June 2023

In LOTC, we took some time to think about our aspirations for the future and what job we would like to do. We also designed and prepared some questions to ask at our careers fair to use for interviewing people who work in a variety of industries. The children have also taken their art lesson outside. We are looking at landscapes this term and we have been looking at our own school landscape as well as using the outside area for an inspirational and calm drawing environment.

May 2023 Update

In LOTC this term, we did an invertebrate hunt for science. We had a classification key to sort out and classify the insects. The children managed to find a spider, woodlouse, slugs, ants and more! The children had to look in specific places such as under rocks, under logs and near the pond. We also did a coronation activity. We designed bookmarks for the coronation as we had a day of celebrations. We also had a whole school picnic followed by a coronation celebration assembly which involved a crown competition and a parade. We enjoyed spending some time learning about King Charles III’s coronation and creating some memorabilia to remember this special occasion.

March Update

In LOTC this term we have taken our final play script piece we have been writing in English, which was all about the adventures of the Dish and the Spoon. We worked in twos to act out our pieces out. We then performed them to the rest of the class.

In LOTC this term, the children have taken lots of their maths work outside. In one session, the children were given the task or making 1 metre using items in the outdoor area. Miss Pickering had a metre stick which the children could use to compare the items.  They then had to make a clock face from different items and try and add the numbers on in a creative way. In another session, we did a litter pick around the school. Not only will this help our environment we also kept a record of the amount of rubbish we collected and categorised them. We kept a tally chart of what was plastic, paper, metal, textiles, etc. and we will be turning it into a bar chart in maths next week as we are looking at data as our maths topic. We will be able to answer questions on our bar chart such as what is the most found litter type in our school environment. In another session, we took science outside and the children were making electrical circuits with different components such as wires, a lamp, a cell, a buzzer and a switch. In LOTC, their task was to recreate electrical circuits using LOTC materials. We built them up slowly in levels, adding in more components and remembering how to add new items into the circuit. I had some materials such as string, wire and pipe cleaners for the cables but they were encouraged to use natural objects. Miss Pickering felt this really embedded the learning for the children.

In learning outside the classroom so far this term, we have completed a mindfulness scavenger hunt where the children had certain objects to find based on their likes/dislikes. We then collected items to create an autumn tree. We created them back in the classroom. We also carried out a Remembrance Day activity during learning outside the classroom. The children used natural resources to make a war medal. They also wrote what the medals were given for such as bravery, selflessness and heroic effort. The children then had some poppy paper to write either their own poem or prayer. The outcome was brilliant, the children worked respectfully and diligently. During friendship week, initially the children watched a short Pixar clip about a group of birds that are mean to another bird. We discussed the message in the story. With that in mind, outside we created some drama pieces. The children had to create a scenario where someone was being bullied and how it was going to get resolved. The children dealt with this task really maturely and showed some wonderful performances.

October/November 2022 Learning Outside the Classroom update

In year 4’s outdoor learning sessions, we have done a wide range of activities. A lesson that the children really enjoyed was a session where we did a blend of mental health activity  with English. The children gathered together and closed their eyes. The children were asked to focus on the sounds and sights around them. We had some quiet minutes of reflection. The children then wrote a sentence about what they could hear and see around them. After this, the children went round the outdoor learning area and wrote a sentence about another part of the outdoor zone. The children then teamed up with two others to put their sentences together which formed unintentionally beautiful poems about autumn. The children then read them aloud to their classmates. In another session, we had an art focus where the children took out hoops and laid them in a spot of their choosing. The children could gather a few natural materials to make their hoop quadrant more interesting if they wanted. They then sketched what they could see in the hoop. We spoke about how we can show colour using just a sketching pencil by using shading.

In outdoor learning this week (23.09.2022), we took inspiration from our RE lesson which was learning all about the story of Jacob and his brother Esau. The children learnt the story the day before and then in outdoor learning became actors to retell the story. We got in groups of 4 and chose directors who would lead and support their group in delivering the story. The children were encouraged to use the outdoor learning as their stage and work out how they would project their voices for the benefit of the audience. We then gathered to watch the performances.