We're the Grizzly Bears!

Welcome to our class

We’re proud and independent, sensitive and strong.

We work hard, try our best and have lots of fun!

“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Important information

• Children should come dressed in their PE kits on Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Spellings are set on a Monday and tested the following Monday.
• Homework is handed out every other Monday and due the following Friday.

It's Coming Home!

To celebrate the England Football Team reaching the finals of Euro 2020, we had an England theme sing, dance and a special England biscuit. Have a look at all of the great pictures below. Good luck to the team on Sunday!

Science - Electricity

In science we have been learning about electricity, how it is used and how to keep safe. Most recently, we have been looking at the components of circuits and building simple circuits using wire, batteries, cells and bulbs. Have a look at our simple circuits below!

Squash at HSFC

Over the past four weeks, Grizzly Bears have been to Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre to take part in squash sessions lead by experienced coaches. It has been an excellent experience playing in the squash courts, practising drills and using the equipment correctly. Thank you to the coaches, Nicky, Robbie, Barry and Sam who have taught us so much.

Egyptian Artefact Handling Workshop

On Wednesday 11th July, the Year 4 children had a special visitor who told us all about artefacts from Ancient Egyptian times. There were lots of interesting things to look at, handle and sketch. Noah was able to dress up as an Egyptian and Loui and Charlotte helped with the mummification process - which sounded very gruesome!

Squash Sessions

Thank you to Nicky and Sam who came into school to have our first of five squash sessions. Today we learnt all about the different equipment and the sought-after 'cabbage ball'. We had a go at using the squash racquet, learning how to have the correct grip and how to carefully balance the ball on top. We are so looking forward to our next four sessions at Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre on the squash courts. 

Sports Afternoon

On Thursday 24th of June, we had our Year 4 Sports Afternoon. The afternoon started with a warm-up lead by children in each class followed by some enthusiastic singing of our house team songs. We then moved onto our bases: endurance, throwing and jumping. The children did fantastically on these and it was so lovely to see them all supporting one another and cheering for everyone. Finally, the big races! Well done to everyone for taking part in a race. A great day enjoyed by all!

Enterprise Fundraiser

What fun we have had today! As part of our Enterprise Fundraiser, we took part in the Space Hopper Challenge and the OJS Danceathon. We all had a go bouncing round the running track on space hoppers, which was much harder than it looks. Well done to Blake who had the fastest lap with a time of 1:31 - super speedy! This afternoon we bust some moves in the Danceathon and some of us danced the ChaChaSlide for the very first time. Also a big thank you to the Y6 children for their 'Guess the weight' competition - we enjoyed seeing them come into our classroom every afternoon in their huge outfits. A day enjoyed by all!

French Week 2021

We have been celebrating French Week this year by learning about African Francophone countries - these are countries in Africa who have French as one of their main languages. We started the week by locating all of these countries on a map of the African continent before finding out their capital cities and their populations. Following on from this, we enjoyed some African drumming! We listened carefully to some music and thought about how it made us feel. Then we had a go at clapping and playing different rhythms and layering them on top of one another - this was tricky but it sounded brilliant! We have also spent time learning about French artist Paul Gauguin, who is best-known for his experimental style, especially using bright, primary colours in his work. We had a go at colouring in the style of Gauguin, have a look at our pictures below!

Enterprise Week 2021

What a busy week we have been having in Grizzly Bears! This year's Enterprise Week theme is 'Valuing ourselves and others' and we have a fundraising focus. We have thought about lots of different ideas and how we can raise lots of money for JustB, who are supporting our frontline workers. In English, we have been writing a persuasive adverts for our fundraisIng idea - the OJS DANCEATHON! Have a look at our persuasive radio adverts in the photographs below. In maths we have been learning all about money, the different coins we use, adding money mentally as well as using written methods and solving lots of problems. In other lessons we have been learning all about different types of jobs, how to keep our money safe, keeping healthy and looking after our on wellbeing. Our favourite part of the week has been the hula hooping workshops, where we learnt lots of circus tricks, had fun and stayed fit and healthy. We have loved learning all about Enterprise this week and can't wait for the fundraising event after half term.

Reading Champions!

