Dear Parents,

What a wonderful start to the term it has been. We indeed have very creative and hardworking students in the middle school and they should all be very proud of what they have achieved so far this term. We are now more than half way through the term and the students are so engaged and really enjoying learning together. It is a delight to witness.

Gala Day & Bike Ed

The Year 3/4 students will attend Gala Day this term on Tuesday 25th March. Bike Ed has been postponed till November.

Mathematics

During our Maths lessons, we have been learning to read and write numbers up to 6 digits, as well as solving addition and subtraction problems up to 6 digit places, learning to use materials such as MAB blocks and unifix cubes to support their thinking and problem solving skills.

Place value is integral to our learning and understanding of the number system. You may hear your children coming home to share concepts such as place value houses, only 10 people are allowed in each house (really 9 and then the magic happens and we get to 'rename' ).

In regard to subtraction, ‘regrouping’ is an ongoing skill to develop and we will revisit this time and time again (some of us may recall this as borrowing and pay back). In 34M, we met 'Giuseppe’ during the process and he is so lovely and generous because he shares his excess supply to help us solve our subtraction problems. Your children will be able to tell you all about Giuseppe. His pasta sauce is delicious!

English

During our daily Literacy blocks, we are busy planning and creating narratives. We are learning about persuasive techniques and language in order ‘to persuade’ others. During our daily review, we practise our phonemic awareness skills and revise all the grammar and vocabulary taught in the previous week/s to strengthen the students long term memory.

In Week 7, on Wed 12th March - Friday 14th March, the Year 3 students will participate in The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). This is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. NAPLAN tests are one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process and do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance. Each teacher will have the best insight into their students’ educational progress.

NAPLAN is made up of tests in the 4 areas of:

reading
writing
conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
numeracy.

Cybersafety

Recently we were fortunate to engage in an online forum on cyber safety. The students were most excited to participate by answering questions via a kahoot quiz game celebrating their learning and understanding.

The key ideas we took away from the session for the students were to be BRAVE, KIND, AWARE and CLEVER.

Students were asked to think about 5 trusted adults that they could contact at anytime if and when they ever were to feel unsafe.

All Year 3/4 students completed a circle of trust task and students are familiarising themselves with personal information such as

their date of birth, address and the main roads

and intersections near their homes if ever

the students had to call 000 in an emergency,

Parent Information on what we learnt - link Being safe online - example statements - link

Homework

We have had a positive start to homework this term. Thankyou to all the parents for your support with this. We understand that all families have busy lives after school hours and one of the many areas of learning, when completing homework, is self management and organisation.

The students are beginning to take ownership for their belongings (especially the computers) and learning to be responsible and independent in completing their homework around their individual schedules.

Diaries are a great tool to support students in getting organised and knowing when special events are on and when things are due to be brought into school etc.

We do ask parents to please sign their child’s diary at the end of each week to support their reading. Homework is handed out weekly to the students on a Friday and 34KB hand their homework in on a Friday.

*Please note: A small change has been made for 3/4M. They will hand in their homework to be corrected on Thursdays and will be given their new weekly homework on Fridays.

We ask students to read daily for a minimum of 20 minutes and to record the title of the book and pages read in their diary please. Students borrow weekly from the library (3/4K Friday and 3/4M Monday) and they select ‘good fit books’ for home and the classroom to read.

Religion

This term the Yr 4 students will celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Parent Information evening for Reconciliation recently held at Our Lady's Primary School in Surrey Hills was very informative and if you were not able to attend, please talk to your classroom teacher for any key dates or notices that you may have missed out on.

Reconciliation Reflection day is Friday, March 21 at Holy Redeemer School, Surrey Hills (Wk 8)
Yr 4 Reconciliation ceremony will be held on Thursday 27 March at 6pm (Wk 9)

Mon - Fri 34M

Julie McIntyre:

jmcintyre@olgcdeepdene.catholic.edu.au

Monday-Thursday 34KB

Cecily Kerr:

ckerr@olgcdeepdene.catholic.edu.au

Friday

Leah Blake:

lblake@olgcdeepdene.catholic.edu.au

Birthdays and Awards