Year 4

What will my child be learning about this half term?

Tuesday 16th March 2024 Week 1 -

Today, Year 4 were so excited as Open Box Theatre Company came to school to help us learn all about the lives of Viking raiders and traders. We learnt so many new and interesting facts including how the Vikings navigated our shores in longboats. 

Friday 28th March 2024 Week 6 -

Look at our learning outcome, lanterns with working lights! We are so proud of our results!

Friday 22nd March 2024 Week 5 -

This week we have focused our learning on the poem Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. We have focused on the meaning of the nonsensical words in each stanza. We loved it so much that we decided to focus on intonation, volume, tone and actions. Enjoy the results, we think it is amazing!

Thursday 14th March 2024 Week 4 -

This week in Year 4 we focused on what it means to be a Balksbury Citizen. We discussed how our 'Code of Conduct' helps us to treat each other with kind words. We then talked about how we remember the things that others say to us and how they 'Stick To Me Like Glue'. We celebrated our understanding and the effect words can have on us now and in the future by creating a year group banner.  

Thursday 7th March 2024 Week 3 -

World Book Day: to celebrate our love of books, we shared our favourite books with Year 2. We loved hearing all about the books Year 2 loved and why they chose them. We also loved getting dressed up as characters from books we have read and shared. 

Friday 1st March 2024 Week 2 -

This week we learnt to use our scientific skills to build our own electrical circuit. We made sure we could make the light a bulb work ready for when we make our own lanterns. 

Friday 23rd February 2024 Week 1 -

This week we learnt to summarise the text 'The Promise' by Nicola Davies. We drew and summarised each key point in the story to gain a deeper understanding. We now understand that 'the girl's' heart was warmed by keeping her promise to the old woman. She planted the acorns and spread her warmth to others. 

Thursday 8th February 2024 Week 6 -

In Year 4, Anti Bulling Day was celebrated with the children enjoying the text 'Kindness Grows' by Britta Teckentrup. Together we shared and discussed the meaningful messages in the story. Each child then wrote their own important message and added it to the Kindness Tree in the hall for everyone to share.   

Friday 2nd February 2024 Week 5 -

Free Reading Friday was shared and enjoyed together by Year 3 and Year 4 

Friday 26th January 2024 Week 4 -

Gathering figurative language from a variety of sources including VR Headsets to describe the animals and plant life we find in the natural world. 

Wednesday 17th January 2024 Week 3 -

Test Valley Brass Band came to see Year 4. The children had hands on experience with a variety of different instruments and learnt all about them. 

Friday 12th January 2024 Week 2 -

In science we experimented with tunning forks to understand what sound waves are and how they travel. We described what we could hear and hear. The table tennis ball bounced repeatedly when the tunning fork was placed against it gently. When the fork touched the water, the water splashed and made a ripple effect. From this we understood that sound travels in waves which you can not always see. 

Friday 5th January 2024 Week 1 -

By looking at the artists Alberto Glacometti, Antony Gormley and Tessa Farmer to understand sculpture, scale and space. We then experimented with sculpture materials and techniques to manipulate and bind a variety of materials such as: card, paper, wire and cardboard.

Friday 15th December 2023 Week 7 -

Autumn Term has been such a learning journey full of wonderful experiences. 

Tuesday 5th December 2023 Week 6 -

Today we made our jam tarts to please the 'Queen of Hearts' from Alice in Wonderland. The children enjoyed learning all the skills needed for cooking including budgeting, food hygiene, preparation, using equipment safety, following a recipe and preparing food before making it. The children ate their tarts and evaluated them. Miss Thompson enjoyed eating her jam tart with a nice cup of tea.

Wednesday 22nd November 2023 Week 4 -

We have been learning to identify the function of banks and the relationship we have with them. In this lesson, children had ‘borrow’ and ‘lend’ cards. They had to find a partner who had the same matching amount of money. This led to a discussion on the problem of not knowing who has money to lend and who has money to borrow, and finding someone who has or needs the right amount of money. 

Thursday 16th November 2023 Week 3 -

This week, the children looked at some Victorian artefacts to explore and understand what life as a Victorian school child would have been like. Year 4 then experienced an actual day in the life of a Victorian school child coming into school dressed in period costumes. In Victorian times there was strict rules for children including boys and girls being separated whilst everyone faced the front of the class. Every child had to write with their right-hand using chalk and a blackboard. No left handers in 1870! Children learnt how to write using cursive letters, all sitting on the line perfectly whilst writing out poems such as Mary Had A Little Lamb. Times tables, The National Anthem, and the Lord’s Prayer were all learnt through chanting and repetition. Whilst enjoying the experience, the children quickly concluded that modern day learning is so much more fun.  

