Writing: Should playtimes be banned?
In their writing lessons, the children have been learning techniques to help them to write persuasively. Today, we received a letter informing us that playtimes are going to be reduced and possibly stopped altogether! What an outrage!
Tomorrow, the class will put forward their argument and begin to plan a letter stating their opinions. To help with this, we created a ‘Conscience Alley.’
What does conscience alley mean?
Help at home by reading the letter below with your child. Create your own debate for and against banning playtimes.
To the staff, parents and governors
I would like your support with my proposal to reduce break time for KS2 children. Break and lunchtime at (St. James’ Primary School) make up a total of 6 hours and 40 minutes throughout the week. In my opinion, that is a significant amount of time being wasted with children simply running around and not participating in learning. My suggestion is to remove first break entirely and reduce lunchtime from 60 minutes (one hour) to 30 minutes (half an hour), which is adequate time for the children to eat, use the toilet and get some fresh air. Here I have outlined my main reasons for making this proposal.
First and foremost, a school’s purpose is for children to learn; children get to play when they are at home. Some may argue that break-time is vital for children to relax throughout the day. I, on the other hand, disagree because they are able to relax from 3.15pm (when our school day ends) until their bedtimes. Additionally, children have the weekends and school holidays to play. Increasing the amount of learning time is crucial for the children because it will increase the progress they make so it will improve the amount of opportunities available to them when they are older, allowing them to have a brighter future.
Furthermore, statistics show that break and lunch times are when the school has to deal with the most friendship problems and medical emergencies. By reducing the amount of time, the children are at break, we will reduce the chances of children falling out with each other. In addition, the increased amount of learning time will allow us to spend more time teaching Living and Learning and Circle Times, where we can equip the children with strategies to deal with friendship problems in the future.
Finally, I strongly believe that it is a waste of teacher’s time to look after children at break. Reducing the amount of break time will reduce the amount of time teachers have to spend supervising children during unstructured play, and allow them to the job they are trained to do: inspire the children with their learning.
To conclude, I consider it my responsibility to do what is best for the children (even if they may disagree), and reduce the amount of break time. In my experience, the more learning time the children have, the better progress they will make. Consequently, they will perform better in their assessments, have fewer friendship problems and be well prepared for the challenges of secondary school.
Living & Learning: I know we’re all the same and we’re all different
In this week’s Living and Learning lesson, we thought carefully about how we’re different yet all the same.
We explored what’s meant by discrimination and alongside that, discussed what the term ‘stereotype’ means:
It was fantastic to listen to and see how mature Year 4 are about topics such as discrimination. Everyone was incredibly respectful, mature and knew that to discriminate is not a good thing.
Going forwards, it’s great to know that this class knows how to be great members of our community outside of school! Nice one, Year 4!
Computer Coding
Today, the children explored a digital game called Scratch. They created a sprite (a 2D character) and used the coding blocks to form an algorithm. The children enjoyed creating, coding and testing their ideas.
What is Scratch programming?
Scratch is a programme aimed at supporting children developing their coding and programming skills. It can be used to create stories, games and animations. Scratch promotes computational thinking and problem solving skills.
Have a go at home – it’s free!
Working Scientifically… and investigating nappies!
This half term, we will be working scientifically using our 5 enquiry types.
This week, we observed nappies to help us with our investigation. We thought about the properties of a nappy and what it’s function is. The children had some great ideas and many recognised a nappy need to be soft to protect the skin, stretchy and it needs to absorb liquid.
Check out the key vocabulary for our new topic and help at home by discussing these words with your child. 
Living and Learning: I know that people should treat others respectfully when online.
Today has been internet safety day! In Year 4, we continually refer to online safety throughout the year – not just for one day.
This morning, the class had a discussion about online games and we looked at some guidance about age ratings. Lots of the children were unaware that some of the games they play are inappropriate and rated at much higher age groups.
