Kites are powerful, yet graceful creatures and journey through life with a strong sense of togetherness. As the oldest of the lower key stage two, our class feel passionately about working together as a team and helping those around us. 

This term, Kites will be looking at the theme of 'Be Curious'. We will be using scientific skills as a way to explore different areas of the curriculum. We will begin by investigating how sound is made and how it travels - we will use this information to explore Samba drumming in South America and the important role it plays in their culture. At the end of the topic, we will be holding our very own SCIENCE MUSEUM for parents and carers to come and check out our investigative learning over the term. 

Kites information:

The class teacher in Kites is Miss Sadie Clayton. The Learning Support Assistance are Mrs Rose and Miss Wilson.

PE days: PE kits are required to be left in school from Tuesday to Wednesday. The kit consists of a white t-shirt, blue shorts and trainers / plimsolls. During winter months, it is suggested that children are provided with a tracksuit. All items of PE kit should be labelled with the child's name and class.

Home Learning:  Will be given out on a Friday to be collected the following Wednesday. 

Team Leader: 

Year 3 and 4 Teaching and Learning Lead: Miss Sarah Durnford

Key Stage 2 Lead: Mrs Leanne Foster

Contact:

If there are any issues or concerns, please feel free to come in and see the class teacher (Miss Clayton) or contact

sclayton@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

or alternatively a team leader:

sdurnford@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

lfoster@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

Upcoming Events 

Wednesday 9th May and Friday 11th May: Kites at Grenville House (daytime visits) 

Wednesday 6th June: Sports Day 

Skills Build @ South Devon College

Take a look at our photos from our recent adventure to SDC. We were lucky enough to take part in different vocational activities such as bricklaying and painting and decorating. We had enormous fun and learnt lots about different career paths! 

Wonderful writing!

This week, we have been concentrating on using noun phrases to produce setting descriptions. Have a read of a few of our examples below...

Freya:

The towering, cascading buildings fall from side to land on one and the next. The broken city is in a terrible state and the smoke is spreading all over. Every crooked building is breaking in half precariously then disappearing out of view.

Layne:

The calm, majestic ocean swayed swiftly in the gentle breeze. Beside the shimmering waters, tall buildings surrounded an uneven rock face with peaceful skies looming over the incredible sight. The skyscrapers stood proud and tool overlooking the summer seas. Palm trees hid in the shade as scorching sand lay still around the trees' smooth trunks. Mossy lands covered the sun's heat creating shadows behind green, mushy areas. Candy-floss-like clouds cleared the sky letting blue skies peek through. In the distance, birds tweets gracefully whilst waves crashed at rocks vigorously. Among this great setting, stood our honorable hero...

William:

The rocks of the jagged, mountainous peeks fell into the glowing blue void, never to be seen again. The massive Milky Way leaned over all three planets; the rocky one, the smooth one and the small one. The glistening stars twinkled in space as the planet started moving. Among this setting, stood a valiant hero...

Equivalence madness! 

This week in maths, we have been trying hard to find equivalent fractions. We were given the challenge to match equivalent fraction cards and needed to use our times tables to help us! By the end of the lesson, we were able to work confidently and could spot equivalent fractions really quickly. What a lot of fun we had! 

This week we received an exciting letter from 10 Downing Street! This was a reply to the letters that we sent to Theresa May concerning plastic pollution in our oceans. We are always very proud of our writing and are overjoyed that we received such an amazing response. Have a look at the letter below.

Reach Outdoors!

WOW! What a great day we had today! We took part in indoor rock climbing and problem solving. We had to use our communication skills, positive outlooks, problem solving and some of us even conquered our fears! Have a look at how brave we were! 

World Book Day!

We had a blast for World Book Day this week! As a class, we had some very creative costumes inspired by our favourite books and authors! We took part in a book trail around the school to answer some tricky questions about novels, characters and authors! Take a look!

GRENVILLE HOUSE 2018

Although our stay was short - it was very sweet! We managed to pack in high ropes, indoor climbing wall, problem solving, a trip to the beach, a delicious meal, a quiz AND a flim! Phew!!!! We had an amazing sleep over with our friends and tried things that we have never tried before.

Science investigations!

In science this week, we produced our own oceans inside the classroom using different materials. We then created an oil slick to see the effects that oil spills have our our world and the wildlife that live there. We had great fun observing and comparing the results of the experiments. Have a look at what we did!

Freeze frames!

In our literacy work this week, we have been reading a folk-tale from India. We read the text, then we were given a scene from the text to act out in drama. Take a look at what we got up to!

One heart activities

To raise money for a school defibrillator, we took part in different activities to get our hearts pumping! We then donated some money to fill the hearts after completing skipping, balancing, jumping and running games! Take a look at the great fun we had. 

Our recycling home learning!

