Crook Primary School
Crook Primary School
Happy New Year and welcome back!
What a way to return to school and start 2025 with the weather this week! Thank you for your patience with the icy conditions around school. Hopefully it begins to warm up and disappear next week!
Please can children ensure they have an appropriate PE kit in school on a Wednesday and Thursday until half-term please. We have secured an additional PE lesson with coach Joe.
After February half term, all children in year 4 will attend swimming lessons on a Tuesday and will require swimming kits. No jewelry is allowed in the pool and earrings need to be removed.
My first challenge to those of you have have their ears pierced is to learn how to remove and replace earrings independently - if you can do this by the time swimming lessons take place you will be awarded some diamond power gems for independence!
My second challenge to all children is to learn how to put on a swimming hat. This is what takes the most time in swimming lessons and they must be worn to enter the pool. The quicker that swimming hats are on, the more time children spend learning how to swim!
For children in 4L reading longer books, Miss Lee has set them a reading challenge! To be finished and changed reading books by Friday 17th January in order to move up the levels and have a wider choice of reading book.
In Year 4, the children have been learning about mechanical systems and structures. We have been looking at different types of levers with a focus on first class levers. The children have learnt about the different parts of a first class lever and how they would work. They have then designed and made their own structure which includes a first class lever. To make their structure, the children learnt about what makes a structure strong. We experimented with triangulation, and the children have used their learning to make a catapult.
To make their catapult the children had to learn about the safety of using a saw so that they could cut their pieces of wood. Before cutting their wood, they needed to accurately measure it to ensure they had the correct size pieces as well as the correct amount of wood for their structure. The children then joined their wood together using a butt joint and triangulation to strengthen their structure.
We then tested the catapults with a focus on their functionality, strength and aesthetics. The children worked well in their teams and showed resilience when they were faced with problems.
Children in 4L took part in a session led by OASES on climate change last week. It was amazing to see how much knowledge the children had about the global climate crisis and the technical language they were using to describe their knowledge.
They knew the issues we are facing are things such as drought, flooding, wild fires, deforestation, melting ice caps, coral bleaching and much more.
Children took part in an activity to calculate their carbon footprint and have identified ways to help reduce it to take forward the fight on climate change.
They then used equipment to explore wind, turbine and solar power and how it is recorded. They thought about how it could be used to help the environment and then used their knowledge to plan their own sustainable city.
Welcome back to the school year!
The children have settled into Year 4 really well, and it has been lovely getting to know them all.
Our English text for this term is called Escape from Pompeii by Christina Balit. The children have made some interesting predictions about what happens in the story, and they were shocked to find out that the text is based on a true story. The children are building up to writing a setting description and we are very excited to read them!
In maths we have been learning about 4-digit numbers and exploring the connections between the values of the numbers and digits. The children have shown some excellent knowledge of the value of 4-digit numbers so far and have been very impressive mathematicians!
This week we have started our first art unit. The children have been studying the artist Andy Goldsworthy, and we have been learning about land art. We have been looking at the different elements of art and analysing the work of Andy Goldsworthy to identify where these are used. The children have also recreated their own pieces of art in their sketch books focusing on lines using inspiration from our artist study. We will be creating our own piece of land art towards the end of our unit.
End of Year Film
Award Winners
4G
| Maths | Amelia Davies |
| English | Isabelle Addison |
| Curriculum Subjects | Xavier Stainthorpe |
| Emerald Power | Ruby Alderson |
| Diamond Power | Evelyn Goundry |
| Ruby Power | Scarlett Charles |
| Sapphire Power | Jude Johnson |
| Gem Master | Ivy Hendry |
| Being a Good Sports Person | Jake Gash |
| Greatest Effort | Mia Graves |
| Most Progress | Amelia Kirkbride |
| Outstanding Achievement | Ava Morgan |
4L
| Maths | Archie Spencer |
| English | Ayden George |
| Curriculum Subjects | Harrison Hodkinson |
| Emerald Power | Steven Atkinson |
| Diamond Power | Hallie-Marie Ashurst |
| Ruby Power | Abigail Bowes |
| Sapphire Power | Ana-Lucia Norman |
| Gem Master | Gracie-May Walton |
| Being a Good Sports Person | Leo Lowes |
| Greatest Effort | Carter French |
| Most Progress | Scarlett Hodgson |
| Outstanding Achievement | Rama Al Soliman |
Miss Lee
Miss Golightly
What does it sound like to be fluent in times tables?
What does it mean to be fluent in times tables?
Why do children need to be fluent in times tables?
What does it sound like to be reading at the expected standard in Year 4?
What does it mean to be a fluent reader?
Reading fluency - a combination of the following components:
What to look out for:
How many words per minute should your child be reading?
The following figures are based on the child reading this amount of words in an age appropriate text. Some examples of age appropriate texts can be found below.
|
End of the Autumn term (by Christmas) |
End of the Spring term (by Easter) |
End of the Summer term (by Summer) |
|
|
Year 4 |
110 |
120 |
130 |
Year 4 texts:
Click here to contact the Year 4 team.