YEAR FOUR: SUMMER TERM

OUR YEAR FOUR DURING SUMMER TERM

OUR CORE INTENTION IN ACTION

SUMMER TERM 'WHEN I GROW UP...' THEME: VALLEY OF THE KINGS

*Year 3 & 4 work on a two year thematic rolling programme. We are currently on the 1st cycle studying Valley of The Kings.

A 'When I Grow Up' Summer Summary

A fantastic race to beat Howard Carter in his mission to unearth the story of Ancient Egypt. The children of year 4 were given the task of re-telling the story of this civilisation in a bigger and better way than ever before under the 'When I Grow Up...' Valley of the Kings theme. 

After commencing with a Stunning Start film, the children immediately set about planning for their live museum that would showcase the studies they were about to undertake. Naturally the children used their History sessions to build that key knowledge of the lives and beliefs of Ancient Egyptians. Study a range of sources to unearth the story and making suggestions about what they may tell us about the way in which this ancient civilisation went about their lives. We studied the lives of prominent Egyptians figure and then considered what brought about the end of this civilisation. 

Our Geography studies focused upon the central importance of the River Nile to the survival and growth of the region and its impact upon the natural environment and significance of its flooding to irrigate the nearby land. We considered the region in a wider sense as well, learning about key ancient cities, Egypt's position in the world, its continent and modern nearby countries and cities. We studied the contrasting climate with that of Britain and what impact this would have upon the way of life for ancient and modern Egypt and how this would compare to our own.

Science was a dual focus: firstly upon circuits and then upon states of matter. Both of which were designed to investigate questions in the context of Ancient Egypt. Creating an effective circuit system to power our model museums involved a lot of trial and error based upon practical enquiry and observation. Whilst we considered solids, liquids and gases within the context of working water cycle models within the context of the River Nile and its surrounding region. 

Our creator learning areas focused upon the creating of Egyptian death masks in Art. Design & Technology enjoyed its own thematic day in the middle of our Great Egyptian Bake Off which required us to create 'authentic' Egyptian bread. It was a messy and rewarding exploration! Our Music studies centred upon the creation of a short percussion composition inspired by the tune Egyptian Dawn.

During our PSHE & Relationships studies we focused upon our health, lifestyle and well-being and built upon the work from year 3. Our Computing work focused upon the creation of opening and closing canopic jars using coding via Purple Mash. This was really challenging work and much more complex than our children first believed. Again, it proved really purposeful to put the final challenge in the context of our Ancient Egyptian studies and our working museum. During Physical Education, we developed our Summer team sport skills with a major focus upon team building and team reliance. We then applied these to small sided cricket matches which put our current striking and fielding work to the test.We also continued with our athletics and outdoor pursuits work this term. Our Religious Education studies considered the Jewish faith and how they display their commitment to God through rituals, behaviours and festivals - drawing upon other similar comparisons we have made with Christianity. We continued our French vocabulary studies - this time developing our days and months in order to speak them, read them and write them down. We also introduced terminology linked to family so that we can describe our own contexts.

We have enjoyed a busy term with Mathematics. Moving from extensive work with decimals onto time and then money problems. Properties of shapes and position and direction were our final areas of study during June and July in a packed few months. Whilst in English, an adventure story entitled 'The Missing Mummy', a persuasive letter to Howard Carter and a detailed report on the afterlife in Egyptian society were the outcomes to our units of work. 

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