Friday 10th November 2023 Week 2 -

Making decorations for our Balksbury Federation Christmas Jingle

Friday 3rd November 2023 Week 1 -

Test tasting and evaluating  different jams in Design & Technology.

Friday 20th October 2023 Week 7 -

A patchwork of our memories inspired by the artist Faith Ringgold.

Tuesday 10th October 2023 Week 6 -

In maths we have been learning different ways to subtract numbers.

Friday 6th October 2023 Week 5 -

Our science learning journey this week. 

Friday 29th September 2023 Week 4 -

Writing information texts all about Greta Thunberg.

Friday 22nd September 2023 Week 3 -

Art, learning about scale and proportion.

Friday 22nd September 2023 Week 3 -

Focusing in on the detail with each draft we draw. 

Friday 15th September 2023 Week 2 -

In science we have been identifying and classifying insects.

Friday 8th September 2023 Week 1 -

Year 4 explore hand art!

Thursday 13th July 2023: Week 6

In Religious Education the children have been focusing on the key concept 'family'. They have explored how important it is to develop healthy relationships, forming firm family ties. These family ties were represented by making friendship bracelets with each other. 

Friday 7th July 2023: Week 5 Arts Week

The children had an amazing time focusing on the African artist Esther Mahlangu. She inspired the children to explore the history of the art work, including the colours and symmetry of each piece. They are very proud of the individual art work on their own T-shirts. 

Thursday 29th June 2023: Week 4

In geography this week, we compared old with new maps of Andover to see how much the town has changed over time. We also compared photographs of the school, looking closely at our school grounds and the surrounding area to see the changes over the years. Field work showed us how much of the school has been extended.   

Wednesday 21st June 2023: Week 3

Learning to understand how coherent paragraphs are in logical sequence.

Friday 16th June 2023: Week 2

Using a variety of sentence patterns.

Friday 9th June 2023: Week 1

Geography - Understanding grid references and features of map reading

Friday 24th March 2023: Week 5 

Year 4 had fun learning how to tell the time using a human analogue clock in Maths this week. Year 4 also created their own analogue clock faces, where the minute and hour hand could move!

World Book Day 2023 

Based on the book 'The Night Gardener' we recorded our own hopes and dreams on stars. We used recycled materials to create a collage picture of one of the topiary characters.

Learning the skills needed for art!

Anti Bullying Day Wednesday 1st February 2023

Artwork from the book 'The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse'.

This is Me!

For Health & Wellbeing this term we have been reflecting on ourselves, how we are citizens of the world in a multicultural society. We focused on the skills needed to contribute to our world and what we can contribute personally. 

For the start of our English learning journey this term, the children found a stranger tied down in the hall. Using the clues around them, they used their inference skills to work out who this person could be, where they had come from and what had happened to him. They also used letters and maps to deepen their thinking, making predictions as to where he was now and what experiences he might encounter. They soon discovered it was Gulliver, who washed ashore on the land of Lilliput near Tasmania. However, something was very different as it was full of little people and he had become a giant. The text the children are focusing on is ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ by Graham Baker-Smith. For this learning outcome, the children will write a newspaper report on the arrival of Gulliver!

 

Our Final Product! Yum Yum!

Making our Queen of Hearts Jam Tarts!

Christmas Dinner at Balksbury!

Jam tasting for our Queen of Hearts Tarts!

Christmas Jingle preparations!

Miss Thompson loves them!

Victorian Day

Today Year 4 went to Trinley Estate Farm to look at the different wildlife and the natural habitats that they are in. We focused on the diverse living organisms and their place in the food chain. We learnt how the crops are rotated and how the natural environment is encouraged by the planting of specific plants alongside the crops to encourage wild life. We looked at insects small and large and found all their hiding places. Can you spot the worms in the wormery? We also discovered that their is a diverse ecosystem that includes various fungi which we studied through magnifying glasses. We also learnt to count the rings of a tree stump to determine the age of the tree. The highlight of the trip however, was the tractor ride to look at the site of ancient woodland and even the site of a Roman Villa. 

In art this week we completed our final piece of work based on the creations by the famous artist Faith Ringgold. During this topic the children learnt how to record memories that were important to them so they are saved forever. They learnt how to draw with pencil control and the art of drawing things to scale. The focus as you can tell by the pictures then went to painting with control and perspective but this time incorporating colour in a patchwork pattern. The children had such great fun. There a few photos to show the work they are proud of. 

