More Than Dance Jubilee Celebration - June 2025

On Monday and Tuesday, we brokered “More Than Dance” to come and launch specially scripted dances based around hope to all our children. This visit brought a tear to my eye and I know these two days have inspired our children with hope. Year Four performed to "My Hope is in the Lord" by Sanctus Real. The days came together with a special Celebration of the Word on Tuesday with our huge community where all children performed their dances intertwined with scripture and prayers. Truly moving!

We had an amazing time journeying back to the 1970s during our themed week. We were fascinated to discover what life was like and enjoyed making comparisons with life today. Throughout the week, we were thrilled to experience a wide range of activities. We began by using a range of primary sources of evidence to investigate daily life. We explored the developments in technology and innovation and created a timeline. We found out about the history, significance and decline of Concorde and took part in Miss Peacey‘s Concorde Challenge.

We were thrilled to learn and perform a dance from the 1970s. We found out about the different popular music styles, with a focus on David Bowie. We explored what people wore and designed our own Glam Rock platform boots. The highlight for many of us was learning how to make a 1970s trifle. It was yummy! So many amazing experiences and learning opportunities. What a week to remember!
 

We were very excited to be able to extend our knowledge and understanding of the Anglo-Saxons during our wonder day.  We had the opportunity to handle and investigate a wide range of artefacts, learnt how to play an Anglo-Saxon board game together with learning about key aspects of Anglo-Saxon warfare. Our Anglo-Saxon visitor was amazed with our retention of knowledge and understanding of life in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon period. Well done Year 4!

As part of our topic on 'The Digestive System', we investigated the effects that different liquids have on teeth.  We used hard boiled eggs as the shell is very similar to the enamel on our teeth. We conducted a fair test using water, vinegar, cola and orange juice. We were amazed with the results!

We had a fantastic time learning about the importance of VE Day. We know that the 8th May 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. Today was an opportunity to celebrate the anniversary of the end of the war and also a time to remember and commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Throughout the day, we used a wide range of primary sources and took part in a range of activities. We particularly enjoyed the drama workshop where we explored the experiences of different people during the war. We made fantastic use of our reading fluency when sharing war poetry. Finally, we thought about what it would have been like for the children celebrating with a street party and used their experiences to write diary entries. May 8th is certainly a day to remember!

We thoroughly enjoyed exploring how to create a wide range of frame structures. Architects of the future!

We thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this year's Easter competitions. It was a wonderful opportunity to raise money for Cafod. We created Easter bonnets, gardens and decorated eggs. We hope that you are impressed with our 'eggcellent' creations!

Year 4 have worked hard this year to develop a wide range of complex skipping skills, building on the foundations they built in Year 2, when working with Leeds Skipping School. The children used these skills successfully when taking part in the Leeds Skipping Festival on Monday 10th March 2025. They represented school brilliantly and had a fantastic time, working both individually, in pairs and in larger group skipping tasks. Year 4 were so proud to win so many certificates to recognised their achievements against other schools in Leeds. Their hard work certainly paid off! A huge thank you to Mr James who has practised skipping skills with our children weekly, as well as the efforts of all the children since the Autumn Term. We are so proud of you!

We love reading in Year 4 and so embraced every opportunity during World Book Day 2025. We produced book reviews for a well-known book and created art work inspired by our current class text 'Varjak Paw'. We worked together brilliantly when preparing and presenting  performance poetry, bringing alive the work of our focus poet Charles Causley.  What a fantastic day!

We are all so proud that a member of Year 4 was awarded the St Anthony's Centenary Shield. What a truly inspirational winner!

We really enjoyed our Geography Wonder Day. It was a brilliant opportunity to bring alive, celebrate and enhance our topic on France.  We developed our mapping skills when finding about the landmarks of Paris and enjoyed sampling traditional French foods. We worked fantastically together when building models of the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed making comparisons between London and Paris. The children were amazing and it was such a joy to see their enthusiasm, co-operation and love of learning! 
 

During this very special Jubilee year, we were delighted to see the Jubilee banner on its pilgrimage around our diocese. In Year 4, we  worked together to create a book of hope and reflected upon how we can be 'Pilgrims of Hope' during our class 'Celebration of the Word'. How will you be a 'Pilgrim of Hope' during our Jubilee year?
 

