Year 4- Highland Cows

Our Clay Vases 

This week the children made their detailed designs come to life using clay. First they practised the different skills they needed and made playdough prototypes. This then led them to review and adapt their designs as they realised that some patterns and images were going to be a little tricky to complete! Then they spent the afternoon creating and moulding their pots out of clay. They rolled, manipulated, pinched and used blending techniques to build their clay creations and explored using the different tools to carve their designs. 

The Parable of the 2 Builders 

In RE this term the children have been discussing who inspires them and how Jesus inspires Christians. This week we read the parable of the 2 builders and discussed the message that Jesus was trying to teach his followers. The children came up with different questions they might ask the wise man, the foolish man, Jesus and the disciples. They then had used their drama skills and took turns to hot seat the different people from the story, asking their questions and giving brilliant answers. 

Fantastic Fact Files! 

This week Year 4 finished their class text of 'Here Comes Hercules' and in English they were tasked with creating amazing fact files all about the demigod. They used the class devices to independently research about Hercules and also used different texts and books from the school library. The children then organsied their information into different sub-headings and were allowed to record and create their fact files however they wanted. They discussed the reliability of different information sources such as the Disney version and drew some amazing illustrations. 

Excellent Electricity 

In Science this term the children are exploring electricity. They have already sorted different household appliances into those that are powered by either battery or mains electricity and drawn fantastic scientific diagrams of the inside of a plug. This week the children were introduced to circuits. They looked at the different components needed to build a simple series circuit and were fascinated when they worked out how to make the lamp light, the fan spin and the buzzer turn on. They then explored the different scientific symbols used when drawing their circuits. 

Dazzling Greek Designs

In Art this week the children have been using their knowledge of greek craftsmanship to design their own greek pot. They looked at different shapes, patterns and styles and used their pencil skills to sketch their design. The children cannot wait to bring their designs to life using clay in the next few weeks. 

Superb Symmetry

This week the children have been recapping their knowledge of 2D shapes and symmetry. They have been learning how to reflect simple shapes and patterns across a mirror line and made sure they were accurately flipping their designs vertically from one side to the other. The week finished with 'The great british pattern off' where the children created their very own characters and designs, and reflected them in a vertical mirror line. The judges, Mrs Coker and Mrs Cox, were amazed by the unique, accurate and utterly fantastic designs!

School Council Elections 

This week Mrs Farrier launched the school council elections in assembly. Members of the class put themselves forward as candidates and to keep everything fair, Mrs Farrier put all the names into a randomiser wheel. The 4 candidates that were chosen for Highland Cow class then had time to prepare their manifesto speeches and presented these to the rest of the class ahead of voting in the polling station on Friday 11th September. Mrs Farrier sneakily added a 5th candidate as Darcie-Rose wrote a fantastic speech at home which needed to be considered. Dillon, Zara, Molly, George and Darcie-Rose spoke with confidence in front of the class and the children cannot wait to find out who the school council representative will be. 

Welcome back! 

The children have come back amazingly this week and it has been great to see them already trying their best, working incredibly hard and doing it all with huge smiles on their faces! 

This week the children spent time settling into classroom routines and getting to know the new adults in the year group. They started their first class reader 'Here comes Hercules' and they loved it so much that they have already read 6 chapters! They predicted what might happen in the story based on the front cover and the blurb and then drew fantastic pictures of the choas that the demigod in the stoy creates- they found this very amusing! 

In the afternoons the children immersed themselves in this terms topic- Ancient Greece. They located the country on maps and atlases, explored the physical and human features of Greece and compared the country to England. The children enjoyed creating a class messy map of Greece and spent time working together to plot different historical landmarks. Next week we will be travelling back in time and exploring the history of ancient Greece and what life was like for different people during that period. 

Term 1 Knowledge Organisers 

These highlight all the knowledge and facts that we are going to be covering within our history, geography and science topics each term. We use these in class to play games such as 'Beat the Teacher', learn and spell key vocabulary and understand any key facts linked to our topics. Please use these to talk to your children at home about what they are learning in school. 

Welcome to Highland Cows Class Page! Here you will find out about all the exciting learning, activities, and experiences taking place in our classroom. We can't wait to share our learning journey with you.