Grade 4 News 

Important Reminders & Dates

🏊 Every Thursday (Weeks 1–5): Swimming Program – 9:00am to 10:40am

🏃‍♂️ Friday, August 15: District Athletics (selected students)

🎉 Saturday, August 16: School Trivia Night

🛍️ Wednesday, August 27: Father’s Day Stall

🎭 Monday, September 1: Production Dress Rehearsal

🎭 Tuesday, September 2 & Wednesday, September 3: School Production

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

🔭 Looking Ahead

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

Weekly Timetable

Learning in Action

📖 Literacy

In our Literature unit this term, students are exploring The One and Only Ivan. Through this rich and engaging text, students will participate in a range of literacy activities designed to deepen their understanding of language and authorial choices.

They will:

• Identify figurative language and discuss how it shapes meaning and mood
• Explore how dialogue reveals character thoughts and personality
• Practise using conjunctions like because, but, and so to show relationships of reason, contrast, and result
• Learn to combine dependent and independent clauses to create complex sentences
• Expand their writing by placing adverbials at the beginning of sentences for clarity, emphasis, and detail

Our writing focus this term is on persuasive writing. Students will:

• Build summarising skills by writing main idea sentences
• Plan and write cohesive paragraphs using Single Paragraph Outlines (SPOs)
• Develop an understanding of the purpose of persuasive writing
• Identify and apply persuasive language features and devices that authors use to influence readers

➗ Maths

This term, we are placing a strong emphasis on multiplication and division. Our daily reviews have shown that many students would benefit from further practise with multiplication facts. Regular revision at home, particularly practising times tables, will make a meaningful difference and support students across all areas of Maths for the remainder of the year. We truly appreciate your support with this.

In our multiplication unit, students will develop a deeper understanding of how multiplication works and how to solve problems efficiently using a range of strategies. These include:

• Using known facts and patterns to solve unfamiliar multiplication problems
• Partitioning numbers by place value to break down complex calculations
• Applying the area box model as a visual strategy to organise thinking and demonstrate how each part of a multiplication contributes to the final answer

Following this, students will apply their multiplication knowledge to solve division problems, continuing to build flexible problem-solving strategies.

🧠 Knowledge-Rich Units

During the first part of Term 3, our Knowledge-Rich unit is focused on Local Government. Students will explore key questions that build an understanding of how government operates and affects daily life.

Key learning areas include:

• Understanding the difference between rules and laws, and how laws shape our society
• Investigating the structure of the Australian government, with a focus on the role of local government
• Learning who local government members are and what responsibilities they hold
• Exploring how government decisions impact individuals and communities

This unit aims to help students understand the real-world relevance of civic leadership and the role they play in their community.

From The Grade 4 Teachers

Miss Emonson, Mrs Flack, Mrs Waldron and Mrs Ward

Updates from around the school

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