French Horns Y4

Our fantastic team consists of 36 ambitious, resilient learners, who are not afraid to make mistakes and rise to every challenge and 2 class teachers - Mrs Parkinson and Mrs Higson. Several wonderful learning support assistants work with us at various times of the week including  Miss Latham, Mrs Wright, Mrs Biltcliffe, Mrs Brown and Mrs Bradley.

Teaching and learning is approached in a way that many different areas of the curriculum are connected using a common theme. Each half term will see the start of a new theme.

We are very much looking forward to a fun, exciting and happy year!

Science Week July 2018

We've had an excellent time during Science Week!!! The theme of the week was the 'Human Animal' and aimed to explore what they human body needs to stay healthy and safe with an emphasis on the brain and the importance of being emotionally as well as physically healthy. The week began with an explosive start in assembly where one of the volunteers assisting in making 'elephant's toothpaste', shook the bottle a little too much! Other highlights included a session with Relax Kids, Yoga, a competition to discover which class had the highest percentage of 'supertasters', Sleep Science workshops and we enjoyed the most inspiring and interesting talk from one of our parents who came to speak to us about how his brain injury affects him. We also participated in the 'Great Science Draw' on the playground where we shared our learning with our parents/guardians. The week ended with Science themed fancy dress...! A brilliant time had by all.

Hunted - Summer 2

We are scientific explorers at the ready, as we embark upon an exciting adventure to identify and study plants and animals in our local environment. We will be developing our understanding of the classification system and will explore possible ways of grouping a wide selection of living things that include animals and flowering plants and non-flowering plants. We will put vertebrate animals into groups such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals; and invertebrates into snails and slugs, worms, spiders, and insects. We will be raising and answering scientific questions based on our observations of animals and what we have found out about other animals that we have researched. Our previous work on food chains will be further developed.

Children will work in role as a 'shipwrecked survivor' to make a simple meal using available ingredients to support a healthy diet.

We will also be undertaking a stand alone unit of Science work linked to sound. 

Water, Water, Everywhere - Summer 1

During this half term, we learnt to classify and group materials to develop our understanding of the properties of solids, liquids and gases. We developed our scientific enquiry skills by exploring the effect of temperature on water and ice, observing rates of evaporation and planning fair tests. We found out about the water cycle and made models to illustrate the processes involved. We learnt about rivers and their key features, with a focus on the River Nile and the settlements and landforms along its course from source to sea. This made links with learning opportunities in history through which the children learnt about the achievements of the earliest civilisations, studying Ancient Egypt in depth. Children were introduced to the history of art and how artists such as Constable and Hokusai developed impressions of the sea. They re-created Hokusai's 'Great Wave', developing their drawing, painting and collage skills.

Trip to Brockholes Nature Reserve

We enjoyed pond dipping and found lots of creatures which we identified using classification keys and information sheets. Jacob got the prize catch - a huge newt! We learnt about rivers and observed and identified features of the River Ribble using geographical vocabulary. In groups, we then went on to create a piece of environmental art to demonstrate our understanding of the features of rivers from source to mouth. 

We had a fabulous day!

Passport to Europe - Spring 2

Our suitcases are at the ready as we discover exciting things about the countries of Europe. We are developing our map skills and learning to describe and understand key aspects of physical and human geography. We will be studying the region of Paris in great depth and asking more searching questions including, ‘how?’ and, ‘why? as well as, ‘where?’ and ‘what?’ when investigating this place and its processes. We will be designing, making and evaluating our very own passport holders whilst developing our sewing skills and using appropriate decoration techniques. We will be developing our sketching, collage and painting skills as we create a unique/fantasy city scape of Paris/London.

Our Easter Assembly

What a fabulous job French Horns did of telling Easter story today! Actors, Narrators and Technicians were brilliant and it was lovely to see so many family members in the audience.

