St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School
We act with love, build our faith and grow as people
Year 4
WORLD BOOK DAY 2025
28/02/25
We have had an incredible time in Year 4, with so much learning and fun along the way! In Geography we’ve been exploring the Amazon Rainforest, learning about its unique environment, the animals that live there, and the importance of this natural wonder. We’ve looked at how rainforests help the planet and why it’s so important to protect them.
In Science, we dived into the fascinating world of the digestive system! From learning about the different organs involved in digestion to understanding how food moves through our bodies, it’s been a great hands-on experience. We have moved onto our new topic - States of matter, where we have been learning more about the characteristics of the different states of matter.
Maths has been full of exciting challenges! We have worked hard with our multiplication and division, and now we’ve started learning about fractions. It's been amazing to see everyone’s progress and how much confidence we've gained practising our times tables.
In P.E. Children developed their balance and coordination skills further. They really enjoyed the cup stacking challenges, where they aimed to improve their personal best scores, utilising lots of cognition, balance, passing and moving skills.
In Computing, we celebrated 'Online Safety day', delving into this year's them - 'Too good to be true - protecting yourself and others from scams online.' Children were able to discuss how to create a strong password, know what might be suspicious and not genuine.
In RE, we have begun our topic of Lent and the importance of prayer, fasting and giving. Children immersed themselves in learning about the temptations of Jesus and thought deeper into Jesus' responses in this scripture.
I are so proud of how hard the children have worked already. They led us beautifully in our Celebration of the word this week. Sharing and living out God's message, 'To listen to Jesus'.
Well done Year 4, as always keep up the amazing hard work!!!
24/1/25
Year 4 have had a busy couple of weeks. In Maths they've been using their times tables knowledge further to work out division questions. They have all been trying hard with their TT Rock stars Soundcheck to support their fluency in Maths. In English, the children have been enjoying the book 'Gut garden' where they have been making amazing cross-curricular links to our topic in Science - Animals and humas including the digestive system. We have been learning about writing an explanation text using a variety of language features. In order to get a good understanding of what we are learning about, all children really enjoyed the experience day, where they joined in with an activity to show the different stages of digestion; giving them a better understanding of the function of the microbes and internal organ function.
In Science, the children have immersed themselves in learning and ordering the twelve parts of the digestive system. We have also learnt the names of our teeth and their functions. We are currently observing our experiment to find out which liquids are good or bad for our teeth to better understand tooth decay and good teeth hygiene, including healthy eating.
Our budding artists in Year4, continue to develop their skills Abstract art through exploration and learning about Sonia Dulaunay's art. In R.E. Children have thought deeper in the job of the angels in the Christmas story. They have reflected on how they can be the messengers of God's word, by living it out in their daily lives. Well done to all of Year 4, keep up the great work!
13/12/24
Yr 4's really shone during their swimming survival lesson, they showed good listening, focus and concentration. Their swimming teachers, Mr Prower, Mrs Nonis and I were so proud of each one of them. They rose to the challenge of what to do should they fall into water and were to use their swimming skills to demonstrate this. In English, children thought deeper into creating rich sentences with the use of good language features. They planned, edited and neatly copied their work onto their publishing paper. It was wonderful to see lots of proud budding writers!
In Design and technology, the class worked hard to master threading a needle, learning to sew different stitches. They designed their own Christmas stockings to suit function and appeal. They added decorations to it and finally evaluated their finished products, these achievements gave them a sense of pride and joy their work, including how to improve their sewing skills further. Further more, they've learnt new vocabulary such as thread, sew, needle, stitch and may more!
Children immersed themselves into deeper thinking as part of RE, where they thought about Advent and its true meaning. Studying relevant scripture from the Old Testament and learning more about Jesus' ancestors, deepened their knowledge further.
The children came up with good examples on how we can do more for our local, national and global community, caring for God's creation, especially during Advent. They noted that Advent is a time for giving as there is more in giving then receiving.
They reflected on the true meaning of Advent and thought about what they were sorry for as part of our Penitential service, where they go to throw their paper into the fire. The joy of music especially around this time of the year really sets in to bring joy; with Carol practises deepening the excitement and waiting for Christmas Day. We are looking forward to our Carol service where we can share this joy too.
