of explanation, biography and instructions. We further our scientific enquiry skills through observations of the natural world of plants and humans. We recall learning from Year where we learnt about London and cities and learning last term around the effect of humans on the natural world. 



Vicious Vikings

Our final theme for the end of the year is an incredibly exciting one which builds on and expands upon learning early in the year and from last year. We once again focus on the invasion of the U.K. by the Vicious Vikings. We learn about their culture and beliefs and the effect this had on Britains. It follows chronologically from the Romans and Anglo Saxons. Our class read this term is How To Train Your Dragon, the text which our class names are based on. We produce information texts and stories around our learning this term. Our creative skills and knowledge is furthered through producing figure heads for Viking ships using clay. This is a great theme for us to end the year on as it gives us opportunities to recall learning from across the year through the different themes. 

  

We know that this learning will continue at home too. To support learning in school, please test our knowledge by asking us questions. You can also read these books with us on our theme to extend and deepen our knowledge.