Welcome to our class web page where you can find out about our amazing learning journey. You will find

information about our activities, examples of our work and comments from us! Please visit often to see our learning journey develop.

Key Information:

4JA have outdoor PE on a Monday with Sporting Chance and indoor PE on a Wednesday. 

4JA's entrance and exit point is through the classroom door leading onto the playground. At the end of the day, children will be released from the coloured spots on the upper  part of the playground. Year 4 teachers have their planning day every other Wednesday while other teachers will be covering their classes.

Year 4 Curriculum Map 2022-2023

Term 6

Knowledge Organiser: What effect does Palm Oil have on the World?

Learning Overview

We will be continuing our enquiry 'What effect does palm oil have on the world?' This term, we will be learning about climates and biomes, how they could change over time and the effect that this has on our rainforests. We will also be learning about living things and their habitats, classification and life cycles of different types of animals. Alongside our enquiry, we will be exploring Global Goal 15 ‘Life on Land’ which looks at protecting, restoring, and promoting sustainable use of the terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests and reversing land degradation and halting biodiversity loss. 

Being an Athlete! Sports Day

Despite the challenges from the weather, we persevered with our sports day and competed in sprint and distance races, throwing vortexes, overcoming obstacles and then the relay for the finale! We got a bit wet but that didn't dampen our spirits and then celebrated with ice lollies afterwards.

Being an Artist - Art Week!

This week we have been artists and practising our drawing skills. We were lucky enough to be joined by Mr Taylor who taught us how to draw cartoons and he explained that most drawings, especially cartoons can be broken down into smaller, simple shapes. This helped us create our own cartoon people and then we followed some videos explaining how to draw cartoon animals and buildings. We also used nature to create art inspired by the artist Andy Goldsworthy! We also had a visit from Mangotsfield Secondary School and their Year 9 students, show taught us new pottery skills, making a coral sculpture from clay!

No Pens Day!

Today, we worked on our oracy skills and completed all of our learning without using a pen to write with! In Jigsaw, we learnt about changes. Some changes we have control over whilst we have little or no control over other changes which happen in our lives. To develop our oracy skills further, we discussed a variety of questions such as 'What would you change about the school?' to 'Are tests good for assessing people's skills?'

We all had a lot to say today but we always thought about what we were about to say and used or talk tactics to support us.

Being an Engineer - Soap Making Ambition

In Year 4 our enquiry has been answering the question 'what effect does palm oil have on the world?'. We have been studying how the production of palm oil - which is in many of our everyday products - contributes to deforestation of the rainforest. In order to help reduce the use of palm oil, we discussed how we could buy products that contain no palm oil or even have a go at making some ourselves. So, we have all had a turn at making our very own palm oil free soaps.

RE Day at St Stephen’s

Today we have been learning about superheroes in religion. We started off with a collective worship led by Regan who explained that Jesus is his super hero. Later on in the morning, we had a session led by Encounter Christianity entitled: ‘How can Jesus inspire us?’ During the session, we looked at Jesus' life as an inspirational figure and at people who were inspired by him. We also discussed people who inspire us and what makes these people inspirational to us just like how Jesus is inspirational to others.

In the afternoon, we went to the hall where we had a session about Jewish Heroes. The end of the day was rounded off with a session with Lisa where we got to hear about what everyone else had been leaning about throughout the day.

Outdoor PE

This term, our focus in PE is rounders and Outdoor Adventurous Activities (OAA). To start our learning this week, Mrs Crossfield took the class outside to play some outdoor games to get us to start to think about how we can focus our bodies, make shapes and work together in group co-ordination. This included the children having to think about ways they can step from one hoop to another, strategise and problem solve and then discuss how well they did and what they might be able to do next time to improve.

 Careers Week

We continued our Careers Week with a talk from Wayne who owns a bike shop in Kingswood. He talked all about the different types of bikes he fixes and makes as well as what it is like owning his own business. We then had a go at researching different jobs that we might like to do in the future and creating a poster presenting what we have found. We also discussed what tips and tricks we might need to be successful in a job interview, with some of us having a go at interviewing each other! 

Careers Week

This week we will be thinking about the future and what careers we might like to do when we are old enough. We started off the week with a whole school assembly, we found out that Ms Wilson had had many different jobes including making boxes.

Later on, we had a session with Connie who runs her own bridal shop and is a seamstress by trade. We are really looking forward to finding out about all the amazing jobs we might do in the future.

