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Year 4 - Hawthorn Class
VISITOR
We were treated to a wonderful morning from the visiting Westfield Music Roadshow. The children were exposed to a variety of performances and musical instruments and have perhaps been inspired to have a go at playing one themselves. Thank you, Westfield, for your amazing performance.
SUMMER FAIR
Thank you to the PTA for allowing us all to have fun on the inflatables! Even the teachers had a go!
HISTORY
We have been absolutely blown away by Year 4’s Egyptian projects this year! They are incredible! Each child has put so much effort and creativity into their work and the results are astounding. Well done! Thank you to all the parents that helped make their projects. As always, we really appreciate your support.
ENGLISH
In English this week, the children participated in an ‘Island project’ where they had to imagine that their plane had crash-landed on a remote island. On day 1, they wrote a set of instructions on how to survive the night by finding food and making shelter. For day 2, the children wrote an emotive diary entry describing what their island was like. Finally, on their third day of survival, the children used their tech skills to record their diary entries to send to a rescue boat. The project culminated with the children drawing maps to help rescuers identify their islands.
TALENT SHOW
Well done to Julie and Clara for their outstanding performances in the KS2 Talent Show. They faced tough competition this year but did an amazing job of representing our class with their incredible vocals and wild dance moves. What a fun afternoon!
WORKSHOP
We had a wonderful afternoon with Jane from SCARF. We learned all about being ourselves and how playing with friends is much better than being on our own. Despite being older, the children loved seeing their friend Howard the giraffe, who encouraged conversations around drugs, alcohol, medicine, and healthy choices. The children came up with insightful and mature responses through carefully led questioning from Jane (and Howard). The session was a fantastic mix of fun and serious elements and Jane was brilliant at engaging and including every child in the activities.
WIMBLEDON
Well done to our finalists, Ben and Lara. You played brilliantly! It's such a shame Hawthorn had to miss your game...
ACHIEVEMENT
Huge congratulations to Frankie for winning the Inter-Trust Poetry Recital competition.
Children from all schools with the trust were given a selection of poems to learn and perform in front of an audience over a series of rounds. The three finalists from Preston went on to perform at the final, held at Manor Court Primary School. They competed against the finalists from our 8 other Trust schools and were judged by a distinguished panel of guests, including The Mayor of Chard, the Chair of the Local Rotary Club, a librarian from Chard Library and our Trust CEO, Mrs Bernie Green. After a lot of practice, Frankie put on an incredible performance and went on to win her category. We are all so immensely proud of you! Well done!
WORKSHOP
Year 4 was extremely lucky to be part of a live-stream STEM workshop from Leonardo. The children were given minimal materials to build three gilders and had to design, construct and test each one. The children loved learning all about how gliders and planes actually fly and how they could adapt their designs to make their gliders go further. We took them to the test and some gliders went very far indeed! Some even flew over 6 metres!
SPORTS DAY
Sports Day was a huge success! The weather was perfect, and the children did us proud. Their behaviour was impeccable, and they expressed fantastic sportsmanship in cheering on their peers and celebrating their achievements. Well done KS2! You were all brilliant.
WORKSHOP
KS2 were invited to attend an online workshop to learn about careers within the NHS. We learnt that there are over 350 different jobs within the NHS alone! The children enjoyed hearing both a paediatric doctor and an infection prevention and control nurse talk about what their jobs involved. We had the opportunity to ask them a range of questions about their roles and discovered all the positive and negative aspects of their working day. It was incredibly interesting and many children left the webinar feeling inspired.
MULTIPLICATION CHECK
The Year 4 children have absolutely smashed their Multiplication Check! They have worked incredibly hard to get to this point and Mrs Chambers and I could not be prouder of their determination and commitment. From their practice tests in the lead-up to the main event, we’re confident that they have all done an amazing job. To celebrate the end of the check, we all had a well-deserved breather and enjoyed a garden party on the field. Doughnuts, cookies, lemonade, and games were just what we all needed to relax and unwind! Now to await the official results…
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
Our structures project has proved to be quite a challenge, but the children have come up with some clever and creative approaches to problem solve. A diverse range of innovative pavilions are starting to take shape.
GEOGRAPHY
To start their new topic in geography, Hawthorn got to grips with locating all the countries of Europe and labelling a map. They then went on to find out the capital cities of each country.
PE
Both classes made the most of the beautiful weather and joined together for a wonderful afternoon of rounders. Emotions ran high as the classes competed to win, but mostly because this was Mr Watkinson's last day of teaching. The children have absolutely loved their PE sessions with him, as well as the exciting clubs and extracurricular events he has held throughout the years. He will be sorely missed by both the staff and pupils 
. Good luck Mr W! We wish you every success in your new role.
CHURCH
Hawthorn had a lovely visit to St James' Church, where they were invited to look at the amazing display of knitted bible stories. The children were impressed by the craftsmanship and enjoyed reading the prayers displayed alongside the knitted scenes. They also behaved beautifully and did a fantastic job of representing the school.
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
Using their designs and a range of materials, the children started to build a strong frame structure for their pavilion. Their next task will be to find innovative ways to clad it. The designs are looking great so far and I cannot wait to see the finished results.
MATHS
This week has been all about angles! The Year 4 children have done a brilliant job of learning their way around a protractor to both measure angles and draw them too.
VISITOR
One of our Hawthorn children was incredibly lucky to sneak a peek at the visiting owls that were paying Reception a visit. Twiglet, Marmite, Bubble & Squeak, plus some newly hatched babies were a joy to see. Despite being utterly adorable, they were also very well-behaved. Michelle from Owl Enlightenment generously allowed us in for some 1-1 time with the owls and shared interesting facts and information about them.
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
Our design and technology unit this term is to build a pavilion. To begin our project, the children used spaghetti and blue tack to explore different frame structures and to test which were the most stable.
MUSIC
For music this week, the children had great fun learning a song about Ancient Egyptians. Once we had mastered the singing, we tried our best to add some dance moves too!
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ENGLISH
The children were set the task of copying sentences into their books from memory, as the teacher read them aloud. The sentences increased in complexity and included many common exception words to test the children’s spelling as well as punctuation. It was a challenge!
CLASS TRIP
This week, Year 4 was lucky enough to have a trip to the British Museum in London! For some children, this was their first time in the big smoke, and I am sure it was an incredible and memorable experience for them.
We prioritized our time exploring the museum’s Ancient Egyptian collection, as this is our current history topic. It was a joy to see the children link the artefacts to their learning. From the ornate hieroglyphics and ancient artworks to the down-right gory mummified corpses, the incredible museum collection provided ample inspiration for the children's upcoming Egyptian project.
Both classes also had the opportunity to explore the rest of the collections housed in the British Museum. We explored Neolithic Britain (to link in with our previous Stone Age topic) and spent time exploring the artefacts of Ancient Rome (the children’s major history topic from Year 3). On both legs of the journey, we were also treated to views of Stonehenge.
Mrs Chambers and I were incredibly impressed and proud of the way our children represented the school. Their behaviour and patience were impeccable, despite the horrific London traffic and unplanned museum alarms! It was a long day for them, but they all did brilliantly.
MATHS
With celebrations and fun activities dominating the timetable, it is safe to say that maths has not been the most popular subject this week! The children have been tackling finding the perimeter of compound shapes, and it has been a challenge. However, Hawthorn has shown incredible determination and perseverance and we are all beginning to get the hang of it.
CORONATION DAY
The school put on a fantastic effort to get the children into the coronation spirit. Bunting and balloons adorned the corridors and each classroom displayed amazing coronation-themed artwork made by the children.
Everyone came together for a whole school assembly, where we learned more about King Charles III and what the momentous occasion was about. The children sang their hearts out, mastering the rather tricky coronation song, before heading back to their classrooms to take part in a variety of themed arts and crafts activities. As they created their memorabilia, they also learned about different countries within the Commonwealth. Year 4 was designated South Africa and the children delighted in exploring our display table featuring books and items from the country.
In the afternoon, the PTA treated the whole school to an ice cream and drink. We then came back together in the hall for an afternoon of entertainment. Year 4 certainly brought the party to the gathering with an energetic dance performance to Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’, the official song of the 2010 Football World Cup that was held in South Africa.
To end the day, the whole school took part in a parade around the school playground to show off their fabulous coronation crowns.
COLLECTIVE WORSHIP
Our collective worship this week was on the Christian value of service. Hawthorn led the assembly and shared a story about treating other people with kindness as a way of serving God. The children read beautifully and encouraged their audience to think of ways to be kind throughout the day.
ART
With the King’s coronation around the corner, the children have started designing their crowns for the school’s coronation parade. To stay on theme with our designated Commonwealth country - South Africa - the children have been looking at traditional Zulu crowns and Ndebele patterns to inspire their designs.
HISTORY
To continue with our new and exciting topic of Ancient Egypt, the children learnt all about the river Nile, and the vital role it played in the lives of the Ancient Egyptians. They then went on to research and write explanation texts on the role and uses of the all-important river.
VISITOR
Internationally bestselling author, A.F. Steadman joined us at school for a magnificent talk about her books and how she became an author. She talked the audience through her writing process and the clever ideas behind her characters and plotlines. The children loved getting involved in designing and naming a unicorn (which will potentially be used in her future books). After her inspiring talk, she signed books and continued to jot down ideas for future character names. The children were buzzing!
