Welcome to Year 4

Our class is called Apollos and we are taught by Mrs Rowson.

Our teaching assistant is Miss Bourne.

PE

Our PE lessons will take place on a Monday afternoon (when the children will be taught by our specialist PE teacher, Mr Stevenson-Leigh) and a Friday afternoon (when the children will be taught by Mrs Rowson).  

Library

Children in Apollos will have the opportunity to visit the school library every Thursday where they will be able to choose a book that they can read for pleasure as well as changing their reading practice book. Each day, children will spend some time reading a book of their own choice and therefore should bring their library book to school each day if they wish to read it during our reading for pleasure time.

Home Learning

Give Me Ten - Children are expected to read for at least ten minutes every day and should record this in their reading record. Children should bring their reading book and reading record to school every day. In year 4, children are not always expected to always read to an adult, however a parent/carer will need to sign their reading record to show that they have read at home. We hope to see lots of children becoming Reading Champions each term! 

Maths Magicians - There are a number of key mathematical facts that children should know and remember. These are, of course, taught in school but it is essential that children practise them at home too. You can find out which facts your child is currently working on by checking the front of their home learning book.  Please practice these facts at home. Children will be quizzed on their maths facts every Friday. As they progress through the different stages of facts, children have the opportunity to earn rewards and work towards becoming Maths Magicians! In year 4, most of our Maths Magicians facts relate to times tables.

Times Tables - Times tables (and the associated division facts) are a vital part of mathematical knowledge and understanding. It is crucial that your child practises these skills at home daily. One great way to do this is by logging onto Times Table Rockstars - your child's log in for this is on the first page of their homework book. In June, the Year 4 children will participate in the Multiplication Tables Check and we will provide you with more detail about this closer to the time. Please see the maths star on our class page for a link to the practice page for this.

Spelling - In school, we will teach the children spelling patterns and rules. At home, we would like the focus to be on learning and practising the Year 3 and 4 statutory spellings (you can find these by clicking on the spelling star at the top of this page).

Maths and English

Each week, your child will receive a grid of homework for maths and English that will focus on revisiting current learning as well as tracking back to learning completed the week before. Please be aware that this homework should only take them a maximum of 20 minutes and won't include any new learning. If your child needs any support with their homework, please do let me know by finding me on the door or writing a note in their homework book. Not only will this homework be a great way to consolidate any prior and current learning but will support your child in becoming more independent and will inevitably help to prepare them for homework in secondary school. 

Handwriting

In order to support your child with their handwriting please use letter join - https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/. For more information on how to log on at home, with your child, head to the handwriting star.

Autumn Two Update
 
What a super half term we have had! Apollos have been working hard and have shown curiosity about all of the topics we have explored.  They have impressed me with their attitude to learning as well as how they have improved their oracy and questioning skills. 

In English, we started the half term thinking about how writers use language to explain ideas in non-fiction books.  Inspired by the cartoons of Wallace and Gromit, we wrote explanation texts describing our own ideas for crazy inventions. Pupils wrote about ideas such as ‘Auto-Shoppers’ and ‘Snoozatrons’ and I enjoyed reading their creative explanations about how these could work. We have also looked at the narrative texts of Startbird and Zeraffa Giraffe and written our own animal adventure stories. In our English lessons, the class have improve their ability to use ambitious vocabulary, punctuate dialogue and use grammatical structures like expanded noun phrases and fronted adverbials to up-level their writing. They have worked on all of these topics brilliantly and I have been impressed with how they have been able to incorporate new skills into their writing. 

In maths, we have had a big focus this term on learning and securing our times tables. We have explored how multiplication is the same as repeated addition and have learnt about how different factors can be multiplied together to create a new number (the product). We have looked at a variety of methods for understanding factors, including making arrays, drawing factor bugs and solving word problems. The children showed resilience as they learnt to draw bar models to represent problems visually.  Towards the end of this term, children have been solving two-step word problems using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We have ended the term by looking at multiplying and dividing numbers by 10 and 100 as well as looking at problems involving time and measure. Keep practising those times tables facts Apollos!

Geography, this term has been all about our local area. Building on the work they did on this topic in Year 1, the children have explored how Margaret Wix Primary School, New Greens and St Albans have changed over time. We have looked at old photos as well as using satellite images from resources like GoogleMaps to see how land use has changed. We were surprised to find that in 1914 the whole of New Greens (and much of St Albans) was agricultural land.  Most of our houses were just fields! We have also looked at how other areas can experience more dramatic changes due to changes to physical geography (e.g. floods, hurricanes or earthquakes) as well as human changes (e.g. redevelopment or deforestation).

In computing, the class has been learning how to create different forms of media, mainly focusing on podcasts. They have been practising recording and editing their voices, making improvements each time.

In our French lessons, we have learnt how to talk about our families including their names and ages. We also learnt how to say whether we have any brothers or sisters, We have sung songs, played games and role-played conversations to help our learning stick.

In PE, the children have had lots of fun practising handball. They have worked hard to improve their hand-eye coordination as well as their passing and shooting skills. They have built bridges with their bodies over a sequence of gymnastic lessons.  They have shown great teamwork and are learning to work with lots of different partners

In science, we have had a half term full of exciting experiments that have helped us to understand how and why materials change state.  We started the half term by exploring solids, liquids and gases by looking at balloons full of different types of material. We went on to experiment with bicarbonate of soda and vinegar and were surprised to find that mixing this liquid and solid resulted in a gas. We have looked at how different materials melt as well as conducting an experiment in the classroom to see where washing would dry best due to evaporation.  Finally, we looked at the role that evaporation, condensation and precipitation play in the water cycle.

