Past Y4 Notices - Term 2

12.06.24

As the holidays have been announced for next week, we would like to wish you all a blessed Eid Al Adha. 

In English this week, we began drafting our paragraphs for our persuasive leaflet. We started with an introduction paragraph to hook the reader in and explain what our leaflet is about. Then, we used our research notes to create paragraphs for the topics we chose, carefully constructing sentences that include persuasive techniques such as rhetorical questions, alliteration and imperative verbs. 

In Maths this week, we have been learning about shape! First, we learned about quadrilaterals and polygons. Then we learned about symmetry and practised finding lines of symmetry in 2d shapes. We finished the week looking at symmetrical patterns and created our own.  

In Humanities, we studied the ancient civilisation, Indus Valley, and ordered events onto a timeline.  In DT, we continued our sewing by adding buttons and straps to our Indian purses to complete and evaluate them.

06.06.24

On Tuesday, we celebrated our topic with ‘India Day’. As well as dressing up, we took part in special activities: booking a holiday to India for Mr Vacher; listening to Indian stories; performing an Indian dance and tasting delicious food from Woodlands restaurant. We had a fantastic day! 

This week in English, we began researching topics that we would like to include in our persuasive leaflet, inviting people to visit India. Topics included: food and drink, animals, landmarks, beaches, festivals and cities. We have made lots of notes so we are ready to begin drafting our paragraphs next week. 

In Maths this week, we converted from the 12 hour clock to the 24 hour clock. We learned the trick that you add 12 to the hour when it is past midday! Then, we learned about the different types of angles and identified these around our classrooms. We found so many right angles! We ordered and compared angles before learning about different types of triangles.

In Humanities we compared India, Oman and the UK. We compared the landscape, buildings and infrastructure. In Science, we made our own switches and tested them in a circuit and in DT we began stitching our Indian purses.

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

Thank you to all of our parents who came in to see us yesterday. We love showing you our work and appreciated the support with our sewing! 

29.05.24

This week in English, we started our new unit of writing linked to our India topic. Over the next few weeks, we will plan, draft and write persuasive leaflets on the country of India. This week, we learned about the features of persuasive writing through the acronym ‘DAFOREST’. We spent some time finding these features in a range of leaflets and looked carefully at the structure and layout. We also practised our techniques by writing a persuasive paragraph about visiting the Taj Mahal.

In Maths this week, we continued our learning on money by calculating and solving problems involving money. Then, we began some learning on time, converting between the digital and analogue clock. 

In Humanities, we learned about rivers and compared rivers found in India, the UK and other countries of our choice. In Science, we continued our learning about symbols and drew our own circuits and in DT we designed our Indian purses but sketching and labelling the designs

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

08.05.24

In English this week, we have continued drafting our innovative stories. Then, we spent time editing our work by checking our spellings and punctuation, narrative story features and word choices. Later on in the week we had a lesson which focused on direct speech and reported speech. 

In Maths this week, we continued our learning on decimals by looking at hundredths on a place value chart, dividing a 1 and 2 digit number by 100, making a whole with tenths and hundredths and partitioning decimals.  Throughout the week, we applied our learning to reasoning and problem solving style questions.

In Science this week, we created simple circuits to investigate the flow of electricity. In Art, we added warm and cool tones to our Taj Mahal sketches with water colours and in Humanities we explored the location of India using an atlas.

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

01.05.24

In English this week, we have been busy drafting our innovative stories. We created shared paragraphs, guided by the teacher, before writing our own paragraphs. This helped us with the writing process and the structure. Our story needed to fit in with the context of Indian legends and myths but with our own original ideas along the way. We were careful to include fronted adverbials, noun phrases and conjunctions.

In Maths this week, we continued our learning on decimals by dividing a 2 digit number by 10 before looking at hundredths as fractions and decimals. Throughout the week we applied our learning to reasoning and problem solving style questions.

On Tuesday, we took part in creative activities linked to our topic. We created rangoli patterns on plates, henna designs and origami lotus flowers. In Science, we looked out how we can stay safe around electricity and in Art we sketched the Taj Mahal. 

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

24.4.24

On Monday, we took part in ‘No Pens Day’ which meant no recording of work using pens or pencils. It was lots of fun being creative and recording our learning in different ways! 

