Year 4 - Hedwig
Hedwig Class - 2022/2023
Welcome to Hedwig's class page
Important information about us...
Teachers: Mrs Harrold and Mr Pender
LSP: Ms Hickman
Additional information for this term:
*The children all start at 8:50am (gates open from 8:40) and finish at 3.00pm
*Children should bring in a named water bottle, containing only water or squash. This should be taken home daily to be cleaned. All stationary will be provided.
*Children may bring a healthy snack in for breaktime (fruit/raisins) - please note we have a strict no nuts policy across school due to allergies.
*Hedwig have PE on a MONDAY and a THURSDAY (and also Wednesdays for some children). Please ensure kits remain in school, long hair is tied back and jewellery removed.
*Please ensure your child brings a coat to school every day - we still go out to play in light rain showers.
*Your child will be given a reading book specific to their reading level. They will also be allocated a library book of their choosing. Please encourage your child to read at home as often as possible, but a minimum of 3 time per week, and record this in their reading record. We have lots of prizes and rewards ready for our top readers! The children can change their reading book in school as often as they wish, although we encourage them to read each book a couple of times to improve fluency and understanding.
We are a team in Hedwig - children, staff and parents. If you ever have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please don't hesitate to have a chat with us at home time or give us a call after school.
Thank you for your continued support, it's going to be a great year!
15.05.23 - In DT we have been putting our knowledge of electrical circuits (learnt in science Autumn term) to good use, designing and making our own working torches. The children carefully considered their target market and designed a torch most appealing to those customers - then made it! Well done Hedwig!
09.05.23
To investigate the effect different drinks have on our teeth, we placed 4 identical eggs into different drinks and monitored the changes in their shells (similar to tooth enamel) over a period of 6 days. We ensured it was a fair test by submerging them at the same time and keeping the cups in the same place in the classroom (same temperature, air flow etc).
The results were shocking!
24.04.23
In maths this week, we will be be working with money! Today's lesson used notes and coins for different calculations. Take a look at some real coins and notes at home - they're more detailed than we realise!
19.04.2023 - As part of our celebrations of World Earth Day, today we had a Geography afternoon extending our learning about earthquakes and natural disasters. Our focus country was Japan; we learned why Japan is particularly susceptible to earthquakes, and how the people who live there prepare for these events. We even tried some Kanji - Japanese writing!
In science this half term, we are learning all about the digestive system! Some of our children drew life-sized models of themselves to label and understand how food moves through our bodies.
Children, get ahead with this topic by conducting some of your own research / revising using these links:
14.3.23 - As part of British Science Week, we have been exploring the engineering behind building earthquake proof structures. Yesterday, we built bridges to help people escape a volcanic eruption and today we created 'earthquake proof buildings'. Lots of fun and lots of learning!
1.3.23 - As part of our 'States of Matter' science learning, this week some children investigated how different foods change state and texture with the addition of water. Messy learning is the best!
In preparation for World Down Syndrome Day on 21st March, we have been learning about the condition and how it affects some people. We planted sunflower seeds to celebrate how, whilst everyone may grow differently, we are all equally beautiful. Further information about World Down Syndrome Day can be found at https://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk.
14.02.2023 - Check out our finished Viking treasure chests, created using Computer Aided Design.
31.01.23 Today, some of our children were investigating how the texture of a product can change with the absorption of water. We then put the dried rice to good use and made textured paintings.
31.01.2023 - In science today we further extended our understanding of freezing, melting and boiling points. We observed how water changes state quicker / slower under varying conditions.
24.1.23 - 'Can raisins dance?' was our key question in science this afternoon and it turns out that yes, they can! The carbon dioxide bubbles in the lemonaid clung to the rough surface of the raisins, causing them to become buoyant. When they reached the surface, the bubbles burst, and they sank to the bottom again. The bubbles reattached and the process was repeated. Up, down, up, down!
23.01.23. For our indoor PE lessons (Mondays) this half term, we are being taught by members of Staffordshire Cricket Team. We enjoyed our first session today, learning throwing and catching skills.
23.1.23
This half term in DT, we are using CAD (computer aided design) to create our own Viking treasure chests!
It links well with our English fiction text - How to Train Your Dragon and our history learning about Vikings and Anglo Saxons.
Today, we investigated how to fold, cut out and join together a variety of 3D nets. It was trickier than we expected!
In music this half term, we are looking at how 'music can change the world'. We discussed how different pieces of music can make us feel, and improvised with different instruments to follow the beat of a particularly uplifting song. Lots of fun!
DT in Year 4 Hedwig class
In History this term, we have been studying the Ancient Egyptians. Therefore, we have linked our DT learning to our History topic.
We have learned all about the different foods that would have been eaten during the ancient Egyptian period and we linked this to the modern day eat well plate.
We then researched how to make heathy Baba Ganoush and flat breads.
The following week, we followed our own instructions to make our own Babe Ganoush and flat breads in class.
They were YUMMY!!!!!!
Every week we celebrate our successes by having a Writer of the Week, Maths Mind, Reader and VIP.
Our congratulations this week goes to...
VIP of the week - Sapphire
Maths Mind - Patrick
Writer of the Week - Albion
Sports Player of the Week - Zahra
TIMES TABLES ROCK STARS!
By Spring of Year 4, all children should be fluent (or close to) in all of their times tables to 12, in preparation for their mandatory assessment in the Summer term. Please encourage your child to practice their times tables for a few minutes a day, 3 or 4 times per week at home.
To make it more fun, they could use the following websites. We check TTRS weekly and have prizes for the children we can see have tried hard.
https://ttrockstars.com - Login details are in reading records
www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button - no login required
Year 4 Class Assembly - DATE CHANGE
Due to a clash of dates with another whole school event, it has been necessary to bring our assembly to a week earlier.
There will be 2 performances, and parents can attend either one:
Wednesday 7th December - 9:15
Wednesday 7th December - 14:00
Grandparents or significant other adults are also welcome to attend to support the children.
Thank you for your continued support and our apologies for any inconvenience.
Year 4 reminders
Wednesday 19th October, 2pm – Maths inspire workshop. Please join your child in class for some fun maths activities based around what they’ve been learning so far this term.
Thursday 20th October – children to wear something red in support of ‘show racism the red card’. No donation required.
Thank you to the parents / carers who attended our Year 4 meeting today, we hope you found it useful. Please find attached the PowerPoint used in the presentation. The Year 4 teachers are always available at home time to answer any questions you may have.
Today, we took our math's learning outdoors, practicing our standard multiplication method in chalk on the playground and walls. This helped us remember to work across the sum diagonally!