Our Year 4 class had an incredible time on their very first residential experience at St Anthony's. This took place at Herd Farm, Leeds from Wednesday 8th January - Friday 10th January 2025. Every single child in Year 4 embraced all of the opportunities to work in co-operation with each other, had lots of fun and made many lasting memories.  They took part in special activities such as the giant swing, crate stack and archery. In addition, they learnt a range of bush craft skills and took on the challenge of the climbing wall. In the evenings, the children loved taking part in many challenges, quizzes and group tasks. Have a look at what they all got up to!
 

We experimented with a range of shading techniques in order to create different tones. We learnt how to use contrasting tones to create a three-dimensional drawing. We created compositions using collage and then used these to inspire our wax resist drawings. We are very pleased with our final pieces!
 

On Monday 16th December 2024, we held our annual Carol Service at St Anthony's Catholic Church. Our Chamber Choir led the way with their magnificent and harmonious singing. What a beautiful way to prepare for Christmas! The Service was attended by our whole school community as well as parish members and past pupils. 

In order to enhance our Geography topic on rivers, we spent the day at Headingley Water Treatment Centre. We furthered our understanding of the water cycle, learnt about the process of water treatment and explored what not to flush down the toilet. The highlight of the day was a guided tour of the centre which was fascinating. The staff were amazed by our existing knowledge and retention of key facts. Well done everyone!

We thoroughly enjoyed our session from D:Side where we focused on the importance of online safety.

During our art topic 'Light and Dark, we developed our skills of colouring mixing. We learnt how to use shades and tints to create a desired effect.  We found out how to create a still life composition and created our own using objects to represent some of the subjects we study in school. After drawing our compositions, we used our new skills to produce quality finished pieces. 

We were delighted to meet Chris Mould, the illustrator of a new adaptation of 'The Iron Man' by Ted Hughes. We discovered lots of interesting facts about his work as both an author and illustrator. He demonstrated the techniques he uses to produce his amazing work and with his guidance, we produced our own illustrations. What a super opportunity to develop our drawing!

We really enjoyed our skipping workshop with our visitor from 'Skipping School'. This was a fantastic opportunity to learn a wide range of new skipping techniques. We will practise these in readiness for the 'Skipping Festival' in the Spring term. Well done Year 4!

We thoroughly enjoyed finding about about the life and legacy of Claudia Jones, 'Mother of the Notting Hill Carnival'. She was a remarkable journalist and campaigner who brought together a whole community. Every year, millions of people visit the Notting Hill Carnival and celebrate Caribbean culture. Inspired by this amazing yearly event, we made Caribbean festival headdresses. Thank you Claudia Jones!

As part of our History topic, we investigated the reasons why people decided to come to Britain on the Empire Windrush. We thought about what they would have been excited about together with what they might miss. We took on the role of a passenger on the Windrush and wrote a postcard to our relatives in Jamaica. In addition, we produced beautiful artwork inspired by the Empire Windrush.

Year 4, 5 and 6 enjoyed a visit from the UK Parliament Outreach Team. This lively, interactive assembly introduced the children to what UK Parliament is and how it works. More importantly, the children explored what it means for their lives as citizens. We learnt about the work and role of the House of Commons and the House of Lords; the difference between UK Parliament and Government; the work of MPs and members of the House of Lords; how laws are made and how they can get their voices heard. 

                                                                                             Welcome to Year 4  

I hope that you have had a super holiday and are excited about the wonderful year that we are going to share together. I am really looking forward to getting to know you all and helping you to shine brightly in all that you do. I have planned a wide range of creative, challenging and fun opportunities that will give you the chance to showcase your learning in a variety of ways. During our time in Year 4, we will enjoy the writing of C.S. Lewis, find out about life in Ancient Egypt and investigate volcanoes and earthquakes. Throughout the year, we will carry out a wide range of science investigations and make good use of our art and design skills. We will learn about the lives of many important people from the Bible together with preparing and sharing class collective acts of worship. We will enjoy developing our maths skills through problem solving and investigating and will understand how we can transfer these important skills into everyday life.

I know that you are all committed to working hard and will strive to do your best! I am looking forward to our time together and making it a year to remember!

Here are some things to help you:
*Reading every night and making sure an adult signs your planner.
*Working on your spellings and times tables every night.
(An adult doesn’t have to always test you)
*Producing high quality homework which is completed on time.

*Come into school everyday, excited and ready to learn!

Together

Everyone

Achieves

More

Best Wishes

Miss Peacey