Year 4 

 Mrs Annable, Mrs Harlow, Mrs Smyth and Mr Watson

• Monday 22 April 2024 Year 4 - Vattenfall Year 4 started the week with a visit from Matt who works for Vattenfall. Vattenfall specialise in creating wind turbines. We learnt about different types of renewable energy but particularly how we can harness the wind to create power. Matt explained to us what kind of jobs were available at Vattenfall and what goes into creating and installing the enormous wind turbines. The children asked some interesting questions regarding the differences between onshore and offshore wind turbines.
• Thursday 18 April 2024 Year 4 - Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum This week, Year 4 visited the Roman Army Museum and Vindolanda. At the Roman Army Museum, amazingly, we were taught Latin and Roman numerals by a hologram Roman teacher! We also explored the Museum and watched a short film about the history of the area surrounding Hadrian’s Wall. At Vindolanda, we searched for clues around the ruins of the fort to solve a crossword problem. The children showed excellent resilience, persevering through the challenge despite the wet and cold conditions. Great job Year 4!
• Thursday 21 March 2024 Clogging project Our Clogging project video
• Wednesday 13 March 2024 Y4 - Cockshaw Burn Visit This week, Y4 visited Cockshaw Burn to measure the flow of the river. First they measured a distance of 10m. They then dropped a dog biscuit into the river and timed how long it took to float 10 metres downstream. Children also created a field sketch of the river and it's surroundings.
• Wednesday 28 February 2024 Holi - Year 4 Holi is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna. Additionally, the day signifies the triumph of good over evil, as it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu. Year 4 researched the Holi festival, wrote what they had learnt onto post-it notes and then added the post-it notes to our Holi festival working wall.
• Thursday 8 February 2024 Year 4 TinkerCad This week, Year 4 have been exploring the 3D visualisation program, TinkerCad. We learnt how to manipulate 3D shapes by stretching, moving and rotating them. Equipped with these skills, we created some Hogwarts style castles. Some of our designs will be printed in our 3D printer.
• Friday 2 February 2024 Y4 Calligraphy Club
• Thursday 1 February 2024 Y4 - Hindu Priest To help us to understand more about our RE unit on Hinduism, Year Four had a visit from Kirtida, a Hindu priest based in Newcastle.
• Wednesday 24 January 2024 Year 4 - River Demonstration This week, Year 4 participated in a river demonstration. It involved using a large tarpaulin draped over different sized objects to create a river basin. As water poured down from the highest part of the tarpaulin, we described the route of the water as it left the source. Tributaries joined larger streams of water at confluences and then water flooded exposed river banks. Finally, the water reached the mouth of the river and ended up in a sea or lake.
• Wednesday 17 January 2024 Year 4 Human Rights This week, Year 4 read about the life of Malala Yousafzai, a young girl who campaigned for equal access to education in Pakistan. Malala wrote a blog about the injustices happening in her country but was targeted because of this. Malala continues to fight for equal rights, giving inspiring speeches around the world. Year 4 wrote about how Malala’s story inspired them.
• Wednesday 6 December 2023 Y4 - Digestion This week, Y4 participated in a digestion demonstration. During this, they found out about the salivary glands and how food travels down the oesophagus to the stomach. They discovered the role that gastric acid plays in breaking down the food before travelling through the small and large intestine before the waste products are removed from the body.
• Wednesday 29 November 2023 Y4 - Researching London This week, Y4 started their research to find out about London in preparation for writing a non-chronological report. Using the Chromebooks and Google Earth, they found key information about The National Art Gallery, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, transport around London and the location of key landmarks. We’re looking forward to reading their non-chronological reports later this week.
• Wednesday 22 November 2023 Y4 Clog Dancing Year 4 have started their clog dancing project with Heather from Music Partnership North. They are currently learning a sequence of steps, performing them in time to the music played on the accordion by Heather.
• Tuesday 14 November 2023 Y4 Muddy Maths - Perimeter This week, Y4 started their new 'measures' Maths topic with a Muddy Maths lesson. After learning what perimeter means, children worked in pairs to gather leaves of different sizes and shapes. They estimated which leaves had the largest and smallest perimeters and ordered the leaves in ascending order based on these predictions. Finally, using string and a ruler to measure the perimeter of each leaf in centimetres.
• Tuesday 7 November 2023 Year 4 Lantern Making This week, Year 4 are working with Local Artists Alan Scully and Deni Riach from the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre. In preparation for the Hexham Lantern Parade, we are creating a giant willow dragon fly which will be lit up with lights and carried through Hexham on Friday 17th of November. More information to follow!
• Wednesday 25 October 2023 Y4 Firework Safety In PSHE this week, Y4 discussed the upcoming Bonfire Night. They talked about keeping safe around bonfires and learned the message 'stop, drop and roll' should an item of clothing catch fire.
• Thursday 12 October 2023 Y4 Times Table Rockstars The Times Table Rockstars battles continued this week in Y4! Each week, 4W, 4H and 4AS battle it out to see which class are the Rockstar Champions. This week, children competed on Garage, completing times table questions as quick as they can earn points for their team! The points are still being counted and the results will be announced soon.
• Tuesday 3 October 2023 Y4 Chocolate Experiment As Y4 continue to learn about states of matter, children worked within their Science teams to investigate whether different types of chocolate melt at different speeds. They created vessels to hold the pieces of chocolate to float on a bath of hot water. The 'observers' within the team measured the time taken for white, dark and milk chocolate to melt while the 'recorders' created a table to record their results. After all the chocolate melted, the children had the chance to feedback their findings to the rest of the class.
• Wednesday 27 September 2023 Y4 - States of Matter Experiment This week in Science, we investigated the temperature of water over a day. We used water in different states. One glass had room temperature water in, one had boiling water in and one was full of ice cubes. Year 4s had their own scientific roles. Team leaders set the test up, Recorders and Observers read the thermometers and wrote down temperatures and the Scientists explained what had happened at the end of the day.
• Wednesday 20 September 2023 Y4 RE Food Tasting After learning about the festival of Rosh Hashanah, Year 4 sampled some of the food that Jewish people would eat during this celebration. They ate apples dipped in honey - eaten in the hope of a ‘sweet’ new year, and pomegranates - eaten because they traditionally have 613 seeds, the number of rules that Jews are asked to follow in the Torah.
• Thursday 14 September 2023 Movement Lab This week children were reintroduced to the Movement Lab. They played ‘The Floor is Lava’ in which they had to remain either on the high apparatus or on specially place mats. Children demonstrated amazing agility and balance when manoeuvring around the equipment!

Year Four is the second of four years children spend in Key Stage Two (KS2).

They follow the Y4 or lower KS2 programmes of study from the Primary Curriculum.

Children are taught key subjects through specific units of work for example themes and projects such as Take One Picture, Beowulf and the Anglo Saxons, and Harry Potter during STEM fortnight.

Children can be taught by different teachers for example in Spanish and Music and in PE they work with a number of specialist coaches for example tennis and cricket.

Children have a weekly swimming lesson one morning each week. They also have access to an exciting range of extra-curricular clubs such as Choir, Football and Dance. In the spring term they have the opportunity to go on an outdoor activity residential to Robinwood Activity Centre.

Children are assessed regularly so that we can plan next steps and report progress to parents.

For further information about Y4 please refer to Y4 Routines and Procedures and the curriculum map.

 Y4 Routines and Procedures 2023-24

Year 4 Curriculum Contents -Autumn 2Year 4 Curriculum Contents -Spring 1

Year 4 Curriculum Contents - Spring 2