Curriculum News
English
Year 3
This term, Year 3 students will explore Charlotte’s Web through a visual medium and The One and Only Ivan through print, deepening their comprehension by examining key characters, themes, and significant plot events. Inspired by Charlotte’s Web, students will plan, draft, edit, and publish their own narratives with engaging characters, descriptive settings, and a clear orientation, complication, and resolution. Additionally, using The One and Only Ivan, they will study persuasive writing by exploring diverse viewpoints and crafting persuasive letters, learning how to express opinions backed by evidence and influence their audience using compelling language. Throughout the term, students will also continue to enhance their oral reading fluency, expression, and overall comprehension skills across a variety of text types.
Year 4
In Term 4 Literacy, students will engage in a rich and integrated study of reading and writing, with our reading focus centred around the captivating class novel, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. Through the novel, students will develop their ability to identify main ideas and use these to create concise and accurate summaries. They will also strengthen their grammar skills by identifying independent and dependent clauses and using conjunctions and connectives to construct effective compound and complex sentences.
Students will expand their spelling and vocabulary knowledge by exploring new prefixes and suffixes, as well as learning the rules for correctly adding them to base words. Writing will focus on both persuasive and narrative texts, with the Seven Steps to Writing Success providing a framework for developing engaging ideas, effective structure and purposeful writing. Students will explore a range of writing techniques and have opportunities to plan, draft, revise and refine their work as they develop greater confidence and independence as writers.
Mathematics
Year 3
In Term 4, Year 3 students will continue to build their mathematical understanding through engaging, hands-on learning experiences. Students will explore data and investigations, interpreting pictographs and column graphs whilst developing their understanding of location, mapping by using directions, grids and different perspectives.
They will investigate probability, describing events as certain, possible, unlikely or impossible. In Multiplication and Division, students will work with two-digit numbers and make connections between these operations using concrete materials and place-value representations. Students will also develop their understanding of mass and capacity, moving from informal to formal units of measurement practising accurate measuring and recording. Throughout the term, students will apply their skills to a range of problem-solving and real-world contexts.
Year 4
In Term 4 Mathematics, students will cover six key topics: Decimals, Data Investigations, 3D Objects, Probability, Multiplication and Division, and Mass and Capacity. Throughout the term, students will progress from basic decimal notation and partitioning to real-world financial and measurement applications. They will pose questions and collect data to create pictographs and column graphs using spreadsheet software, and explore 3D objects like tetrahedrons and dodecahedrons by drawing and building models. Additionally, students will analyze dependent and independent chance events, refine their multiplication strategies and written division algorithms. They will learn to measure, order, and compare mass and capacity using formal metric units.
Humanities
Unit: The Birth of Democracy
During the beginning of Term 4 the students will participate in an interactive Civics and Citizenship unit exploring how communities are governed and why democratic systems exist today. The unit kicks off with an immersive classroom roleplay where students experience life under an "Absolute Monarch," navigating arbitrary rules to gain firsthand insight into how power is held by a single ruler and why citizens throughout history fought for a voice in decision-making. As the sequence progresses, students will compare various forms of government, explore how societal choices are made, and discover how democratic processes shape our everyday lives. Ultimately, this thought-provoking unit encourages critical thinking, lively classroom discussion, and a deeper appreciation for fairness, leadership, and active community participation.
Science
Unit: Solids, Rocks, Minerals and Fossils
Towards the second part of term students will explore key Earth and space science concepts through hands-on experiences! The unit begins with an investigation into rocks and minerals, where students discover how to classify natural materials based on their physical properties like color, texture, and hardness. They connect these properties to real-world applications, learning how natural Earth resources are used in everyday life. Next, students explore soil composition, investigating how rock materials break down and mix with organic matter to form different soil types. They also examine soil permeability, evaluating how water drains through soil and what makes a healthy ground for plant growth and land stability. Finally, students step into the role of paleontologists to explore ancient Earth. They learn how extinct species and past environments are preserved, discover how fossils form over time, and apply the principles of rock layers to understand relative geological age and environmental changes over millions of years.
Religion
Topic: God Religion & Life
This term our focus will be on ‘God, Religion and Life’. As part of this unit and in preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the students will identify and discuss the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation, nationally, communally and personally. The four elements of Reconciliation will be explored and students will reflect on choices in light of the Catholic understanding of right relationships. Through discussions and reflection the students will interpret the Christian understanding of God's loving forgiveness through scripture stories. They will explore the message of forgiveness and respectful relationships in light of our Catholic Church and its teachings.
We will finish the term by celebrating the season of Advent and our Christmas traditions.
In Week 2, the Year 3 students will celebrate a Special Blessing and Sacrament of the Reconciliation.
Wellbeing
TOPIC : Positive Coping
In our Term Four Wellbeing program, students will explore the topic of Positive Coping. They will investigate how emotional responses vary in intensity and identify practical, productive coping strategies to manage their feelings across different situations. Through guided practice, they will also learn self-calming techniques and understand the importance and value of making a meaningful apology.