Beech Tree Class Blog
Beech Tree Class Blog
Autumn 1 Week 4 24.09.26
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Beech Tree Class Blog
Hello
This week we have fully immersed ourselves into the lives of ancient Roman gladiators as an inspiration for our character descriptions. This will lead to our first published piece of work of the new academic year and helps us to celebrate and assess each child's current writing abilities. We used some of our learning time to go outdoors to act out how a gladiator would move in an arena so that we could use more ambitious vocabulary such as marched, strode, charged rather than just 'walked into the arena'.
Our second week of swimming (following last week's assessment week by the leisure centre staff) has seen us undertake our first 45 minute pool sessions. The children thoroughly enjoyed it and the extra time in the pool helped us to see progress in the children's abilities already. As previously stated, the groupings of children are set by the leisure centre and are fluid so that they are continually assessed and moved according to their ability shown in the pool each week. We use the Leeds Swim Scheme to ensure that every child has the chance to succeed no matter what their starting points and also have the opportunity to be stretched and develop core swim safety skills where applicable. Thank you again for ensuring the children are arriving promptly and with kit ready for the local authority bus which leave at 9am on the dot!
In Maths, we have continued to explore the place value of numbers up to 10,000 which will helpd us when we start out + and - unit later in the term. In Reading, the children have really engaged well with the class novel 'Thieves of Ostia' and are enthusiastically joining in as we read along.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mr Dring and Miss Maher
Autumn 1 Week 3 18.09.26
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Beech Tree Class Blog
Good afternoon
Below you will some of the fun activities we have used to hook the children into their written descriptive piece of work - a character description of an ancient Roman gladiator. The children were really engaged in this and we look forward to the descriptions they write over the next few days as part of their first written assessment of the year.
Our first swimming lesson this week was really successful and the children have been allocated groups by the leisure centre staff which they will share with us on our next visit next week. Thank you for making sure they had the correct kit. A reminder that the coach run by the local authority leaves our school site at 9am so please ensure your child arrives promptly every Wednesday morning at 8:45am so they do not miss their swimming lesson.
In Maths, we have explored the place value of numbers up to 10,000 ready for our next unit of addition and subtraction. We have also reminded the children that if they do not understand their homework then they need to ask us before the Wed hand in day so they then have time to practise the skills.
We wish you all a happy and fun weekend.
Mr Dring and Miss Maher
Autumn 1 Week 2 11.09.26
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Beech Tree Class Blog
Hello
What a second week! Firstly, thank to all of you that completed the OfSTED parent voice to share your views of our school.
In school, your children really shone and showed their Rufford Park Primary L.E.A.R.N.E.R skills so well. They dealt with our extra visitors interrupting their lessons in class, following them through the corridors, asking them questions on the spot and even corrected the inspectors if they got something wrong! Thank you children.
You should have received your electronic and paper copy Year 4 swimming letter yesterday as we are due to attend from next week. If you need a further copy, please contact the school office as soon as possible because we have to pass the information onto the leisure centre prior to arriving first thing on Wednesday. Thank you.
In English, we have continued to recap skills we have developed in KS1 and next week we will be building on these skills as we start our first part of LKS2 descriptive writing. In Maths, we are continuing our focus on place value of 4-digit numbers. In Science, we have been identifying and classifying animals. In class we have also started our increased focus on quick recall of our times tables as the DfE have confirmed all Year 4 children will be undertaking the government's statutory Multiplication Timestable Check in May/June 2027.
Enjoy your weekend and we look forward to seeing you all next week.
Mr Dring and Miss Maher
Beech 2026-27 Year 4 Week 1 Blog 04.09.26
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Beech Tree Class Blog
Welcome back.
It has been a delight to welcome the children back into our classroom this week. It has been lovely to get to know the children better and all of them have settled into the new routines really well.
We have seen lots of enthusiasm and focused learning which has been great to see. It has made this week’s choice of certificates for Special Mention a particularly difficult task for us.
In maths we have been focusing on place value of numbers up to 1,000 and in English focusing on the key skills of handwriting so our wonderful ideas can be clearly read. In Reading we have started exploring our class novel text (more details on our class page) and In Science we have been classifying and grouping.
We will be sending you further information about swimming this year however we have to wait for the details from the local authority as it is undertaken at their leisure centre. We are expecting it to commence in Week 3 of the term. The day will be a Wednesday.
Enjoy your weekend and we look forward to seeing you all next week.
Mr Dring and Miss Maher