SCIENCE
This week, the children got to put their knowledge of circuits and electricity into action by building their own electrical circuits. To start, Hawthorn learnt the symbols of electrical components and learnt how to draw a simple series circuit. Once they had mastered that, they were set to the challenge of constructing a series of simple circuits using either a bulb or a buzzer as their electrical load.
ART
Inspired by the rainforest, Year 4 has started their new art topic ‘The Fabric of Nature’ by sketching and gathering inspirational images to assemble into a mood board.
HAPPY EASTER
Wishing you all a Happy Easter and a wonderful two weeks off school! Enjoy your well-deserved break and I look forward to welcoming you back for a fun and jam-packed summer term.
ROCK BOTTOM
I think it is safe to say that Year 4 absolutely smashed their play Rock Bottom. The hysterical, historical comedy was truly brought to life by the talented children. Every child went above and beyond to put on a magnificent performance for both the school and their parents. I am immensely proud of the hard work and dedication shown by all. Thank you to everyone at home who contributed to learning lines and helping with costumes. I'm sure we can all agree that it was worth it!
SCIENCE
To round off Science Fortnight, the children came into school dressed as crazy scientists. Their outfits were fantastic! We spent the afternoon investigating, experimenting, exploring and generally making a right mess of the classroom. What a fun finish to a busy week!
WORKSHOP
This week, Permafrost Paul from Fizzpop Science paid Year 4 a visit. The children learned about different chemicals and their acidity levels, using universal indicator solution to test a variety of liquids. They then watched lids pop off in a thrilling experiment involving effervescent tablets and the pressured build-up of C02 gas. We’d like to say a massive thank you to the PTA for donating money for Years 3 and 4 to have this workshop.
RED NOSE DAY
It was lovely to see so many red noses and big smiles around the school today. Thank you to all who donated money towards this worthy cause.
SCIENCE
This week the children continue to investigate sound. They had a great time testing out different experiments to study how sound works.
ENGLISH
Staying on theme for Science Week, the children put on their creative hats and designed innovative inventions for the future. The imagination behind some of the concepts was truly astounding! They then went on to create adverts to sell their inventions. The class learnt about and studied the features of a variety of different forms of adverts before going on to create their own. Using catchy slogans, persuasive language, and techniques to influence the emotions of their audience, the children did a fantastic job of convincing each other to invest in their inventions.
SCIENCE FAIR
Children from KS1 and KS2 worked incredibly hard to produce amazing science projects, which they then showed off to their peers at the science fair. The hall was buzzing with energy as both teachers and pupils got stuck into learning something new or taking part in various experiments. Huge congratulations to all the children who took part – it was brilliant! And a big thank you to Mrs Chambers, who did a fantastic job of bringing it all together.
MATHS
Maths has proven to be a bit of a challenge this week as the children have grappled with negative numbers. Using number lines to help them, the children have tackled counting forwards and backwards through zero and interpreting negative numbers in context.
SCIENCE
For science this week, Hawthorn explored how sound can travel through different materials. In our investigation, we looked at a variety of materials and how well they blocked out sound. From our research, the children were able to determine which materials would make the most effective earmuffs.
MATHS
Our D&T project gave the children the perfect opportunity to apply their skills in units of measurement and weight conversions when following and adapting their biscuit recipes. They were also able to practice adding and multiplying money when working out their biscuit budgets.
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
This week has been nothing short of a biscuit binge! For their D&T project this term, Year 4 was set the task to research (and taste!) a variety of different biscuits. They then went on to bake a basic prototype, which of course involved further taste tests. From there, the children then adapted the basic recipe by adding an additional ingredient. Further tests were made before the children decided on what adapted ingredient they would like to choose for their final biscuit bake. The results looked delicious! Year 4 not only successfully made biscuits, the children also designed their own logo for their biscuit packaging. The end results were amazing!
SCIENCE
For science this week, Hawthorn explored how sound can travel through different materials. In our investigation, we looked at a variety of materials and how well they blocked out sound. From our research, the children were able to determine which materials would make the most effective earmuffs.
WORLD BOOK DAY
To celebrate World Book Day, the children designed and wrote leaflets about the characters that they had come dressed as. Using subheadings and labelled illustrations, the children provided key information about who they were and what book their characters had come from. Year 4 also enjoyed a visit to the book fair, where they were able to browse and buy exciting new titles with their book vouchers. It was a highly enjoyable day and the children all looked wonderful in their costumes!
VISITOR
Children’s author and illustrator, Tom Mclaughlin, joined us at school for a fantastic talk about how he became an author. He shared stories about what inspires his books and the ideas behind his artworks. The children were transfixed as he guided us through an example of how he designs and draws his characters. Drawing live on his iPad, the children were absolutely engrossed as they watched how Tom transformed a few simple shapes into quirky and emotive characters. It is safe to say the children (and staff!) left the hall feeling incredibly inspired.