Well done to our reading passport champions! Our favourite books so far are: 'Who Let the Gods Out', 'Operation Gadgetman' and 'Little Leaders'.

NSPCC Number Day

Year 4 have been learning all about the number 8,850 for NSPCC Number Day this year. After reading the book 'Everest' as part of our English and geography lessons, we chose the number as it is the height of the tallest mountain in the world! We started the day by learning about the NSPCC charity and all of the wonderful work they do. In maths, we learnt all about our number and thought about how many different ways we could represent it - have a look at our wonderful posters below. During our English lesson we wrote poems all about what it would be like to stand on the summit of Everest - at 8,850m. We thought really carefully about what we would be able to see, hear and feel if we were there. Have a look at some of our poems below. Thank you to all of the children who came dressed up and thank you for all of the donations for the NSPCC. 

Our New Class Book - Oliver and the Seawigs

Oliver grew up in a family of explorers - but his biggest adventure is about to begin! Along with his new friends, a grumpy old albatross, a short-sighted mermaid and a friendly island called Cliff, Oliver goes off in search of his missing parents. But before he can put his rescue plan into action there's the evil Stacey de Lacey and an army of greasy, green sea monkeys to contend with...

DT

In DT we have been building and testing structures. Our challenge was to build a structure that was at least 30cm tall our of the materials we were given (1 sheet of cardboard, newspaper and 1 roll of tape). Have a look at the pictures of us making and testing our structures - some of them held a lot of weight!

Marvellous Maths!

We have been working hard making posters all about the 4 operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Our posters show that we can use the written method for each of these and explain how we complete the calculations step-by-step. We took our posters home to show our adults all of our hard work (and to show them our new method of 'chunking' when dividing numbers. We hope you like them!

Eggsellent Eggs!

Well done to all of the children who decorated and egg for our in-school competition this week. We are so impressed by the creative designs and the effort that has gone into them all. A huge well done to our class winner - Rory! See if you can spot his Roman themed design in the pictures below.

Science - Sound

Today we have been learning about how sound is made and travels. We experimented with this by making and using string telephones. Here are some pictures of us!

Achievement Award - 19th March 

This week's Achievement Awards go to Loui and Megan. Both of these children have listened so carefully during class discussions and made some really brilliant contributions - especially while writing our holiday brochure all about Sicily. Well done!

Red Nose Day 2021

Thank you for all of the support towards Red Nose Day this year. We have been so excited opening our red noses and making habitats for them out of the boxes - we had snails, caterpillars, badgers, foxes, daisies, robins and ladybirds. But most sought-after of all was the Golden Tommy - we are still on the hunt for him! In school we celebrated the day by dressing up as superheroes or wearing something red. Have a look at our costumes below:

Achievement Award - 12th March 

Well done to our Achievement Award winners this week, William and Charlotte. Both of these children have had an excellent first week back in school and produced some brilliant, high-quality work. Well done!

Our New Class Book - The Queen's Nose!

Uncle Ginger leaves Harmony clues for a treasure hunt, but the prize is just an old fifty-pence piece. It looks like an ordinary coin - but is it? Sometimes magic can happen - you just have to believe in it.

A Taste of Italy!

As part of our English and history topics, we have been learning all about the Italian island of Sicily. We have learnt about the temperature, climate, sights and landscapes. But most excitingly of all the food! As a special treat this week, we has an Italian food taster session. For our starter we had fresh bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar - some of us were brave enough to try an olive, too! Our main course was a succulent mozzarella salad - delicious! Our favourite dish was our dessert - ice cream and amoretti biscuits. Here are some photos of us - I wonder if you can tell who doesn't like tomatoes?  

Welcome Back!

We are so happy to be back together again after our time learning from home! After 8 weeks apart we have come back together as the Grizzly Bears  - it is so lovely to see everyone again. Everyone had a huge smile on their face as they walked through the door and I don't think most of these smiles have worn off all week! Throughout the week we have been thinking about gratitude and what we are grateful for. We have put all of these into a gratitude jar - have a look at our jars.

Year 4 Achievement Award Winners!

Friday 5th February

This week's winners are: Betsy, Selena, Noah C, Rory and CC.

