What's Happening in the Middle School
Year 3
What’s Happening in Year 3 in May
Welcome back to Term 2! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter break filled with fun, relaxation, and maybe even a few chocolate treats! It’s always so lovely to hear about the children’s adventures and see their smiling faces back at school. We’re excited to be back for another great term of learning, and we have lots of exciting things planned.
This term, we’ll be exploring new topics, building on the skills we developed in Term 1, and continuing to challenge ourselves in new and creative ways. Term 2 is also a wonderful time to set goals, try our best, and support one another as a class. We’re looking forward to seeing your confidence grow and celebrating your achievements along the way. Let’s make this term a fantastic one full of curiosity, effort, and fun!
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 Anglo-Saxon and Latin root words and their affixes to build understanding of word meaning and etymology
Maths
Fractions
- Wholes and Parts
- Types of Fractions
- Recognising Fractions
- Comparing Fractions
- Fraction of a collection
Length
- Reading measurement scales for length (mm, cm)
- Measuring length in metric units (m, km)
- Comparing length in metric units
- Ordering length in metric units
- Estimating length in metric units
- Selecting appropriate metric units for measuring length
Patterns
- Following algorithms to generate number patterns
- Creating algorithms to generate number patterns
- Following algorithms to identify multiples
- Creating algorithms to generate multiples
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 May – Whole school Cross Country
- 6th May – Mother’s Day Stall
- 18th- 22nd May- Education week
- 19th May – McCrae Homestead Excursion - 3J and 3R
- 20th May – McCrae Homestead Excursion – 3A and 3F
- 26th May -Grandparents and Special Friend’s Day
Year 4
What’s Happening in Year 4 in May
We hope you all enjoyed the Easter break and are looking forward to a new term!
This term will include sporting events such as Cross Country as well as a Taskworks science incursion. The students will also commence watching Behind the News (BTN) to keep them up to date with current events and news stories. It’s going to be an engaging term!
Literacy
Our new spelling program, Word Origins will continue to be implemented throughout the second term. Writing sessions will be focusing on report writing to support our subject area of science in Term 3. Our mentor texts will be three information books, all written by Jess McGeachin. These books are titled, ‘Deep’, ‘Lost’ and ‘High’.
Maths
The Year 4 students will be focusing on the processes of multiplication and division at the beginning of Term 2. 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:
Tuesday 5th May – Whole School Cross Country
Tuesday 19th May – Taskworks Incursion
Monday 8th June – King’s Birthday Weekend
Tuesday 16th June – VR Oceans incursion