WELCOME TO YEAR 4 KESTRELS

Kestrels are enterprising and creative, and they approach all their endeavours with focus, commitment and enthusiasm, so they can soar above the land. As the older members of the Year 3 and 4 team, Kestrels use all these skills to be positive role models.

THIS TERMS THEME

'#Explore More'

 Please scroll down to see our curriculum map to find out all about this term's learning. This term in Year 4, we will be exploring people who have made an impact closer to home, such as Isaac Merritt Singer. We will also be comparing Paignton to locations in Mexico. 

P.E AND DANCE DAYS

 Dance is on Tuesdays and PE is on Wednesdays.

Please ensure that your child has the correct kit in school all week, which is clearly labelled. For more information about kit requirements, please visit our 'Physical Education & School Sports ' page.  We will ensure that PE kits are sent home at the end of every half term.

HOME LEARNING DAYS

Home Learning will be handed out on a Friday and collected in on a Wednesday. This will give you the opportunity to explore aspects of your child's learning if you wish.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday 22^nd April – Non-Pupil Day

Wednesday 23^rd April – First Day of Summer 1

Monday 5^th May – Bank Holiday

Thursday 8^th May – Kites Reach Outdoors Trip

Thursday 15^th May – Kestrels Reach Outdoors Trip

Thursday 22^nd May – Kingfishers Reach Outdoors Trip

Friday 23^rd May – Last Day of Summer 1

Monday 2^nd June – First Day of Summer 2

Monday 2^nd June – Wednesday 4^th June – Kingfishers Residential

Wednesday 4^th June – Friday 6^th June – Kites Residential

Monday 9^th June – Wednesday 11^th June – Kestrels Residential

Thursday 19th June - Kites at PCSA

Friday 25^th July – Last Day of Summer 2

MEET THE TEAM

If there are any issues or concerns, please feel free to come in and see your class teachers (Miss Thomson) or alternatively please contact our team lead (Mr Passmore).

sthomson@whiterockprimaryschool.co.uk

bpassmore@whiterockprimaryschool.co.uk

Year 4 Maths Key Performance Indicators

• Lower KS2 - WRPS - Maths Assessment and Curriculum.pdf

ACADEMIC YEAR 2024/2025

SUMMER TERM

Summer Term Curriculum Map

Tuesday 29th April 2025 - RE

Today we were lucky to welcome Matt and Mollie from Bay Church, who led assemblies for all the children. They talked to us about the true meaning of Easter, which is Jesus's death and his resurrection, as well as his Ascension into Heaven. They also discussed the Good News that Jesus and his disciples spread about how to live and talked about the word of God being like a light that shines to light the way for all, and we shouldn't hide this light. The children enjoyed sharing their 'good news' with Matt and Mollie, listening to their stories and watching the video and we look forward to them joining us again soon.

Thursday 24th April 2025 - Writing

This week, Year 4 have been introduced to their new writing text 'The Paperbag Prince' written by Colin Thompson. During today's lesson, the children have been using hot-seating to learn about the main character in the book. In this activity, the children had to put themselves in the shoes of this character and answer a range of questions. 

SPRING TERM

Spring Term Curriculum Map

Wednesday 2nd April 2025 - Design and Technology

This week, Year 4 have been learning about levers and linkages in Design and Technology. We have used this knowledge to create a seasonal card. Have a look at some of our fantastic designs! 

Wednesday 2nd April 2025 - PE Martial Arts

This week we were really lucky to have Richard Kelly in our PE lessons from MF Martial Arts, teaching the children some basic self defence skills. The children have been looking forward to this and have all really enjoyed the sessions! Look out for the flyer that will be sent home with your child with more information. 

Tuesday 1st April 2025 - Dance

This week in Dance, we were creating dances that showed an electric circuit. We had to show that the circuit was complete for the bulb to turn on by working as a team. We also tried to include unison and canon.

Wednesday 26th March 2025 - Reading Roundabout

Today, Year 4 took part in a Reading Roundabout. The children got to explore lots of new books which will be arriving in our school library, writing down their own list of the books which they would like to read. The genres included adventure and mystery, imaginary worlds and even realistic stories. The children really enjoyed having the time to look through the books!

Monday 24th March - PE

This half term year 4 have been focusing on the different areas of fitness. They have been challenging themselves to improve their skipping skills, as well as develop their understanding of coordination, balance, agility, speed, stamina and strength. They have completed circuits of activities and created their own activity stations for others to complete which was fantastic. Well done for such brilliant skipping year 4! 