Swimming

To start off Term 6, Year 4 had a full week of swimming lessons at the leisure centre. For some of them, this was their first time ever having a swimming lesson! Everybody enjoyed it they all felt that they learned something brand new. At the end of the week, the children were assessed to see how well they had done during the week and got some fun time as well!

Term 5

Knowledge organiser: What effect does Palm oil have on the world?

Learning Overview

Our new enquiry this term will be 'What effect does palm oil have on the world?' This term, we will be learning about climates and biomes, how they could change over time and the effect that this has on our rainforests. We will also be learning about living things and their habitats, classification and life cycles of different types of animals. As part of our enquiry, we will be visiting the Living Rainforest near Newbury and taking part in some workshops where we will be learning about amazing adaptations.  Alongside our enquiry, we will be exploring Global Goal 15 ‘Life on Land’ which looks at protecting, restoring, and promoting sustainable use of the terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests and reversing land degradation and halting biodiversity loss. 

The Living Rainforest!

Year 4 took a trip to the Living Rainforest in Newbury. There, we were given a tour in groups around the centre, learning about the different animals and the amazing ways in which they adapt to their habitats and ensure survival in the rainforest. We had opportunities to ask questions about the different animals - some of whom were free roaming - as well as some independent exploring of this amazing biome. 

Coronation Celebrations!

Throughout the school we have been celebrating the coronation of King Charles this upcoming weekend. We made bunting to decorate the hall, crowns fit for Kings and Queens and then we designed a portrait ready to hang in the National Gallery! The children were also able to have their lunch as a year group picnic style.

We all had lots of fun and it was a lovely way to end the week!

Mini biomes within our school

Today we continued with the start of our new enquiry ‘What effect does palm oil have on the world?’ by going out into the school grounds and looking at different ‘mini’ biomes. We visited the pond where we noticed that there were very few visible animals and insects. In contrast, we saw many different insects in the secret garden and under the trees on the corner of the school field. We thought about how these areas change through the seasons and what impact we have on these biomes

Term 4 

In Term 4, we will be continuing with the enquiry, ‘Who were more powerful: the Athenians or the Spartans?'.  We are travelling back in time to Ancient Greece where we will be using our historian skills to explore this famous civilisation, considering their legacies, laws and democracies and how these have impacted us in present day.  As well as this, we will be using our artist skills to create an Greek sculpture. Finally, we will be using our writing skills to create our ambition which will be an orally presented debate answering our enquiry question.

Our class book this term is The Adventures of Odysseus by Hugh Lupton. We are setting sail with Odysseus as he fights to find his way back home after the brutal Trojan War. On his ten year journey, he endures harrowing ordeals, battles monsters and learns what it means to be a hero. We will be using this book to inspire our writing which will be using fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases with modifiers to add more detail to our writing and exploring using the perfect tense form. 

Being a Scientist! Science Week

As part of our science week in Year 4, we have been developing our understanding of electricity. We learned about the different types of appliances that use mains electricity and battery. We then had a go at creating our own electric circuits using wires, batteries and bulbs. We now know that the wires in a circuit have a very important role and are made of metal because it is an electrical conductor which means it allows the electric current to flow around the circuit and to the bulb to light it up.

No Pens Day!

Today was another No Pens Day at SSJS. In 4JA we were focusing on our Teamwork cog as well as continuing to work on our Oracy skills. This time, we looked at our probing talk tactic in oracy - digging deeper into answers, asking how and why people know and if there is evidence to support their answers. We joined in with many Oracy activities such as 21, If I Ruled The World, Book Talk, and discussing what we think oracy really means. This afternoon was spent working on our team work skills. We had lots of fun with becoming human pretzels, where one member of our team instructed us on how to move around a circle, twisting, turning and moving into a pretzel in which another member had to undo - only using words! Finally, we had to work together to keep our conga line in tact, with a twist! Each member was holding the person in front's ankle while resting their own hand on the shoulder in front. They mananged to hold both lines for a surprising amount of time! 4JA learned some valuable lessons on teamwork and have been able to link this back to how we can be good metacogs and learning partners in the future. 

World Book Day dens and fun!

Today we celebrated World Book Day by wearing our PJs, onesies or snuddies. Why you may well ask, because the theme was bedtime stories. We had great fun creating stories from ideas suggested by 7 other members of the class, created our own graphic novels, shared our books which we had brought in with 6RO and made some reading dens to snuggle into and enjoy a story or two.

Minotaur mayhem!

Today we started off our new writing sequence by immersing ourselves in the Greek myth ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’. We will be using this myth to support our writing over the next few weeks. Our writing will be incorporating inverted commas and complex sentences alongside all the other targets we have learnt so far this year.