SCHOOL PLAY
Rehearsals and prop production are in full swing, and Year 4 is stealing every opportunity to sing! The children have done a fabulous job of practising their lines over half term and the play is starting to come together nicely. The children were very excited to have their first rehearsal on the stage! Not long to go now…
LANGUAGE FAIR
This week, Miss Taylor and the Language Ambassadors hosted a fantastic language fair which was enjoyed by the whole school. A variety of different activities were set up for children to explore different cultures and languages and to learn from their multi-lingual peers.
GEOGRAPHY
Year 4 has started its new topic on India. To introduce the topic, the children studied maps of India, learning about the major cities, mountains and rivers as well as the surrounding oceans and seas. They then went on to successfully label their own maps.
MATHS
Maths this week has been all about money! Hawthorn has learnt how to add, subtract, multiply and divide amounts of money. This proved to be a bit trickier than anticipated, but Hawthorn stuck with it and we all got there in the end.
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
This term, the children have been developing their textiles skills by making book sleeves. The children researched the effectiveness of different fastenings and how they could be used on different products. They then worked on a design brief and drew their designs, being sure to refer to the specific design criteria. After this, the children learned how to sew and attach a button as a fastening. All their book sleeves look amazing, and it is great to see the colour and pattern variations in their designs.
WELLBEING CHALLENGE
The Wellbeing Ambassadors set the challenge to ‘Keep Learning’ this half term. All children within the school took part and had the opportunity to share their new skills with their classmates. Hawthorn has certainly been busy! I was amazed by the variety of skills presented to me. Everything from tying shoelaces to blowing bubbles with bubble gum, learning new karate kicks to doing headstands, ice-skating to driving a tractor, learning to write in another language to learning how to crochet. The list was huge! Well done to all the children who took part. Keep it up and keep on learning!
COLLECTIVE WORSHIP
This week was Hawthorn’s turn to lead the Collective Worship assembly. Our Christian value this week was Thankfulness. To explore the theme of Thankfulness the children did a fantastic job of performing a variety of different acts which explored the theme of being thankful. We concluded our assembly with a prayer and a reminder of the importance of being grateful for all the small things that we so often take for granted.
SCIENCE
Hawthorn continued to expand their understanding of the different states of matter by investigating how the different states can be reversible. To do this, they applied heat to chocolate (solid) and observed how it changed into a liquid state when it melted. Once melted, they added their cereals to the molten chocolate to make some crispy cakes. They then observed how the chocolate changed back into a solid state as it cooled down. The children loved investigating the process, especially as they got to eat their experiments afterwards!
WORKSHOP
This week, Year 4 was treated to a workshop with Tim from Wessex Water. He took the class through the different stages of the water cycle, before giving the children an insight into how dirty water is treated to make it clean again. The children then had a go at ‘flushing’ a fake loo to investigate what materials should and should not be flushed down the pipes. We discovered that flushable wipes are in fact, not flushable!
ACHIEVEMENT
Congratulations to Clara for winning best junior in the Yeovil amateur pantomime! She put on an outstanding show in her leading role as the genie of the ring. Despite the long days at school followed by late nights on stage, Clara managed to show up in class each day with a smile on her face, and produce high-quality work. We’re so proud of you! Well done, Clara!
MATHS
We have been tackling fractions of amounts this week. With Hawthorn’s ever-increasing confidence in their times tables, the children were able to apply their multiplication and division skills to the set questions and master the work in no time!
ENGLISH
This week in English, the children have been studying newspaper reports and learning how to write their own news articles. Some horrifying reports of a dragon attacking Preston Primary have certainly grabbed my attention!
CLASS TRIP
Year 4 enjoyed a fantastic day out in Taunton at The Museum of Somerset. The children learnt all about Stone Age Somerset and had a chance to explore the displays and discover artefacts. They even got to hold a real tooth from a woolly mammoth! As well as exploring the museum collections, the children also made their own Stone Age ‘bone’ necklaces, painted some cave art, and they also dressed up in Stone Age attire. It was a brilliant day that truly enhanced the children’s engagement and understanding of their history topic.
HISTORY
This week we studied cave paintings. We learnt about how early humans communicated during the Stone Age, and the relevance of their artwork in helping archaeologists decode what it may have been like to be alive during Stone Age times. The children then went on to create their own cave paintings using natural-coloured paints and charcoal.
MATHS
Hawthorn has been learning about weight and mass and how to convert between grams and kilograms. As well as providing the opportunity for them to practice multiplying and dividing by 1000, the children have also learned how to read scales accurately.
