Year 4
Welcome to year 4
The year 4 team for 2021/22 consists of Mr Letts (4I) and Mrs Nagra (4J) and our teaching assistants are Mrs Short (4I) and Mrs Jones and Mrs Nathwani (4J).
Year 4 PE days are Tuesday and Friday. Please familiarise yourself with our uniform policy in relation to PE, including health and safety requirements linked to jewellery.
Please ensure that your child brings in a water bottle and their reading book/record, as well as their link book, every day. Homework is set on a Friday, and is due in the following Thursday. Children should be reading to an adult at least three times per week for at least 15/20 minutes each time. This must be recorded in your child's reading record.
The learning in year 4 is crammed with fascinating opportunities to discover more about the history of our incredible planet. During the summer term, the children will reflect upon Anglo-Saxon Britain, as they battle furiously against Picts and Scots. They will also investigate food from around the world in our 'World Kitchen' topic at the end of the academic year. This will give the children the chance to learn about Fair Trade and the wider food industry. We are looking forward to an exciting end to year 4, with many fun-filled learning experiences to embed knowledge.
One of the most exciting moments coming up in year 4 is our school trip to Cadbury World, which ties in with our geography topic of ‘World Kitchen’. If you wish to find out some facts about Cadbury’s before we go, then you can read a fact sheet here: Cadbury World fact sheet
The Anglo-Saxons, Picts and Scots is a fascinating topic ... to learn more, follow this link: Anglo-Saxons
Want to get ahead? Discover the meaning of Fair Trade, before we learn about it in school, here: Newsround - Fair Trade
If you would like to turn back the clock, and look further into history and geography topics from our spring term, then you could start by visiting this link to remind yourself about our 'Monarchs' topic: English Heritage - Kings and Queens. On the other hand, to take your learning about Europe one step further, then follow this link: Continent of Europe.
Updates about our current learning in school will be made available on this page, so do check back regularly.
Curriculum Summary
Knowledge Organiser
Home learning
All homework tasks for year 4 are set via Education City. Please follow the link below and use your child's login information to access the site.
The children should also be regularly practising their times tables knowledge. You can take advantage of a number of sites and apps to support your child in practising these key skills. Here are a selection of maths games to enjoy:
Learning showcase
Cadbury World 🍫 (June 2022)
Year 4 children became chocolatiers today, as they visited Cadbury World in Bournville.
It was an incredibly successful visit, with the children beginning their day out with a 4D experience and then an educational workshop about the journey from “bean to bar”. The children asked very insightful questions, and learned a lot about the processes involved in producing chocolate products.
After a lunch stop, the children enjoyed a tour of the factory. This included the chance to explore the manufacturing and advertising processes, the Cadbury family story, and the highlights of Aztec and Mayan history. Another popular activity was when the children had the chance to either try their hand at tempering chocolate or piping their names in chocolate. Lots of happy faces were seen, all round! Every child who wished to was allowed a taster cup of molten chocolate, with a range of toppings, which they enjoyed whilst observing some Cadbury’s workers produce chocolate teapots in the factory.
After a quick browse in the gift shop, it was back on the coach for the journey back to school. The children showed exemplary behaviour throughout our trip, and represented our school beautifully. Thank you to Mrs Morgan, Mrs Walker, Mrs Whopples, and the entire year 4 team, who gave up time to make this trip possible.
Further photographs of our visit will be uploaded here soon.
Brass performance (May 2022)
Year 4 pupils' musical experiences have been broadened again this half-term, as they were visited by a brass musician on Tuesday 24th May 2022.
As you will see from the pictures and videos below, there were a wide range of instruments which the children experienced, including the sounds of a trumpet, trombone and tuba. They also watched some videos of professional musicians playing brass instruments, to see what you can accomplish if you persevere with practising! Year 4 additionally learned the mouth and lip movements necessary to play a brass instrument.
If any year 4 children would be interested in taking up music lessons for brass instruments in September 2022, then please contact the school office. Our visitor this week has informed us that learning an instrument through school is a cheaper route than paying for musical tuition privately.
Pop Art projects (May 2022)
This half-term, year 4 pupils have had a focus on Andy Warhol in art lessons, exploring the Pop Art style and honing a number of artistic skills. The children have worked hard to try new things and follow crafting instructions carefully. Enjoy looking at some of our art projects below.