Welcome to the new Year 4 Team. Your teachers are...

Mrs Sanderson in Pine Class

Mr Bensaid in Palm Class

Miss Hackman in Lime Class

Our support staff are...

Mrs Girling

Miss Holanda

Mrs Russell

Climate Change

We started our Geography unit of work with a focus on the young campaigner Greta Thunburg who is passionate about Climate Change. Greta is not happy that the world is changing; she is worried that people do not care and that they do not want to look after the world, especially adults. To make people aware about global warming and the effects on our world, she protests and makes speeches to try to encourage people to take an active interest. Today we created ‘Climate Change’ posters and staged a protest at Balksbury Federation. This was to make other students aware of the importance of the effects of Climate change!

Click HERE to watch the children read poetry from the book, The Lost Words.

Tuesday 26th April 2022 - Ufton Court 
Another sunny and glorious day here at Ufton Court! Our first activity was archery. This is where we learnt about the Viking’s hunting skills. Although it looks easy, we all agreed it is a lot more harder then we expected. After a bit of practice, we were able to shoot and ‘kill’ our dinner. We managed to hunt a badger and a rabbit. We then headed back to the house for our delicious snack - a scone with butter and jam. Yum!

After break, we then moved on to our next activity which was called Life On The Farm. In this activity, we were able to have a go at churning cream into butter, milk a cardboard cow and grind wheat into flour. We also managed to say hello to the pigs and Elvis the goat.

We have learnt so much about life as a Viking already and still there is more to learn! It has been commented many times by the children how hard but exciting life was. All the children have immersed theirselves into this experience and the teachers couldn’t be more prouder of them all.

We are hoping for more good weather for our final day tomorrow!

Year 4 :)

Monday 25th April 2022 - Ufton Court

Year 4 have arrived safe and sound at Ufton Court. As soon as we stepped off the coach, we were immersed in Viking life! Already we have sailed the seven seas, weaved a fence and learnt how to fight in battle.

After all this excitement, we sat down for a yummy dinner of sausage, chips and peas. Yum! We all agreed that the chips were the best we have ever tasted. Now, we are off to a Viking funeral…

We will write tomorrow,

Year 4

Ufton Court 2022

Only 20 more days to Ufton Court! We are so excited for our school trip. Don't forget to use the kit list to ensure you have everything you need.

Kit List

Please read the kit list carefully and make sure that your child is able to carry their own bag/holdall. Do not bring mobile phones or any other electrical device, including alarm clocks, on the trip.
 

• Waterproof warm coat
• Wellies/outdoor shoes in a plastic bag
• Indoor shoes
  (only bring slippers if they have non-slip soles – light trainers are more suitable)
• Set of clothes for each day
  (make sure you bring a long sleeved top for Archery)
• Underwear
• Socks
• Personal wash kit with a hairbrush/comb
• Towel
• Teddy bear (or other favourite cuddly toy - optional)
• Nightwear
• Dressing gown
• Water bottle
• Personal medication
• Black tights/leggings and black shoes/plimsoles for the historical banquet

Do not bring your best clothes; comfortable, casual wear is much more suitable for the activities in which you will be participating.

Please name all your clothes and belongings, especially shoes and coats.

Monday 21st March 2022

Wow! We can't believe it is half way through the term already. Year 4 have been so busy with a range of exciting learning tasks from mystery boxes in History to exploring pneumatic systems in Design and Technology. They have even become coding experts in Computing (see photos below).

Recently, we had a visitor in school who came to see our fantastic learning. The year 4 children were amazing at explaining what they were learning and how their knowledge linked with previous learning. Not only was the visitor impressed with the knowledge and skills the children had but also their super attitude and behaviour in the classroom. Well done, Year 4!

Today, we have begun to start a new text driver in English called Beowulf. See below for photos of the children using their prediction and inference skills to gain some knowledge of this story.

Palm Class made a 'circle of time.' We begun with the beginning of time and worked our way to modern day. The children used words such as century, decade, millennium. Because of the circle of time, children understood that the Victorian era was not as long ago as they originally thought. 

Welcome to Year 4

Click here to see Palm Class working hard in Art.

Monday 13th September 2021

A warm welcome to our lovely Year 4 children!
It has been a fantastic and busy first week back at Balksbury Federation.

Tuesday 13th July 2021

Click here for Palm's Geography movie.

Thursday 24th June 2021

Do you really want whales to go extinct?

Are you a friend or an enemy?

