Colours, colours everywhere

Our art unit this half term has been focused on colour!  We have looked at Emilio Villalba's work and learned about his use of primary and secondary colours and also how he cleverly uses tint, tone and shade to create texture in his artwork.

We've learned about the colour wheel, and also experimented using different paints and materials.  We were also learning how to use different brush strokes to create different effects.

To finish off our project we created an artwork of a panda on a canvas.  We really enjoyed using different types of brushes and mixing all of the different colours just using the primary colours, black and white.  We loved our finished artwork!!

Super scientists

This week we have been delving into the different properties of materials.  On Monday we investigated the solubility of different materials.  Using warm water as our solvent - we conducted a fair test to see which solutes would dissolve.  As you can see we had a lot of fun carrying out our investigation and we were surprised that cocoa powder didn't completely dissolve.

We then progressed our learning onto using what we knew about the properties of materials to be able to separate a mixture.  We learned about the processes of filtering, sieving, magnetic attraction and evaporation as methods to separate mixtures.  Again we had a lot of fun trying out the different methods  - and we were able to successfully separate all of the mixtures, even the saltwater!  It did get messy!!

Chinese Panda Canvases

This term our Learning Adventure has been about China and our art about colour. To link these two topics, we decided to make colourful Chinese pandas on canvases. We had several sessions about mixing colours in order to capture the perfect way to make specific shades of  colours, such as: Mars Black, Titanium White and Green Gold. We experimented with different brushes, both round and flat, to find out which brushes should be used in specific ways for the different parts of our artworks. We then used our knowledge of mixing these colours and using varying brushstrokes to finally create our canvases of cute pandas. 
By Tom

Math
Year 4 have been looking at efficient methods of multiplication and applying their knowledge of partitioning and Place Value to support calculations. Using counters to manipulate multiplication allowed us to see how we exchange in a visual way.


English
We have been busy writing our non-chronological reports on 'Day of the Dead' applying the key features of report writing such as: 3rd person, present tense and technical vocabulary. We enjoyed completing the research and sharing 'Did you know facts' with the rest of the class. Thank you to Eliza who decided to wear her decorative mask during one session.


Sprouting Seeds
This week, we concluded our science experiment by writing up our findings. By gathering our observational notes and comparing our seedling samples, Year 3/4A could clearly see which factors affected plant growth.
To consolidate and apply our knowledge further, we've taken home sunflower seeds to grow.


'Day of the Dead' DT
We have investigated solutions in DT this week to see which one made fabric the most rigid by applying them to sample material and creating fabric paper.
We concluded that PVA glue was the strongest solution and used this to create fabric boxes using a fabric design linked to our Learning Adventure of Mexico.


NSPCC 
This week we took part in the NSPCC's 'Speak out' assembly, discussing the ways in which we can be hurt by others, why having trusted adults to talk to in school at home helps keep us safe and 'Bullying', linking it to the importance of demonstrating our Values of 'Friendship' and 'Kindness'.

Well done Year 3/4A! A fantastic and hard-working Half Term. 
I've attached the KIRFS for Spring Term 2 so please practise as often as you can. Homework will be set on ATOM and can I ask you to read as often as possible, taking part in the 'Reading Challenge' in order to add to our display in class after the break. I would love to see any amazing pancake combinations on Shrove Tuesday (13.2.24) so please take pictures and send them to me on the class Dojo.

Have a restful and hopefully sunny Half Term.
Miss A x

As a school we work with your children to support their understanding of using the internet and devices (including phones) so they know how to stay safe and know how to support their well being. This week Year 6 have a series of mini-police sessions including peer pressure and online safety which is another opportunity to support their self awareness and knowledge. We understand that many of you make or have made the decision to allow your child a phone/access to group chats/social media. It is important to remember that up until your child is 18 years old you are responsible for managing a contracted device and how it is used so regular checks and conversations at home will really support here. Here a poster from National Online Safety to support these discussions. A reminder that WhatsApp age rating is 16+

Well done to our Year 5 and 6 pupils who represented St Cleer at a Football Festival run by A-Level OCR sports studies students there. The children enjoyed the facilities as well as the chance to compete against other schools including Pensilva and Dobwalls.
Well done to all involved.

'Fluent in Five'-
Year 3/4A have been enjoying their 'Fluent In Five' reading sessions; developing their reading fluency and comprehension skills.

Science:
Our science investigation is well under way with weekly observations of our pea shoots.
We were pleasantly surprised to see several sprouting in the drawer (light removed as a factor). We'll be drawing our conclusions next week, comparing our observations and findings with each other.

Maths:
We've been 'Busy Bees' over the last fortnight, dividing 2/3-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers with and without remainders. The use of base 10 has supported us with our understanding or equal groups and exchanging.

With the end of Spring Term 1 in sight, Excellent Eagle work has been added thick and fast with all pupils producing work to be really proud of! 
Well done Year 3/4A!

Fractions aren't frightening!

When we started out maths unit on fractions three weeks ago - lots of us said we were scared for fractions and found them really confusing!  BUT - HOW FAR WE HAVE COME SINCE THEN!  Now we are coming towards the end of our time focusing on fractions - and we are SO much more confident.  Our progress has been amazing, and today we played a game where we were adding mixed numbers.

To be able to do this we needed to demonstrate understanding of wholes and parts, recognise mixed numbers and improper fractions (and convert between them).  Use the rule of equivalence to convert fractions, and also use our times-tables facts to calculate a common denominator!  To do all of this - carefully and in the right order are amazing maths skills which we have mastered.

Fractions aren't frightening but I'm not sure we think they are fun yet either!!

Incredible Insulators

Our science this half-term has focussed on the properties of materials.  Having examined the conductivity and magnetism of different materials, this week we focussed on thermal insulators.

We conducted an investigation into which materials would make the best thermal insulators.  Our challenge was to investigate which materials would keep the water warmest for longest.  We learned about heat exchange and then carried out our experiment.

We used different materials to insulate a paper cup (but left one cup completely uncovered as a control cup).  We measured the temperature of the water at 5 minute intervals to see which materials were keeping the water the warmest.  As well as learning a lot about properties of materials and fair tests - we also had a lot of fun!

What a wonderful way to spend a day's learning - making food with local, fresh produce and then eating it with your friends in the sunshine with your friends! Well done to the EYFS and Year 1 team for bringing the learning to life in such a fun and memorable way!

Well done to all of our cross country runners who took part in the third event this year at Cohetele. Comradery, determination and enthusiasm saw them through! Thank you so much to Mrs birch for recording the results and cheering them on from the side lines!

What a great day we had making pizza’s at Pizza Express. To support our DT work on food and our recounts/sequencing in English we got the coach to Plymouth for a fun day of cooking. After we made our pizza’s, we walked up onto Plymouth Hoe for a pizza picnic and parachute games in the sunshine. Have a look at some of our pictures: