We have had a brilliant start to Year 4! Our theme this term is All Aboard the Hogwarts Express. We began the year by receiving letters from Hogwarts, before being sorted into the four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. The children have been working hard to earn house points, and each week we announce the winning house after totalling the points across the year group.

Throughout the term, we have received letters from different teachers at Hogwarts, each setting us exciting new challenges! We are focussing on the book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and we have been reading and exploring extracts as part of our Whole Class Reading (WCR) lessons.

Here are some of the challenges we have been working on:

• Madam Pince, the librarian: Set us the task of designing and making light-up book covers for Hogwarts students, so they can read their books at night! We also designed electrical circuits and switches to make our book covers light up (Science and DT).
• Madam Hooch, the flying teacher: Asked us to investigate and research the Alps before creating an informative double-page spread to help her prepare for a trip with Hogwarts students (Geography).
• Newt Scamander, the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Challenged us to create non-chronological report-style posters presenting information about a Hippogriff, Niffler or Phoenix (English).
• Professor Snape, the Potions teacher: Challenged us to write a setting description of his Potions classroom, using imaginative vocabulary and exciting descriptive language to ensure we don't bore him!

We can't wait to see whether any more exciting letters arrive from Hogwarts, bringing us further challenges throughout the term!