This week we feature the work completed in 3/4. As you can see, they’ve been busy! Enjoy!

Literacy

This term, our Year 3 and 4 students embarked on an exciting literary adventure with Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. The novel is filled with themes of survival, friendship, and discovery.

The story follows Michael, a young boy who finds himself stranded on a deserted island with only an elderly Japanese man, Kensuke, for company. As the students journeyed through the chapters, they explored not only the plot but also the deeper themes of resilience, cultural understanding, and the bonds that can form in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

While exploring the book,students have focused on enhancing their language skills, particularly in spelling, grammar and vocabulary, guided by the Ochre program.

They’re using spelling strategies such as breaking words into syllables, identifying base words, and using common prefixes and suffixes. We are focusing on developing a solid understanding of sentence structure and the correct use of punctuation. Students are expanding their word banks looking at synonyms, antonyms, and homophones.

Mathematics

The 3/4 students are delving into the world of geometry and exploring shapes, investigating both 2D and 3D shapes, learning to describe, compare, and classify them.

The focus is for our children to identify and name common 2D shapes, such as squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles, as well as 3D objects like cubes, spheres, and pyramids. They are learning to recognise the properties of these shapes, including the number of sides, edges, faces, and vertices, which helps them understand how shapes relate to the objects they see everyday contexts.

Children will take their learning a step further by exploring symmetry, angles, and the relationships between different shapes. They will investigate how shapes can be transformed through flips, slides, and turns, and use grid coordinates to create their own geometric designs.

Inquiry

We began this term, with a focus on the concept of democracy and what it means to live in a democratic society and how democratic principles shape our community and nation.

Students began by learning about the key features of democracy, including the importance of fairness, equality, and the right to participate in decision-making processes. They discussed the roles of citizens, leaders, and the government, and how everyone plays a part in upholding these democratic values.

They examined the concept of rules and laws, understanding why they are necessary for a safe and orderly society. They also looked at the idea of voting and how it allows people to have a say in the decisions that affect them.

They investigated the structure of the Australian government, learning about the roles of local, state, and federal governments and how they work together to serve the community. The students particularly focused on local government and how we can act as engaged citizens to support within our local community.

By exploring democracy, our Year 3 and 4 students have gained valuable insights into how our society functions and their role as future citizens.

For the next few weeks, our inquiry topic is ‘ Into the Unknown - Age of Exploration’. We are looking forward to researching explorers. As part of the unit, students will be examining how their community has evolved over time and what aspects have remained constant. The students will learn about the influential figures who have helped shape our global world and delve into the significance of commemorations and symbols. Additionally, they will be developing skills to sequence important historical events, helping them understand the broader context of past and present.

Religion

Through Religious Education sessions, we have learnt about the Catholic Social Teachings, particularly exploring the following 4 -

Dignity: Each of us is made in God's image. Every person has an innate human dignity no one can take away.

The Common Good: This is reached when we work together to improve the wellbeing of people in our society and the wider world.

Preferential Treatment: Preferential care should be shown to vulnerable and marginalised people, whose needs and rights are given special attention in God’s eyes and Our Common Home: The earth and all life on it are part of God’s creation. We are called to respect this gift. We are responsible for taking care of the world we live in and for sharing all the wonders and resources the earth gives us.

The students learned about each Social Teaching and how it links to the teachings of The Gospels. They have been accumulating knowledge about organisations that support people in need and live like Jesus taught us. Students will choose an organisation to research and link the Catholic Social Teachings associated with their work and explain their reasons for choosing this group.

We begin our days with Morning Prayer. This term, the students have been given the opportunity to lead our prayer each morning. We include Blessings, Prayers of the Faithful, Personal Prayer and Formal Prayer. The leadership shown by the students is to be commended, as is the ability by our students to create a sacred space where we join reverently in prayer.

Social Emotional Learning

We aim to provide a space in the Year 3/4 classrooms where students feel safe and empowered to utilise strategies to enhance well being and emotional health. This term, we’ve been exploring our body’s warning signals as well as self talk. We are building a bank of positive vocabulary to draw on, when facing challenging situations,

e.g.

“I can do this and I won’t give up,” by Hayley.

“I can’t do this yet, but I’ll keep trying,” by Ariana.

“Assembly is scary, but I’ll take deep breaths and try my hardest,” by Patrick.

“I missed a few shots for the team, but I’ll practice to get better,” by Charles.

Prep

The Preps were lucky enough to have the fire fighters from Footscray station come and visit us! We learnt what number to call in an emergency, what a fire alarm sounds like and where to meet in case of an emergency. The kids practiced what to do in case of a fire - “Crawl down low and go go go”

Our favourite part was when we used the fire hose and walked through the fire truck. Thank you so much to the fire fighters for coming!

Prep News