What's Happening in the Middle School

Year 3

What’s Happening in Year 3 in June

Welcome to Winter! We have a jam-packed month ahead in Year 3. Last month, students enjoyed a fantastic excursion to McCrae Homestead, where they were transported back to the 1800s. They had hands on experiences making butter, washing clothes using a washboard, exploring the gardens through a scavenger hunt, and touring the historic McCrae family home.

This month promises even more exciting learning opportunities, including our swimming program and a rich History and Writing unit where students will write letters from the perspective of a child convict. We look forward to another fun-filled and engaging month of learning together!

Wellbeing

This year, we will be using the Grow Your Mind podcast to learn about resilience, respect, responsibility, and relationships. It focuses on making the parts of your brain responsible for decision making and self-regulation relatable by connecting them to different animals. Over the next month, students will explore the role of the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, reticular activating system, and amygdala and learn how to be of benefit to others

Literacy

We will be analysing various mentor texts which will assist in our understanding of historical narrative
We will be studying the features of a historical narrative, looking at how real events from the past are told in a story-like way. These texts combine factual history with engaging storytelling techniques
We will continue the Literacy Program called Word Origins
We will be learning Greek root words and their affixes to build understanding of word meaning and etymology

Maths

Addition and Subtraction

Applying inverse operations for 3-digit addition and subtraction
Subtracting a constant amount from 2-digit numbers
Partitioning for operations
Estimating quantities
Estimating for accuracy

Data Representation

Identifying categorical and discrete numerical data
Writing survey questions for a given purpose
Collecting numerical data from online sources
Copying frequency tables into spreadsheets
Using software to sort data and perform calculations
Selecting appropriate graphical representations
Comparing graphical representations of data sets

Knowledge Unit

We will be delving into the topic of Australian History

In this unit, students will explore what life was like in Australia before and after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. They will learn about the rich and diverse cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including their deep connection to land, traditional lifestyles, and sustainable ways of living that existed for tens of thousands of years
Students will then examine the impact of the First Fleet’s arrival, investigating how British colonisation changed the lives of Indigenous Australians. They will explore early colonial life, including the challenges faced by settlers and the significant consequences for First Nations peoples
Through this unit, students will develop an understanding of Australia’s history from multiple perspectives, recognising both continuity and change over time

Sport

This year the cohort will participate in one hour of sport a week (in addition to PE sessions) and pending the weather throughout the term
The focus will be teamwork and sportsmanship, and we will explore this using different team games. We are currently focusing on soccer, netball, football and rounders

Reminders

5th June – Curriculum Day (No School)
8th June – King’s birthday Holiday – (No School)
9th – 19th June – Swimming Program
26th June – Last day of Term 2 – 2:30pm dismissal

Year 4

What’s Happening in Year 4 in June

The Year 4 Students have kept very busy with a wide and varied number of activities throughout the second term. They all enjoyed the Taskworks forces incursion and are looking forward to the VR incursion that will be happening on June 16th. A heartfelt congratulations to all the children who completed the School Cross-Country event and who then went on to the next level of competition. Thank you to all the grandparents and special friends that came to celebrate family and important role Grandparents have in our student’s lives.

Literacy

Our new spelling program, Word Origins will continue to be implemented throughout the second term. Writing sessions continue to focus on report writing to support our subject area of science in Term 2. Our mentor texts are still three information books, all written by Jess McGeachin. These books are titled, ‘Deep’, ‘Lost’ and ‘High’. The students will be publishing their report near the end of this term.

Maths

The Year 4 students will be focusing area, perimeter, pattern, shape and symmetry. Areas of Maths that were studied throughout Term 1 will also be frequently reviewed to facilitate deeper understanding of concepts. The year 4 students will also continue to participate in the Number Fluency Program currently being implemented across the whole school.

Knowledge Unit

Our knowledge unit in Term 2 will be ‘Science’. Students will be learning about simple physics such as forces as well as studying the impact of food chains in the living world.

Homework

The Year 4 students are expected to read every night and record their progress in their personal diaries. It is the responsibility of the student to bring their diary to school every day and take it home each night to log their reading. Classroom teachers will be checking and signing these diaries regularly to monitor student reading habits. The student diary will also be used to highlight important dates and reminders. Additionally, year 4 students should be practising their times tables nightly, in an effort to reduce their recall time when working mathematically.

Important Year 4 Dates:

Friday 5th June – Whole School Curriculum Day

Monday 8th June – King’s Birthday Weekend

Tuesday 16th June – VR Oceans incursion

Friday 26th June – Early Dismissal 2:30pm (End of Term)