ENGLISH
‘The Magic Box’ by Kit Wright provided ample inspiration for our first ventures into free verse poetry. Using the structure of ‘The Magic Box’, the children let their imaginations run wild and wrote their own terrific poems filled with onomatopoeia and alliteration. They were a pleasure to read!
We then moved on to limericks. Hawthorn learnt about rhythm and the AABBA rhyming structure, before composing this ridiculous poem (best read with a Somerset accent):
There was once an ant called Pants,
Who loved gardening and growing plants,
He had a brother called Billy,
They were both very silly,
And they ate fresh baguettes from France.
SCIENCE
In science, the children have been learning about states of matter and the water cycle. This week, we set up an experiment to measure the evaporation of water in different environments. The children chose five different locations in and around the classroom to place our cups of equally measured water. We’ll check the results next week!
SCHOOL PLAY
The Year 4 play has been announced! After some utterly fantastic auditioning last week, Mrs Chambers and I had the tough task of choosing the cast. However, the list has been decided and it is time to get this show on the road!
We began our first read-through of the script today and it is safe to say we are all incredibly excited about this upcoming performance.
WORLD RELIGION DAY
To celebrate World Religion Day, the class learned about the story of Rama and Sita and how, during the festival of Diwali, people remember this story. Hawthorn learnt that Diwali is also known as the Festival of Lights, which celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and the human ability to overcome.
The children were also invited to do a show-and-tell and share anything to do with their own religion with the class.
MATHS
To start off the term, Hawthorn has been busy learning about the representation of data. We began by using tally charts to collect data about different categories within the class. The children busied themselves finding out what the favourite colours of their classmates were, or what types of pets they owned (amongst other things). From their tallies, they noted down the frequencies and used this information to draw their very own bar charts. We ended the week by refining our computer skills and using Excel to further create bar charts.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Happy New Year! I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas holiday spending time with your family and friends. We look forward to welcoming you back for what will be a very exciting term. We have a lot to look forward to in the coming months...
CHRISTMAS WEEK
Christmas Week has flashed by in a frenzied, glittery blur of festive and fun-filled activities. The highlight was most certainly the school trip to see the Pantomime at The Octagon Theatre, kindly organised by the PTA. Sweets were consumed and excited screams and squeals took on new noise levels as the children delighted in the hilarious rendition of Dick Whittington.
This week has also seen Hawthorn take their crafting skills to new realms, as they have busily produced a variety of stunning Christmas decorations to take home with them. The classroom may take a while to recover from the onslaught of glitter, however, the sparkles and twinkling remnants have all added to the festive atmosphere and general cheer.
A lovely church service was held, where two children from Hawthorn did us proud with their clear and confident readings. The children sang their carols beautifully, and Reverent Keen guided us through the importance of Christmas as a time of celebration and reflection.
We wound down our busy week with a Christmas ‘cinema’ day, where the children enjoyed watching Christmas movies with bowls of popcorn and bags of sweets. We played games, exchanged cards and presents and before we knew it, it was time to skip home for the holiday!
Merry Christmas everybody! Wishing you peace, love, joy and a very Happy New Year!
ACHIEVEMENT
Congratulations to Jasmine for running 5km in aid of Sherbourne Food Bank. She, along with her siblings, set off in -4 degrees to complete their route. Despite the freezing conditions, Jasmine completed the distance for a worthy cause. Well done Jasmine! We are all so proud of you!
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
The children started to design and construct their Christmas books this week. After composing a Christmas story of their own, they went on to design the accompanying illustrations that included the moving components: sliders, spinners, flaps, and pop-ups. The plans are looking fantastic and I cannot wait to see the finished products.
VISITOR
Hawthorn was thrilled to find Father Christmas knocking at the classroom door. He generously gifted the children a variety of outdoor games which, as soon as lunch struck, were immediately snapped up and taken outside. Lots of fun was had and I’m sure the games will be put to good use. Thank you, Santa!
CHRISTMAS LUNCH
The hall was filled with festive cheer as the children tucked into their Christmas roasts. Succulent turkey (or a vegetarian alternative), pigs in blankets, crispy roast potatoes and colourful veg were all served with generous lashings of gravy. For pudding, there was a choice of ice cream or mince pies. Soon, the hall was overwhelmed with bangs and pops as the children excitedly pulled their crackers. It was utterly joyous to see the array of colourful hats and full bellies stream out onto the frosty playground.
ADVENT
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The tree is up, and our classroom has taken on a cosy atmosphere with its twinkly lights, tinsel and snowflakes. A naughty elf has arrived, and the advent calendars are bursting with treats. The children were also looking wonderfully festive in preparation for the school Christmas Fair. Advent is a time of great excitement and reflection as we remember through prayer, reflections, special music, and good deeds what the true meaning of Jesus’ birth is.
