Year 4

Published on 6th May

As part of their 'Constellation Exploration' topic, the Year 4 children were learning about the distance between the planets in our Solar System. They had to use their maths skills to scale down the distances, then used different sized spheres to show the planets, and counted out sheets of toilet paper to show the distances between them and the distance from the sun. We ended up going out of the doors of the lab!

Published on 6th May

Our DT project this term was to design a Mars Rover. We read the book 'Curiosity: the Story of a Mars Rover' in our literacy lessons so we knew what it needed to be able to do. We used Tech Card to create the body of our rover, then added extra materials to represent the features such as the antenna, solar panels, camera, battery etc. We had to be really accurate with our cutting and measuring to ensure that the rover operated correctly. We used a green screen app to make them look like they were really on Mars.

Published on 6th May

Year 4's Eurovision topic got off to a flying start as the children went on a flight over Europe! The year 4 classrooms had been transformed into Loseley International Airport and two very special aeroplanes. When the children arrived, they had to have their baggage scanned in security; fill in their passport; check in their bags; collect their boarding pass and board the 'plane'. Mrs Rodger, Miss Leah, Miss Reed, Mrs Bush & Mrs LeMas were all air stewardesses and showed the children the safety procedures. The flight then (through the magic of YouTube) took off, flew over many European countries and landed back at Loseley International in time for break! It was a great start to our topic, where we will be learning all about Eastern & Mediterranean Europe, as well as listening to the songs for this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Published on 24th March

Year 4 have been learning about landscapes in art this term. They have found out about the different parts of a landscape composition and experimented with perspective. They have studied David Hockney's landscapes, particularly his use of complementary colours and the way he applies the paint. In their own landscapes, they experimented with using different brushstrokes to create texture, and combining complementary colours for effect. The final results are very impressive!

Published on 24th January

In Year 4 this morning, we have been painting nativity scenes using egg tempera paint, just like Italian Renaissance painters. The egg was used to bind the powder pigments together, and it dries to a lovely sheen. We learned that Mary's robes are usually painted in blue because the lapis lazuli used to make the blue pigment was really expensive, so it showed how special she was. In our RE lessons we have been learning how artists represent Christmas, and we chose which characters from the nativity story to include in our paintings. We made a tabernacle card to do our paintings in, so that they could stand up when finished.

Published on 24th January

Year 4 have been learning how to crop and edit photographs to enhance their compositions. Today we went out on the playground to photograph some of the trees, and then cropped our photos to make the best composition before editing them to change the colours and contrast. They did an amazing job: some of their edited photographs are just stunning!

Published on 1st December

We had our first Remarkable People Day in Year 4 today, learning all about Mary Anning. The children handled some real fossils, then spent the morning learning all about Mary and why she was so important. They found out that her findings were not taken seriously at first because she was a woman, but that her discoveries were really significant in our understanding of prehistoric creatures. They produced posters about her life and the important discoveries she made. In the afternoon, they created a 3d ammonite sculpture using card and art straws (we haven't painted these yet). They were all really proud of their work!

Published on 17th November

As part of our work in Equalities & Diversity Week, we are reading the book ‘Lubna and Pebble’.

Published on 21st October

Year 4 have been busy making Benin leopard masks and learning how to play djembe drums as part of our Benin topic. We used cereal boxes, kitchen roll tubes and masking tape to make the masks, then covered them in papier mache & painted them. We used a little bit of gold paint to make it look like they were really old and parts had been worn down to show the bronze underneath, like the real Benin bronzes.