Stanway Fiveways Primary School

This week, year 4 have had an actioned pack week of learning and discovery. Wednesday was Funky Sock Day where the children got to support and raise awareness of the young carers within our school and wider community. Children celebrated our young carers by wearing their funky sock designs and taking part in a couple of activities to develop their understanding of what a young carer does.

Friday was the highlight of the week as we got to go to Jimmy's Farm and luckily the weather behaved. The day involved children building amazing dens in their woodland areas. It was impressive to see the children put their forest school knowledge to good use in a different environment but more importantly their team skills and communication were wonderful to see. The children worked together to either construct their own den or continue to build on the dens that were already established. Those children who continued to adapt a pre-made shelter were able to look at the construction and determine how best to build on it including using interweaving techniques. A special highlight for the children was visiting the capybaras where a member of Jimmy's Farm educated them on how they protect themselves in their environment. Did you know... capybara's fur allows them to camouflage themselves in the woodlands and they can hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes, making ponds and rivers great hiding places for them! The children also paid a visit to the reptile enclosure where there was a crocodile, snapping turtle and snakes. In addition, they got to see bears, yaks, camels and some baby rabbits which they got to stroke. 

This week, all of the children were introduced to Beat the Street - a new, free and fun initiative - taking place in Colchester over the next six weeks, which will see families get out and about and earn points for the school. Chestnut class was fortunate to have Beattie (the Beat the Street mascot) join them in science and at Forest School this week. Beattie and the children learnt about gases in Science. By experimentings, the children discovered that gas is produced by mixing apple cider vinegar (a weak acid) and bicarbonate of soda (a base) through an acid-base reaction, this produces carbon dioxide gas. The gas is created as the acetic acid in the vinegar breaks down the bicarbonate of soda, releasing bubbles that cause a foaming action.

In Forest School, there was a culinary element to the children's outdoor learning. Year 4 got to make pizza wraps and heated them over the camp fire. Arts and crafts this week saw children making various clay animals and insects. 

Year 4 have now finished the length and perimeter work in Maths, and will be moving on to decimals in the next week or two. In English, children are learning to innovate a story incorporating the different methods of dialogue taught last week.

Year 4 have been enjoying the beautiful, blue and sunnier skies this week especially during forest school. During their session, the children were able to practice the skill of using a fire striker to create a small fire in the cotton wool. There was also plenty of den building, mud mayhem in the kitchen, whittling of wood using a potato peeler and making tree swings.

Within English, the children have been learning how to incorporate speech into their writing. They were able to create a sandwich dialogue which incorporated characters having a back-and-forth conversation, as well as add detail to how a character may be feeling. 

In maths, the children have started to look at length and perimeter of shapes. This involved being able to convert metres and kilometres, as well as identify the perimeter of the shape and calculate the perimeter of rectangles and rectilinear shapes.

A highlight of the week was World Book Day where the children got to dress up as one of their favourite book characters. It was really lovely to see all the children enthusiastic about this day and eager to talk about their character. Year 4 were also able to choose a new book to read from the book swap event which was only possible due to all the kind book donations from all the children in the school. 

Year 4 have had a very productive first week back after the half-term break. The week began with the children exploring dialogue and learning a new story - 'The Air Raid' - in English. Finding fractions of an amount and problem solving were the key areas of learning in Maths, which children solving multi-step word problems.

In Science, the children explored different foods, liquids and objects and were able to identify if they were a solid or liquid. Some of the items however, did not quite meet the criterias which led to some informative discussions. Another highlight for both classes, was Forest School where the children were able to develop their outdoor skills including climbing trees, making dens and creating artwork from nature. 

Year 4 have also been exploring oil pastels and water colours this week. They have been looking at the effectiveness of lines when creating art. Their learning incorporated different types of brushstrokes, depths of lines which when used effectively can show movement within a picture.