Wednesday 19th March 2025 - Golf

Today, Year 4 visited Cayman Golf. The children were given some instructions before having the opportunities to play a few holes. Everyone had a fantastic time! 

Tuesday 18th March 2025 - Science

In our Science lesson, the children explored conductors and insulators by testing different materials in an electrical circuit. Their enquiry was to find out which materials allow electricity to flow and which ones stop it. After setting up a simple circuit, the children tested a variety of everyday materials such as tin foil, a paperclip, blu tack and even cheese!

March 2025 - Computing

This term, we have been recording our very own podcasts. We have based our podcasts around White Rock Primary School - a topic we know a lot about! Using a music and sound programme, we have learnt to record two conversations and have learnt to delete sections and align them. Once we had recorded our conversations, we added music and sound effects to make them more authentic. The end results are amazing!

Monday 10th March 2025- PSHE

This term, Year 4 have been learning about Fair Trade in PSHE. Today, we learnt about the positives and negatives of Fair Trade before having a debate about the following statement: Fair Trade products are expensive and not worth it. We then voted to decide which side was most convincing. 

Thursday 6th March 2025 - World Book Day

Today, we celebrated World Book Day. We took part in a range of activities, as well as a class swap to read stories to younger children in school. All of the children had a fantastic day and shared their thoughts on a variety of books they have read. 

Tuesday 4th March 2025 - Dance

We have all finished our masks and in Dance today and next week, we are performing our dances in our masks. Take a look at the photos of us in our masks in our groups - don't we look great? 

Friday 28th February 2025- Spanish 

Year 4 were excited to start the new topic 'El tiempo'- the weather in Spanish.

We learnt lots of different weather phrases and played interactive games to practise the new vocabulary. iQué fantastico! 

Also, we discussed the pronunciation of two key structures "hace" and "hay". iQué interesante!

Monday 24th February 2025 - Music

Today, Sonopera’s Kip Pratt and Elfyn Jones visited White Rock to perform some music. Their performance showcased a diverse range of instruments - piano, violin, ukulele, and drums - and musical styles from Ireland and Eastern Europe. We started by singing a song about the months to warm up our voices, followed by learning a song called “Step Back Baby!”. We had lots of fun putting some actions to the words and working together to find the beat of the music.

Friday 14th February 2025 - Art and Design

In Art, Year 4 have created Anglo-Saxon pots. We started our journey by exploring different types of Anglo-Saxon pottery before designing our own using a different variety of patterns. We then used clay to create these different designs. 

Tuesday 11th February 2025 - Dance

This term, we are creating dances based on the film Rio 2 and the carnival that is so famous in Rio in Brazil. In groups, we chose three set moves inspired by Rio 2 and then created our own. We had to make sure that we included 4 out of the 7 core actions (gesture, jump, stillness, balance, turn, fall, travel). As home learning, we are designing our own masks and will perform our dances in our masks after half term. Look out for more photos of these!

Friday 7th January 2025 - Writing

In Writing, Year 4 have been learning about the text 'Cinderella of the Nile'. They have explored using a range of features, including: time adverbials, past perfect verbs and prepositional phrases. They then used these skills to create their own Cinderella story. 

Tuesday 4th February- PE

This half term year 4 have been focusing on Handball. Children have been looking at transferable attacking and defending skills used in invasion games, along with applying the skills and rules specific to handball. Children understand the importance of being in control of the ball and decision making under pressure. 

January 2025 - Computing

This half term, Yr4 are focusing on the Education for a Connected World document produced by the Government. As the world of technology is constantly changing, so are the perimeters of online safety and there a now many areas which need covering. The section we are focusing on at the moment is Managing Online Information. We have learnt all about search engines and how these are used to search for information on the internet. We know the child friendly search engines we should be using to keep us safe and know that only key words need to be used (typed or spoken) to reduce the amount of information provided. We have also learnt that we cannot trust any information we read online - we must become fact checkers! This week we have been learning which methods companies use to try and persuade us to buy their products online - such as adverts, pop ups and in-app purchases.

Monday 20th January 2025 - Science

In Science, Year 4 have explored using equipment to create a complete circuit in our new unit on electricity. The children learnt the battery pushes electricity along the wires from the positive terminal, through the wires, through the bulb and back to the negative terminal. This creates a circuit. To turn out the light, the circuit needs to be broken. Some children also incorporated a buzzer and motor! 