Selena 

Selena has worked really hard to try and complete her maths and English work each week at home to the very best standard she can. Her work on bar graphs, pictograms and line graphs over the last two weeks has been super confident and her mathematical explanations are becoming increasingly convincing too! Mr Hunter and I are extremely proud of your efforts Selena. Miss Barrett

Noah C

Noah has been a fantastic honorary Snow Leopard for the last few weeks. He has tried his best and shown great enthusiasm when approaching each and every piece of his learning.  He has made a fantastic start to his newspaper report on the eruption of Pompeii in 79AD and also done some lovely science work, surveying the school nature area, identifying the different living things and their micro-habitats. Well done Noah. Miss Barrett

CC

Another fabulous week working from home. I have been so impressed with every single piece of work you have submitted but I was particularly impressed with your newspaper report about Mount Vesuvius erupting in Pompeii! You included lots of the features we looked at in our lesson and used lots of exciting vocabulary. Your maths this week was also brilliant, and you produced a very well-presented line graph. Super work CC!  Mrs Post

Rory
You have been an absolute super star during the school closure and it has been a pleasure to have you in the Falcons bubble.  You have produced some wonderful work and should be so proud of all you have achieved. You are always keen to share your great ideas in our class discussions and demonstrate a brilliant working attitude. I have been particularly impressed with your newspaper report this week, where you used lots of key features to report the erupting of Mount Vesuvius. Super work Rory! Mrs Post

Betsy 

You have had such a brilliant first week here at OJS. I have been so impressed with every single piece of work you have submitted this week. Your newspaper report about Mount Vesuvius erupting in Pompeii was particularly impressive, you used lots of exciting vocabulary and included lots of the other features from our lesson. We can't wait to welcome you into our classroom next week. Well done, Betsy! Keep up your brilliant work. Miss Mansfield

TTRS winner - CHARLOTTE WILSON

Friday 26^th February

This week’s achievement award winners are: Seb J, Aleah, Penelope, Thomas and Lottie.

Seb J

You have worked so hard with all of your work this week, but the piece of work I have been most impressed with is your poetry performance. It is clear that you put a lot of effort into it, thought carefully about how you said the words and even added instruments and a costume - just brilliant. Keep up your fantastic work, Seb! We are so proud of you. Miss Mansfield

Aleah

You have continued to work hard throughout our school closure. All your work is beautifully presented and carefully thought through. You have asked questions and responded to feedback with great flexibility and positivity. This week, I was particularly impressed with your creation of a bar chart very clearly representing the data on children’s favourite games. Really well done. Miss Barrett

Penelope

Mr Hunter and I have thoroughly looked forward to marking each of your online assignments Penelope. You give each and every one of them your very best and have produced work of an exceptionally high quality. We particularly loved your science work this week, looking at animals that live in hot and cold habitats. Well done Penelope. Miss Barrett

Thomas

Another super week of work! I have been so impressed with your assignments over the past few weeks; you have put in so much effort into every piece of work you have submitted on Teams. This week, I was impressed with your carefully drawn bar chart for the data you collected on favourite chocolate bars. Your work on Escape from Pompeii has also been brilliant, you have thought carefully about each task set, resulting in some great sentences and a wonderfully performed poem.  Brilliant work, keep it up! - Mrs Post and Miss Greveson

Lottie

Lottie has had another wonderful week in school, contributing brilliantly to all lessons and continuing to put 110% into all her work. You showed great resilience and determination in performing your poem to the rest of the class in English and produced an incredibly neat and well-presented bar chart in this week's Statistics lesson. You are always kind and friendly, coming in everyday with a great big smile on your face - a little ray of sunshine in the Falcons bubble! Keep up the super work Lottie! - Mrs Post and Miss Greveson

TTRS winner – ISABELLA!

Art Award – Sophie B

This week’s art award in Year 4 goes to Sophie for her wow work project. Sophie transformed herself into the goddess, Flora. Sophie made many of the elements of her costume herself too. A very impressive project, Sophie! Well done. Mrs Alderson

Art Award - Evelyn M

Evelyn and her sister have both been given the art award this week for their dedication to this week's art challenge. You both fully committed to making different marks to everyday sounds and captured it all in a video. Excellent work ladies! Well done, Evelyn. Mrs Alderson

Our New Class Book - Operation Gadgetman!

