Year4-20202022

June 19, 2022

Arrangements for Dancers at the Anvil on Tuesday and Wednesday

Dear Parents and Carers,

This only applies to children who are involved in the BPSM performance on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Please find the attached information sheets which explain the arrangements needed for Tuesday’s rehearsal at the Anvil Theatre and for the evening concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A letter will go home with children on Monday which will include the access passes to collect children at the end of each concert if you are not attending the concert on either night.

All children must attend and if you are unable to arrange transport, please let me know before 4pm on Monday and we will do our very best to help.

Thank you so much for your support to help children perform and enjoy being a part of such a great evening of music.

Kindest regards,

Fiona Chapman

BPSM-Letter-to-parents-for-details-of-2122-June-2022-website.docx

Basingstoke-Primary-Schools-Reuniting-Plan-June-2022.pdf

June 18, 2022

Year 4 – Unearthing Angle-Land and Discovering Monsters!

Year 4 have had a very exciting start to the second half of our summer term. Our new topic ‘Unearthing Angle-Land’ was launched with a classroom museum where the children had the chance to explore artefacts and replicas from Anglo-Saxon times.

After learning what each artefact was and what it was used for, the children had a go at writing their name in Runes – the Anglo Saxon alphabet. They then carved them into clay and painted them beautifully.

We have so much to look forward to with our Anglo- Saxon led half term. The children are getting very excited about the residential, as are the adults! It’s going to be a great trip and the children will be experts on this important part of British history by the time they return home.

Our English started with a monster hunt this week. After discovering that a monster had been spotted roaming around the school field, the children were given the task of trying to spot clues of where he might be hiding. The children bravely entered the woods and were shocked to find slime, tuna cans, feathers, bones and broken twigs. Upon this discovery, the children headed back to the classroom to think about what the monster might look like. This exciting start to our new English unit: Beowulf has really sparked the children’s imagination and got them excited for writing. We can’t wait to read their final stories!

April 26, 2022

We’ve been busy in Year 4!

What a busy first day back we have had in Year 4. Not only have we been swimming, but we also made erupting volcanoes to start off our Quivers, Quakes, Eruptions and Shakes topic.

The day started off with our very first swimming session. The children were all brilliant, and showed all of the learning behaviours. The first lesson began with a mini assessment of what the children already knew, and then they began straight away with their lessons.

Either side of swimming, the children were set the task of creating a volcano, ready for some eruptions in the afternoon. The children's creativity shone out, and they created some lovely volcanoes. Once they were finished, it was time for some eruptions! Using a concoction of different materials, we were able to imitate some volcanic eruptions.

With such an exciting start to the half term, it is bound to fly by!

February 13, 2022

Year 4’s Roman Soldier Day

The Year 4 children thoroughly enjoyed their recent Roman Soldier Day which enriched their understanding of what life would have been like in one of the most successful armies of all time! We’d love to share some of the photos and activities to show you what their day entailed.

Throughout the day, the children took on the persona of a soldier in the Roman army. They were given a new age, a new name and also a ranking in the army. Did you know that Roman female names usually ended in -a such as Julia and male names ended in -ius such as Julius!

We loved seeing all the different costumes and accessories. Many of the children were prepared for battle with their protective shields and swords!

Being in the Roman Army wasn’t an easy job, and men were put to the test to ensure that they were physically and mentally strong enough. The teacher ‘Generals’ put the children through their paces by checking that they were fit enough for the job. The children were instructed to march following orders – in Latin though! As well as this, they had to lap the playground carrying a heavy object to replicate the 30kg of kit that soldiers would have carried for up to 20 miles per day! A soldier was also expected to throw a pilum (like a javelin) up to 30m. General Thomas even got her class doing some push ups…

The Romans were great inventors and problem solvers too. Building on the children’s existing knowledge of Roman Numerals, they solved some Mathematical challenges which involved using a set number of lolly sticks to make a Roman Numeral that represented the lowest and highest values possible.

Although invented by the Greeks, the Romans relied heavily on the use of catapults in battle. The children were asked to create a catapult using lolly sticks, elastic bands and a bottle top as well as their design technology skills. Each class then went outside and tested their catapult by seeing how far they could launch a ping pong ball. They had great fun testing them out! Can you spot Leo and Elouise celebrating as their catapult was the most successful in 4PG?

After lots of hard work and learning, the children ended their special day by learning about and playing some popular Roman board games. They learned how to play ‘Delta’ and also a chess-like game called ‘Ludus Latrunculorum’. They had to use logical thinking to try and defeat their opponent.

We still have a week left of our project ‘Rule of the Rotten Romans’ but what a wonderful term the children have had so far. They have gained a wealth of knowledge about the Ancient Romans and their invasion of Britannia in 43AD. Hopefully they have been able to share some of their learning with you at home.

January 23, 2022

Year 4 Design Technology: Exploring Structures

Year 4 have been busy learning and exploring structures over the past few weeks as part of their current DT project on ‘Roman Pavilions’

During the first lesson, the children were given cocktail sticks and plasticine and found different ways to make structures. They used photographs of famous and existing structures and pavilions to inspire their ideas. In this lesson, the children started to think about the importance of base shapes. They had lots of fun being creative and coming up with original designs.

In the second lesson, the children worked with cardboard strips, double sided tape and card to make a cube-like structure. The purpose of this lesson was to explore how to join materials and also how to reinforce these joins so that the structure would be more robust. The children used joinery ideas from existing structures to help them, such as triangular corner pieces and hinge-like joins.

Within our most recent lesson, the children learned about cladding by looking at photographs from real life structures. They learned about the different purposes of cladding before beginning to think about how they could use materials to clad their structure. The children were given the brief to create a Roman aesthetic design and used photos of Roman pavilions to support their thinking. They cut, rolled, folded and made marks on card before attaching this material to their structure. The results are rather convincing and certainly give a Roman appearance!

Now that the children have the skills and knowledge needed from their exploration lessons, they will begin to design their own Roman Pavilions using shapes, materials, joins and cladding of their choosing. We hope to display these once they have been created!

Hopefully you received some information last week regarding a 'Roman Soldier Day' which Year 4 are having on Thursday 3rd February. The information is attached here also as a PDF.

From the Year 4 Team

Roman-Soldier-Day.pdf

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