Tuesday 15th January 2025 - PE - Swimming 

This week, Year 4 started their swimming sessions at Brixham Swimming Pool. They have all improved their water confidence and have been working on improving our strength and technique when in the water. 

Friday 10th January 2025-Spanish

Year 4 had lots of fun today learning different breakfast foods in Spanish.iQué maravilloso!  We discussed that Spanish people love to eat churros con chocolate or tortilla española (spanish omelette) at breakfast time iQué delicioso! 

We played lots of interactive games to practise the new vocabulary. We also started to learn a new song called TENGO TENGO HAMBRE.......iQué estupendo!

Can you say these words at breakfast time over the weekend!

pan- bread

pan tostado= toast

mermelada= jam

zumo de naranja= orange juice

agua= water

leche=milk

cereales= cereal

fruta=fruit

Thursday 9th January 2025 - Paddleboat

Today, Year 4 have had their first session with Paddleboat Theatre Company where they have been hard working to create their own performance. The performance is based around our local coastline and the children have enjoyed sharing their creative ideas. Well done Year 4! 

AUTUMN TERM

Autumn Term Curriculum Map

Tuesday 17th December 2023 - Dance

In Dance last week, we watched Daft Punk's music video 'Around the World' and took inspiration from this to create our own dances. We had to include 4 actions in a sequence and then repeat them. We used the clear beats in the music to ensure each move was done for 4 beats before moving on.

This week, we were copying different dance styles on the screen and using repetition by following Christmas Just Dance and Christmas freeze games, as it was our last lesson before Christmas.

Thursday 12th December 2024 - Reading

In Year 4 today, we had the opportunity to explore a variety of books which will be on sale as part of the book sale. The children loved being able to explore the different types of books and their blurbs.

Wednesday 11th December - PE

This half term year 4 have been participating in basketball with Lloyd Blacker the Torbay Tigers basketball coach. They have all really enjoyed these lessons and have developed their basketball skills and knowledge of the rules of the game considerably. All children have had the opportunity to put their skills into practice in small competitive games, as well as umpiring matches successfully. Well done year 4! 

Friday 6th December 2024- Mandarin Club

你好! (nǐ hǎo) – “Hello”

Year 4 had lots of fun in Mandarin club. We learnt lots of greetings in mandarin chinese. We also played interactive games and started to learn numbers 1-10. We create PowerPoint presentations all about China and even wrote the numbers in pinyin. (The word pīnyīn (拼音) in Chinese literally means "spell-sounds") 

Can you say these numbers in mandarin? Have a go!

Thursday 5th December 2024 - History

In History this term we have been learning about the Anglo-Saxons. Year 4 learnt about who the Anglo-Saxons were, where they came from and the reasons why they came to Britain. We also learnt about the meaning of 'chronology'.

November 2024 - Computing

This week, we have been learning all about websites - where they are hosted, how we access them and what the main features of them are. We then used a tool - Chrome Music Lab - to create content for the Kestrels page on the school website. We loved creating their own masterpieces!

Friday 29th November 2024 - Maths

Our current Maths topic is Multiplication and Division. In today's lesson, we were looking at multiplying 3 numbers together e.g. 5 x 2 x 7. We explored different strategies to help us solve these. 

Thursday 21st November 2024 - Geography

In Geography this term we have been learning about Brazil. We know that Brazil is in South America and the capital is Brasilia. We used our knowledge of four-figure grid references to locate cities in Brazil and learned about different human and physical features found here. 

Friday 15th November - Children in Need
Today, Year 4 enthusiastically participated in Children in Need activities. In assembly, the children learned about the importance of supporting vulnerable children. A highlight was the live dance session led by Darcy Bussell where the children joined in an energetic dance routine, promoting joy and fitness. Finally, the children took part in a range of Pudsey activities, led by our amazing Year 6 children. 

Friday 8th November 2024 - Reading - Class Reader

This week, Kestrels class have been reading the book ‘Charlotte's Web’ by E.B. White. The children have really enjoyed listening along to the story and answering questions about it.

Logan -  “I like that the girl has rescued a pet pig and is now taking care of it".

Jasmine - “I am enjoying Charlotte's Web as I already know the story and I get to hear it read with expression".