Beans calls her dad 'Gadgetman' because of the weird and wonderful gadgets he comes up with - everything from exploding biscuits to Spy Kits. But when Gadgetman accidentally invents a device that could be used to steal millions of pounds, the wrong people find out and Gadgetman is kidnapped!

Friday 11th February

A huge well done to our Special Mentions Children for this half term. They are...

• Nemile A
• Sophie B
• Sanhita K
• Molly T
• Ben F
• Max M

Watch out for your certificates in the post!

Oatlands Points Winners...

• Nathaniel M
• Noah C
• Emma R
• Evelyn M
• Kate S
• Isabella M
• Archie H
• Seb R
• Selena J

Your prizes are waiting at the office for you to collect!

Other achievements this week...

TTRS winner - Sophie B

Art Award Winner - Chloe P

Friday 4th February

This week's achievement winners are: Connie, Kate, Isaac, Ruby and Georgia.

Connie

Connie has blown me away with her fabulous writing this week. You have thought really carefully about each of the plot points and the features we asked you include, making sure that your sentences are just right! You have also been working really hard on our new maths topic - time! Your art week has been superb too, I thoroughly enjoyed your Roman jewellery pieces. A fantastic week, Connie. Very well done. Miss Mansfield

Kate

Kate has been an absolute super star working at home this week. Not only does she join in with all our assemblies and story times but she has a go at all the tasks. I have been particularly impressed with your English work this week. I thoroughly enjoyed your comic strip of Miss Bigelow and you created a super bunch of sentences ready for your independent writing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Super work Kate, well done!

Isaac

Isaac has had a great start to the year. He has come back to school after Christmas with a fabulous work attitude and demonstrates wonderful learning behaviour. I have been particularly impressed with his English this week and how much thought and effort he has put into his sentences, even during the snow day! Not only does he try his best on all his tasks, but he has joined in with all class discussions, sharing his ideas with the rest of the bubble. Well done Isaac, keep up this wonderful work!

Ruby

Ruby shows great interest and enthusiasm in her school work and works extremely hard in class. Despite a snow day, she was organised enough to plan her writing at home and bring in her notes ready for school the next day. She has listened so carefully during our guided writing sessions and used lots of the different features of the Writing Rainbow with ease – including similes, onomatopoeia and speech. Well done Ruby! Miss Barrett and Mr Hunter

Georgia

Georgia has shown the same commitment to her work whilst at home as she always does in class. She reads and listens to all the instructions carefully and produces work of the highest quality. We have been impressed with her confident use of scientific vocabulary in her science assignments and this week, we have been blown away by her writing with her rewrite of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Well done Georgia. We are very proud of you.  Miss Barrett and Mr Hunter

TTRS Winner - OSCAR!

Art Award w.c 1st February

Caroline

Caroline has created a beautiful, vibrant Roman inspired outfit this week. She has thought about how to make her outfit unique through the shape and details of the dress. A great design, Caroline. Well done. Mrs Alderson

Friday 29th January

This week's achievement winners are: Isabella, Kemp, George and Sanhita.

Isabella

Another wonderful week of work from Isabella! You have produced some brilliant work this week, I particularly enjoy reading the exciting sentences you write for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You are listening to all the advice and videos, include lots of interesting words and keep the reader fully entertained. In addition to your fantastic writing, I have been impressed with your maths work and thoroughly enjoyed your 'dream house' design. It has been lovely to see you joining in with our story times and assemblies each time too. Mrs Post

George 

George has blown me away with his writing this week. He has listened carefully to the guided writing videos and tried to include the writing techniques demonstrated. He has thought so carefully about his vocabulary choices and added interesting and effective extra detail. His letter from Willy Wonka made the factory sound full of magic and wonder! Well done George. Miss Barrett

Sanhita

Sanhita has worked extremely hard yet again in school this week. She listens with great care and attention, asks thoughtful and helpful questions and has produced the most amazing writing this week. She is a whizz with the thesaurus and chooses her synonyms carefully so that they have the greatest effect. Thank you Sanhita – you should be very proud of what you have achieved. Miss Barrett

Kemp 

I have been so impressed with your creativity in your assignments over the past few weeks; every piece of work you have submitted on Teams has been fantastic. This week, I particularly liked the 'dream house' you created for our lessons on area and perimeter. Your writing on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been a pleasure to read, you have thought carefully about word choices and keeping your reader on their toes. Brilliant work, keep it up! Miss Mansfield

Art Award w.c 25th January

Seb L

Seb, your Roman jewellery designs are incredible! You have put so much thought and care into your work and have produced a wide range of pieces in your jewellery collection, made from gold and emeralds. Well done, Seb. Mrs Alderson

TTRS Winner - BEN F!

