Year Level & Specialist Curriculum

Foundation: 

Year One: 

Year Two:

Year Three: 

Year Four:

Year Five: 

Year Six:

Term 4 2024 Specialist Curriculum Overviews

Our Specialist programs will cover the following during Term Four

Physical Education  

Term 4, here we go!! After a jam packed Term 3, I am looking forward 

to finishing off our year with some fun in the sun! We still have many Division 

events for our senior students and Twilight (Afternoon) House Sport on 

Thursday 31st October from 1.30-4.30pm) for the entire school.

Prep - We will continue to extend the students fundamental skills and focus on 

striking this term.  For the first four weeks we have been lucky enough to obtain some

Sporting Schools funding to obtain some equipment but also for coaches from Cricket Victoria to come and teach our students the fundamentals of cricket.  From this we will continue our two and handed striking and incorporate some fun games using some striking equipment like tennis and tee bats. We will continue to discuss alternative ways to keep active and help the students understand what changes occur to our bodies when they are active.  We will conclude the year with some fun games.

Year  1 and 2 - Throughout the term we will focus on our fundamental skill of striking and build on what we have learnt over the past year or two. For the first four weeks, we have been lucky enough to obtain some Sporting Schools funding to obtain some equipment and coaches from Cricket Victoria, to come and teach our students the fundamentals of cricket. Following this, we will incorporate some fun games using various striking sport equipment such as tee bats and tennis racquets. We will conclude the year with some fun games.

Year  3 - This term we will focus on striking games to extend their ability in this area while preparing the students for Gala Days next year. The first four weeks will focus on cricket and we will conclude with rounders and tee ball games. We will finish the year with some fun games.  

Year  4 - We will begin the term with some twilight sport practice.  Then we will focus on striking games to extend their ability in this area while preparing the students for Gala Days next year. We will particularly focus on Tee Ball and Softball, and if time permits, some cricket also. We will conclude the year with some fun games.  Some students will also participate in the Division Athletics on Monday 14th October.

Year 5 - This term we will mainly focus on a Sport Education in Physical Education Program (SEPEP) unit.  This is a curriculum- based model where students learn to plan, implement and play in a sporting competition. Students and teachers work collaboratively to assign the different roles, such as the umpire, coach, captain, media, results, and responsibilities to effectively plan and organise a structured competition. The sport the students will be learning during this unit is Lacrosse. In amongst the term we will try and pop some Twilight Sports practice and will conclude the year with some fun games.  Some students will also participate in some Division Sport - Athletics, Cricket, Basketball and Hot Shots.

Year 6 - Our final term for our year 6s will hopefully be a fun one! We will start the term preparing for Twilight Sport with some events at school so these students can run the event the afternoon of the event. Students will then participate in their second year of the Sport Education in Physical Education Program (SEPEP) unit. This is a curriculum based model where students learn to plan, implement and play in a sporting competition. Students and teachers work collaboratively to assign the different roles, such as the umpire, coach, captain, media, results, and responsibilities to effectively plan and organise a structured competition.  This year the sport students will be learning during this unit will be Flag Football. We will finish off the term with some different games that demonstrate the skills they have learnt and developed in their primary school years. We will finish off the term with a fun PE Amazing Race. Some students will also participate in some Division Sport - Athletics, Cricket, Basketball and Hot Shots.

Visual Arts

Throughout Visual Arts this term, the students will engage in an exciting journey of creativity and self-expression. We will be exploring various artists and experimenting with different mediums such as paint, fabric and paper collage. As we draw closer to the end of the year, we will be focussing on some beautiful Christmas themed projects. I am looking forward to an exciting, fun-filled term of art!

Prep  

Prep students will be exploring and experimenting with different elements of art such as line, shape and colour. We will be working with different materials such as watercolour paint, fine liners, vibrant paper and also fabric to create a variety of different 2D and 3D art pieces. Students will learn how emotions can be expressed through art work and they will also be introduced to the works of different artists such as Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock.

Year 1  

Grade 1 students will be exploring the different elements of art including line, shape, colour and texture. We will be working with various materials such as water colour, paint, wool and oil pastel. Students will gain an understanding of the artistic styles and techniques of artists such as Jackson Pollock and Piet Mondrian.

Year 2   

Grade 2 students will have the opportunity to create artworks using their imagination and creativity. They will create a variety of artwork using different techniques and materials including watercolour paint, wool and fabric. Students will be exploring various artists including the wonderful works of Salvador Dali. 

Auslan

“Sign language is the equal of speech…” - Oliver Sacks

Welcome to Term 4 in Auslan! All year we have been looking forward to the final term, awaiting our incursion with Deaf author Kerrie Taylor. Finally it’s here! All students across St James are working on their ability to sign without the support of voice in sustained interactions and also building their vocabulary bank. We will continue to do this through the use of explicit teaching, targeted word lists, repeated phrasing, purposeful interactions, signed games and Kerrie Taylor’s texts ‘My Special Suitcase’ and ‘Monster’. 

Preps will extend their signed vocabulary to include family signs and foundational questioning. They will continue to consolidate the topics they have learned throughout the year, including greetings, fingerspelling, animals, colours, numbers and ages.  These topics will be drawn together for their signed self presentation and also feature children’s signed pictorial literature throughout the term.