Celebrity collages:
Pop Art painting:
Egg-cellent experiments in science! (May 2022)
Our science topic has taken another exciting step forward this week, as the children prepared their latest scientific investigation. This time, the children are considering the effects of different liquids upon the enamel on our teeth. The children placed eggshells (which represent our teeth) into 6 different liquids: water, orange juice, coffee, coca-cola, milk and vinegar. They left the experiment jars for 1 week, to give the investigation time to work, and then we removed the shells to find out what happened!
The milk and the water didn’t seem to have any negative effect on the shells, however year 4 were excited to discover dark staining on the eggshells submerged in coca-cola and coffee, and the disintegration of the shell in a jar of orange juice. The biggest shock of them all, however, was the vinegar jar: the eggshell had become very soft and had almost disappeared all together.
Digestive System (May 2022)
We started our new science topic by looking at the parts of the digestive system and trying to guess what they were and where they went. Thank goodness we didn't have to handle real organs, as some of the children presumed! Year 4 are looking forward to finding out how the digestive system actually works as we continue our topic.
European food tasting (April 2022)
We have finished off our European Neighbours geography topic with a flourish this week, with some food tasting from across the continent. We had many enthusiastic and hungry children who were more than happy to sample the delicacies on offer! The children were very adventurous with the variety of foods they were willing to try, and some new favourites were discovered!
Year 4 enjoyed a range of food and drink:
French brioche
Austrian salami
Danish pepperoni
Dutch gouda cheese
Greek feta cheese
Spanish olives
Spanish tortilla
Italian breadsticks (plain and pizza)
Italian sponge cake
Turkish delight
Polish carrot juice
German happy bears
Artists outdoors (March 2022)
This week in year four we were eager to make the most of the good weather we have been experiencing. Children from 4I and 4J demonstrated their artistic talents by sketching objects from nature, getting up close and personal in order to do so! The children loved taking their chairs outside onto the grassed area in between our school buildings and spending time outdoors in the fresh air, selecting a range of trees, bushes and plants to draw. The year four team thoroughly enjoyed watching the children unleash their creativity, and great enthusiasm was shown by everyone.
Steady hand board games (March 2022)
In preparation for Science Week, each year group has been engaging with a science project over the last few weeks. Year 4 incorporated their DT and science skills into their project, which was to create a steady hand board game. Taking inspiration from ‘Operation’, the children designed their own alien characters (linking to our English text driver of The War of the Worlds) and then worked hard to create the closed circuits required to power the lightbulbs in their games.
A great amount of teamwork and collaboration was needed to be successful in this project. The children had a chance to play their board games, and we even took part in a showcase of the science projects from across the school.
Jai Ho! (March 2022)
4J have been parading their dance moves in PE lessons this term, with a topic based upon Bollywood dancing. Spending a significant amount of time rehearsing and fine-tuning their choreography, the children approached the challenge with enthusiasm and vigour, and by the end of the term it was clear that some of the children knew the routine better than Mrs Nagra!
Their dance composition was flawlessly performed and required the children to count steps in time with the music, which was 'Jai Ho!' by A. R. Rahman. Particular highlights were the 'canon' and the unique ending! Mrs Nagra, who personally choreographed the routine, was extremely pleased with the effort and resilience shown by the children. We hope that you enjoy watching the performance below.
Jai Ho final performance.mp4
Swimming (September 2021 - March 2022)
Since the autumn term of 2021, our year group have greatly enjoyed their weekly trip to Atherstone Leisure Centre. 4J undertook their swimming lessons from the beginning of the academic year until Christmas, with 4I taking over on the run up to Easter. Both class have learned very valuable life skills, which will benefit them enormously in their future.
Every child who attended swimming lessons worked hard to represent our school in a positive light, and we are very proud of the exemplary way in which the children demonstrated their listening skills, politeness and patience in such a public environment. Good job year 4!
We wish to thank parents and carers for their support in reminding the children to prepare their swimming bags. Additionally, a big “thank you” must go to the numerous adults, both within the year team and beyond it, who have given their time on a Tuesday afternoon to support the successful running of this trip.