In English this week, we performed a play script of the story of ‘Rama and Sita’. We used our drama skills and tried our best to speak loud and clearly, enunciate our words properly and use our facial expressions as we perfomed. Then, we made top trump cards for the characters and sequenced the story.

In Maths this week, we began our learning on decimals by looking at tenths as fractions and decimals, tenths on a number line and a place value chart and what happens when we divide a 1 digit number by 10. 

In Humanities, we learned the difference between rural and urban. We had to use Oddizzi to find out lots of information about India linked to urban areas and rural areas. In DT, we continued to construct our bird houses by measuring, sawing and glueing the frame, base and panels. In Science, we began our new topic: Electricity. The first lesson was linked to electrical appliances that we use in our daily lives. 

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

17.0.24

Welcome back to term 3! It wasn’t quite the smooth start that we had hoped and planned for but well done to all of our students for being flexible and adaptable whilst learning online. You did incredibly well and seemed to enjoy the lessons that your teachers planned for you. 

In English this week, we looked at two stories from Indian culture: Rama and Sita and How Ganesha got his Elephant Head. We discussed the difference between myths and legends then wrote character descriptions for one of the characters from the stories.

In Maths this week, we continued our learning on fractions by: revising concepts visited in term 2; subtracting fractions from whole amounts and subtracting fractions from mixed numbers. 

In Humanities, we kicked off our new topic ‘Incredible India’ by creating a topic page by researching facts about the country. In DT, we began to construct our bird houses by measuring, sawing and glueing the frame, base and panels. 

27.3.24

In English this week, we have written an informal letter in role. First, we read the letter that Michael received from his best friend, then looked at the features of letter writing before planning a response. We learned the difference between formal and informal language before drafting our letter in paragraphs. 

In Maths this week, we continued our learning on fractions by adding two or more fractions together. Then, we learned how to add a mixed number and a fraction together (same denominator) before moving on to subtracting fractions. We used visual representations to support our learning. 

In Humanities, we learned about tides and why we have them and in Science we learned about the human impact on habitats and the environment.

20.03.24

In English this week, we looked at arguments for and against Michael (from Kensuke’s Kingdom) and his family sailing around the world for 6 months. This led us to explore balanced arguments by reading examples and identifying the features. Then, we planned our own balanced argument before writing our own version. 

In Maths this week, we continued our learning on fractions by converting improper fractions to mixed numbers before moving on to equivalent fractions. We used visual representations to support our learning. 

In Humanities, we drew our own map on a grid, creating a key for our map symbols. In DT we practised the skills of measuring, sawing, sanding and joining in preparation for our woodwork project and in Science we enjoyed using classification keys to sort different animals and organisms.

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO

Thank you to all of the parents that could join us for our parent open afternoon. We hope you enjoyed seeing all of the work we have been up to. 

13.3.24

It’s World Book Week in Primary School! This week, lots of our lessons have been themed around our chosen WBD focus text, ‘The Dot’ by Peter Reynolds. We have also had opportunities to read with Year 3 and FS as well as visiting the book sale. 

In Maths, we continued our unit on fractions. We have been busy counting up in mixed numbers on a number line, comparing and ordering mixed numbers, learning about improper fractions then converting mixed numbers to improper fractions.

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

06.03.24

In this week’s notices, I would like to take the opportunity to share details about our wonderful residential trip to the Shangri La last week. 

We are so proud of how the children behaved on camp, they were a real credit to BSM. We are also proud of how resilient and strong the children were, especially at bed time. For many, this was their first time away from home for the night and although some may have been a little worried or anxious they didn’t show it.

Here are a few sneaky snaps from our trip. We will be sharing more on our social media channels and the google classroom soon.

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

28.02.24

In English this week, we wrote our own stories! We were given the title ‘Through the Looking Glass’ and a sentence starter. We spent time planning our stories before writing them. Some of our stories will be entered into a BSME creative writing competition!

In Maths this week, we completed our final lessons on length and perimeter by calculating the perimeter of regular and irregular polygons. Next week, we will start our new topic of fractions.

