Well, it's been a week of achievements in year 4!

 

Firstly, the year 4 team would like to say a huge well done to all of the year 4 children on a very successful and enjoyable sports day. It is so lovely to see the way that they all support each other and show kindness and respectfulness in their sporting attitudes.

 

Secondly, massive congratulations to all children on working so hard on their times tables and completing their multiplication checks this week. The year 4 staff have been so impressed with the hard work and dedication that they have put into learning their tables, increasing their speed, 'going green' on their heat maps and improving their TTRS rock star status! These skills are not just for passing a test on a computer in year 4; they are of course the foundation of so much of their mathematical (and scientific, geographic etc...) learning as they move through junior education and beyond.

 

Thirdly, on top of all of that, the children have been performing their poems this week! It has been amazing to see children getting up in front of their peers and performing, often in spite of a few nerves! It'll be a really tricky decision to choose class winners. Well done to all of the year four children.

 

Curriculum-wise, we started the week with an amazing presentation from real life Antarctic explorer Al Sylvester. His story was hugely inspiring and engaging. When asked if they fancy going to the South Pole like Al, most of Birch class decided a definite 'no' after hearing about his experiences of injury, exhaustion, disgusting food and dangerous cold weather conditions. However, many children DID decide that they were inspired to do a similar sort of challenge one day! We can't wait to hear about their adventures in a few years time!

 

We've been continuing to explore Shackleton's amazing journey in reading and writing, and the children are preparing to write a first person narrative as if they are Shackleton's ship, the Endurance. In geography we have begun to explore the Polar tundra biome, while in science the children have been learning about classification of different species, with a focus on penguins.

 

Luckily the weather seems very un-Antarctica-like this weekend, so we hope you all have a relaxing one,

 

The Y4 team