To enable us to fully imagine how Theseus felt treading carefully through the dark, dank chambers of the labyrinth, we created our own (using a little imagination) out of cardboard boxes and the play pod equipment. There was even a minotaur roaming the corridors of the labyrinth in the guise of Mr Hamlen!!

Term 3

Knowledge Organiser

Learning Overview

In Term 3, we are starting our new enquiry, ‘Who were more powerful: the Athenians or the Spartans?'.  We are travelling back in time to Ancient Greece where we will be using our historian skills to explore this famous civilisation, considering their legacies, laws and democracies and how these have impacted us in present day.  As well as this, we will be using our artist skills to create an Greek sculpture. Finally, we will be using our writing skills to create our ambition which will be an orally presented debate answering our enquiry question.

Our class book this term is The Adventures of Odysseus by Hugh Lupton. We are setting sail with Odysseus as he fights to find his way back home after the brutal Trojan War. On his ten year journey, he endures harrowing ordeals, battles monsters and learns what it means to be a hero. We will be using this book to inspire our writing which will be using fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases with modifiers to add more detail to our writing and exploring using the perfect tense form.

Safer Internet Day!

Today is Safer Internet Day. The children had an assembly led by Miss Bishop all about the great things to do with the internet, but also about ways to keep us safe when online. Later on, we discussed the things we love about the internet, and the things that we know can be not so good. We used our Oracy skills, talking in small groups and then sharing with the class our ideas. We especially focused on understanding who we can go to if there is something that worries us when we are online.

No Pens Day!

Today we had another 'No Pens' Day. This meant that all of our learning was oracy based and we could not write anything down at all. The children explored our new talk tactic of instigating new ideas into their discussions, as well as building upon the tactics they already know. They particularly enjoyed the game where they had to work as a team and match cards together, but were not allowed to say a word or show physical clues, so they had to think of other ways to work as a team.

Engage! 

Today we started our new enquiry-Who were more powerful: The Athenians or The Spartans? Sadly, a crime had been committed in the classroom. A trial was held to ascertain who the guilty person was. There was a role for each member of the class from Defence Lawyers to Clerk, from Court Ushers to the Jury and of course a Judge.     Each side, presented their case and cross examined a range of witnesses.  Following cross examination, The Jury retired and digested the evidence. In 4JA we came to a unanimous decision of not guilty.

Term 2

In Term 2, we are continuing to delve deeper with our enquiry, ‘What is the journey of a raindrop?'.  This will involve learning about the water cycle and the three states of matter: liquids, gases and solids. 

At the end of the enquiry the children will design and make their own pop-up book that will explain the water cycle. This will be completed individually and we are hoping to share our work with children at the infants school.

In addition to our Water Enquiry, we will continue reading 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane' within our English lessons. This is a tale about a toy rabbit who goes on adventure with his owner, but soon becomes lost and he encounters a range of different changes and characters throughout the story.

Christmas service

In Week 6, 4KD wowed us with two performances of their christmas service. They either got into character or made themselves look smart as narrators ready to act out a story where some children learned what the true meaning of Christmas really is. The performance was a hit with the crowd who could tell that everyone had worked so hard to make the performance as fantastic as it was. We also enjoyed our SSJS Christmas jumper day to add to the festive fun. 

Rocksteady concert

This afternoon, the whole school was lucky enough to enjoy a wonderful concert hosted by Rocksteady. In this concert, we got to listen to some amazing singers, drummers, keyboard players and guitar players too and we were so impressed with what we heard!

Being Athletes - Football

In Week 5, we have been lucky enough to continue our training with our sports coaches. We learnt more about control of the ball when dribbling and passing and had our own mini tournament in spirit of the World Cup.

No Pens Day!

In Week 4, we had our first No Pens Day of the year. We recapped what oracy means, why it is important and the four strands of oracy. We warmed up our oracy skills with some 'odd one out' and 'would you rather?' games. Then, we completed some discussion based activities around our new Guided Reading text about Muhammad Ali and practised our expression in some performance poetry. Now, we are all talked out!

Children in Need

In Week 3, we wore our very best and spottiest clothes and our cheesiest grins to school in order to celebrate Pudsey Day and raise money for a very important charity: Children in Need.

Being Readers - Book Talk

In Week 3, we have been practising inferring during our Book Talk lessons. We have made some educated guesses about Cinderella using evidence from the text, used a visual string oracy activity to discuss the similarities and differences between the characters and debated the quality of the end of the poem. 

