Curriculum Overview
English
In Term 4, students will continue to borrow from the library and read both at school and at home each night to strengthen their comprehension and fluency. Regular reading also supports vocabulary growth, improves spelling, and inspires creativity in writing. Students will continue developing their speaking and listening skills through Talking Topics, class discussions, and opportunities to share their written work. Our English focus this term is on similarities and differences, building both cultural understanding and literacy skills. Students will read a range of texts, form opinions, make predictions, and justify their ideas through written, spoken, and reflective tasks. They will continue working through the Writing Process to plan, draft, edit, refine, and publish their own texts independently. Students will explore the concepts of perspective, context, and theme through the texts Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and Malala’s Magic Pencil, analysing how perspective shapes setting and meaning. They will apply this understanding to compose their own factual and historical accounts. Later in the term, through Our Dreaming by Kirli Saunders and a range of digital texts, students will explore the purpose and structure of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural narratives.
Mathematics
In Term 4, students will continue to strengthen their mathematical understanding through a range of engaging activities, games, and discussions. These experiences will encourage them to explain their thinking, work collaboratively, and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways.
Our focus this term begins with partitioning fractions, where students will explore how fractions represent parts of a whole and how they relate to other numbers. They will use this understanding when solving problems involving multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.
Through two-dimensional spatial structure, students will investigate shapes, patterns, and symmetry. They will enjoy hands-on opportunities to describe and compare the features of two-dimensional figures and represent them visually.
In non-spatial structure, students will continue developing their understanding of measurement concepts such as time, length, and capacity. Practical tasks will help them estimate, compare, and record measurements accurately.
Our chance investigations will encourage students to describe and compare everyday events using language such as likely, unlikely, certain, or impossible.
Finally, in data, students will collect, organise, and interpret information through class questions. They will use tables, graphs, and digital tools to display their findings and communicate what the data shows.
History and Geography
In Term 4, students will shift their focus to Australia and its neighbours, building on their understanding of Australia’s geographical features and position in the world. They will study countries in Oceania and Southeast Asia, identifying similarities and differences between their own lives and those of people in neighbouring regions.
Science and Technology
This term, students will explore the topic of Heat. They will investigate different heat sources and learn how heat moves from one object to another. Through hands-on experiments, students will test how different materials conduct or insulate heat and classify heat sources according to the type of energy they use. Students will draw on everyday experiences, such as keeping warm or observing how animals stay insulated, to generate inquiry questions about heat conduction. They will continue developing their scientific investigation skills by conducting fair tests and gathering evidence to support their conclusions.
Pastoral Care
Students will continue exploring the concepts of resilience, self-esteem, bullying, and positive thinking. They will revisit the world of Doug Dragster to learn about managing emotions and maintaining control over their “wheels” — their body, thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Visual Arts
This term, Year 3 students will explore the unit Portraits, Patterns, and Perspective: Learning from Great Artists. They will begin by creating family portraits, learning how to show relationships and personality through facial proportions, body placement and overlapping shapes. Students will then study Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night, using oil pastels and paint to create expressive landscapes that explore movement and depth. Later in the term, they will experiment with bright colours and layered shapes in a Matisse-inspired still life collage. Through these projects, students will develop their drawing, painting and composition skills while discovering how artists use colour and pattern to tell stories and express ideas.
Italian
In Year 3 Italian for Term 4, we will focus on the key theme: Cultural topic: I monumenti (Monuments of Italy and Australia). We will explore this through a fun, interactive, and hands-on approach using music, conversations, picture storybooks, and drama with a strong focus on verbal communication and pronunciation.
PDHPE
The Year 3 students will be making the most of their outdoor learning time, participating in a variety of hand invasion and striking games, including Basketball, Lacrosse, Cricket, and T-Ball.
This term, students will continue to refine their fundamental movement skills—such as ball handling, dribbling, throwing, catching, running, striking, and fielding—while also applying them in more challenging game situations. They will begin to explore tactical concepts like attacking and defending, using space effectively, and understanding the importance of teamwork and fair play.
In addition to developing physical skills, students will be encouraged to show resilience, collaborate positively with peers, and build confidence through active participation. A strong focus will also remain on sun safety, safe play, and maintaining a positive mindset, ensuring students not only enjoy sport but also develop healthy habits that support their overall wellbeing.
Music
In Music during Term 4, Year 3 students will begin developing their skills for playing recorder through learning of instrument techniques and fun repertoire. This was intended to start in Term 3 but was redirected to Term 4 in place of an engaging ukulele program. In small groups and with backing tracks, students will play recorder games and practise a range of simple melodies, decoding musical notation from the Cool Cats Recorder Song Book. Students will complete activities within their theory workbooks that support their musical development on instruments.
Concurrently, students will be preparing joyful songs, dances, and performances to share at the Primary Christmas Concert — a special end of year celebration for parents, friends, and our school community.
RVE
This term, students will continue to grow in their understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to pray to God, thank Him, and honour Him in our daily lives. We’ll also explore the importance of gathering together as a Christian community, learning from the stories of the Apostle Paul and Silas in the New Testament. As we approach the end of the year, we’ll celebrate the true meaning of Christmas by focusing on Jesus — the King of Christmas.
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden classes will be focusing on basic health and safety in the kitchen. We will learn how to communicate and work in small teams with respect, integrity and compassion. We will learn how to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh, nutritious, seasonal and delicious food. A selection of winter foods such as warm healthy soups, homemade breads, Chinese and Indian dishes will be cooked and eaten together.
Library
This term, Year 3 students will be exploring the first two stages of the Research Process while learning about different literary genres. Using four guiding prompts, students will research a chosen genre using a variety of resources, such as books, websites, and short information videos. They will record their findings in a graphic organiser and use this to create well-structured paragraphs in their Genre Booklets.
Students will be encouraged to select a wide range of books from both fiction and nonfiction collections to support their learning and develop a love of reading. They will also use the Library Management System (Accessit) to locate reading and research materials.
There will be a particular focus on understanding how nonfiction texts are organised using the Dewey Decimal System, and why this system is used in libraries.
IPT
This term, Year 3 students are building on their digital skills through fun, creative projects that encourage imagination and teamwork. They’ll begin by creating and illustrating their own digital stories using Google Slides and Chrome Canvas, learning to combine text and images effectively. Later in the term, students will explore 3D design with Tinkercad to create simple robot models, developing their understanding of shape, space, and digital design.
Homework
Weekly homework sheets will be distributed each Monday and are due on Friday. These tasks are designed to consolidate concepts covered in class and should be completed independently where possible. In addition, Year 3 students are expected to prepare for their Talking Topic presentations. They are encouraged to develop their writing and practise speaking skills, including voice projection, pacing, and expression. Regular reading of a variety of texts is also required. Parents are asked to sign student diaries at least four nights per week to support reading habits at home.