To view the New Year 4 Curriculum, which will come into effect from September 2023, please take a look at our Curriculum Information page which can be found under Information from the Home Page.

Seahorse Class: September 2023 - July 2024

This week's Spectacular Seahorse achievements

Mental Health Week

This week, the Seahorses have taking part in Mental Health Week. Launched in 2015, Children’s Mental Health week seeks to empower, equip and give a voice to every child. This year’s theme is ‘My Voice Matters’.

One of the things we found out was that 1 in 6 children have a diagnosable mental health condition- that might mean 5 or more children in Seahorse class.

Building on the learning we did about how our brains work in Science Week, we have used this week to look at some of the mental health conditions that might exist in class. We watched these videos and held class Circle Times to help us recognise and understand the challenges some children face, but also to celebrate how unique and amazing our differences are.  

Miro & Matisse
This week, the Seahorses have worked on two pieces of art. The first, ‘painting’ with tissue paper inspired by the work of Miro. The children drew a Miro- inspired creature and painted on tissue paper, soaking the colours onto their designs. The second piece was inspired by the French artiste Matisse. After 1948, Matisse was prevented from painting by ill health but, although confined to bed, he produced a number of works known as gouaches découpées. These were made by cutting or tearing shapes from paper. His most famous piece from that time is called ‘The Snail, so in class the children created their own versions.

Art: Joan Miró

In Seahorses, we have been thinking about what inspires an artist. Joan Miró was a Spanish artist famous for combining abstract art with surrealism. He worked in a variety of media. Not only did he produce paintings and drawings, his body of work includes collages, murals, tapestries, and sculptures. In Art this term, we are creating our own pieces of art inspired by famous artists. This week work focused on creating magical, mystical creatures inspired by Miro.

Maya Architecture & Maya Weaving

As part of our History topic- the Maya- we have been learning about Mayan architecture and how temples and pyramids were important buildings. And about Mayan clothing, in particular how they made their own fabric. So, we decided to create our own Mayan pyramids and learn how to weave to create cloth.

Maya Masks

Maya, this afternoon we created masks. Masks played a central role in Maya culture. They were made for a variety of occasions and purposes. Masks were often inspired by animals and they were vibrant and colourful. The Mayas believed that animals represented the spirits. For example, many Maya associated strong kings with jaguars. Sometimes, Mayans were buried with a death mask, which was intended to protect the wearer on their journey to the afterlife.

Drama: Role Play

Today, our lesson was drama- role play, based on an extract from The Egyptian Cinderella. We l split into 7 groups of 4:

1 person was Rhodopis, 1 person – Kipa the lead servant and 2 people - the other servants.

Our task was to create a mini- play of this scene including dialogue. We could be as creative and imaginative as we liked adding our slant to the scene. Went spent some preparing & then performed our play to the rest of the class, who acted as critical friends evaluating each group’s performance.

Remembrance Day 2023

Remembrance Day 2023 took place on Saturday. Remembrance Day is celebrated every year on the 11th of November. This is because during WW1, the conflict ended “at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”.

In school we spent Thursday on remembrance, with various activities happening in classes from History, English, Maths to Art and DT.

Each class dedicated the day to one Whitstable serviceman, who died in the First World War and may have had some family connection to our school. In Seahorse Class that was Herbert Rigden of 86 Island Wall, who was in the Royal Navy sadly dying in 1918.  Finally, we all created poppies to decorate a Soldier Template, dedicated to all servicemen and women and to all the animals who served our country with such pride and bravery.

Black History Month

This week in Seahorse Class we have been learning through activities linked to Black History Month.

Black History Month is celebrated in the UK during the month of October every year. It is an opportunity for everyone to learn about significant Black and Mixed Heritage people and their contributions to Britain and worldwide. The theme of this year’s UK Black History month is ‘Celebrating Our Sisters’.  The aim of this theme is to learn about Black and Mixed Heritage British women who have shaped history. Here are a few examples of some of our learning.

Research: influential Black British women

The aim of this year’s BHM is to learn about black and mixed heritage British women who have shaped history. Today, we learnt about some of their achievements and accomplishments.

We researched some influential black British women from different industries including sports, politics, music, science and medicine, broadcasting and entertainment, literature and arts. We also looked at some international influential black women.

Art: Shading and Tints

Beach School!

Seahorse Class enjoyed their Forest School at the Beach session this Monday! The children loved finding different creatures and identifying them. We also tried making sandcastles in the different areas and of course the children used their imagination and started their own shop!