Willow Class Blog

Date:

15 March

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Year 4 Science Week

During science week, each class got to experience a fantastic immersive VR experience. The children got to travel without having to leave the room, through the magic of the headset. The VR experience was about conservation and caring for our planet. We continued our learning about this as we went back to the classroom and researched endangered animals.

Date:

15 March

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Yorkshire Wildlife Park

As part of the learning this term in year 4, we have focused on the rainforests of the world and the biodiversity found there. To enrich the classroom learning in this topic, we took a trip to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. While there, we had an excellent education session, that consolidated our knowledge about the layers of the rainforest and we even got to handle some creatures. After a rainy start, the weather cleared and we toured the park, trying to spot animals that we might see in the rainforest, as well as other habitats. Around the park there was lots of information about where the animals came from, what their type of diet was and if they are endangered, linking to our work on habitats, food chains and conservation.

Date:

8 March

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

World Book Day

Year 4 have enjoyed the magic of books lots recently. We took a trip to the library, where Mrs Wink provided us with lots of wonderful books about the rainforest. A few days later, we were celebrating World Book Day with the rest of the school. Our focus was picture books this year. The children had some amazing discussions about the imagery we looked at in our book, then wrote a letter to the illustrator and produced some of their own art.

Date:

29 February

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Chocolate Workshop

Year 4 had a special visitor this week who taught us lots about chocolate. We learned about its development throughout history and links to the Ancient Maya civilisation (that we have been learning about). We also learned about the conditions for growing cocoa pods within tropical rainforests and where the ingredients for chocolate are harvested. After this, we were taught some of the skills of what it takes to be a chocolate taster, with blind aroma tests, followed by tasting a variety of chocolates and identifying what ingredients they might include.

Date:

28 February

Posted by:

Miss Purshouse

Timestables Collaboration

Today in Pumpkin and Willow class we have been collaborating. We collaborated on timetables. Different tables had different activities to do such as; rolling a dice and multiplying, using iPads for 1 minute maths games, challenge cards and year 4 teaching 3 year how to work out different multiplication questions.

"Collaboration is always really fun"
"I like it because I learn things"
"We can be like teachers showing year 3 skills they not have used yet!" 

Date:

11 February

Posted by:

Mrs Smith

Key Stage 2 Disco 🪩

Pupils in Key Stage 2 enjoyed the Friendship Disco- a great time had by all!

Date:

12 January

Posted by:

Miss Purshouse

Multiplication and division collaboration

Today Pumpkin and Willow classes have collaborated with multiplication and division. We paired up and each had a go at rolling the dice and adding up the sum to multiply this with the next roll of the dice. Once we had completed the multiplication sentence, we used this to write division facts.

"It was quite a fun game"
"I really like working with year 4!"
"I love helping the year 3, I feel a bit like a teacher"

Date:

10 January

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Year 4 Hook Day

Children in year 4 this week enjoyed their hook day. Many chose to dress up linked to the theme of rainforests. This term we will be learning lots about rainforest habitats and biomes, as well as the animals and people that inhabit them. We have lots of fun events to look forward to such as our trip and workshops in school. For our hook day we focused on a DT project where we learned about, designed and made some fabric dart frogs.

Date:

8 December

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Combining art skills - Avocados

This term, year 4 have been learning about a range of skills to draw and paint still-life. We learned how to tint and shade, as well as particular techniques such as stippling, dabbing, creating a wash, etc. We combined these skills to draw and paint some avocados this week. We were really pleased with the results!

Date:

8 December

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Maths collaboration

Year 3 and 4 have been collaborating with their maths skills this half term. Year 4 have been learning all of the times tables and are helping to pass on some knowledge and skills to year 3. Today we looked at solving problems using the 4 and 8 times tables.

Date:

8 December

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Year 3 and 4 Carol Service

Thank you so much to everyone who was able to attend the carol service on Tuesday evening. The children had worked really hard, practising their singing and Makaton movements. There was beautiful singing, great audience participation and even a magic trick from Reverend Mark. It was a great event to kick off the festivities of the month. Feliz Navidad!

Date:

24 November

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Design and Technology

Willow class have been working on DT skills recently. We have designed and made a product for the Christmas enterprise, inspired by and made from natural materials. We have also been learning about shell structures, investigating which types of structure are stronger, moving on to learning how to reinforce and strengthen structures. We look forward to updating with our finished product later this term.

Date:

10 November

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Y4 VANEL Art

This week, year 4 contributed their work to the metal flowers project. We learned about the work of the artist Barbara Hepworth and looked at her use of shapes, lines and colours. We used this to inspire the abstract art that we painted onto the flowers. We came up with our designs first and then used different tools to paint with, including brushes, cutlery and even gift cards. It was a really enjoyable afternoon and we are proud of our work.

Date:

3 November

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Rangoli Art

During Sunita's visit this week, year 4 enjoyed creating some lovely artwork. We learned about how people may present Rangoli art on the floor outside their homes, during the Hindu celebration of Diwali. The art is symmetrical so that it will look just as wonderful, no matter which way you approach it from. We had to use team-work and good communication skills to create group artwork.

Date:

12 October

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Basketball Skills

Y4 have been practising a range of skills to prepare them for playing basketball games. We have looked at different techniques for dribbling and movement, how to gain possession of the ball from the other team, and how to successfully shoot hoops. We have listened carefully to the rules and look forward to putting all the skills together for a game.

Date:

26 September

Posted by:

Miss Perrin

Harvest Festival

The Harvest Festival was an amazing event. Each of the classes prepared something to share - pieces of art, letters, poems and songs. It was lovely seeing the Foundation children join us to share their song. Rev Chris came to talk to us about harvest and spoke about how it is important to share and care for each other, qualities which we treasure within our school.

Date:

15 September

Posted by:

Mr Middleton

Y4 Hook Day - Scientists

Year 4 enjoyed their hook day last week where we learned about different types of scientific enquiry. We became rocket scientists in the morning and tested out how to launch balloon rockets across a wire. We made predictions and asked scientific questions, then tested to see what different variables would affect the speed of the balloons and the distance they could travel. We found that it helped to put some soap on the wire as well! Children also learned about some key scientific figures throughout history and dressed up to look the part.