Welcome to Life at KPS for Year 4

Mr Sussmann and Mrs Thamu warmly welcome you to Year 4.

The aim of this page is to highlight some of the fantastic learning that has been happening in Year 4, this page will be updated monthly, with photographs and information about the learning we have completed during the month.

We hope you enjoy looking through these updates and do discuss your child’s learning with them to celebrate their success. We look forward to any suggestions you may have to make your child’s learning a pleasant experience.

October 2020

Arts

We have been looking at the work of Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi in art.  The children discussed the similarities and differences in their work. Using their work as inspiration our task was to create a collage illustrating our feeling during lockdown.  To enable us to create our collage, we have looked at how we can gather images by ripping paper and cutting paper in various ways.  We had to be selective about what we used to ensure it related to lockdown.  We also realised it didn’t matter how we placed the images on the paper while creating our masterpieces.

Computing

For computing this month, we have looked at E-Safety.  We looked at what dangers exist and how we can keep safe when using the internet.  The children talked about situations where personal information may be asked for and why it is not safe to share any private information.  Online bullying was discussed and we stated how important it was to always talk to a trusted adult if anything nasty has been said.  Playing online safely was discussed in detail.  We talked about how anything we say online could go public and how this would make us feel.  The children designed a poster illustrating E-Safety.

English

This month in English, we have been concentrating on writing to Inform, and produced a leaflet on an organisation that helped the vulnerable during lockdown.  We acknowledged who our audience was and what information we needed to provide in our leaflet. Key vocabulary was discussed and reviewed in great detail. Dictionaries were used to frequently to help with spellings and meanings. Rhetorical questions were talked about in class and many used one to begin their leaflet.  ‘The more, the more’ sentences were incorporated in our writing to enhance it.  We also ensured we were using fronted adverbials and amazing adjectives.  In some cases, similes were also used.

Geography

Our topic this term has been Unity in the Community where we have examined some of the impact of the Coronavirus on our local communities and explored some of the lessons we have learned due to the pandemic.  We have been reading Strega Nona as part of our topic and we have discovered what the consequences are of not listening to or following rules. During class discussions, we have identified the dangers of not following rules during the pandemic and how it is important to pay attention to information given and to the rules, in order to keep ourselves and our families safe.

Maths

We have been focusing on place value this month and looking at numbers up to 10,000. The children have been looking at number lines and rounding to the nearest, 10, 100 and 1000. This is one of the basic building blocks of problem solving in maths and only with a firm understanding of place value can children begin to tackle more advanced methods for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.   Both classes do a daily number of the day, in addition to their maths classes, during which they have begun to build familiarity with mathematical language as well as speed in solving simple problems. This familiarity will help them when they tackle more complex problems.

Music

Due to Covid restrictions, we have been unable to sing in large groups or use instruments across bubbles this term. Despite restrictions, I have been really impressed with the focus and participation of year 4.This term, year 4 have been learning to read and write rhythmic notation using the Kodaly method as shown.

Using this method, the children have learnt to follow class and individual rhythms using body percussion and beaters.

By writing and following their own rhythms, they have been able to create a rhythmic piece with many different parts.

By keeping to a steady pulse beat, they have created a rhythm piece by playing many different rhythms simultaneously. I have emphasised the importance of starting and stopping together as well as listening to each other in order to create a balanced sound.

Panjabi

In Year 4 children have been learning 4 sets of Panjabi letters. Children are reading and writing words by using these letters. This month they have also been learning how to make simple sentences in Panjabi like and some children have been using adjectives in their sentences. Some children were working on their Mukta word sheets with the help of an alphabet sheet. For speaking and listening, our topic this term has been Different foods and how to say their quantities in Panjabi. This month children are learning names of different fruits and vegetables. We have also focused on the wellbeing of children during the pandemic, we have done this through a light discussion of what activities the children undertook during lockdown, as well as new ways to relax and have fun.

PE

In PE we have been focusing on getting our fitness back with lots of exercise!  Children have been working hard on improving their stamina by running, speed walking and skipping!

Children have been taking part in the daily mile walk as well as participating in shuttle runs which have been designed to increase in difficulty from week to week.

Skipping has fast become a very popular hobby at our school and children will be lucky enough towards the end of this month to meet and skip with the Skipping Sikh!

PSHE

In PSHE we have been looking at how we feel when we are included compared to how we feel when we are excluded. We looked at how both made us feel, concentrating particularly on a school environment. We understood who belonged to the school community and the roles they play and how they fit in.  we shared how our actions affect us and others and how it easy important to be aware of hurting other people’s feelings.

We have also looked at NSPCC have looked at PANTS and what this acronym stands for and how important it is.

RE

We have been looking at Judaism this half term. This topic neatly coincides with many of the important holidays in Judaism, known as the high holy days. The children have been learning about Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the day of atonement). They have also looked at Sukkot which is a harvest festival and which also celebrates the end of 40 years of exile in the desert.  For Yom Kippur, a day when Jewish people fast for 25 hours, the children learnt that Jews think about what they have done wrong during the year and throw breadcrumbs into water to symbolise a fresh start. The children wrote their own mistakes onto slips of paper and performed a ceremony by throwing them into water to symbolise their own fresh start.

Science

Our Science topic this term has been Life cycles. We have been focusing on food chains and food webs. We have also looked at types of teeth including caring for our teeth. The children have been creating their own food webs where each child acted as a producer, a consumer, predator or prey and we connected the various strands with string. We observed how removing one element of the food web affected many other elements. When we studied teeth, we looked at how different animals have evolved different types of teeth and jaws in order to be best suited to what they eat.  We saw how Carnivores have strong bites and well-developed canines and how herbivores have strong jaws and well-developed molars.

Sikh Studies

Pupils have been learning about the 8^th Guru, Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji and what happened in history during the small pox epidemic in India during the 1600s. Children have been learning facts about Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji and also the story about what the 8^th Guru did during the smallpox epidemic in India.

They have then used what they have learnt to write either their own story in 3^rd person of Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji during that period in time or a diary entry in 1^st person of someone living in that time during the epidemic.