Whitehouse Common Primary -

Business and Enterprise

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This week we’ve got lots of exciting plans, many of our activities are going to be business related! Mrs Sturch and Mrs Challoner-Miles are both coming into Year 4 to talk all about their jobs. They will tell us all about the tasks they have to complete, the qualifications they needed and what they enjoy about their roles. After we have listened and asked lots of question we will then discuss what we would like to be when we are older. We will finally talk about the qualities we need to succeed and follow our dreams!

Reign Over Me

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This week Year 4 were lucky enough to enjoyed and fun and informative day at Tamworth Castle. This was part of our 'Reign Over Me' topic. The children took part in three workshops: 

• running of a Tudor household
• artefacts and relics
• self-led tour of the castle throughout the ages

Throughout the trip the children were all brilliantly behaved and asked and answered lots of thoughtful questions. They really enjoyed writing with a quill, dressing as the Tudors did and setting a dining table for Lady Ferris.

Solids, Liquids and Gases

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This half term Year Four will have lots of fun learning about Solids, Liquids and Gases. We have started off by investigating what happens when a different solids are added to water. We used salt, sugar, marbles, pebbles, bicarbonate of soda, flour and oil. All of us made predictions using our scientific knowledge and we also discuss how to make out investigation a fair test. 

The Fast and The Furious!

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This term in Topic, we have thoroughly enjoyed learning about The Fast and The Furious! We have been looking at the differences between old and modern cars, the children couldn't believe how cars used to work and what speed they used to travel at! We researched in detail information about Henry Ford and wrote a newspaper report about the release of his first motor car The Model T, the children used some fantastic language features and some of the children's work even got chose to go on display in the Year Four corridor, we were extremely impressed! 

We are looking forward to starting our new topic 'Reign Over Us' after the Easter half term! 

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

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Our theme for this half term in English is Voyage and Return. Our focus text this term has been The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and the children have really enjoyed reading the story and were even lucky enough to watch the film! Over the last few weeks, we have been developing our understanding of voyage and return stories in particular the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and have participated in various drama activities such as 'hot seating' and became the different characters from our story. The children thoroughly enjoyed this and really got into character! 

Over the next few weeks, we will be planning to 'invent' our own voyage and return stories and write them using all of our prior learning. The children are continuing to impress us throughout all English lessons with their superb ideas and fabulous imaginations! 

Science - Animals including Humans!

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This term in science, we are learning about animals including Humans. In our lessons so far we have learnt about the different parts of the digestive system and are able to define the word digest. The children are also confident in explaining what the job of the digestive system is and we have even labelled our own class human body!

Today we have been in the Phiz Lab and looked at the process of the digestive system and how our body digests food. By carrying out this experiment, we realised how hard our digestive system works every time we eat!

Take a look at the video below which shows the experiment we completed as a class.

The Digestive System

¡Olé!

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Year Four had a fantastic opportunity this week to take part in a Flamemco workshop. The lady who taught the was an expert from Spain. 

 Flamenco dancing was started in Spain by Andalucían gypsies. It is rhythmic dancing made up of clapping and stamping. The term 'flamenco' was first recorded in the late 18th century but many believe the art form is much older. Flamenco has acoustic guitar music, singing, hand claps, heel stamps, castanets. It is danced by a man and a woman in traditional Spanish costumes. The dance has no set tempo. It may have both fast and slow passages, rising to a dramatic end. 

 Year Four spend the morning learning rhythms, learning hand movements and  learning steps. This was then put together in a short dance. It was lots of fun! The lady also taught us simple words in Spanish like left (izquierda) and right (derecha). 

Clip here to watch more

Toad of Toad Hall

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Over the last couple of weeks we have been reading Wind and the Willows. We have had lots of discussions about the vocabulary used for example meander, flabbergasted and weary. We've also begun to write setting descriptions of the river banks and English countryside. Some of the characters like Toad are very mischievous! These type of characters will be included in our own stories. 

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03g64pq#The%20Wind%20in%20the%20Willows%20episodes

He came...we saw...the Romans conquored!

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What a start to the new term!

Year Four had great fun this week travelling back in time with the wonderful and wild Professor McGinty! The children got to experience first hand the artefacts used by the Romans such as; mosaic tiles, clay pots, coins and drinking vessels as well as learning about the Celts and their primitive way of life, from the 'pointy do-do sheds' to their choices to live upon the hilltops of ancient Britain. The children thoroughly enjoyed their history session and I’m sure it will help them produce a range of topic work over the half term.

He came...we saw...the Romans conquored!

Christmas at the movies!

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This week we have started our rehearsals for our year three, four and five Christmas concert – ‘Christmas at the movies’. The children are really excited and are making excellent contributions to our rehearsals. Each class will have one Christmas song to sing and as a collective we have three songs to practice. The children have been working really hard to ensure they are becoming more familiar with the lyrics and working hard with their beautiful singing voices. It is sure to be a Christmas concert to remember!

Take a look at the links below, which are the songs we are singing during our concert:

Santa Claus is coming to town – 4AF

Sparkle and Shine – 4CC

All classes:
All I want for Christmas is you
My favourite time of year                    
When Christmas comes to town

Each video has the lyrics to each of the songs for the children to follow along, but eventually the children will need to sing without the lyrics.

If you could encourage children to practice these songs at home, it would be much appreciated!

4AF - Santa Claus is coming to town

4CC - Sparkle and Shine

When Christmas comes to town

My favourite time of year

All I want for Christmas

Topic 'Around The World in 80 days'

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Year Four have started our new topic 'Around The World in 80 Days'. For our hook lesson, the children went out onto the playground and drawn and labelled their own world maps in groups, identifying the 7 continents of the world. The children can now identify and explain the seven continents of the world and label them on a world map. This week the children will be researching and using atlases to help us identify capital cities of countries within the seven continents, we will also be developing our understanding about traditional foods of the world.

Take a look at the video link below which the children enjoyed when learning about continents!

Continents