As part of our theme topic, we have been investigating the effect of plastic pollution on our oceans. In our home learning we were asked to take some materials and reuse them in creative ways. Take a look at what we came up with! 

Rangoli art

This week in our theme lessons, we have been creating large scale Rangoli patterns. These are patterns found within the Hindu religion and are displayed in the front entrances in order to welcome guests during special festivals. They need to be symmetrical and the designs usually reflect themes about nature. Take a look at how much fun we had! 

Not-so-simple symmetry!

This week in our learning, we have been finding lines of symmetry within 2D shapes. We found this quite tricky at first, but after a little practice with mirrors and folding shapes, we were able to identify where a mirror line can be drawn to make two lines identical on either side when reflected. Take a look at the pictures below of our fantastic learning!

Our trip! 

This week, we were lucky enough to visit Goodrington Methodist Church to take part in a Christmas Labyrinth. We were given some Christmas activities to complete which told the story of Christmas. Then, we went around different stations and learnt all about the events in the lead up to Jesus' birth. We learnt lots and had fun walking down (and up) the giant hill! 

Making Lanterns!

We made lanterns in Design Technology this week. First we had to make the structure with pieces of Willow by making a square, a cross and then turn it into a square based pyramid. We had to make sure the pieces were secure before covering it with tissue paper and a mixture of PVA glue and water. After we left it to dry, we decorated it with poster paint by following our designs. Take a look at our creations! 

Haiku Poetry!

In our learning journey, Kites have been practicing and performing Haiku poetry. This form of poetry comes from Japan and has a very clear structure and theme. These poems are all about nature, are 3 lines long and must have 5 syllables in the 1st and 3rd line, and 7 syllables in the 2nd line. We performed some in front of the class this week. Have a look at our performances!

Our learning celebration!

On the 21st November, Year 4 invited parents in to share some of our learning from our topic, "Do all heroes wear capes?" We took part in some circuit building after learning about Thomas Edison, we became musical heroes when composing our own pieces of body percussion, we were mathematicians after completing a times tables puzzle, we practices our spelling lists and finally we matched facts about all the heroes we have learnt about since September! Take a look at our pictures!  

Comic Relief at White Rock! 

This week we took part in many activities to raise money for BBC Comic Relief. We wore non-school uniform (many of us wearing our Pudsey ears!), took part in different activities and built a giant Pudsey bear out of our donated money! Take a look at the great fun we had! 

Designing a wetsuit for Ellen MacArthur

In Science this week we were given the task to design a wetsuit for Ellen MacArthur. First of all we had to find the best material to use. We decided to test lots of different materials to find out which one would dry fastest. We also learned about evaporation as a scientific process and how it would help the materials to dry.

Our local heroes!

This week we were extremely fortunate to have Paignton Fire Services visit our school! We had a good look around the truck and found out how tools help them complete such dangerous tasks. We asked them lots of questions about their roles and experiences within the local community. 

Dance this half term

In Dance in Year 4, we have looked at traditional African dance positions and used ideas from these to create our own short dances in groups. We had to ensure that we had strong movements within our dances and included different levels.

Macmillan Coffee Afternoon

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported us in raising money for Macmillan during our coffee afternoon. Thanks to your donations (cakes and coins!) we raised over £250 for charity in Kites class! Well done to all of the children who took responsibility for their own stations and encouraged as many donations as possible! You are all heroes! 

Politics at Whiterock! 

This week, we were lucky enough to have a visit from Kevin Foster, our local MP from Torbay. He came in to talk to us about how to become an MP, what it was like to be an MP, and answer some tough questions about he plans to help develop our local community. We asked him some tough questions including: 

"How do you plan to support the pay for NHS workers and those working in the public sector?" - Layne. 

"Did you agree with Brexit?" - Reuben. 

"What are you going to do about the pollution that builds up everyday?" - Allissia. 

"My dad is a road safety officer. What do you propose to do about laws on the roads?" - Millie D. 

We will be continuing our work with democracy next week in our "Democracy week"! 

The Great Kite Bakeoff!

This week we have been preparing for our White Rock Coffee Afternoon in support of Macmillan. We took part in 'The Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning' and we had great fun making (and eating) delicious treats to sell! 

Mighty maths marvels and positive PE!

Kites have been working hard with their rounding this week! We have been working on rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000. Have a look at some of our maths pictures where we were discussing everything we have learnt about rounding over the last 2 weeks. We also played tag rugby this week and had an amazing lesson trying to steal each other's tags! Have a look at our huge smiles during the lesson!

First week back!

Kites have made a super start to Year 4! So far, we have begun investigating modern and historic heroes, focusing on how they improved the lives of people around the world. Take a look at our fact detective work! In maths, we have been looking at the place value of 4 digit numbers and explaining our reasoning using mathematical vocabulary. We had great fun playing maths games as you can see in our pictures!