In music, children have played the drums and learnt about rhythm, movement and musical notation. They have also been practising and performing our Christmas song ‘Deck the Halls’. Mr Mitchell has been impressed with the musical talent and the resilience of the class as they have worked to improve their performance.

In DT this half term, Apollos have been cooking. This started off with a biscuit tasting lesson which was very exciting. The children then went onto make their own biscuits. The children also designed their own company logo for their biscuits brand as well as evaluating if they could add anything to their biscuits to make them better.

In art, the children have learned how to batik – using hot wax and dye to create patterns on fabric.  They have also explored collage and have tried out the impasto method to create textured artworks.  

In RE, we have been learning about Christianity and exploring the Nativity story. The children have demonstrated their awareness of why Christians believe the things that they do, and how symbols within the Nativity story relate to important aspects of Christian faith.

In PSHE, we have been ‘Celebrating Difference’ by exploring why we sometimes make assumptions about people, what it is that affects why we think the things we do, and whether we are sometime wrong. We have also spoken about bullying and online bullying and the children have been mature and thoughtful in their discussions with each other.

Your children have worked so hard this half term and have shown the Margaret Wix values in how they have approached their work and how they have worked with others.
 
I hope that you and your families all enjoy a wonderful restful break and I look forward to seeing you in 2026! 

Mrs Rowson

Autumn 1 Update

Apollos have had an excellent first half term back at school. They have settled back into the routine of school really well and have been enthusiastic and curious learners.  I have really enjoyed getting to know each of them.

This halt term, in English, we have focused on writing for a purpose. We began with a unit inspired by ‘Arthur and the Golden Rope’ where we wrote to entertain our readers. We created our own quest story and turned part of it into a page from a graphic novel. We have also worked on writing to persuade. The children wrote and delivered really engaging and interesting speeches about an issue that they thought was important. Topics ranged from introducing a ‘Bring your Pet to School’ day to changing the school uniform. They worked on using direct and persuasive language to convince their audience. We have also studied poetry and have all written our own poem about finding a strange creature.  The children impressed me with their creativity and use of ambitious vocabulary. We are continuing to focus on improving their use of punctuation and spelling as well as using a variety of sentence structures.

In maths, the children have been learning about how they can use their understanding of number to solve problems in the most efficient way. They have looked at place value and how to accurately position numbers on a number line. They have learnt about how to round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000 as well as looking at a variety of mental methods for addition and subtraction.  The children have shown great resilience in trying out a variety of methods for mental calculation that have required them to think flexibly. More recently, we have been looking at formal methods for addition and subtraction. The children have shown a growing awareness of the importance of organised presentation in their books. They have been learning how to tackle addition and subtraction calculations with numbers that include thousands, as well as testing their understanding with trickier missing number calculations.  Please continue to focus on helping the children to learn their times tables facts as recall of these is essential in Year 4.

History, this term, has been all about the Romans and the effect that their arrival in Britain had on the country.  We looked at why the Romans came to Britain and the resistance that native tribes and leaders like Boudica put up against the invaders. We also examined what life was like for Romans living in Britain. We explored evidence for why Emperor Hadrian decided to build a wall across the north of Britain. Finally, we learnt about the Roman ruins that are found all across Britain, including here in St Albans.  We loved our visit to the museum and the children were brilliant on the trip and the walk there and back. At the end of term, the children have also written a persuasive letter to explain why living in Verulamium was so good AND showed off their oracy skills while presenting their Romans learning to the rest of the class.

In computing this half term, the children have been learning about 'The Internet' - what it is made up of, how it works, different parts of a website name and how web pages are broken up. The children learnt new key vocabulary, such as 'switch', 'router' and 'data centre' and the different roles that each of these play in 'The Internet'. They have also looked at different ways to access the internet and looked at 'content'; what web content is, how it is uploaded to the internet, who has access and authorisation to upload content to the internet and why.

Our French lessons this term have focussed on introducing ourselves. We have learnt how to say hello, our names, how old we are, where we live, and our nationality.  The children have had shown good conversational skills as they have role played conversations in French.

In PE, the children have developed their hockey and netball skills and have practised working as a team. Their attacking and defending skills have progressed well across both sports.

In science, we have been learning about living things and their habitats. We have focused on how and why scientist classify living things in the way that they do. We have done lots of practical work – from creating our own human classification system on the field to hunting for mini-beats outside. The children have developed their ability to ask questions that separate one type of plant or animal from another and have impressed me with their curiosity.

In music, we have been working with Mr Mitchell on our drumming, rhythm and improvisation skills.

In art, Mrs Campbell-Pugh has worked with the children to develop colourful batik art based on close ups of plants and animals. These are now displayed the dining hall. Year 4 have also practised their collage and drawing skills.

In RE, we have learnt about a non-religious worldview – Humanism. We have learnt that Humanists do not believe in a god and instead choose to behave towards others in the way that they would like others to behave towards them. We have learnt that they use science and reason to explain the world.

In PSHE, we began our first topic: ‘Being Me in My World’. We explored what rights we have as individuals as well as looking at the responsibilities and rights of all members of our school community.  We talked about rewards and consequences; as well as how our actions affect us and other people.  Additionally, we celebrated Hello Yellow Day – where we learnt just how important it is to care for ourselves and others, as well as wearing red to support anti-racisim. Throughout October we have celebrated Black History month by learning about stories of significant black pioneers in science, civil rights, sport and the arts.

Your children have worked so hard this half term and have lived by our Margaret Wix values. I hope you enjoy a restful break Apollos and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Mrs Rowson