We have had a very busy second half of our Autumn Term. Time flies when you are having fun and it has certainly flown by for all of us in Year 4. 

We have continued with our ‘Don’t Lose Your Head’ theme with our focus being on the Stuart period. Our Year 4 super-sleuths used a range of evidence to investigate personalities and events in Stuart times. There was never a dull moment! Researching the lives of Stuart monarchs and leaders, revealed many of their curious qualities. The children were amused to discover that Charles II was the ‘King of Bling’ and shocked to find out that Oliver Cromwell banned theatres and Christmas! Book Creator was used to produce fact-filled comics about the Gunpowder Plot with a Horrible Histories slant.

The Great Fire of London

Samuel Pepys (a Morfo) challenged our resourceful history detectives to investigate The Great Fire of London. They later wrote detailed newspaper reports, which included eyewitness accounts and successfully answered the who, what, when, where, why and how questions posed about the events of the Great Fire. The children tapped into their creative sides to make Tudor/Stuart style houses. After learning about the Great Fire of London we recreated Pudding Lane using the houses we had built. Mr Mansfield set fire to the houses! Whilst our houses were not real houses we were able to see how quickly the fire spread and empathise with the people of that time who lost their actual homes.

S.T.E.M.

For STEM we have continued learning about how our bodies work. In think groups, we made informative slide presentations on ‘Our Senses’ and took part in a hands-on investigation about what happens to food as it travels through the digestive system. The children found this extremely entertaining. Following on from this, we investigated the sugar content of popular drinks and the effect they have on our teeth.

Welsh Country Dance and Rugby

In PE, the children enjoyed developing the defensive and offensive skills needed to play tag rugby. They learned how to catch and throw while stationary and on the move. They developed their skills of tagging and sidestepping as well as making tactical decisions about when to make passes and tags. In Welsh dance we have been learning to perform a number of Welsh traditional folk dances, including Jac y Do & Cylch y Cymru. This involved listening to and following instructions carefully, working with a partner and showing awareness of musical timing and rhythm to stay in time.

Christmas

We have spent the latter part of the term making Christmas cards, enjoying Christmas challenges and learning lines and songs for our Christmas Concert ‘Sheik Rattle and Roll’. Whilst it will be a very different kind of performance this year, the pupils have embraced it whole hardheartedly and enjoyed every minute. We hope you will enjoy watching it and are as proud of your children as we are.

We wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year. Enjoy your break and stay safe and well.