Year 4 presented a very thoughtful assembly to the rest of Key Stage 2, explaining all about the Islamic festival of Eid and why it is so important to the Muslim religion. Our pupils introduced the character of Ibrahim. We told the story of the challenge that Allah set him involving the sacrifice of his son. We explained the outcome of this story, and how it led to Muslims sacrificing a lamb or a goat each year.

The religious significance of this was also looked at. We learnt how Muslim communities can grow stronger by sharing together in this activity. With many of our pupils in the school coming from a Muslim background, we were able to draw upon some rich knowledge about how modern day Muslims celebrate Eid in the UK today. You can listen to some of the thoughts in the podcast below.

Year 4 have been exploring more about the fascinating character of the Jabberwocky. He first appears in Alice in Wonderland, as well as a number of poems based upon his actions. Year 4 have been reading these, and then gaining inspiration for our own literacy work.

We have been looking at how to write a balanced news report, and how this might differ from any other form of writing. Using the Jabberwocky as our main news feature, Year 4 have written a news account based on the poems. We then used out ICT time to publish these in a newspaper style, thinking about headlines, paragraphs and where to put pictures.

Year 4 have been demonstrating some terrific teamwork during our recent P.E. sessions. Working in small groups, each team balanced together on one of the school gym benches. We then asked the teams to re-order themselves as quickly as possible, based around a number of different sorting criteria. These included height, age and hair length.

The idea behind the activity was to work together as a team, and most importantly not to fall off the bench. We quickly learnt that all members of the team need to work together for this to be a success. You can watch a short video demonstrating this above.

Year 4 have been demonstrating some terrific teamwork during our recent P.E. sessions. Working in small groups, each team balanced together on one of the school gym benches. We then asked the teams to re-order themselves as quickly as possible, based around a number of different sorting criteria. These included height, age and hair length.

The idea behind the activity was to work together as a team, and most importantly not to fall off the bench. We quickly learnt that all members of the team need to work together for this to be a success. You can watch a short video demonstrating this above.

As part of our ongoing Roman topic, Year 4 had a fascinating day out exploring the Roman villa at Lulllingstone. We started off our explorations by first of all looking at the ancient site and comparing it with what we see around us in London. We encouraged the children to think about why the Romans might have built a settlement at Lullingstone. We agreed that the nearby river would have helped the Romans with their transport needs.

After lunch in the Roman village, Year 4 then played a game of Roman invaders. Some unlucky Year 4 Celts fell victim to the Michael Faraday Roman Empire!

We have been continuing this work back in the classroom, examining various Roman artefacts and looking at traditional Roman costumes. The children have also been designing their own Roman mosaics.

We have started the new term in Year 4 at Michael Faraday with a new science topic. We will be learning all about skeletons and bones over the coming weeks. We introduced this topic by thinking about how many bones we thought might be inside our own bodies. Most of the pupils were surprised to find out that the typical human adult contains 206 bones!

Working in small groups, we drew around the outline of the body of a class friend. We then went about the task of labeling up the main bones around the body. We have been trying to think what it might be like without any bones – humans would be like a bowl of jelly! You can find out more about our early science observations in the podcast below.

Year 4 have concluded their project learning all about the New Zealand Maori tradition and culture with a visit to a special Hinemihi at Clandon Park. This is a sacred Maori house that holds great symbolism for the proud culture.

We have been learning about Maori tradition all term, guided by Bruce Simpson, our splendid Maori friend. We first met Bruce on the steps of the British Museum in full Maori costume. Bruce has since been a regular visitor to Michael Faraday, helping Year 4 to understand more about the Maori tradition and culture.

The children have staged an assembly for the whole school, explaining the history of Maori culture, along with plenty of dressing up and dancing. Bruce has taught us three specific songs and dances. This was in preparation for the grand procession through the City of London that Year 4 recently took part in.

We helped Bruce to design the Haka canoe that we carried through the street of the City, as well as the Maori T- shirts that we designed ourselves back in class. Our procession ended with a Maori song being performed by Year 4 on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral.

The final part of our Maori work was the visit to the Hinemhi. We split into two groups and performed a Welcome ceremony to greet each other. We would like to thank the Origins Border Crossing for making this project possible, and of course a huge special thanks to Bruce, our proud Maori warrior friend.

The musical work has continued around Year 4 as we approach the end of the school year. As well as our Maori performing talents, the children have been continuing with their weekly ukulele lessons with Lorraine, our ukulele orchestra leader.

We have been practicing in preparation for our end of term Ukulele Concert that will take place on the 19th July at 2:30pm . All Year 4 family and friends are of course invited along. You can watch a short video of the rehearsals below.

Some of our Year 4 pupils were part of a recent Michael Faraday school trip to Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. Children from acres the children were kindly invited along for a tour of the centerpiece of British democracy. Following on from the recent visit to our school by Ed Miliband, the Leader of the Opposition, our pupils were keen to learn more about Westminster and the workings of the government.

We were given a full tour of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We were under strict instructions not to sit down in the chambers – especially on the gold throne that is reserved for the Queen!

Our pupils were able to see many historic sights during our trip. We walked past the famous statue of Sir Winston Churchill, as well as looking at items relating to the reign of King Henry VIII and memories from the Great Fire of London.

All pupils have written thank you letters following on from the trip. We are also in the process of arranging a trip for all of our Year 6 pupils to Westminster at the start of the new school year. You can catch up on some of the highlights from the visit in the podcast below.