Year 3

As the end of the term fast approaches, we continue to have Mrs Swan in our thoughts and prayers. After heart surgery last week, Paula is making great progress. She will be in hospital for two weeks and will then have two weeks at home recovering. Paula hopes to be back on board in term 3. My heart will also have some work done on it when I visit my 3 Grandchildren in the school holidays. Hopefully it will also be warmer as I head up to the Gold Coast. May your holiday break be filled with fun, laughter and warmth.

Next term we will have parent teacher interviews on the 6th and 7th of August. Please look out for the reminder on PAM.

Literacy

For the latter part of the term, we have been focusing on the book Finding Our Heart by Thomas Mayo as part of our reading and writing lessons. This powerful text explores the importance of understanding and acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their culture, and their deep connection to Country. Through the story, we have been learning about the Uluru Statement from the Heart and how it invites all Australians to walk together for a better future. In our reading lessons, we have been practising making connections, asking questions, and thinking deeply about the author's message. In writing, we have used Finding Our Heart to help us express our own thoughts, reflect on fairness and respect, and build our skills in structuring meaningful responses. Through our last text ,Yirra and her Deadly Dog Demon and Finding our Heart, the students havedeveloped a strong understanding of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their culture, and their deep connection to Country.

Handwriting

We have been working hard to develop our handwriting skills, with a strong focus on learning how to link our letters. Students are practising correct letter formation, size, and spacing to help their writing become neat, consistent, and easier to read. We are now beginning to join letters together, which helps our writing flow more smoothly and allows us to write more quickly. Learning to link letters takes time and practice, but everyone is making great progress and showing persistence as they build their confidence with this important skill. Students have also decided that it is time for them to create their own signatures. I still remember the days when I practised my parent's signatures and got into trouble signing my diary. Hence the reason I have been stuck at school ever since!! Ha-ha!

Maths

We have been building our confidence with addition and subtraction by learning different strategies to solve problems. A big focus has been on understanding regrouping, which helps us when the numbers in a place value column need to be exchanged. For example, when adding, if the ones column adds to more than ten, we regroup by carrying over to the tens column. In subtraction, we regroup by borrowing from the next column when we don’t have enough to take away. We have been using place value blocks, drawings, and written methods to help us understand how regrouping works. Everyone is working hard to solve two- and three-digit addition and subtraction problems accurately and explain their thinking clearly.

Maths at Home

Fun Practice Ideas for practising addition and subtraction:

✅ Dice Roll Challenges – Roll two or three dice and practise adding or subtracting the numbers. You can even time yourself to see how fast you can solve them!

✅ Playing Card Maths – Use playing cards to flip two numbers and add or subtract them. You can make it harder by using three cards or focusing on numbers in the hundreds.

✅ Count the Coins – Find loose change at home and practise adding up totals or working out how much change you’d get after "spending" a certain amount.

✅ Real-Life Problems – Get your child involved when shopping or cooking. For example:

"We have 125 grams of sugar, but we need 200 grams. How much more do we need?"
"We’re buying 3 items that cost $12, $8, and $15. How much will it cost altogether?"

✅ Number Talks at Home – Ask quick addition and subtraction questions at breakfast or in the car, like:

"What’s 135 + 45?"
"What’s 200 – 75?"Encourage your child to explain how they worked it out.

✅ Board Games with a Maths Twist – Games like Snakes and Ladders, Uno, or Monopoly can help practise counting, adding, and subtracting in a fun way.

✅ Online Maths Games – Websites like TopMarks (Hit the Button) or Math Playground have engaging games for practising addition and subtraction facts.

Building confidence with addition and subtraction helps students with more complex maths later on, and making it fun at home really helps them feel more successful!

STEM

In STEM this term, our focus has been on exploring forces and how they affect the way objects move. We have been learning about pushes, pulls, and how different forces can make things speed up, slow down, or change direction. To apply our learning, we designed and built our own catapults using everyday materials. It was exciting to test them out and see how far we could launch different objects. Through this hands-on activity, we discovered how tension, gravity, and angles can all impact the distance and direction of a launch. Everyone had lots of fun experimenting and working like real engineers!

Don't Flush It

Our class is excited to be taking part in the Goulburn Valley Water 'Don’t Flush It' Competition, where students are designing their own creative toilet roll wrap! This competition helps raise awareness about what should and shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet to help protect our environment and keep our water systems healthy. The students have been learning about how flushing the wrong things, like wipes, paper towels, or rubbish, can cause blockages and pollution. Through their designs, they are sharing important messages with the community in a fun and eye-catching way. We can’t wait to see their creative ideas come to life and help spread the word about looking after our water.

In Religious Education, we have been learning about the Seven Sacraments and how they are special signs of God’s love. We explored the meaning of each Sacrament and how they help people grow in their faith and relationship with God. The Seven Sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, and Holy Orders. We have been learning about the symbols and rituals that are part of each Sacrament, such as water in Baptism or bread and wine in the Eucharist. Students enjoyed sharing their own experiences and learning how these important celebrations are part of the life of the Church.

The Resilience Project

Kindness and Empathy

Last week, our class had the opportunity to show kindness and empathy by visiting Burton's IGA to purchase items for the St Vincent de Paul Society Food Drive. The students thoughtfully selected groceries to help families in need, showing great care in choosing items that would make a difference to others. It was wonderful to see them working together, showing generosity, and thinking about how their actions can support people doing it tough in our community. This experience helped us understand that small acts of kindness, like donating food, can have a big impact on others and help create a more caring and compassionate world.