Friday 22nd January

This week's achievement awards go to Nathaniel, Freya, Emma W, Jacob and Archie.

Nathaniel

You have worked so hard this week and put 100% effort into each and every piece of your work on Teams. I have been really impressed with your writing on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You have thought very carefully about your vocabulary choices and how these fit into the sentences. The Polygon Party and the Top Trumps cards you have made for maths were just superb. Very well done, Nathaniel. Keep up your fantastic work. Miss Mansfield

Emma W
Another fabulous week! Despite being in school some days and at home others, you always manage to keep on top of all the work we are setting. You are an absolute super star in school and have produced some brilliant pieces of work. I have been particularly impressed with your writing in English this week but also your super symmetry work in maths. Not only are you producing some lovely work but your work attitude is fantastic, you are a wonderful role model and a little ray of sunshine every week. Mrs Post

Jacob

You have worked so hard at home every day and should be incredibly proud of all you have achieved. You have produced some absolutely wonderful work this week, ranging from your polygon work in maths to your Ramadan work in RE but I have been particularly impressed with your writing this week! Keep up the wonderful work Jacob! Mrs Post

Freya

Freya has worked so hard this week, showing fantastic enthusiasm particularly in our writing lessons. She has written three fantastic paragraphs and used the thesaurus thoughtfully to find the most effective pieces of vocabulary. Well done Freya. Miss Barrett

Archie

Archie has completed each and every piece of work set to the highest of standards. We are particularly impressed with his science and English work. He has designed his own experiment examining the melting point of chocolate and made sensible predictions using scientific reasoning. He has also written a fantastic first three paragraphs telling the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Well done Archie. Miss Barrett

Art Award w.c 18th January

Cleo

Cleo's Roman inspired meal looks like it is bursting with flavour. It looks like a banquet fit for an emperor complete with meats, potatoes, rice, breads, vegetables and fruits, what a feast! Excellent work Cleo, well done. Mrs Alderson

TTRS winner - DARCY!

Friday 15th January

This week's Achievement Awards go to Evie J, Yasmin, Seb L, Evelyn and Michael.

Yasmin

Every piece of work Yasmin has done has been beautifully presented and shown a clear understanding of the tasks set. This is Yasmin’s maths ‘Wanted Poster’ for the sneaky Patricia Parallelogram, where she has described Patricia’s mathematical properties extremely well so that anyone might identify her and report her to the police! Miss Barrett

Seb L

I am delighted to say that Seb has become an honorary Snow Leopard for the moment. He has joined a completely new class, under very new circumstances and continued to work his hardest. I particularly loved his design for Willy Wonka’s next invention – it’s a game of Russian roulette, choose your sweet carefully or you might end up the size of a mouse! Miss Barrett

Evie J

Evie has put her all to every task she has completed during remote learning this week. Each piece of work she submits is completed to the highest of standards. I loved all of you maths work this week, especially your wanted poster you described Roger Rhombus and Patricia Parallelogram so well - hopefully they get caught soon! Miss Mansfield 

Evelyn and Michael

I am so very impressed and incredibly proud of you both. Joining a new school can be a little scary and nerve-wracking at times, especially when you haven't been able to come in and meet your new classmates! I have been absolutely blown away by how well you have both jumped into our online learning so smoothly. You have joined in with all our story times and assemblies, given the tasks a go and tackled all the different challenges Teams brings. You should both be incredibly proud of what you have achieved already, and we are all so excited to have you join us in Falcons! Well done both of you! Mrs Post

Art Award w.c 11th January

Noah O'C-M

The mosaic you have created of a blue bird is incredible. It is clear that you spent a lot of time creating your artwork; including a patterned boarder. What a great job Noah! Mrs Alderson. 