Click here to watch Year 4's persuasive speeches.

Thursday 17th June 2021

In English, we have been busy making persuasive posters to encourage people to stop whaling (whale hunting). We were inspired by a short film that we have been studying called 'Catch A Lot' - we worked hard to collects lots of facts and information about whales and whaling before we started. Next week, we will be using our knowledge to write persuasive speeches which we are very excited about!

If you would like to, you can watch 'Catch A Lot' here.

Friday 11th June 2021

This week in maths, we have been focusing on fractions. We have been using lots of different practical resources to demonstrate what we already know, build on our previous learning, and to help us understand improper and mixed number fractions. 

Monday 24th May 2021

We are having great fun using the Federation's new poly tunnel!

As part of our health and wellbeing learning, we have planted a variety of different seeds in unique containers that are special to us. Some people used old shoes, old wellies, dressing up hats, their favourite toys and we even had some special unicorn shaped containers!

We have organised a watering rota to ensure that our plants grow big and strong - it is so exciting to watch them change each day.

Friday 14th May 2021

Year 4 drew mythical creatures to use in their stories. What creative drawings!

Friday 7th May 2021

In maths this week, we have been busy focusing on our quick recall of the 3, 6 and 9 times tables. We started our learning by spotting patterns, then we created images and silly rhymes to help us remember the trickier multiplication facts. We also had a go at some speed sheets and board games to support our learning in an engaging way. It was hands on and great fun!

Friday 30th April 2021

Today was our History day! We are now Viking experts. Open Box even came to visit us to teach us more gruesome but exciting facts.

Wednesday 17th January 2021

Year 4 have had a fantastic start to the week! In Maths, we have been learning all about time. On Monday, we went outside to create the human clock. In English, we have begun researching facts on King Alfred the Great for our information reports. Look at our photos below.

Friday 15th January 2021

This week, Year 4 children have been working incredibly hard at home with their online lessons. A huge WELL DONE to the whole of Year 4 for completing some fantastic home learning with a range of subjects and being so engaged in the live lessons.

Below, we have some pictures of children's work.

Monday 14th December 2020

Wow! What amazing runners we have in Year 4. The children were put into house teams and raced against each other for their place in the final. We have our winners below. I am so impressed with the perseverance of all the children in Year 4. Not to mention, the support and encouragement everyone gave to each other. Go Year 4!

Overall Winners

Boys

1. Harry (Palm, Fosbury)

2. Tobias (Pine, Walbury)

3. Oscar M (Palm, Danebury)

4. Joe (Pine, Walbury)

5. Blake (Pine, Sidbury)

Girls

1. Freya (Palm, Fosbury)

2. Emily (Palm, Fosbury)
3. Marnie (Pine, Walbury)

4. Evie (Palm, Fosbury)

5. Mabel (Lime, Fosbury)

Wednesday 2nd December 2020

Today, we had an exciting day of making our baked product based on the book, Alice In Wonderland. Palm class made divine Queen of Heart's jam tarts. Pine made cheese straws with a Wonderland twist. Lime made Alice's scones with a range of the finest fillings! All of Year 4 had a fantastic time. We are now baking experts. Watch out, The Great British Bake Off 2021!

Friday 20th November 2020

This week, children have been writing their final 1st person historical narratives in English based on the book, The Chimney Child. The children have produced writing of such high quality. Below are some photographs of their writing and the writing process.

Monday 9th November 2020

Last week, Year 4 were transported back in time to 1870! When the children arrived at school, the boys and girls were told to sit and line up separately. After that, there were many rules which were read aloud and repeated often. We read the Lord's Prayer and learnt about Queen Victoria. Our lessons quickly progressed onto true Victorian style lesson such as learning by rote and copying out poetry repeatedly. We even wrote on "slate" boards with chalk.

We learnt a lot in our day, we started by learning about the first ever photo taken and looking at a model of a Victorian style camera. We were taught Victorian playground games too. These included a competitive game of marbles amongst the boys and hopscotch for the girls.

In the afternoon, we explored the Victorian and Albert museum where we learnt about the many wonderful inventions the Victorians created. Inventions such as the penny farthing, Christmas cards, the post box and even the lightbulb!

1st October 2020

National Poetry Day!

We started our day by finding out what poetry was and discussing poems and poets that we already knew. Here were some of the responses:

"In poetry, words are chosen for their sound, beauty and meaning to help the poet share an idea, experience or feeling."

"Poems don't have to include full sentences and not all poems rhyme."