Visiting Tarleton Holy Trinity Church 

With Piccolos, we visited Tarleton Holy Trinity Church in order to enhance and support the work we have been undertaking in our RE lessons this half term. We met the wonderful Father David who showed us the features of the Church and talked about the Eucharist service. We had many questions about the church, the ceremonies that take place there and the customs that occur during Lent which is a time for Christians to prepare for Easter and to think about their relationship with God. Thank you to Father David and to the parent volunteers who accompanied us.

TCP World Maths Day 2018

We had a fantastic time... we love Maths!! Following an excellent assembly from Mrs Smith, we went back to class to solve the Maths Mission we had been assigned. We had to create calculations that would result in an answer of 32. However, the calculator that we were to use had broken keys - '3' and '2'! We came up with many different calculations that would result in the answer 32 without using the '3' or '2' keys on the calculator. The calculations were very ambitious and involved all four operations.

The afternoon saw our wonderful parents joining us to complete maths challenges and trails. Thank you so much to everyone that came. It was lovely to see you!

Wonderful World Book Day 2018

Are you ready to meet the World’s Worst Children? Well…they most certainly aren’t in our class!!

We have thoroughly enjoyed exploring some of the characters in David Walliams’s book, The World’s Worst Children’. We played character snap, designed posters advertising ‘Windy Mindy’s’          stench-tastic performance at the Royal Albert Hall and created our own 'rubbish monsters' inspired by the one in Grubby Gertrude's bedroom. 

As this year's theme is sharing stories, Mrs Smith (Y2/3) came to read to us and Mrs Ng, a parent, also read to us. Mrs Ng shared her favourite World's Worst Child Story - Brian Wong. 

We've had a fabulous day!!

Darwin Day 2018

The focus for Darwin Day this year was life in the oceans. After a brilliant assembly from Mrs Ng we began by using atlases to find and label the major oceans of the world. We also learned some fascinating facts e.g. did you know that the deepest known area of the Earth’s oceans is known as the Mariana Trench? Its deepest point measures 11km. That’s a long dive down! We then moved on to study the life cycle of a green turtle before focusing on the threat that plastic poses to these animals. Plastic from human activity ends up in the oceans which affects marine life in many negative ways. We designed posters to inform people how they can help to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans.

Click 'Download' to have a look at some of our posters...

The video below shows the desperately sad sight of a mother turtle trying to lay her eggs on a plastic-strewn beach. 

Safer Internet Day -  6th February

We've enjoyed celebrating Safer Internet Day through participating in a range of activities. The theme was 'Create, connect and share respect: a better internet starts with you!' Everyone has their part to play in making the internet a better place, including us! 

We explored which online behaviours have a positive effect on people and which have a negative effect. We considered how we could manage an online conflict and came up with ideas for actions we could take on line to make ourselves and our friends feel happy and good about themselves. We know that the key qualities we expect friends to have in the real world, apply to the online world as well.

The Art of Food - Spring 1

Through this theme, the children have developed their scientific enquiry skills. They have learnt how to: describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans; identify the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions whilst thinking about how to keep their teeth healthy and have explored the effect of acidic drinks on teeth. In addition, they have also constructed and interpreted a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey. 

We have explored and discussed still life paintings of fruit/vegetables and using a range of techniques, have created our own examples.

We made our very own class fruit bowl. Using papier-mâché techniques, we each created a piece of fruit. Following this, we applied our fantastic painting skills, mixing shades and tints.   

Enterprise Week - December

What a fantastic time we've had whilst developing lots of skills along the way! We were very lucky to be visited by Jenny Bird, a local business owner, who shared with us her story of how she started up her beauty salon. She was so inspiring and helped us to learn how important good customer service is and gave us lots of advice whilst we were generating ideas for our product. 

We undertook market research to inform our pricing and product choice. We decided to make Christmas popcorn with our company name being, 'Merry Poppings'  and our tag line... 'Munch your way through a movie this Christmas'. The customer could pick their own flavour and season their plain popcorn themselves. We assembled popcorn cartons after printing Christmas designs on them and adding our logo. 