TTRS Winner - NEMILE!

Our Class Novel

This half term we are reading 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl. Find out more about our class novel by reading the prologue...

WILLY WONKA is the most extraordinary chocolate maker in the world and he's given FIVE children Golden Tickets to visit his famous CHOCOLATE FACTORY. But what mysterious SECRETS will they discover inside?

Special Mentions Autumn 2

Well done to our two Special Mentions children this half-term.

Year 4 Reading Passport

Earlier this week, the children opened gifts left under our class Christmas tree. Everyone opened their presents to find....A NEW BOOK! All of the children have been set the challenge of reading their first Reading Passport book by the time we return to school in January. Please make sure you fill in your Reading Passports and have them signed by an adult at home. You will then be able to choose your next book. Will you be able to read them all before the end of Year 4?

DT Project 2020

We have been working extremely hard over the past two weeks, designing and creating our own baubles using felt and thread. There have been some fantastic ideas from ninja sprouts and gingerbread men to Christmas stockings and presents. Although it got tricky at times, we persevered (we are now expert needle-threaders!). Have a look at our baubles here, we hope you enjoy them on trees for years to come!

Christmas Craft 2020

The Grizzly Bears have certainly been busy over the past two weeks. We have painted, glued and glittered while making our Christmas pudding tea light holders, sequin Christmas tree baubles, Christmas cards and calendars for the New Year. Take a look at the pictures below to see us crafting.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

We have started our festivities in the Grizzly Bears classroom this week. We have decorated the room with lots of tinsel and sparkle, two trees and an advent calendar. On Wednesday 2nd we enjoyed a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings followed by ice cream and jelly - yummy!

Our Local Area

As part of our geography topic 'Our Local Area', we have been learning to read maps, use compasses and find our way. Have a look at some pictures below of use using atlases in the classroom and compasses on the playground.

Children in Need 2020

A big thank you for all your donations for Children In Need. The children exercised with Joe Wicks, took part in some of the ‘Five To Thrive’ activities throughout the week and all looked great in their pyjamas, slippers and Pudsey-themed clothes today.  We will let you know how much we have raised once it has all been counted.

Remembrance Day 2020

For Remembrance Day this year, the children in Year 4 spent time learning about and remembering those people who died in World War 1 and World War 2. We found out where they lived and put poppies on a map of Harrogate to remember them. We recognised lots of streets we live on and some soldiers even lived in our houses!

Special Mentions Autumn 1

Well done to our two special mentions children for this half term!

Top Oatlands Points Earners

Well done to our top 3 Oatlands Points earners. They enjoyed a special Halloween craft treat this week.

World Mental Health Day 2020

To celebrate World Mental Health Day 2020, Year 4 have been recognising and discussing how AMAZING we all are. Have a look at our pictures below to find out some interesting facts, some wonderful talents and some fantastic achievements. Well done, Grizzly Bears!

National Poetry Day 2020

To celebrate National Poetry Day, Year 4 began the day by sharing our favourite poems, we listened to them and we read them but most of all we enjoyed them! We then went on to write our very own poems consisting of only five lines. Although our poems follow similar patterns, they are all very different! Have a look at some of our poems below to learn a little more about the Grizzly Bears class!

Harvest Festival

Year 4 have been celebrating Harvest Festival by finding out where our food comes from. We started by learning about the origins of the Harvest Festival and learnt that during this time Christians may collect food, flowers and toiletries and give them to those in need. This is a way of saying thank you to God for all of the food we have. We continued our lesson by learning about where our food might come from, these include: Canada, Greenland, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Italy, Russia, Uganda, Australia and India. Here are our labelled maps, our food comes from lots of places around the world!

Our Class Novel

This half term we are reading 'Demon Dentist' by David Walliams. Find out more about our class novel by reading the prologue...

'Darkness had come to the town. Strange things were happening in the dead of night.

Children would put a tooth under their pillow for the tooth fairy, but in the morning they would wake up to find… a dead slug; a live spider; hundreds of earwigs creeping and crawling beneath their pillow.

Evil was at work. But who or what was behind it…?'