In Science this week, we learned about condensation. To support our learning, we set up an experiment to see condensation in action! We put hot water in a glass and covered it in cling film. Then, we put ice on top of the cling film. It was amazing to see the water vapour turn into water droplets. In art, we began our zendoodles on our seascapes we created last week.

No homework will be set this week due to our residential trip.

Please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

Year 4 residential

Keep an eye on the Whatsapp group for updates from our residential camp. 

Please collect your child from the amphitheatre at 12:00 pm on Thursday 29th February. 

21.02.24

In English this week, we identified the features of an explanation text and wrote our own version of a fictional explanation text on a natural phenomena, inspired by a short film called ‘A Cloudy Lesson’.  Did you know that angry giants cause thunder and volcanoes erupt when dragons get sick? 

In Maths this week, we continued our learning on length and perimeter by finding missing lengths. We had to look at the vertical and horizontal lines then use addition or subtraction to help us. We then calculated the perimeter of regular polygons.

In Humanities, we took part in 3 activities linked to camp preparation: field sketching, building tents and team building games. We had a great time and are now very excited for camp next week! In Science, we set up a sponge experiment to test if heat affected the rate of evaporation and in art we created a seascape background.

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

Year 4 Residential

Key details:

You can find the kit list here. Please name all items. 

Please arrive at the Shangri La between 08:15 and 08:30. We will be at the amphitheatre (turn right at the first roundabout past security then right again). 

Any medication needs to be brought into school by Monday 26th February, clearly labelled with instructions. 

Bring a named lifejacket for the boat trip if you wish your child to wear their own. If no lifejacket is brought in, your child will use a school one. 

Please collect your child from the amphitheatre at 12:00 on Thursday 29th February.

07.02.24

In English this week, we wrote in role from the point of view of a turtle who is devastated at the effect that pollution is having on his home, the ocean. We researched about plastic pollution then practised coming up with impactful adjectives and verbs to describe the turtle’s feelings before drafting paragraphs. 

In Maths this week, we continued our learning on length and perimeter by: finding the perimeter of rectangles on a grid; finding the perimeter of rectangles by using the length and width and finding the perimeter of rectilinear shapes. 

In Humanities, we learned about different sea defences and analysed their strengths and weaknesses. In Science, we set up an experiment to see if heat affects the rate of evaporation using sponges. In PSHE, we learned about the ‘Brain Smoke Detector’ and how to identify when we are are feeling stressed or under pressure. 

Although we do not set formal homework over the holidays, we recommend to continue practising reading and times tables. 

Year 4 residential

Thank you for signing up for the trip. If you have submitted the google form, you will receive an invoice from accounts soon. Please find the kit list here. 

School jumpers 

As it can be a little chilly in the mornings, many children are wearing jumpers or cardigans. Please can you ensure that the jumpers that the children wear in school are navy or a school jumper as per the school uniform policy. 

Jewellery 

A polite reminder that jewellery is to be kept at a minimum of stud earrings and a wrist watch. Please inform the primary office of additional jewellery worn for religious or cultural reasons

31.1.24

In English this week, we wrote persuasive adverts to sell the magical underwater camera from our text ‘Flotsam.’ We were very impressed by the children’s use of persuasive techniques! We finished the week with some vocabulary work with a focus on uplevelling descriptive sentences.

In Maths, we learned how to calculate correspondence problems before looking at efficient ways to solve multiplication questions. Later in the week, we practised measuring in metres and kilometres and converting between metres and kilometres. 

In Humanities, we learned about the stages of erosion and the features of coastlines. In Art, we finished painting our coastline sketch in the style of Monet and in Science we learned about the melting points of different materials. 

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

In Maths, we started the week by using informal methods for multiplication (partitioning and number lines) before using the column method to multiply 2 digit and 3 digit numbers by 1 digit. 

In Humanities this week, we took part in a dramatised scenario where the near future would be under water! The children ‘packed’ 5 items to take with them and were divided into three groups: land, boat and scavenger. Within their groups, they had to plan for their survival! The children did brilliantly and we are very proud of how creative and resilient they are! In Art, we sketched a coastline inspired by Monet and in Science we explored the property of gases and investigated if gas had mass using fizzy Cola! 

