Year 4 News
Reading
This fortnight in Reading, Year 4 students have been exploring the main idea of non-fiction texts and summarising fiction texts. Students engaged in various reading activities that helped them to identify the main idea of a non-fiction text of their choice. For summarising, students focused on how to summarise fiction texts by retelling the main points and key details of a story in their own words.
“I learnt that summarising is like retelling a text”- Isabelle 4A
“There are different strategies when summarising such as the ‘somebody, wanted, but, so then”- Nabil 4A
“I summarised in short sentences”- Olivia 4A
Writing
This fortnight in Writing, Year 4 students have continued their learning of the Latin root /puls/pel/, which means ‘to drive or push’. They have also explored the new prefix inter-, which means ‘between or among’. Students used base words to create new inter- words and chose some of the words, and demonstrated their understanding of the meaning by placing these words in context.
Additionally, students have continued the writing process for their information reports, focusing on revising and editing to make their writing clearer and paying attention to any punctuation, grammar or spelling errors. Year 4 students have also created a new seed page in their Writer’s Notebook titled ‘People who are important to me’. They shared traits of these important people that make them special and unique, and reflected on how these traits could potentially be used as qualities for characters in future writing.
“We wrote about why the important people in our lives are important to us. I drew my little siblings and friends.” - Deepti 4C
“I drew my whole family for my Writer’s Notebook seed page. My dad is important to me because he takes care of us and he works hard.” - Sia 4C
“I wrote about my sister, because she is important to me.” - Ashutosh 4B
Maths
Year 4 students have continued their learning in decimals, building on their understanding of place value. This fortnight, they focused on representing tenths on a number line and exploring how decimals fit between whole numbers.
They also learned how to add decimals involving tenths and hundredths using visual strategies such as area models and number lines. These models helped students clearly see how decimal parts combine, supporting them to develop confidence, accuracy, and a deeper understanding when working with decimal numbers.
“I placed decimals on a number line to show my working out”- Taveesh 4A
“0.43 and 0.23 is 0.66.” - Sfakanaky 4A
“In Maths we are doing addition using decimals with an area model.” - Guntaj 4C
“We were adding tenths and hundredths.” - Avtaj 4C
Inquiry
In this fortnight, Year 4 students have been exploring different perspectives of the arrival of the First Fleet. They have been focussing on the feelings of Indigenous People, and how the land around them changed with the British colonies arrival.
They drew pictures and wrote about the thoughts, feelings and questions they might have had about the new people on their land.
They also used information gathered in previous lessons to create a diary entry, imagining they had been travelling on one of the ships. Students thought about how it would have felt to have been on a ship for months at a time, missing their home, or how they would react to seeing a kangaroo for the first time.
“I really enjoyed learning about the settlers”- Nina 4A
“We have been writing a diary entry pretending we were on the first fleet.” - Anshmeet 4C
“Here is a snippet of my diary entry: ‘Another day at sea and no land in sight. The waves are really rough today, and I felt really sick.’ - Storm 4C
“I liked creating my own diary entry about how I travelled to Australia. I chose a date and a ship to write about.” - Elora 4B
Social and Emotional Learning
In Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Year 4 students explored a range of calming and coping strategies to help them manage their emotions and respond positively to challenges. They discussed situations where these strategies might be helpful and practised several relaxation techniques. Students also talked about ways to recognise when they might be feeling overwhelmed and how to pause, reset and refocus.
“My partner and I were mirroring each other with calm and slow movements.” - Zoeya 4C
“Our aim was to focus on our partners so that we don’t make mistakes.” - Chris 4C
“We tried some nice relaxation techniques, one was so good I almost fell asleep!” - Eleen 4B
AUSLAN
In this fortnight, the Year 4 students have been practising signs for transport and shops.Students practised with a friend then shared their learning with the whole class. It has been wonderful to see students so engaged with Auslan lessons each week.
“My favourite transport signs were the bus, walking, scooter and skateboard.” - Ryan 4C
“In Auslan, the easiest sign for me to sign was the helicopter.” - Sadie 4C
Special Event
Last Friday was CPS’ annual Athletics Day at Meadowglen Athletics Stadium. Year 4 students were able to take part in a whole range of track and field activities; 100m, 200m, long jump, triple jump, discus and shotput. They dressed in their house colours and showed real spirit while coping with the heat during a busy day.
Every participant demonstrated the school values in so many ways - kindness through cheering on teammates, resilience through overcoming and accepting when they didn’t win, and responsibility through giving their best effort to every event. It was amazing to see so many ribbons on display for the Year 4 students when they returned to school. We are so proud of each and every one of you!
“I tried my best during Athletics Day!” - Tyler 4A
“We went to the same place we went last year for Athletics Day!” - William 4B
“My mum came to watch me on Athletics Day. I am going to surprise her with the ribbons I won!” - Isabelle 4A
“It was really fun, even though I didn’t win anything. I got to enjoy the sports.” - Rohaan 4B