It has been a wonderful half term, well done Year2 for all your hard work.

Year 4 have hit the ground running since coming back after Christmas, and they should all be very proud of the effort they have put into their learning.

In Maths we have been continuing to deepen our understanding of multiplication and their Times Tables. These are critically important for a lot of future Maths work, and we are encouraging the class to practice their Times Tables as much as possible. In Writing and Reading we have been delving into Myths, and in particular Viking Myths. The Vikings are coming up in our next History unit, so this was a handy introduction. We have read about the great Geatish hero, Beowulf, and his battle with the evil monster, Grendel. And we have read Arthur and the Golden Rope, which we then rewrote in our own words. Reading is probably one of the most important parts of learning we can do, and we would encourage children to read as much as they can, and across as wide a variety of genres as they can. Even 10 minutes a day can have a huge impact!

 In Science we have been looking at the work of Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish scientist who modernised and created the current way we classify living things on the planet (and he loved rocks!). We have learned why we are called Homo sapiens, and created our own branching diagrams to classify invertebrates. We have also been looking into what it means to be a Sikh in the UK today in RE. This is our only chance in Monksmoor to look at this important religion, and to get a feel about what makes it special for its believers.

Across the rest of the curriculum, it has been jam-packed. In Geography we have looked at extreme weather examples in the UK, using the Tempest database (Tempest - Extreme weather in the UK), and we have been surprised at what extremes of weather have occurred in the UK. In Computing we have been programming, and in particular writing algorithms that have allowed us to create repeating patterns using Turtle (Turtle Academy) and in Art we have been looking at tints and highlights.

It has been a really enjoyable introduction this term for me. I want to thanks Mrs Hynes for all the hard work she did with Year 4, and I want to thank all the pupils and staff for helping me settle into the school, and their patience as they learn all about me!

We have continued to work hard in Dragonflies Class. In Reading, we have continued making great progress with our Reading Plus programme. We have had the opportunity to use this programme as Monksmoor is part of the EEF's trial, which is assessing the effectiveness of the system. As part of the study, a researcher from Manchester University visited us to observe how it is used and to gather feedback from staff and pupils. She was extremely complimentary about our class's manners and how well they articulated both the benefits and areas for improvement. It is always a pleasure when teaching other subjects to hear, “Oh, I read about this on Reading Plus!” Encouraging a love of reading, in all formats and across different platforms, is a vital part of primary education. So far, we feel this programme has had a significant impact on our class's reading habits.

Our vehicle text for writing has been the graphic novel version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The children used this as a stimulus, along with an example text, to write their own suspense-filled, cliff-hanger event within a detective story. By using powerful verbs and show, not tell sentences, they created an atmosphere of tension that was truly felt when they read their stories aloud. They were incredibly enthusiastic about sharing their writing with the class. We are now moving on to writing a formal report and have been examining the features of formality within their writing.

In PE, we have continued to benefit from our weekly sessions with the Saints, focusing on the values needed for effective teamwork and considering how these skills transfer to other areas of the curriculum. In our other PE lessons, we have been working on rolls, asymmetric and symmetric balances, shapes, and different ways of travelling—all while cooperating with partners.

In IT, we have introduced basic databases and how to search for information using specific questions. One of the databases focused on the passengers of the Titanic, which sparked great curiosity among the children, leading us to explore what happened in more detail. The children were able to select appropriate data effectively, developing their skills in retrieving and interpreting information.

It was great to see the children squeezing out moss and hay, trying to collect drips of dew from trees and using pieces of bark as a scoop in the puddle. The group who had an icy morning were probably the luckiest!

Once the water was collected the groups set about making a filter to 'clean it'. They layered cotton wool, crushed charcoal, sand and grit to pass the dirty water through. Although the water was then slightly clearer, we discussed how it still contained unseen germs and it would only be safe to drink when boiled for a long amount of time. The children made the link with people around the world who only had access to unclean water and the implications of this.