Year 3 - Year 6 Updates

Year 3

"Salutations!" As Charlotte says in Charlotte's Web, salutations to all our Year 3 families! We have had another busy and exciting fortnight of learning. In Inquiry, students have been exploring the lives and achievements of famous scientists, including Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Hedy Lamarr, Thomas Edison, and many others. They have enjoyed discovering how these remarkable people used their curiosity, creativity, and determination to make a positive impact on the world. In Mathematics, we have begun our new unit on Time, where students are developing their understanding of reading analogue and digital clocks, calculating elapsed time, and using calendars. In Literacy, we are continuing to enjoy reading Charlotte's Web. Students have been making predictions, discussing characters and themes, and exploring the rich vocabulary used throughout the novel. In Religious Education, we are learning about Saint Mary MacKillop, Australia's first and only saint. Students are discovering how her faith, compassion, and dedication to helping others continue to inspire people today.

Year 4

Year 4 have had another busy and exciting fortnight of learning! In Inquiry, we have been exploring the lives and achievements of famous scientists, including Alexander Fleming, Marie Curie, Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin, as part of our preparation for the upcoming Science Challenge Show. Students have enjoyed discovering how these influential figures have shaped our understanding of the world. In Mathematics, we have begun our new unit on location, learning how to plot and interpret coordinates on grids using accurate mathematical language. In Literacy, we are nearing the end of our class novel Storm Boy and have begun planning and writing informative reports, applying our knowledge of text structure, paragraphs and topic-specific vocabulary. In Religion, we have continued our learning about the Catholic Church by exploring Church and Community. Students have investigated the different levels of the Church, including the parish, diocese, archdiocese and the Papacy, gaining a deeper understanding of how the Catholic Church is organised around the world. We were also incredibly proud to showcase our learning at our recent school assembly. Students confidently shared their knowledge about recycling, sustainability and caring for our common home, inspired by Storm Boy, and proudly displayed the beautiful beach-themed art and recycled craft jars they created. We are so proud of the enthusiasm, creativity and confidence Year 4 continue to demonstrate in all areas of their learning.

Year 5

Year 5 have enjoyed another engaging fortnight of learning. In Literacy, we have continued studying our class novel, Tom Appleby, Convict Boy, while beginning to level up our writing using VCOP strategies to improve our vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation. In Mathematics, students consolidated their understanding of fractions through an outdoor scavenger hunt before beginning their work on angles this week. They explored the school grounds during an angle hunt and have been learning to draw and accurately measure angles using protractors. In Inquiry, we have been investigating erosion and the ways water can change the Earth’s surface. Students gathered natural materials outdoors to construct their own landscapes in tubs before conducting an experiment in which they poured varying amounts of water over them and observed how different water levels affected the land. We were also incredibly proud of the eight Year 5 students who represented our school at the recent Maths Games Day. Both teams performed brilliantly, with one of our teams of four achieving the highest overall score and winning the competition. To conclude our fortnight, Year 5 joined the wider parish community for Parish Mass on Thursday, 6 August. It has been wonderful to see the curiosity, teamwork and enthusiasm students have brought to their learning.

Year 6

After working so hard in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation, our Grade 6 students have settled back into their regular classroom routine. In Literacy, they have begun reading our class novel, Once, while learning about Poland to build their understanding of the story’s historical context. In Mathematics, students are learning to use protractors to measure and draw angles, as well as exploring the rules and properties of angles. In Inquiry, they are investigating changes to Earth’s surface, with a focus on erosion and its impact on the environment. While Mrs McAuliffe is on leave, Mr Hillyard will be guiding the students through these learning areas