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English or Topic and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

Dates for the diary: 

Thursday 18th January - Wear white for Peace Day

Monday 22nd January - Year 4 residential parent meeting 16:00 in the Oryx theatre.

Tuesday 23rd January - Year 4 Prêt-a-Portrait school photographs 

10.01.24

Welcome back and Happy New Year. We hope you had a wonderful break with your families wherever in the world you were. We had a fantastic day on Monday taking part in Sports Day! The benchball was an exciting tournament with many games played between the houses. We then took to the track to take part in the 200m, 50m sprint, javelin and jump. The day culminated with the exciting relay. Well done to Bousher who came top overall! 

This week, we started our new text in English, ‘Flotsam’. The children have been busy exploring flotsam in sand and using their inference skills to determine who the flotsam would have belonged to! 

In maths this week we learned how to divide by 10 and 100. We learned that the digits needed to shift one space to the right when dividing by 10 and two spaces to the right when dividing by 100. This is the opposite of multiplying by 10 and 100! 

In Science this week, we have begun learning about different states of matter. The children have explored whether materials are solids or liquids. In Art we learned about the famous French artist Claude Monet and in PSHE we began our mental health and wellbeing topic. 

This week’s homework can be found in your class Google Classroom. Please find the ‘Homework’ topic folder under the ‘Classwork’ tab. You will find a task for Maths, English and Spelling. The homework will be set on a Wednesday each week and will be due in the following Wednesday. Please note that all completed homework should be uploaded to the google classroom and not brought into school - unless stated otherwise. 

In addition, please continue to read regularly with your child at home and record this reading in the PO.

Dates for the diary: 

Thursday 11th January - Holiday

Monday 22nd January - Year 4 residential parent meeting 16:00 in the Oryx theatre.

School jumpers 

As it can be a little chilly in the mornings, many children are wearing jumpers or cardigans. Please can you ensure that the jumpers that the children wear in school are navy or a school jumper as per the school uniform policy. 

Jewellery 

A polite reminder that jewellery is to be kept at a minimum of stud earrings and a wrist watch. Please inform the primary office of additional jewellery worn for religious or cultural reasons

Year 3 and 4 Sports Day – Monday 8 January, 8 am – 1:15 pm

Dear Parents

We would like to welcome you to our annual Sports Day event for Year 3 and 4 students on the above date from 8:00 am – 1:15 pm. The activities are based on those that the students have been participating in during regular PE lessons. The schedule for the day’s events is as below:

Spectators will be allowed in the sports halls, but are requested to wear flat shoes.  Please feel free to wear house colours to add to the atmosphere.  Students are requested to come to school in their PE kit and bring hats and water bottles.  They will not need their school uniform to change, as the Sports Day runs for the majority of the day.

Upon entering, please ensure you wear your parents badge at all times. If you do not have a parent badge, or are bringing relatives who do not have a BSM badge, please sign in with the security guards either at the top or bottom car park. They will issue you a badge to wear at all times which then needs to be returned to the security team on departure

There will be a break between 9:30 - 10:30 am. I am sorry but we do not have catering facilities available on site and parents will be asked to leave the site for this one hour period so that break sessions and other activities can go ahead in the space. 

We anticipate the event will finish around 1:15 pm. All children will need to return to their classrooms to collect their belongings. If you would like to take your child at this time, please collect them from their classroom so that their class teacher can sign them out.  Please note that you will not be able to take siblings at this time. Siblings in other year groups should be collected at their usual time. If your child has an ECA on this day they are still expected to attend. 

We have limited parking available in the school. Please do not park in the top car park as we have EYFS and KS1 pick up happening before the end of Year 3 and 4 sports day. The bottom car park will be made available for parents to park in the two drop off lanes in the underground carpark between 07:50 am until 1:15 pm. It is essential that no-one parks down the middle of these lanes as this will cause an obstruction for anyone trying to leave. We would ask that you do not park any earlier than 07:50 am. Parents must vacate the drop off zones by 1:20 pm at the latest. In addition to this, there are 45 spaces outside the bottom car park and more parking outside school premises on Al Nadhayer street, Way 1949 and Way 1947. Where possible, we would ask families to carpool to reduce congestion in the car park.

We hope you will join us.

Sincerely, 

Mr. O’Sullivan

Primary PE Coordinator