We then listened to a selection of poets performing their poems. As a class we generated top tips for performing poetry inspired by Benjamin Zephaniah, Robert Macfarlane and Joseph Ceolho. After performing our poem and listening carefully to the performances of others, we discussed which of the four poems we had read were our favourite and why. Here are some of the responses:

"I liked reading The Ning Nang Nong because of the way it rhymed and how it sounded cheerful when we read it."

"The spelling in Talking Turkeys helped us talk with an accent like the poet. It was also really funny."

"I enjoyed reading the Jabberwocky poem as it was a challenge to work out what the words might mean and it made you use your imagination."

After Guided Reading, we learnt about a particular type of poetry called Haiku poetry. See the photos below of the children working hard to create their own Haiku poem and our lovely poem tree

Settling in to Year 4

Year 4 have been very busy over the past few weeks getting back into school routines, familiarising themselves with their classes, new class friends and new teaching staff. It's been great to have them all back in school and we thank you for all your support in getting your children to school ready to learn and with everything they need for a successful school day.

In English we have been writing diary entries as either a bee or an ant and have been outside to watch ants in action marching up and down tree trunks and watching bees collect pollen and nectar, buzzing from flower to flower. In Maths, we continue to work on Number and Place Value learning to partition numbers in different ways, using addition and subtraction mentally and rounding.

Are all biomes the same? The Geography question we are trying to answer this half term. Year 4 are investigating six different biomes across the globe and along with this are learning how to read a 4 digit map reference to increase their map reading skills. This is closely linked to Habitats and Survival which we are learning about in Science.

8th September 2020

Wow! What a fabulous start to the school year. It has been such a pleasure to see all your wonderful smiling faces back at Balksbury Federation. We most definitely have missed our V.I.P (very important people). We hope that you have begun to find your feet again as we start our "new normal" school life. Remember if you do have any worries, please talk to anyone in the Year 4 Team. We are here to support and care for you.

Warm wishes,

Miss Mclaren

Scroll down the page for pack 1 to 4.

Hello everyone at home,

I thought I would share the amazing adventure Molly experienced in her own home. Like us Molly was upset that she could not go on our residential trip this year. So this is her story.  

Such a fantastic idea.

Good Morning Year 4!

Below, you will find your Home Learning Pack 4. We hope you are well and that you enjoyed your Easter weekend. Hopefully, like us it was filled with Easter egg hunts, lots of chocolate and of course time with the family.

Hello Year 4!

Below, you will find your Home Learning Pack 3. We hope you are well.

It will soon be Easter. A time for those delicious chocolate eggs and to be grateful for those around us. We wonder if you can answer this question... 

What came first the chicken or the egg?

We are sure you will come up with some cracking and eggxcellent ideas. 

Keep smiling,

Year 4 Team 

Good morning Year 4,

Wow! What lovely weather we are having. We hope you are enjoying your home schooling. Here are some updated tasks for you to complete.

Year 4 Team

Good morning Year 4,

We hope you have had a well rested weekend. This week, we will updating this page with work for you to complete at home. Below, we have attached the home schooling pack you were given on Friday.

As today is a sunny day, you might choose to work in the garden or have PE lesson. Joe Wicks will be uploading a PE lesson, Monday - Friday at 9AM, on his YouTube channel. We have put the link below as this may be something you are interested in doing.

We hope you have a good day,

Year 4 Team

Week beginning 9th March 2020

In computing, Year 4 were exploring how to programme a probot. We were able to programme our probots so they made a square and a rectangle. Palm class had lots of fun!

Week beginning 9th March 2020

On World Book day, Year 4 had a range of exciting activities to do with a variety of books. Below, we have the winners of our Brilliant Book Quiz. The children were shown 10 famous books opening sentence. Then, they had to write down which book it was. We also shared stories with Year 3.

"When we read, we learn more things!" - Palm Class

Beaulieu Palace House 1889

Year 4 visited Beaulieu to experience Christmas as a child of a wealthy family in 1889. We met Miss Clark, the governess who gave us a lesson in etiquette before being introduced to Lord Henry and Lady Cecily. Morning refreshments were taken in the upper drawing room before we learnt about the latest fashion of the 'Christmas Tree' and the meaning behind each of the decorations. We also discovered what life was like for the servants who ran the house. Miss Clark showed us the kitchen with all the 'modern' equipment and the different types of food which were fashionable at the time. We had luncheon in the garden room with Lord and Lady Montague and toasted Queen Victoria with delicious punch. We completed our day with an afternoon soiree full of entertainment and Christmas Carols.