This half term the Year 4 children have been learning about Rivers. We visited Welsh Water’s Cilyfynedd Education Centre where the children found out about the water cycle, how dirty water is cleaned and riverine ecology. They took part in a brilliant live session with Mr Renshaw from the RNLI learning about how to be safe near water. To complete our theme the children enjoyed creating dioramas of river basin systems.

In Literacy this half term the children have enjoyed reading Ted Hughes’ famous novel ‘The Iron Man’.  They have thoroughly enjoyed creating their own poems, playscripts and even designed their own imaginary creature, inspired by the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon.

During our Maths lessons, the children have developed their ability to work with shapes and measures. We worked hard to create 3d shapes using spaghetti and playdough. Working together we created a cube and a square based pyramid. We read a recipe and measured accurately in litres and millilitres to create our very own fruit mocktails! We also worked out how to cost holidays on Welsh Riversides, calculate percentages and work out reductions in prices. This will be very useful in the future!

We have been exploring water filtration and our water systems for our Science topic this term to coincide with our rivers theme. We carried out filtration experiments to see how water filters naturally through stones and soil. We also looked at how important it is to only flush certain materials down the toilet! We ended the term with Excellent Electricity, where we have explored and experimented with circuit components and made our own circuits.  We predicted which circuits would work, which wouldn’t and can explain why.

We have had a really creative half term. This included painting with inks and producing our own fibre artwork to represent a river. The children took part in the SJPS Creative Festival in which each class prepared a dance to represent a country and performed it to the school and parents.  It was such a fun day! 

Luckily, we had a beautiful day for our Y4 Sports Day and everyone took part with enthusiasm. The children enjoyed cheering their friends on, showing off their athletic talents and encouraging their parents to take part in the Javelin event at the end. 

The children thoroughly enjoyed taking part in our swimming lessons, focusing on swimming strokes, water safety and water confidence. We were so proud of the progress they made and their behaviour at the pool, which was also being used by the public. They were great ambassadors for our school.

It has been such a fantastic year.  A huge well done to all of these wonderful children!  Have a fabulous summer holiday.