Level 3 & 4
Week 2, Term 2
Students have settled in well to Term 2, quickly re-establishing classroom routines and demonstrating a positive approach to their learning. Our Grade 3 students should be particularly proud of themselves with a successful first camp experience, showing resilience, independence and enthusiasm over the first two days.
INFORMATION & REMINDERS
Term 2 Progress Interviews this Wednesday
Bookings are still open if you have not yet scheduled a Term 2 Progress Interview, and will close at 9pm tomorrow night. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and hear how your child is settling into school.
Webex links will be sent out before the meetings.
CURRICULUM
Literacy
This term, we are excited to begin our PhOrMeS spelling program, which supports students in developing their phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge and morphological understanding. PhOrMeS is a structured literacy approach that helps students break down words into sounds, spelling patterns and meaningful parts such as prefixes, suffixes and base words. Through engaging and explicit lessons, students build their decoding, spelling and vocabulary skills, enabling them to become more confident and capable readers and writers.
This week's focus is on Silent Final E, students learn that adding an “e” to the end of a word can change the vowel from a short sound to a long sound (for example, cap becomes cape). They practise decoding by reading and identifying these patterns in words, and encoding by applying the rule in their own spelling and writing. Lessons include modelling, word sorting, reading practice and hands-on activities to help students recognise and apply the Silent Final E rule with increasing confidence.
We will continue with our mentor text is Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy. We are using this book to help us learn and introduce our Big Idea in CBL, which is “Country.”
Students will explore the author of the text, learning about who she is and her purpose for writing. They will also engage in rich discussions to unpack more complex vocabulary and deepen their understanding of the Aboriginal language used throughout the text, supporting both comprehension and cultural awareness.
What you can do at home: Please support your child in re-establishing consistent home reading habits. We encourage all students to read for a minimum of 20 minutes each evening to help develop their fluency and reading speed. It is also helpful to have your child retell what they have read, as this strengthens their understanding and comprehension skills.
In Writing, students will engage in tasks centred around reflecting on the meaning of ANZAC Day, exploring its importance and recognising the sacrifices made by service men and women. They will be encouraged to think about and respond to these ideas, and may also draw on personal or family connections where appropriate. As part of this learning, students will practise their letter writing skills, composing thoughtful pieces that express gratitude, reflection and understanding.
What you can do at home: You can support your child by having conversations about the meaning of ANZAC Day and why it is important, helping them to reflect on the sacrifices made by service men and women. Encouraging your child to share their thoughts or any family connections can deepen their understanding.
Numeracy
Grade 3
Students will continue building their understanding of time, with a focus on revisiting standard units such as hours, minutes and seconds. They will explore different tools used to measure time and practise reading both analogue and digital clocks, strengthening their accuracy and confidence.
What you can do at home: Support your child by practising telling the time using both analogue and digital clocks. Talk about time in everyday situations, such as asking, “If dinner is at 6:30pm, how long until we eat?” or “We’re leaving at 8:15am, how much time do you have left to get ready?” These real life examples help develop their understanding of duration.
Grade 4
Students will continue to learn about fractions, focusing on identifying and representing halves, thirds, quarters, fifths and tenths. They will explore fractions using shapes, collections and number lines, while also revising the parts of a fraction and how fractions combine to make a whole.
What you can do at home: You can reinforce fraction concepts through everyday activities. While cooking or baking, encourage your child to measure using fractions or adjust recipes by doubling or halving amounts. When sharing food like pizza, fruit or sandwiches, ask questions such as, “If we divide this into 4 equal parts, what fraction is one piece?” to help build their understanding in a practical way.
CBL
Our Big Idea is Country. Students will explore this concept through a range of Guiding Questions, including:
-What does Country mean to Aboriginal people?
-How has colonisation impacted First Nation Peoples connection to Country (land, cultures and languages)?
-Why is it important to respect, understand and learn about all cultures, and continue our reconciliation journey?
Students will also consider the Essential Question: How can we learn from First Nations peoples, histories and cultures to understand Country, community and our place in the world?
To bring their learning to life, Celebrate the histories, cultures, achievements and survival of Victoria’s Aboriginal peoples through an Immersion of Country Expo.
This week we will be deepening our understanding of Country and writing questions about what we are wondering about this topic this term.
Wellbeing
Cyber Safety
This week's lesson is called Perspective Detectives. It helps students develop integrity in online spaces by encouraging them to consider how their actions affect others and supports respectful digital behaviour. Students learn that doing the right thing online matters, even when no one is watching.
SWPBS
This week our focus is: Be Kind in learning spaces. They will be focusing on cooperating and sharing equipment and spaces within the classroom.
Kitchen Garden
We will be resuming this program this week. We rely on the support of our wonderful parent helpers to ensure this program is safe and successful. We also warmly welcome help from extended family such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles. If you or a family member are able to spare some time to support the program, the sign up link is:
We post our recipes on Showbie for students who would like to recreate the amazing dishes they make in our cooking classes.
Please use the Showbie code below if your child would like to access these recipes:
9JYVE
Term Two Dates
April
27th- Anzac Day Assembly
29th- Parent/Teacher Progress Interviews
May
1st – Cross Country
8th – Mother’s Day Morning
19th – District Cross Country (Grade 4 selected students)
26th – National Sorry Day
27th – National Reconciliation Week
Reminders
- Please ensure iPads are coming to school fully charged each day, with required apps installed and enough storage available for learning tasks
- Sun Smart hats are required for outside play until the 1st May. Please ensure your child has a hat at school this week
- Please send your child to school with a full drink bottle