Year 4 News 

Reading

Over the past fortnight, our Year 4 cohort has been deeply engaged in reading The Boy at the Back of the Class. Together, we celebrated the moment of finishing this powerful story and have since been working on thoughtful book reviews. Students explored how the characters grow and change throughout the narrative, considering the choices they make and the challenges they face.

In our discussions, the children also reflected on how the book frames important ideas about human rights, empathy, and belonging. It has been inspiring to see students connect the characters’ experiences to real-world issues and express their thoughts with increasing confidence and understanding. We are incredibly proud of the insight and maturity they have shown during this learning journey.

“I like this book because the narrator is a good friend to Ahmet.” - Natalia 4A

“The narrator in the story has finally got the letter to the Queen and now will help Ahmet.”

“I like reading our class novel and annotating it” - Eliana 4C

Writing 

This fortnight in Writing, Year 4 students have been drafting their own fractured fairytales. They began by writing their introductions, events,the main problem, and solution, and then revised their drafts by improving adjectives, noun phrases, adverbs, and fronted adverbials.

Students also took part in peer-editing, giving and receiving feedback before rewriting their drafts.

We have now started the publishing stage, where students are creating their own illustrated storybooks. We are proud of their creativity and effort throughout the unit!

“In the blink of an eye, Bunny was gone.” - Ben 4A

“My story is about the three little pigs. I changed the ending in my story.” - Heidi 4B

“My favourite part was making our narrative into a book” - Lal 4C

Maths

Over the past fortnight, our Year 4 students have been extending their knowledge of decimals through money. They learnt how to correctly write amounts using the dollar sign, decimal point, and cents, and practised making the same amount of money using different combinations of coins and notes. Students also worked with simple budgets, using rounding and estimation to check whether they had enough money and to make sensible financial decisions.

We then moved on to exploring powers of 10. Students enjoyed multiplying and dividing numbers by 10, 100 and 1000, and were able to clearly explain what happens on the place value chart when a number is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. They showed great confidence shifting digits to the left or right and using their place value knowledge. 

We have ve ended our year with learning about composite shapes. The students were focussed on drawing objects with smaller shapes in order to make a bigger shape. 

“When you multiply by 10, you move the number to the left.” - Hassen 4A

“When you divided by 10s, you move the digit to the left and the place value changes.” - Marina 4B

“I liked how it was simple to learn about power to 10” - Ela 4C

“I enjoyed learning about power to 10” - Xavier 4C

Inquiry

In Inquiry this fortnight, our Year 4 cohort has stepped into the role of young nation-builders! After exploring how laws work in Australia—and discovering some wonderfully wacky laws from around the world—students created their very own utopias, complete with unique governments and a set of ten laws to guide their new societies.

This hands-on experience helped students distinguish between laws and rules, prompting thoughtful discussions about fairness, safety, responsibility, and what truly matters in a well-functioning community. Their creativity and critical thinking shone as they debated ideas, made decisions collaboratively, and shaped a vision for a place where everyone can thrive.

“There are so many crazy laws!” Natalia 4A

“In our country, there are different towns like duck town. You must have a duck when you are driving.” - Jobe 4B

“I enjoyed learning about rules and responsibility” - Jahnavi 4C

Social and Emotional Learning

This fortnight in SEL, Year 4 students have been learning how to ‘Be Responsible’, including playing in the correct play spaces and showing respectful behaviour during assemblies. We also practised evaluating problem-solving strategies to help students make safe and positive choices in the yard.

Our resilience focus continued with exploring growth mindsets, reminding students to keep trying, learn from mistakes, and use positive self-talk. Students have also been working on their letters to their 2026 teacher, using these sessions to reflect on their strengths, goals, and what helps them learn best. Students have been eager to tell their new teachers all about themselves in their letters and what they are excited for next year!

“I liked writing a letter to my future teacher” - Aubree 4C

Special Event

This fortnight, our Year 4 cohort enjoyed an exciting excursion to the Sunshine Roller Skating Centre in Melbourne! For many students, rollerblading was a brand-new challenge, and it was wonderful to see them approach it with enthusiasm, courage, and plenty of laughter.

Throughout the session, students demonstrated incredible resilience—from finding their balance to getting back up after a fall, encouraging one another, and celebrating every small success. The day was not only full of fun and movement but also a fantastic reminder that trying something new can help us grow in confidence and perseverance.

“I fell a bunch of times but I had fun!” - Pedro 4A

“It was hard to skate but it was very fun” - Aysha 4C