ART
Continuing from our lesson on the origins of Aboriginal Art, the children developed their dreamscapes, using their fingers to dot paint and finalise their fantastic and colourful designs.
SCIENCE
The results are in! As expected, our findings were a shock to behold. The class were disgusted at the effect that the sugar and vinegar had on our ‘teeth’. As well as informing the children of the effects that different liquids can have on our teeth, I’m sure this lesson has also inspired all children to be more fastidious with their dental hygiene.
MATHS
In maths, the focus this week has been on decimals. We started off learning about the decimal equivalents of fractions before moving on to place value and ordering decimal numbers. With the use of a place value grid, the children mastered decimals in no time!
ENGLISH
This week, Hawthorn has been learning about the rules of speech. The children watched an animated video of the story of Rumpelstiltskin and used a storyboard to prompt their memory of the classic tale. With these tools, they rewrote the story using speech for all the characters.
ART
Hawthorn finally managed to paint their clay Tudor roses! The roses were made during the Year 4 Tudor day and have been drying on the radiators ever since. It was wonderful to see their artwork come alive as the children applied bright colours to their sculptures.
MATHS
In maths, the children have been learning about volume. They did a fantastic job of converting between millilitres and litres, using place value charts to help get their heads around the decimal point.
SCIENCE
In this week's science lesson, Hawthorn set up an experiment to investigate the effects of different drinks on teeth. As no human teeth were available, eggs were used as a substitute! We set each egg up in its own cup and poured the same volume of liquid over each to make it a fair test. It will be interesting (and shocking) to see what water, milk, orange juice, energy drink, Coca-Cola and Diet Coke do to our teeth. For added fun, we filled a cup with vinegar to see the effect of acid on teeth. The children have been excitedly monitoring the experiment each day and we look forward to seeing the results next week.
CHILDREN IN NEED
Today saw the school filled with Pudsey ears and polka dots as everyone came together to raise money for Children in Need. The profits from the delectable cake sale that was organised by the school council, as well as your kind donations from home will all help to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and young people around the UK. Thank you for your efforts and generous contributions towards this worthy cause.
CROSS COUNTRY
Year 4 ran brilliantly in the intra-school cross country event today. With the weather on our side, the girls ran first and then the boys. Many children beat their previous times, and all did a superb job of representing their house teams - Cooke, Fiennes, Livingstone and Sharman. Well done Year 4!
WORKSHOP
The lucky Year 4s are taking part in a hockey workshop lead by the wonderful Jo. Each Thursday, they will be given a master class on the rules of hockey and the key skills and techniques needed for the game. The children have already learnt so much from just one session, so it will be fantastic to see how they progress through the coming weeks.
CLASS TRIP
Year 4 were treated to a trip to Glastonbury Abbey. For many, it was their first time visiting the abbey and so excitement levels were high! Our hosts, Brother Edmund and Lady Gertrude, welcomed us warmly and engaged the children in a variety of informative and fun activities throughout the day. We started off making Tudor toothpaste out of salt, sage, mint, rosemary, and cloves. Those who were brave enough to try it confirmed that it was a rather disgusting forbearer to to the toothpaste of today! We were then given an insightful tour around the abbey. Despite the rain, the amazing facts and legends surrounding the history of the abbey kept the children engaged and eager to learn more. After lunch, it was time to take part in a Tudor workshop. Hawthorn loved it! The children played Tudor games and were greatly entertained by a session of sock jousting. Then it was time to dress up in Tudor clothing, ready to be presented at Tudor court. After that, the class learned and performed two Tudor dances before rounding the day off with a Tudor quiz. What a successful day!
REMEMBRANCE DAY
The children spent the afternoon taking part in a variety of creative activities that inspired reflection and remembrance for those who have sacrificed their lives to serve our country. Children from KS2 collaborated to make a beautiful wreath, which was taken down to be placed at the town war memorial on behalf of the school.
TUDOR DAY
Year 4 had a fantastic day experiencing all things Tudor. We started the day drawing Tudor portraits, before moving our creativity into the sculptural realms, making detailed clay Tudor roses. These will be painted once dry. After our artistic morning, it was time to indulge in a Tudor banquet complete with background music. The children feasted on pork pies and pottage (vegetable stew) with a wedge of cobb bread. For dessert, gem-like jam tarts were served and ginger biscuits. To rinse their food down, the Year 4s glugged down quantities of red wine (cranberry juice). From there, we burnt off some energy learning Tudor dances. The afternoon took a relaxing turn as the children settled down to make Tudor soap balls with fresh rose petals and dried lavender. All in all, it was an utterly wonderful day enjoyed by all involved. Thank you to all parents for taking the time and effort in ensuring your child looked the part. The costumes were amazing!