Thursday 7th November 2024 - Indoor Climbing

Kestrels had our first session today with Reach Outdoors. We had so much fun indoor climbing at Parkfield and had a fantastic time learning new skills and we each challenged ourselves to go even higher each time we went up the climbing wall! Take a look at the following pictures below...

Wednesday 23rd October 2024 - PE 

Year 4 have just completed their final lesson of Tag rugby this half term. Lessons have focused on the principles of attack and defence, as well as applying invasion skills to competitive games, following the rules. Children demonstrated excellent backwards passing techniques and held strong defensive lines, regularly tagging the players with the ball. Well done year 4! 

Wednesday 23rd October 2024 - Guide Dog Mobility Team

This morning KS2 received an assembly from the Guide Dog Mobility team. They talked about why vision is important and the types of sight loss. The team also showed the ways in which people access support, for example with guide dogs or canes. Kestrels class then had an interactive session with Ava and Lynda, learning what it is like to experience vision loss and attempting some activities without their sight. The children learned a lot and all enjoyed taking part in understanding how to support others with visual impairments. 

Autumn Term - Computing

This half term, we have been thinking about how we can keep ourselves safe online. We watched a Lee and Kim video which taught us 4 Top Tips on how to keep safe when using the internet and playing games. The 4 Top Tips are:

1. People online are strangers. Do not chat to them like you would to someone you know.
2. Always be kind and polite when talking to someone online.
3. Never share your personal details with anyone online.
4. If you get a butterfly feeling in your tummy, then you must always tell a trusted adult.

The children have then used word skills to produce a word document about the Top Tips.

Monday 14th October 2024 -  Design and Technology

In our Design and Technology unit we researched different pizzas and looked at the main ingredients in a pizza and the different toppings available.  We used this information to make our own yummy pizzas following our own personalised recipe.  We then got the very important job of taste testing our pizzas which smelt and looked absolutely delicious! Afterwards, we evaluated our pizzas discussing what we liked about them and how we would adapt it next time.

Take a look at our creations!

Thursday 10th October 2024 - Tag Rugby Festival

Kestrels class were very lucky to be invited to a Tag Rugby Festival at Paignton Academy. Each member of our class played 4 games of Tag Rugby against 4 local schools, as well as taking part in a range of team building and rugby skill based activities

Tuesday 8th October 2024 - African Dance

We were very lucky to have two African dancers in school today to teach us some traditional dances. They also taught us some African songs, which we then added to the dance. We all had such a fun time with them.

Tuesday 1st October 2024 - Science

For our Science learning this week, we have investigated the digestive system. We have built upon our previous learning about the function of teeth and started to think about what happens to our food once we swallow it. During our investigation, we found out that we have stomach acid to help break down our food before it is moves along to the intestines. Inside the intestines (which we replicated with tights), we learnt that nutrients (orange juice) gets absorbed from the food we have eaten (bread) and that we are left with a waste product. Finally, we investigated the final stages of digestion with the waste product exiting our body (plastic cups). Have a look at our investigation below...

Thursday 26th September 2024 - European Day of Languages

iHola! , Privet , Ola, Allo, Dobri den, Bonjour, Hej!

We had lots of fun celebrating European Day of Languages this week. We sang lots of Spanish songs (Hola Hola and El Chocolate) in whole-school assembly.

Senorita Head taught us how to say 'hello' in different European languages. We had the opportunity of taking part in a European Day of Languages photobooth which was decorated with flags and was lots of fun! 

Tuesday 17th September 2024 - Science

In Science, Year 4 have been investigating the function of teeth. We started our learning by biting into an apple and exploring which teeth we used throughout the process. The children were then challenged to eat another slice of apple using just their incisors, which they found was extremely difficult. As a class, we then discussed how different teeth are important for eating different types of foods. 

Tuesday 17th September 2024 - Dance

In Dance this term, we are learning about actions and dynamics. Actions are what we do, like run, skip, hop and dynamics are how we do those moves like slowly, gently, softly. We have been exploring how our actions change depending on the dynamics we use.

Thursday 12th September 2024 - Maths

Year 4 have had a fantastic start to the new school year! By the end of Year 4, we aim for every child to know all of their times tables up to 12 x 12, so a big emphasis is put on this throughout the year. Today, we have been completing our fluency booklets and on Times Tables Rock Stars to learn some new multiplication facts.