Year 4 News 

Reading

In this fortnight, Year 4 students have been focused on unpacking fiction text features such as the characters, setting, problem and solution. In Week 5, students began looking at the main idea of a non fiction text. They learnt that the main idea of a text is what the text is mainly about. Year 4’s read and explored non fiction texts from our school library to find the main idea of the text, focusing on the sub headings, first paragraph and photographs. 

“It was fun drawing a table to represent the main idea. The face of the table is the main idea and the legs are the supporting details.” - Olivia and Syona 4A

“The main idea is what the text is mostly about.” - Avtaj 4C

Writing 

This fortnight in Writing, Year 4 students have been learning about Latin roots. They explored two Latin roots, /fin/finite/, which means ‘boundary’ or ‘limit’ and ‘/puls/pel/, which means ‘to drive or push’. Students built new words using prefixes and suffixes and demonstrated their understanding by putting their built words into sentences. They also practised their handwriting skills by revising where letters sit on dotted thirds and also attempted cursive joins. 

Additionally, Year 4 students have started to develop their Writer’s Notebooks. They have been designing their front covers and have created their first seed page on their favourite memory. 

“It was fun doing the Writer’s Notebook and showing our personalities.” - Taveesh 4A

“I liked sketching my ideas.” - Deepti 4C

“I like that a writer’s notebook is a place for me to write my ideas.” - Sia 4C

“We have been adding affixes to make morphemes into different words.” Hayley 4B

Maths

In Maths, Year 4 students have been exploring tenths and hundredths as part of their learning about decimals. They have practised writing decimals, connecting fractions to decimals and comparing numbers. A key focus has been representing tenths and hundredths on a number line, where students demonstrated their understanding of place value and the size of decimals.

“In Maths we have been learning about number lines. We were estimating where we put the number on the number line.” - Isabelle 4A

“I loved doing decimals because it was fun to see where the numbers were placed and how they change if it’s tenths or hundredths.” - Nabil 4A

“A tenth means one piece of something that is cut up into 10 equal pieces.” - Anshmeet 4C

Inquiry

In Inquiry, Year 4 students have continued learning about the history of Australia. They have learned about the significant events in Australia’s history and placed these on a timeline. They then learned about people of the First Fleet, why they came, how their experiences were shaped by the journey and what they found when they landed. The students read from diary entries and reports from the ships, and looked at illustrations to gather ideas for how the people on board may have felt, and used this information to plan a diary entry imagining they were on the First Fleet. 

“We’ve been creating a timeline of European arrival in Australia. I have found everything really interesting.” - Rohaan 4B

“We have learnt about how people travelled on the First Fleet to come to Australia” - Holly 4B

Social and Emotional Learning

In SEL, Year 4 students have been learning about what it means to feel stressed, what causes them to feel stressed, and how they manage stressful situations using calming and coping strategies. They identified how their body might react in a stressful situation and drew a body, labeling it with these ideas. They have also learnt about some additional calming strategies and chose a few of their favourites to write down and explain when they are used.

“When I feel stressed, I like to get comfy with my dogs.” - Samrath 4C

“When I feel stressed, I like to go on a break on my wobble stool.” - Georgeuo 4C

AUSLAN

In Auslan, Year 4 students reviewed the alphabet and common greetings, building confidence with finger spelling and introductions. In Week 5, students learned signs for a range of breakfast foods and practised sharing what they like to eat in the morning with their classmates.

“We learned about breakfast signs.” - Taylan 4A

“We learnt the signs for butter and egg.” - Manasseh 4C

Special Event 

Schools Clean Up Australia Day

Last Friday, it was the annual Schools Clean Up Australia Day. CPS students participated in a hands-on environmental action day to help clean up our school. Year 4 students spent time picking up litter around the school while learning about the impact of rubbish on our environment. They reflected on how every small action counts toward protecting our planet and keeping our community clean.  

“It was fun cleaning up the school.” - Gurnoor 4A

“It was fun when there was so much rubbish to pick up and we put it in the bin.” - Isaac 4A