SCIENCE
Hawthorn enjoyed a fun (and gruesome) lesson in which we created a model of the digestive system. Using a variety of household items to represent the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and rectum, we modelled the process of digestion from the very start of food entering the mouth, to the very end where the leftover waste exits the anus.
ENGLISH
This week, Hawthorn have been learning about instructions. To start the topic, the class lead me through the process of making a jam sandwich. After many hilarious and messy mishaps where vital information was missed out of the instruction-giving, we finally got there! This gave the class a good sense of the importance of clear, detailed, and chronological guidance. From there, we moved onto playing Snakes and Ladders before writing our own instructions of how to play the game. The class did well to use clear sub-headings and used a good range of imperative verbs and time conjunctions within their work.
ART
Hawthorn learnt about the origins of Aboriginal Art and how it evolved into the iconic dot paintings that we recognise in society today. We discussed how the Aboriginals used The Dreaming as their way of passing on important knowledge, cultural values and belief systems to future generations, before going on to study the symbols and icons used to communicate their stories within their artworks. The children then had a go at sketching out their own dreamscapes before adding vibrant Aboriginal-style dots in oil pastels. Next week we will be finalising our designs and painting them using earbuds.
HISTORY
To start our new history module on The Tudors, I asked the children what they wanted to find out about in their lessons. They came up with a wonderful range of questions, which we look forward to answering as we progress through the topic.
COLLECTIVE WORSHIP
This week was Hawthorn’s turn to lead the Collective Worship assembly. Our Christian value this week was Courage. To explore the theme of Courage, the class read a poem about the famous bible story of David and Goliath. We concluded our assembly with a prayer and a reminder that age and size do not matter. We reminded the children that with courage, commitment, heart, and faith in God, you can all achieve great things.
GEOGRAPHY
The day finally came to erupt the volcanoes! Hawthorn squealed in delight as foul-smelling lava fizzed and bubbled over the sides of their creations. Each group took it in turns to add vinegar and food colouring to bicarbonate soda and then stood back to watch the magic happen. Some of the foamy reactions worked better than others, but the anticipation and excitement of each ‘eruption’ was thoroughly enjoyed by all. What a lovely way to end our Geography topic this term!
ENGLISH
In English, Year 4 have been studying non-fiction texts. The children have enjoyed producing information leaflets on ‘How to Spot a Witch’ based off the chapter from Roald Dahl’s beloved book ‘The Witches’. Their leaflets have been incredibly helpful in illuminating the subtle differences between witches and normal women. The illustrations have been fantastic too!
MATHS
In maths, the children have been learning all about time. To help support their understanding of time, we had a fun lesson where we estimated how long it would take to complete certain activities. The children then went on to perform the different activities and time themselves in the process. The classroom was chaos as children timed themselves doing a whole array of things such as star-jumping, pencil-sharpening, singing the alphabet, tying shoelaces, and putting on their jumpers. I have never seen children move with such speed!
HELLO YELLOW
Thank you to all the children and staff who took part in #HelloYellow day. The school felt like it was soaked in sunshine with all the amazing yellow decorations and outfits! The generous donations will help the charity, Young Minds, to continue to provide ongoing mental health advice to young people and the adults in their lives, as well as campaign for the support and services they need.
GEOGRAPHY
Today was painting day, as Hawthorn continued preparing their volcanoes for the eruption day next week. They cannot wait!
BOOK SWAP
This week's book swap was a huge success. Children who bought in old, unwanted books were able to exchange them for new titles to fill their bookshelves. Miss Feltham did a great job of organising it all! It was lovely to see so many smiling bookworms, ready to get lost in their new collection of titles.
WORKSHOP
The fencing workshop was a huge hit with Hawthorn! Ash, from Premier Sports, led a wonderful session where he taught the children the fundamentals of fencing. Working in partners, the children were able to practice the skills needed to advance and retreat. Then it was time to put their skills into action with a foil and mask.
MATHS
I maths this week, Year 4 have been learning about measurements. The children learnt how to convert between millimetres, centimetres, meters, and kilometres. Alongside this, Hawthorn also learnt about estimation. The class enjoyed their activity of estimating and then measuring different objects around the classroom.
VISITORS
Much to the delight of the children, Mrs Davis brought her litter of adorable Shih Tzu puppies in for a special visit. Hawthorn loved petting the tiny furballs and I am sure the children have all returned home requesting to have a puppy of their own! What an utterly joyous way to end our busy week!