Year 1 & 2 will continue to solidify their signed vocabulary, in the area of feelings with signed language games and stories. They will grow their use of common signs, which when teamed with feelings, will assist them in expressing opinions in conversations. They will round out the term by sharing their own signed version of, ‘The Special Suitcase.’

Year 3 to 6 will utilise the emotion signs learned this year in conjunction with the vocabulary drawn from Kerrie Taylor’s texts presented in Term 4. This targeted signed vocabulary will encourage deeper sentence building and voiceless communication, for use in a range of learning activities and interactions with Kerrie Taylor. Year 3 and 4 will explore questioning techniques and Year 5 and 6 will be working on developing a resource for those who seek to learn basic Auslan skills for the first time.

As the term draws to a close, I look forward to students showcasing signed talents in their presentations, observing communication between our hearing students and our Deaf presenter, and Christmas activities!

Performing Arts

Year 3 & 4  

In Term 4, Year 3 and 4 students will explore the world of dance and movement through the lens of fairy tales. This unit will encourage students to examine how fairy tales have been interpreted and adapted in dance. They will have the opportunity to develop their own creative interpretations by exploring movement and production elements such as lighting and costumes.

In Music, students will continue to deepen their understanding of rhythm and melody through a variety of engaging activities. They will explore vocal techniques by singing a variety of songs, while also gaining hands-on experience with instruments. Students will continue to practise solfege and hand signs, enhancing their musical literacy. They will also delve into composing their own music and visually notating it on a stave, fostering both their creativity and music writing skills.

Year 5 

Throughout Term 3, Year 5 students have been developing their puppetry skills in drama and mastering bucket drumming in music. In Term 4, they will continue to enhance these abilities, culminating in performances at the Parish Fete and the Endangered Animal Zoo Puppet Exhibition, showcasing their hard work to the entire school and community.

Additionally, the focus for Performing Arts will shift to dance and movement. Students will explore movement in sports, the fundamental elements of dance, and safe dance practices. They will then collaborate in small groups to choreograph and perform an original dance, allowing them to express their creativity and teamwork skills.

Year 6

This term in Drama , Year 6 students will delve into the world of mime. They will learn to communicate stories and emotions through movement and expression. In addition to this, students will also be given the opportunity to use their imagination, creativity and self expression through creating their own scripts and bringing their ideas to life. We will focus on character development, performance techniques and artistic growth. It is set to be an enjoyable, fun-filled term!

STEM

Prep

Students will be consolidating their skills on a computer, using skills to navigate around the Google Apps console, finding and opening docs and using skills within docs. Students will be building on the coding they did last term using Codeapillar, a coding caterpillar, where they will sequence the caterpillar to complete activities.  They will also be introduced to ‘cause and effect’ whilst using the Codeapillar.  We will also look at some design and creativity using the app Puppet Pals. Here students will design and create their own puppet show and then will share these with the class.

Year 1 

Students will be exploring the design and create components of STEM using the Strawbees kits.  Here they will imagine, plan, create and test different structures that they are challenged to build. Following this the students will build on their coding skills using the robots-Botzees.  Students will program the robot using block code to enable it to perform certain actions and sequences.  They will also develop knowledge in conditional code - if and then, ie if my robot sees an obstacle then the robot will turn 180 degrees and move away.  Using Botzee the students will also explore AR-Augmented Reality and Botzee moves within AR.

Year 2

This term the students will explore design and building concepts using the Makedo construction tools.  They will be set challenges to design, create and test structures using cardboard and the MakeDo tools. Following this students will use the Sphero Indi robots.  Here they will explore the colour coding cards, what they do and cause and effect they have on the Indi’s. They will use their coding skills to program the Indi’s to complete activities. 

Year 3 

Students will be using the Lego WeDo 2.0 kits.  Here the students will build, modify and code their projects.  They will look at a variety of areas i.e. speed, pulling, sensors. lifting, tilting etc.  They will also create their own robots for certain tasks such as speed tests.  They will use the STEM process to imagine, design, test and modify their Lego robots.

Year 4 

Students will look at Push and Pull Machines, the science behind them, how they are used every day in our lives and will then build a variety of push/pull machines using Lego. Following this the students will continue their coding skills using Codebugs.  Here students will develop their knowledge of algorithms, precise instructions and debugging.  The students will use the Codebug to complete a variety of activities and then to develop their own program for the Codebug.

Year 5 

The students this term will be creating their own Podcast.  Students will do research into what podcasts are used for, target audiences and what makes a successful podcast.  Students will then create their own podcast on a subject of their choice. They will use sound effects to add to their podcast and will create a podcast logo to help ‘sell’ their podcast. Students will also investigate electric circuits using the Littlebits kits. Here they will look at components such as inputs, outputs, wires, switches and how they are to be used and in what order they need to be used for the circuits to be successful.

Year 6 

The students will be involved in a Gaming unit. The students will firstly design their own online game, using the design process. They will look at the many parts of what makes a game enjoyable and will incorporate this thinking into developing their own game. The students will then become game creators, primarily using the online program Makecode to build online games. They will build, and then test their games on an audience and using feedback provided from their audience, enhance or revise their game. For the final weeks of the term the students will be involved in using Drones. Students will look at Federal Aviation requirements, safety, drone components and will then build their skills to code, race and manoeuvre their drones to complete tasks and courses.