Being Athletes - Yoga

In Week 2, we have not let the wet weather ruin our PE lessons and have instead enjoyed an in-class yoga session! We practised lots of different poses and felt very relaxed and ready to learn after it. 

Term 1

Learning Overview

Our first enquiry ‘What is the journey of a raindrop?' will involve learning about the water cycle and the three states of matter: liquids, gases and solids. To help us answer this question we are going to be developing our knowledge and skills as scientists and geographers both in class and during practical fieldwork on our trip to Vassals Park.

At the end of the enquiry the children will design and make their own pop-up book that will explain the water cycle. This will be completed individually and we are hoping to share our work with children at the infants school.

In addition to our Water Enquiry, we will be reading 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane' within our English lessons. This is a tale about a toy rabbit who goes on adventure with his owner, but soon becomes lost and he encounters a range of different changes and characters throughout the story. We will be immersing ourselves into this story and throughout the term we will be writing character descriptions and diary entries from different characters’ perspectives.

This term, when we are being mathematicians, we will be building on our prior understanding of place value to order and compare numbers up to 10,000 as well as revisiting our understanding of the operations addition and subtraction.

House quiz!

In Week 7, we finished the term with our fantastic St Stephen's house quiz. We worked well as a team and using our oracy skills to discuss and compromise on our final answers. Well done to the winning team - Lowinger!

Year 4 trip to Vassels Park

In week 6, we put our walking boots on and walked to Vassels Park. Although it was a long walk, it was well worth the effort as we were able to do a range of activities linked to our enquiry ‘What is the journey of a raindrop?’. Part of our learning means we need to visit a river and carry out observations of the surrounding area. We looked at the River Froome and a couple of tributaries feeding into the river.

We also went on a senses nature walk as well as playing nature bingo. One of the other activities was to sketch different, natural phenomena in the park. A visit to Vassels Park wouldn’t be a full visit without a session in the playground area!

We were very pleased to see school on our return - well done Year 4!

Being a Geographer

As part of the exploration phase for our enquiry 'What is the journey of a raindrop?', we have worked as a year group to create our very own river. We found materials that might be found at the bottom of a river which the water flow might pick up and then some of us acted as the source, pouring the water down our river which had meanders and tributaries. 

Being a Metacog

In week 5, we continued our learning around 'Being Metacogs' with a focus on Teamwork. We worked in groups and ,with our own different roles, collaborated on making the tallest possible tower using only spaghetti, string, cellotape and a marshmallow to go on the top. We thought about what makes a really good team beforehand and put all of these things into practise to build our towers. 

Being an Athlete

Today, we have put our agility, balance and coordination to the test in some athletics challenges. We have run, jumped and thrown our hearts out and we are now looking forward to getting our results back and using these to be Metacogs and evaluate and improve our skills. 

Being a Reader

In Term 1, we have been working on our direct retrieval. We had lots of fun practising our skimming and scanning skills by racing our partner to find words and sounds in the text.

Being a Scientist 

In Week 4, we became engaged in our enquiry question 'What is the journey of a raindrop?'.

We had lots of fun experimenting with pipettes, beakers and water and noticing the way that water droplets behave. 

We were fascinated by the droplets connecting to one another and the dome created when a beaker is full/

overflowing. 

Being a Theologian - St Stephen's Church visit

In Week 4, we have been lucky enough to visit St Stephen's Church. With the help of Reverend Lisa, we built on our learning from week 3 about the what a place of worship is, why it is important to some people and what the features of a church are. We also began learning about how people might show they belong to a religion and examples of confirmation.  

Voice of the Change Makers

After hearing some amazing speeches and understanding the importance of democracy, we headed to the hall to vote for our favourite girl and boy candidate to be a 'Voice of the Change Maker'. This role is a very important one as the selected candidates will voice their and their peers' opinions on important school matters. It was a really tricky decision for us as there were so many wonderful candidates so we are excited to hear who will fulfil the role soon!

Oracy

In Week 2,  we have explored and developed our oracy knowledge and skills. We have thought about the steps to succes for being a good listener and having a successful discussion. We have talked about how this might involve politely disagreeing with someone or being open to changing our viewpoint.  We put our class steps to the test in a variety of discussions and games. A particular favourite of ours was the game, would you rather, as we debated questions such as 'Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?' and 'Would you rather travel 100 years back in time or 10 years into the future?" We have looked at talk tactics and how to take different roles in conversations. We have explored the roles of build, challenge and summarise.