Huge well done to all of Yr 4 for an amazing term! Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas, may the light of Jesus shine upon you all bring you peace, joy and love always!
22/11/24
This half term, Year 4's have been working very hard Maths. They have applied their times table knowledge in problem solving the product of two factors. They have also utilised this knowledge in their division questions. In R.E. They have been exploring the scripture studies in the Old Testament, and thinking deeper into what the Messiah was described as, including God's promise to his people. They have also been learning more about the true meaning of Advent, and how they will try to prepare during Advent. They were surprised to learn that Advent is not all about the gifts; but the true gift from God - Christ.
In Science, Yr4 are learning about Sound, and how sound waved travel to the ear. They have been building on new vocabulary, learning all about the Outer, middle and inner ear. They also really enjoyed acting out how the particles of a solid, gas and liquid behave and which one sound travels the fastest through and why. As part of P.E. the children have engaged well in practising their Swimming skills and developing these further. In DT children enjoyed the challenge of learning running, overlock, zig-zag and backstitch. As part of Anti-bullying week we all came into school wearing odd socks. We explored different scenarios around this year's them of 'Respect'. Year 4 enjoyed also enjoyed designing a pair of odd socks. Well done to all of Year 4, keep up the good work!!!
Year 4 have worked amazingly hard this half term. Their Swimming lessons are coming along so well. They've really engaged with their Science, learning all about Electricity and have deepened their knowledge through fair testing different inductors and conductors of electricity within a circuit. In Computing their coding skills have also moved along well, this was evident when they had their Lego Build and code workshop. The coding, debugging, communication and collaborative skills were put to the test, but Yr4's rose to the challenge and created their own coded Lego car, where the motion sensors were in action. They enjoyed racing their cars at the end with their peers.
In Art, the children have developed their printing, sketching and painting skills further. They've learnt about adding depth, tones, tints and shades to their art work. They also thrived in making a collage using different materials to recreate a flower or plant of their choice. In Maths, they have practiced more on place value and applied this knowledge when working with two 4-digit numbers as part of column addition and subtraction. As part of Black History month, the children enjoyed reading the posters in the Library inferring more about various people and their significance, which they were able to link to lessons in class. We also met Sufiya Ahmed and author who inspired us to be writer, sharing her three top tips: read daily, write down your ideas and keep a notebook with you to write anything of interest which you could use in your story writing.
All children have really worked hard in R.E., thinking deeper about 'being made in the image and likeness of God'. They were amazing at leading the school in our class Celebration of the word prayers, where their individual light shone bright. Well done to all of Year 4! Keep up the amazing effort!
Year 4 have dived into their learning so beautifully! In Maths they have been thinking deeper about Place value and how to partition numbers through different mathematical representations. In English the children have been exploring grammar at a deeper level, improving their understanding of sentence structures. They have all enjoyed their first few Swimming lessons and are working really hard developing key life skills. In Science the children have enjoyed problems solving with circuits as part of our Electricity topic.
The children have emersed themselves into our Creation topic in R.E. and have been thinking deeper into how we are made in the image and likeness of God. From our RHSE lessons they have also, been building their faith in developing their knowledge of the importance of having faith in God.
The children have learnt news songs as part of their times tables practice and have really enjoyed these. I am so proud of how Year 4 have settled into their new academic year so well! Keep up the amazing work Year 4!!!
27/09/24
Meet the teacher slides 2024-25.
Recommended reading list for Year 4: 
Recommended Reads
Lit in Colour
Recommended book list of books by authors of colour
Penguin Books and Lit in Colour state that:
Books create belonging. They help us see each other and understand one another. They shine a light on the world.
It’s vital that the books we read in our formative years reflect the rich diversity of the society we live in.
Here at St. Margaret Clitherow, we have a diverse school community - 55.7% of our school children are from a minority ethnic background. We therefore think it is important that children have access to books that reflect who they are. Attached is a list of recommended reads put together by Penguin Books. You can read the research behind the inclusion of books by authors of colour here:https:// https://www.penguin.co.uk/lit-in-colour/parents-and-supporters
2023 KS2 Lit in Colour Book List