Our last term for the year has arrived so quickly, but we are pleased to let you know that we have already launched into our engaging program which has been heaps of fun! Please read on to find out what we have been up to!

Camp Forest Edge

Year 3/4 students have recently returned from their school camp, at Forest Edge! This was such a brilliant experience, even if elements of the weather were not ideal!

Students headed to camp Forest Edge last Monday, amidst rain, wind and hail! This continued for the rest of the day which meant plenty of jackets and beanies on!

Students took part in archery where they hit lots of targets, as well as a scavenger hunt to find things around the campsite.

When activities had wrapped up for the day the students were able to enjoy the facilities including the GaGa Ball arena!

After dinner there was time for some music and a movie, with some hot chocolate of course! Our students headed off to bed and did a really great job settling down for the night, excited for the next day.

Following breakfast and room cleaning students set off on their next set of activities, the flying fox and damper cooking! Luckily the weather on Tuesday was much more pleasant as well!

Damper cooking was a bit hit and miss, not all of our end products were fantastic, but that was all part of the fun! We found you can scrape off burnt bits anyway!

The Flying Fox was a fantastic challenge by choice activity where our students were very brave in launching themselves along it. At over 300 metres the flying fox at Forest Edge is one of the longest in Victoria, meaning there was plenty of time for poses and shouting as students and teachers whizzed along.

After a delicious lunch and last pack up it was back on the bus to return home. All staff and students were quite tired, but had a brilliant time together!

Importantly our students represented our school so well, working together showing teamwork, looking out for each other in moments of difficulty and listening to their teachers and camp instructors. What a trip!

Oral Presentations

Even though camp was such a big part of our planning to start the term, students have been kicking goals in the classroom as well!

Students discussed and reflected on what skills are required when presenting a quality oral presentation. They agreed that eye contact, speaking with volume, finding enough information and practicing your speech were some of the key things required!

Students jumped at the opportunity to chose their own topics to present on, before starting their research. Students not only wrote their speeches, but made slideshows to help aid their presentation while they spoke.

Last week students then took turns presenting their oral presentations in what was a resounding success! It was so clear how much hard work had gone into these, and even though standing in front of a big crowd and speaking can easily make us feel nervous, students were reassured by how much practice they had done. They spoke clearly and presented in a very entertaining way!

One of the best parts of this process was the incredible variety in topics presented! AFL Football, QANTAS, the planet Neptune, types of cheese, Singapore, Pusheen, fashion, chickens, Prime Energy Drink....the list goes on!

We look forward to our students being able to present for even longer in the future. They did a fantastic job.

Measurement

Maths is an area our students have been jumping in to hands on activities with covering many different topics in Measurement. Students have learnt the difference between capacity and volume, meaning how much liquid a container is capable of holding. They have extended this understanding into looking at Mass. Students travelled around the classroom predicting how heavy different items would be, then measuring to double check. They found that some of their predictions were very close, while others were very far apart!

Students have also been thinking about the different units of measurement we use in our everyday life, including grams, kilograms, mils, litres and more. They have discussed what the most appropriate measurement would be for measuring different items, as well as the ways in which we can convert between these units, for example, 1000 grams equalling one kilogram!

That is just a taste of what we have going on in Year 3/4 at the moment! We are also learning about Heat, Forces and completing experiments! Students are continuing to practice writing in different genres, we are reading a class novel and completing lots of Religion as well! Phew!

We look forward to sharing more of our learning and activities soon!

The Year 3/4 Team

Tim O'Mahoney, Taylor Butler and Emma Clausen

Art Show!