Grade 4 News 

Important Reminders & Dates

🛍️ Wednesday, August 27: Father’s Day Stall

🎭 Monday, September 1: Production Dress Rehearsal 

🎭Tuesday 2nd September: Production (A-K)

🎭Wednesday 3rd September: Production (L-Z)

🏃‍♂️ Wednesday September 17: Division Athletics (selected students)

🕝 Friday, September 19: Last Day of Term 3 – 2:30pm Finish

🔭 Looking Ahead - Camp ADANAC

🏕️ Monday, October 6 – Wednesday, October 8: Grade 4 Camp – ADANAC

Camp is quickly approaching. You will have received a couple of things recently to help us get the organisation underway:

1. The event on compass to provide your consent and payment. Please have this completed by Saturday 6th September. 
2. Medical forms - these came home in a big white envelope - please return this ASAP to your classroom teacher or the office. 
3. A compass notification from Kim about our Calm Campers program. The sessions will take part during class time when it is convenient for those participating. If your child does not have big concerns about camp, this is not the program for them. You can fill in the form via this link https://forms.gle/AD8JrKb63HmRUCwN7

Weekly Timetable

Book Week

All the students enjoyed participating in the Book Week parade on Monday. There were so many interesting and creative costume ideas, well done everyone! 

Learning in Action

📖 Literacy

We have continued sharing the novel "The One and Only Ivan" throughout our Literacy lessons. We were all shocked and saddened to read about the death of one of the main characters, Stella the elephant, as a result of mistreatment. This led to rich discussions about the management of wild animals in captivity and whether it is the right thing to have them performing in circuses despite how entertaining they can be to watch. The students have also been focusing on expanding their sentences by adding adverbial how, when, where and why to engage their reader and to provide extra supportive detail in their writing. 

Preview: Over the next fortnight we will continue to read "The One and Only Ivan" and learn about the history of animal treatment in circuses. The students have begun planning a formal persuasive letter calling for the ban of wild animals in all circuses and will continue to plan, construct and edit their writing. 

➗ Maths

Over the past fortnight the students have strengthened their understanding of multiplication through a variety of tasks in their goal groups. Many children were highly engaged with learning the 'box model' strategy to solve multiplication involving 2 digit by 1 digit and 2 digit by 2 digit problems. Some children were able to apply this understanding to the standard column algorithm while others extended their skills by exploring problems involving the order of operations. In our applied unit, the students showed their creativity by using 2D pattern blocks to make various new shapes with rotational symmetry and/or lines of symmetry. We finalised this sequence of learning by comparing the area, perimeter and symmetry of our shapes with a classmate.

Preview: Next week we will complete our goal work on multiplication while introducing the concept of division. We will be making comparisons between the two processes and solving simple number and worded division problems. We will also be introducing our new applied unit on chance by discussing chance language and conducting chance experiments. 

🧠 Knowledge-Rich Units

We have been very busy during Knowledge Rich! The students completed their study of local government by exploring the processes undertaken by councils to provide new facilities, such as a public pool, to an area. They also worked in small groups to analyse a council policy on pets and the types of information a policy needs to include to be effective. From there we moved onto our new geography unit - World Mountains. So far we've explored how mountains are formed and what factors can impact their height. 

Preview: Over the next week we will continue to explore World Mountains including the types of animals that live on mountains, how mountains have acted as barriers and how people can live on and make the most of mountains. 

Students practising their netball skills in Grade 4 Sport. 

From The Grade 4 Teachers

Miss Emonson, Mrs Flack, Mrs Waldron and Mrs Ward

Updates from around the school

Garden Working Bee – Friday 12th September

We are calling on our wonderful school community to help us freshen up the gardens at the front of the school. On Friday 12th September, from 11.30am to 3.30pm, we will be holding a garden maintenance afternoon and would love your support.

The work will include:

• Removing old plants
• Weeding garden beds
• Planting new plants to brighten up the entrance to our school

If you can spare some time, whether it’s for the whole afternoon or just an hour, your help will make a big difference. Please bring along gardening gloves, tools if you have them, and plenty of energy!

To assist with planning, we kindly ask that you confirm your attendance by emailing the school office at lysterfield.ps@education.vic.gov.au.

Together, we can make the front of our school a welcoming and beautiful space for our students, families, and community.

Green Team News

Under the guidance of Mrs Stokol and Mrs Alexander, the Green Team met for the first time this week, and what a meeting it was! Across Years 3 to 5, we had nearly 50 excited and passionate students eager to do their part for the environment.

Whether it’s helping to keep the school free of rubbish, caring for and developing the gardens, or educating our community about sustainability, there was a real buzz in the air as students shared ideas and signed up for various roles.

A new initiative launched this term is the collection of 10c containers. Thanks to the special lunch day last term, we raised $21, a fantastic start! We’re now working to collect eligible containers daily to reduce landfill waste and turn recyclables into funds that will be reinvested into future Green Team projects.

Participation in the Green Team is inclusive and open to all. It’s not too late for your child to get involved; we’d love to have them on board!

Green Team Newsletter #2

The enthusiastic Green Team members from Years 3 to 6 continue to meet with Mrs Alexander and Mrs Stokol each Wednesday lunchtime. Meetings begin with a check-in on how the yard cleaning roster is going. Students report which areas are the cleanest, which need more attention, and share ideas for improvement.

Sustainability remains a key focus. Whether it’s managing waste, maintaining garden spaces, or spreading awareness, students have shown impressive initiative and creativity.

Our 10c container collection is going strong! We've raised over $30 in just a few weeks. Green Team members manage the collection bin outside the canteen on lunch order days, and also visit classrooms weekly to gather containers from specially labelled tubs. By collecting these items daily, we are preventing waste from going to landfill and turning it into cash to support our environmental efforts.

Be sure to check out the Sustainability Display in the gym over the coming weeks to see what we’ve been up to!

Did you know? You can support the Green Team by nominating Lysterfield Primary School (LPS) as your donation partner through Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme.

Download the app or visit:🔗 Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme | Learn How To Donate

It’s planting season, and what’s better than free plants? 

Help the Green Team — and Earn Free Plants!

Did you know that the Knox Environment Society (KES) offers free native plants as prizes through their Nature Discovery Passport program?

By playing an interactive game and collecting stamps at local reserves, participants can earn plant prizes, and what better way to use those plants than by donating them to our school for the Green Team to grow and maintain?

Explore one of the many beautiful reserves in Knox on the weekend, learn about your local ecology, collect stamps, and claim your prize. It’s a fun way to get outside, support the environment, and contribute to our school’s sustainability efforts.

And who says the fun is just for the kids? Families are welcome to join in too!

To learn more, visit:

🔗 Nature Discovery Passport – Knox Environment Society

🔗 Knox Environment Society Home Page

Thank you — every little bit helps!

Mrs Stokol and Mrs Alexander