The Great Plague - Autumn 2

Through this theme, the children will be developing their historical enquiry skills, using sources of evidence to ask and answer questions about the significance of the Great Plague and its effect on people's lives at the time and how they changed as a result. Knowing that the cramped and dirty living conditions for the majority of the London population contributed towards the spread of the plague, the children will also learn about the importance of taking care of the environment. Linking to the history, the children will explore the use of the image of the skull in art. From this, they will undertake observational drawings and develop print making techniques.

Hollins Homes Health & Safety Visit

What a brilliant morning we all had! With the sun shining, we set off to Tarleton Green (Hollins Homes) with our home-made Christmas decorations in hand. As we arrived, we were greeted by our lovely friends Anita (Sales Consultant) and Paul (Senior Project Manager) who invited us into the Show Home to share delicious treats. Armed with our very own Hard Hats and Hi Vis Jackets, we were ready to set foot on the construction site! 

During the walk around the house under construction, Paul told us how much water is in a house when building it, what you call a person who draws the house plans, how long it takes to build and even how to get Santa's sleigh marks off your drive! 

We returned to the Show Home to finish off the yummy treats and the Winner of the Christmas Decoration competition was announced: Well done Isaac! Hollins Homes are so impressed with all of our decorations and, from the 1st December, children and families will be able to visit any day of the week between 10am and 5pm to see their decoration on the tree. 

Well done French Horns, your behaviour was outstanding and a huge 'Thank you' to Hollins Homes for making us feel so welcome.

Remembrance Week 

We have explored the events of WW1 and their impact on those people who lived during that time, through the eyes of Archie Dobson - a 10 year old boy who told us his story. 

The story is told in three parts and is a BBC School Radio Programme. Click on the links to listen: Part 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01n4lsx

Part 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01n4lww

Part 3: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01n4m29

The story inspired us to undertake many drama activities which led to us producing a wide range of writing. We have written some fantastic poems, play scripts and reports.

Sparks Might Fly - Autumn 1 

Through this theme, children will be investigating electricity including series circuits, switches, conductors and insulators. They will use their skills to develop ICT and electrical systems and design an electrical product for a purpose. They will read and write explanations, fantasy stories and explore film and play scripts. 

'Electrogames' ask us to design and make an electrical product...

'Electrogames' are looking for new exciting games to sell this Christmas. Their most popular games are all powered by electricity and include lights and/or sounds. 

The children were asked if they could design and make a new game that might become one of their best-sellers...They rose to the challenge...

Testing Electrical Circuits

The children have really enjoyed constructing electrical circuits, identifying and naming basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers. They have tested their ideas about whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery. They have made switches and tested different materials in order to draw conclusions about conductors and insulators.

2.10.17: ENRICHMENT - Museum of Science & Industry 

We had a fantastic day!!

During the Revolution Manchester Show, the children discovered the story of where science met industry and the modern world began, from steam power and the cotton industry, to computing and cutting-edge scientific research. They learnt about the importance of the site as the home of the world’s oldest surviving passenger station, and the beginnings of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway—the world’s first passenger and goods railway. Through highly interactive, fun activities, they discovered that on the very first train journey someone got a leg chopped off, some people threw rotten potatoes at it and a handful of ladies fainted at the sight of it! 

We enjoyed the 'Circuit City' workshop in which we followed an electric current in 1893 from Dickinson Street Power Station to Manchester Town Hall, as the city is powered by electricity for the first time. Different scientific principles or electrical devices were tested at every stage of our journey. But not just any devices—we tested some of history’s most bizarre electrical creations, including a radio hat, a very aggressive hair dryer and a muscle building belt which Mrs Parkinson had to wear whilst Zack generated the electricity! Fortunately, this was earthed and Mrs Parkinson was saved from being electrocuted!!

A visit to 'Experiment' was another highlight. Amongst many other interactive, hands on activities, we stared into the mirror of infinity, created tornados, lifted a Mini and watched our own skeletons ride a bicycle. 

PE - Wigan Warriors 

We've been lucky to work with coaches from Wigan Warriors during this half term. We've had tips from the experts on kicking, tackling, catching and passing. We've enjoyed every minute.

What we will be learning to do this year?