TIMES TABLES
Times tables can be a chore! In a bid to keep the children engaged, the school kindly invested in a variety of fun times tables games. They were a huge hit! Hawthorn enjoyed taking it in turns to play the mix of different activities. Seeing as they were so successful, we will be replacing Early Bird with this every Friday in a bid to boost the children's confidence and times tables recall.
GEOGRAPHY
Tying in with this term's geography topic on mountains and volcanoes, the children have started to build their model volcanoes. The classroom was utter chaos as Hawthorn got stuck into tearing, scrunching, ripping and sticking paper into a basic volcano shape. The models were then finished off with a layer of papier-mâché in preparation for painting next week.
ENGLISH
This week has been all about poetry! Hawthorn have learnt about the terms verse, stanza, chorus, couplet, rhyme, rhythm and alliteration and how to identify them in poems.
The children have written some amazing rhyming poems, Haikus and Kennings poems, which have been a joy to read. With topics ranging from the beauty of nature to crass toilet humour, it has been a very entertaining week!
HARVEST FESTIVAL
We started our week with Harvest Festival. Reverend Keen led our assembly where we gave thanks for our abundance of food and reflected and prayed for those less fortunate than us. Children from KS2 also gave readings and shared poems.
The table of donations was filled to the brim and will be gratefully received by The Lord’s Larder, a charity which supports families in need in the Yeovil area. Thank you everyone who kindly donated!
MATHS
Year 4 have been learning about regular and irregular 2D shapes this week. Hawthorn did a brilliant job of classifying different polygons and triangles in their maths. As it was art week, we also studied the art of the abstract painter, Wassily Kandinsky, and used our knowledge of lines and shapes to examine his compositions. The children then went on to paint their own Kandinsky-inspired pictures and successfully embodied the lines and shapes learnt in this week's topic.
SCIENCE
In the name of art week, Hawthorn have taken their science topic into the visual realms and have produced a variety of striking animal portraits using oil pastels. Each child had to choose an animal, identify whether it was a vertebrate or invertebrate and then further classify it into its correct category before getting mucky with the pastels. The smudged desks and rainbow-stained carpets have certainly been worth it for the beautiful variety of colourful artworks. They look amazing!
ART WEEK
As part of art week, visiting artist Carolyn Lefley showcased her art to KS2 in an exciting assembly. She talked through her inspirations and the interesting processes behind her photographic and film work. The children enjoyed watching her latest film before being set the task of drawing their own ammonites. As a class, we studied the techniques of cross-hatching and stippling to add depth and shadow to our drawings.
EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES
To celebrate the European Day of Languages, our school language ambassadors got together to read and share foreign story books with each class around school. Hawthorn loved hearing the variety of different dialects and our ambassadors were able to show off their diversity and skills in communicating in both English and their mother tongue.
VISITORS
KS2 were treated to an exciting assembly today. A selection of musicians from Preston Secondary School paid us a visit and performed a series of inspiring musical pieces. Not only did our visitors put on a great show, they also provided the children with an insight into the exciting opportunities ahead of them at secondary school. Perhaps it has inspired the children to take up an instrument or join a choir now!
SCIENCE
Hawthorn have been busy learning about the classification of animals and plants. This week, we embraced the good weather and took our learning outside to identify the different types of trees within Preston Primary's field. Using our leaf identification guides, we walked the entire circumference of the field searching the branches and collecting data. We then returned to the classroom and drew bar charts to illustrate our findings.
MATHS
Hawthorn had the tricky task of multiplying 2-digit numbers by two digits using the formal long multiplication method. With a lot of concentration and perseverance, we got there in the end!
ENGLISH
In English, Hawthorn learnt about the features of a play script. We identified the key components and discussed how the features come together in the format of a play script. We used our knowledge of adverbs and fronted adverbials to understand why they are used in stage directions and how important they are in giving the actors clear instruction on how to speak and act. With this knowledge, we then split into groups and took it in turns to perform different scripts. One script had stage directions and the other had none. The groups put on some incredible performances - much to the delight of the class audience - and we compared how the performances were affected by lack of direction. The children had great fun and were able to identify the importance of those key script features.
PSHE
This week's PSHE lesson was all about me! We read the charming book 'All the Ways to be Smart' by Davina Bell and discussed the many magnificent things that make us unique. We concluded the session by painting portraits to display in our classroom. These colourful pictures now hang in pride of place above our SMART Board and serve as a continuous reminder that it is our differences that make us fabulous and add diversity to our community.
WELCOME BACK!
It has been lovely getting to know the children this week and to hear about their busy holidays and summer adventures. It is truly wonderful to feel the buzz of excitement from Hawthorn’s smiling new cohort!
We have many things to look forward to in Year 4 and myself, Mrs Whittle and Miss Hirst hope to retain that enthusiasm and excitement as we support your child through their learning this year.
Miss Johnstone
