Year Level & Specialist Curriculum

Foundation: 

Year One: 

Year Two:

Year Three: 

Year Four:

Year Five: 

Year Six:

Term 3 2024 Specialist Curriculum Overviews

Our Specialist programs will cover the following during Term Three:

Physical Education  

“Things won’t always go perfect. It’s all about how you adapt from those things and learn from mistakes” - Michael Phelps

The Olympics are upon us and we will acknowledge this in some way in our classes this term. This is a great time to watch some inspiring athletes, watch the dedication and passion these athletes have had in the past four years play out on their ultimate stage.

Prep:  In prep we will continue to discuss the changes our bodies make when we are doing physical activity.  We will be doing lots of rotations “PMP” (Perceptual Motor Program) style that work on our fitness, balance, hand-eye coordination and locomotor skills assisting us to refine our fundamentals. We will conclude our term with a unit of gymnastics.  The skills in this unit (balance, flexibility, strength and body management) will transfer to help students become more successful in any sport that they would like to pursue as well as personal hobbies or other interests later in life.

Year  1 and 2: To begin this term we will get into some games that will get us into the Olympic spirit. We will then start our first unit, gymnastics. The skills in this unit (balance, flexibility, strength and body management) will transfer to help students become more successful in any sport that they would like to pursue as well as personal hobbies or other interests later in life.  We will conclude with our second unit - fitness and particularly focusing on aerobics and cardio drumming.  These disciplines provide an outlet for self expression, reduce stress and negative emotions, great cardiovascular exercise and promotes great rhythm and timing.  Students will be able to demonstrate their abilities to follow instruction and set routines. 

Year  3: This term the focus will be on target games. which players send an object toward a target while avoiding any obstacles. By playing these games, participants will learn the key skills and strategies for games such as Golf, Boccia and Bowling.  We will particularly focus on Bowling and Golf this term. We will round out our term with some cardio drumming and some athletics, in preparation for the Twilight Sports in Term 4.

Year  4: This term the focus will be on game creation - inspired by the Olympic Games.  We will conclude the term with a fitness unit focusing on fitness drumming.  This activity is a great way to provide an outlet for self expression, reduce stress and negative emotions, great cardiovascular exercise and promotes great rhythm and timing.  Students will be able to start by following routines and conclude by producing their own in groups. During these units we will also discuss the importance of health and how the media can influence our choices. 

Year 5 and 6: This term our focus will be on a variety of sports and specialised movement skills to further develop and heighten the importance of being fit and healthy and enjoying different types of movement. We will begin the term with some mini olympic games to get us in the Olympic spirit - both able bodies and paralympic focused.  It is incredibly important for the students to understand and appreciate the ways in which all athletes move and challenges that they may face.  They will conclude the term with a unit in boxing fitness and some cricket to prepare those students keen to participate in our cricket day in term 4. 

Visual Arts

Throughout Visual Arts this term, the students will be preparing a variety of pieces for our upcoming Art Show! We have our Artist in Residence visiting, Holly.  She is a contemporary Aboriginal artist. Holly will be working with all students and staff to create our newest whole school art piece. 

Year Prep - 

The students will be experimenting with different materials including pastels, water colour and acrylic paints to create a variety of different art pieces, 2D and 3D. 

Year 1 - 

The students will be exploring the different elements of art including line, shape and colour. Through this, they will create and explore different styles artists use including Aborignal Artists and Picasso. 

Year 2 -  

The students will be creating a variety of artwork using different techniques and materials including paint, pastels, photography and nature. They will then select their favourite pieces to dislay at our whole school Art Show.  

Auslan

“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.”   - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Throughout Auslan this term, students will continue to expand their signed vocabulary and explore Kerrie Taylor’s children’s literature. Students will access simulated and live material, share in peer interactions and increase their receptive skills with a variety of visual activities. 

Preps will deepen their concept of the Deaf community and the use of Auslan. They will consolidate their Semester 1 vocabulary, particularly about ‘self’, colours and fingerspelling. Preps will also explore new signed vocabulary areas including numbers and family, using guided group activities and signed games.

Year 1 - 2 will maintain their Semester 1 vocabulary, particularly in the areas of family and food. This term they will expand their vocabulary to include feelings and explore the bi-lingual text ‘My Emotions’. They will participate in shared signing experiences and simple language games to demonstrate their receptive and productive skills in Auslan. 

Years 3 – 6 will primarily focus their vocabulary expansion on the areas of emotions and experiences. Students will demonstrate their signing and receptive skills in group interactions and peer communication. They will engage with Deaf-created material including ‘My Special Suitcase’ and commence questioning strategies in preparation for our visit from Deaf author Kerrie Taylor, later in the Semester.

It continues to be a treat to see our students making fresh learning connections and to observe their increasing ability to genuinely connect while signing. Thank you for supporting your children in their language learning by encouraging them to teach you new signs.

Performing Arts

Performing Arts lessons in term 3 will focus on both drama and music.

Year 3 - 4 students will further develop their improvisation skills and their knowledge of the elements of drama. They will participate in theatre sports activities, learn how to put on their own fantastic show, develop a plot through trial and error, add suspense to their narrative and create props. In music, students will extend their knowledge of rhythmic and melodic elements through singing songs, playing instruments, learning solfege and hand signs, composing and graphically notating music on a stave. Additionally, Year 4 students will learn to play rhythms using cups as a percussion instrument.

Year 5 students will continue to extend their skills in drama through a puppetry unit. They will design and create their own endangered Australian animal puppet, use the elements of drama to bring their puppet to life, create a script and perform at an interactive ‘Endangered Animal Zoo’ for the younger students to visit.  In Music, year 5 students will continue to develop their skills in rhythm by learning how to play the bucket drums. They will explore drumming techniques and develop their sense of timing and musical expression through ensemble playing, as well as reading and writing their own graphic notation.

STEM

Prep:  This term the students will continue working on their skills using Google Docs and navigating through the St James Student Landing Page.  They will also be working on their coding and problem solving skills using an app - CodeSpark

Year 1 - The students will be building on their Google Suite knowledge by exploring the use of Google Slides.  They will also be working on their coding and problem solving skills using the online program Code.org

Year 2 - This term the students will build on their coding and problem solving skills using the app Tynker.  They will also look at design and building concepts using the Makedo construction tools

Year 3 - This term the students will continue building on their coding and problem solving skills using the app Scratch Junior.  They will explore ways to use the code to make small interactive stories, games, and solve problems.  They will also use Code.org to use previous coding experience and build upon this to create art and games.

Year 4 - The students will use their coding and problem solving skills using the online platform - Scratch.  They will also look at machines and how they work in particular pull and push concepts, whilst building their own machines using Lego.

Year 5 - The students will use their coding and problem solving skills using the online platform - Scratch.  The students will choose a project to design and develop using Scratch and will present this product at a class showcase. They will then look at the Swift app where coding is no longer in a block format and is written code.  They will look at concepts such as functions, loops and conditional code.

Year 6 -  Students this term will then be looking at the online platform Tinkercad, whereby they will design, develop and build their own 3D model.  They will also use this model to do a 3D print.  Following this the students will be using the robot kits Lego Mindstorm.  These kits enable students to build, design, test, code and run their robots to perform a variety of functions.  Students will explore the basics of the kit before deciding on what they would like to design and build and for what purpose and function these robots could be used for.  They will also use the Lego EV3 Mindstorm kits to build and code the robots to perform various functions.