Year 4 reading celebration (March 2022)
Four children from our year group were selected to represent Milby at the reading celebration organised at Nuneaton library this month, which brought to a close the initiative which children in year four have been engaging with this term.
Accompanied by Mrs Walker and Mrs Morgan, the children bravely gave a speech in front of other local school parties, all about the book ‘Incredible You’, which has been our inspiration for the project. They also took part in a challenging quiz, and worked with their classmates to produce a poster about how each and every child is “incredible”!
The year four team was extremely proud to hear that Milby won in the category of best ‘creative response’, with the school receiving a certificate and a number of books as a prize. Well done year four!
World Book Day 📚 (March 2022)
We were very lucky in school to be able to celebrate World Book Day 2022 across Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th March.
On Thursday, year 4 pupils took part in an exciting Masked Reader competition, trying to identify the school staff reading classic stories. They particularly enjoyed recognising Mrs Nagra and Mr Letts as well as listening to Mr Whitehouse’s attempt at a Newcastle accent! Also on Thursday, the children were given the chance to create their own bookmark, which will be laminated as a keepsake of the day.
In our whole key stage assembly, Mrs Coates was very impressed with the effort put into designing and producing a number of potato book characters for the occasion. Every child who brought in a potato character for judging received a prize for their hard work. Congratulations go to Oskar in 4I for being the year 4 winner.
Friday’s activities revolved around the visit of Chris White, an author and poet. Children who had pre-bought one of his books had the chance to have this signed by Chris, and we were also lucky enough to receive a signed memento from the author as well, for each class. A special assembly and tailored workshop brought our World Book Day celebrations to a close in a hilarious and engaging fashion.
We hope that you enjoy looking through the many photos from our day.
If you wish to find out more about our visiting author, then you can follow the link to his website below.
4I World Book Day costumes
4J World Book Day costumes
World Book Day author visit (Chris White) - Part 1
World Book Day author visit (Chris White) - Part 2
Dragon's Den arrives at Milby! (February 2022)
In the children's most recent history topic, they have been exploring the lives of three influential British monarchs: the unlucky King Harold II, the infamous King Henry VIII and the legendary Queen Victoria.
This week, the children have delved into the world of the Victorian industrial revolution, by considering the most impactful Victorian inventions to be created. Who knew that the automatic dishwasher was first invented during the reign of Queen Victoria?! In an exciting history afternoon on Wednesday 2nd February, year 4 children were aiming to convince their teachers and teaching assistants that their allocated Victorian inventions were the most important. Debating skills and persuasive language were at the forefront of learning this week, and we enjoyed seeing who could influence the 'dragons' the most successfully!
We are scientists: chocolate melting investigation (January 2022)
Year 4 children have shown off their scientific skills on Monday 31st January, as they took part in an investigation about the quickest way to melt chocolate. Linking in beautifully to their new English and shared reading topic of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by the multi-million copy-selling author Roald Dahl, this experiment challenged scientific thinking and hypothesising skills, as well as tantalising the children's taste buds!
String Band performance for KS2 (January 2022)
We were very lucky on Monday 24th January to be treated to a fantastic performance by the Monteverdi String Band. Known for playing modern examples of instruments played in the 17th Century, our musical guests gave the children of 4I and 4J, as well as the other KS2 classes, the chance to enjoy classical music in an engaging and accessible style.
The children were introduced to the theorbo, a tall musical instrument from the 1600s, which was played live. Additionally, a number of pupils from Year 4 had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss interesting facts. Can your child remember what was used to make the strings on a violin 400 years ago?!
Enjoy the clip below, showing an example of the lively music the children experienced.
Status Quo drummer visits Milby! (October 2021)
The children of KS2 were lucky enough to take part in a drumming masterclass led by former Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich on Thursday 14th October 2021.
Children in 4I and 4J learned about how drums have changed over the centuries, as well as being able to have a go with some percussion instruments themselves. Everyone enjoyed shaking their maracas and bashing their bongos in a big group performance at the end of the event.
It seems that we have some promising future drummers in Year 4!
Strange things are going on at the Water Tower! (September 2021)
Year 4 are enjoying reading our class text 'The Water Tower' by Gary Crew. The children explored Bubba's feelings and emotions as he entered the cold, damp water tower with his friend Spike. The atmosphere in the classroom was electric and the children really enjoyed this task. Well done year 4!