The game Fortnite, which is very popular, is recommended for young people aged 13 and up. This is because of its action violence and open chat options. Chat to your child about the games they play online. Discuss why there are age restrictions and what the word ‘appropriate‘ means.
Following this discussion, the class were able to explore the ‘thinkuknow‘ website. This site provides resources and information for children and young people aged 4 – 18, their families and professionals who work with them. Check this out with your child. There’s a lot of information for parents, too! www.thinkuknow.co.uk
Our fluency text links to our Living and Learning and it is below for you to read with your child.
Monday 6 February 2023
LO: fluency (Living and Learning – Consent – book on display in classroom) 
Consent means giving someone a choice about touch or actions and respecting their answer.
Consent (for Kids) is an empowering introduction about how to respect yourself and others. Consent is like being ruler of your own country…population: YOU. Readers will learn about boundaries and how to set them; ways to respect themselves and others; what to do if someone makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe; and much more.
Finally, the children created images of themselves and surrounded them with ideas of how to stay safe online.
Living and Learning: I know I should treat others respectfully when online
Next week, our Living and Learning will be based around internet safety. To start this off, Dave from D:Side came to talk to us about staying safe online. We had a look at some of the games we have heard of, and the symbols on the games that mean there is something inappropriate for our age.
We thought about who we shouldn’t and shouldn’t speak to online. Dave taught us that people might not always be to they claim online. It’s fine for us to talk to our friends and family member who we already know. However, it’s not safe to accept requests from people we don’t know.
Years 3 and 4 were great at recognising which private information we should never give out online. To stay safe, we should make up a username rather than using our real one.
We were given some different scenarios of photographs and thought about if it is safe to post online. We think it’s safe to post photographs of a new pet, but it’s not appropriate to share photographs that give away out personal information. This includes anything that shows who we are and where we live. Aubrey, sensibly suggested that if we want to share photos of our friends we need to ask their consent.
We got to be detectives and guess the password based on clues about what people like.
Why not as your child what they enjoyed about our internet safety talk? Can they remember what we need to do to create a strong password?
Visiting Wetherby Library
Today, Year 4 spent an hour in the local library. This was a great opportunity for the children to get immersed in books they enjoy. The library positively encourages young people to enjoy reading for pleasure.
Our session, with the librarian, involved learning how a library is organised, a library skills quiz, making a bookmark, choosing some books to have in our classroom and, of course, a story.
Ralph, who is very interested the the world wars, chose a book on this topic to have in our reading area.
Wetherby Library has lots to offer (and it’s free) so why not pop in with your child!
Address:
17 Westgate, Wetherby, Leeds, Wets Yorkshire, LS22 6LL
Amazing Writing
Wow! Year 3 have been doing some writing to be proud of this week! We continued with our recount learning and imagined we had experienced a volcanic eruption! Our R2S were, fronted adverbials, conjunctions and expanded noun phrases.
I’m sure you will agree the results were impressive!
Maths: What is perimeter?
Today, in maths, we’ve learned about perimeter.
We firstly experimented using Magformers to create rectilinear shapes (shapes shaped like a rectangle) and counted the distance around the edge in squares. We then took our learning up a level and created more complicated shapes.
Ashton, Noah, James, Kamile and Summer were especially brilliant at working out the area by counting the squares but the whole class did a super job too!
Take a look at some of the children’s reflections the children noted at the end of our maths lesson…
Geography: Mount Vesuvius
Today, we’ve learned about yet another volcano – Italy’s Mount Vesuvius…
…but it’s not the geography learning I was massively impressed by (although the geography learning was fab, too!).
I’ve been blown away by the children’s HANDWRITING! It’s been great tracking back to September to see how much we’ve all improved.
We often think that handwriting is something to only think about when we first learn to write but now it’s more about our general presentation, formation of letters and personal style that’s at the forefront.
Some children are coming home with a copy of their handwriting to show off at home! Great job, Year 4!