Year7Term4 Team Overview

Dear Year 7 Families, 

Welcome to Term 4! What a sensational year it has been so far and we look forward to continuing this and finishing the year strong. Below you will find an outline of some of the content that we will be covering this term. Along with this, please note that in Week 6 students will complete their first round of exams (Maths and English). This will be used as preparation for round two of exams which will be held in Week 10. If you have any questions regarding this, please don’t hesitate to contact your child's classroom teacher. 

Maths: In Term 4 students will be undertaking two rounds of mathematics exams in weeks 6 and 10. Leading up to week 6 students will be revisiting three different units. To begin the term, students will be using the properties of 2D shapes to problem solve. This learning is intertwined with algebra and problem solving. Students will be thinking algebraically to assist with their geometric reasoning when solving a variety of problems. Following this unit, students will revisit integers and compare, order, add and subtract integers. Once students have consolidated their understanding of integers as values, they will connect integers as a means of representing location on a cartesian plane. Students will use cartesian planes to describe and create translations, reflections and rotations whilst identifying line and rotational symmetry. Finally students will focus on angles and identify corresponding, alternate and co-interior angles when two straight lines are crossed by a transversal. As well as, investigate conditions for two lines to be parallel and solve simple numerical problems using reasoning. Upon completing all of this learning, students will engage in their first round of exams. Classroom teachers will analyse the data and identify the gaps in the students' learning. Teachers will teach to the point of need during weeks 7 to 9, allowing students to focus on their learning goal to ensure they are building understanding and fluency. In week 10 all students will complete their second round of exams and celebrate all their learning and success in mathematics for Year 7.   

English:  Over the duration of Term 4, students will complete an in depth text analysis of our new mentor text, ‘Holes’. Within this unit students will build on the skills that were consolidated in Term 3, where they will continue to form and express their own opinions of a text and respectfully challenge the thinking of others. Throughout Holes, students will specifically explore the underlying themes that are portrayed within and further critique the ways in which the author has integrated these themes through various lierary techniques. The main themes that will be explored are social justice, friendship, fate/ destiny and the destructive nature of cruelty. Our teaching and learning in Term 4 will be supported by the exploration of multimodal texts, where students will compare and contrast some of the differences between the text and the movie of Holes. This teaching and learning will support students as they prepare for round 1 of exams in week 6, where they will complete a formal piece of writing on this text.

Health: In Term 4 the Health focus of the Year 7 cohort will relate to Adolescence & Change; within this unit, teaching content and activities will be heavily derived from The Respectful Relationships (RR) curriculum, a Department of Education supported document which encompasses the teaching of Social and Emotional Learning and Respectful Relationships.  In preparation for this unit, the Year 7 teachers encourage all families to view the attached Respectful Relations topics that will be covered throughout Term 4, to assist in creating a strong and consistent home-school partnership within teaching and learning.  The Respectful Relationships (RR) curriculum and resources are derived from an evidence basis and is highlighted in our Victorian Curriculum which we are mandated to teach and report on. It is part of a national strategy and a key recommendation from the Royal Commission into Family Violence. Learning around respect occurs in all states and territories of Australia through the Respectful Relationships or Respect Matters models. The RR pilot began in 2014 in Victorian schools and the evidence from this pilot shows increased positive mental health outcomes for students and the development of important understandings, skills and dispositions related to respect

Humanities: 

Throughout Term 4, our students are investigating the processes that influence the characteristics of places. They will identify, analyse and explain interconnections and spatial characteristics and identity and explain their implications. The Year 7 cohort have already started to collect, record and select relevant geographical data and information from useful sources. The main focus of this unit is to investigate and discover the reasons for human migrations and explain urban concentration and settlement patterns and later reflect on the economic and social needs of people. During this process students will justify how continued urbanisation requires careful planning and the role sustainability plays in town planning. The unit will conclude with presenting environmentally sound solutions that allow for increased population in major/capital cities in Australia or their local community.

Science:

Our Term 4 Science unit sees students explain how scientific concepts can be applied to generate solutions to contemporary problems and explain how these solutions may impact on society. Students will be considering how to manage sustainable food environments and link this to their knowledge of food webs 

and chains. Students will apply the knowledge they have gained throughout the whole year, linking energy, water, cells, food chains, reducing food waste and sustainability to design a renewable vertical garden. Their design will be 

accompanied by written technical language that explains the design project such as tools and equipment.