Year 3/4 Term 1 Overview

Year 3/4  Term 1 Overview               

Welcome to Term 1! This year our Year 3/4 teaching team consists of Rebecca Stuart, Nicole Webb and Anna Hendy. Our wonderful Learning Support Officers are Ruby in 3/4A, Melissa in 3/4B and Chris will support students in both classes. Melinda Kerwin will also work with students across both classes. 

Please remember that hats and sunscreen are to be worn in Term 1 and there is a strict 

‘No Hat, No Play’ policy for all students in the school. 

Important dates to remember:

Tuesday 11th February - 3/4B Mass 10am

Friday 14th February - Beginning of Year Mass 10am

Tuesday 18th February - Parent Information Night 7pm

Sunday 23rd February - Founders Day Mass 10.45am

Thursday 27th February - Parent, Teacher & Student Conferences

Monday 3rd March - Twilight Sports 4.30-7.30pm

Wednesday 5th March - Ash Wednesday Mass 10am

Monday 10th March - LABOUR DAY 

Wednesday 12th March - Monday 24th March - NAPLAN 

Thursday 13th March - School Photos

Monday 17th March - Harmony Day

Tuesday 25th March - Year 4 Gala Day

Tuesday 25th March - Parent Eucharist Information Night 6.30pm

Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th - Eucharist Commitment Masses

Friday 4th April - End of Term 1

Monday 21st April - EASTER MONDAY

Tuesday 22nd April - Term 2 begins!

Religious Education

This year marks a Jubilee Year, a sacred time of renewal, reflection pilgrimage and grace. The theme for 2025 is Pilgrims of Hope. In light of this, we are commencing the year with a focus on HOPE. We will be exploring what hope looks like in our lives and the significance of the Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church. We will examine scripture through imaginative prayer and Godly play, focusing on key figures who demonstrate hope and faith. We will also be examining various psalms in the bible and discussing their relevance to hope in our lives.

As Easter approaches, we will explore the events surrounding Lent including the stations of the cross. We will learn the parts of the mass and their significance as we begin to prepare for the Sacrament of Eucharist for our Year 4 students early in Term 2. 

Inquiry

The focus in Inquiry this term is Health. This unit will explore the big question, How does understanding my strengths help to build resilience in myself and others for a hopeful future? 

We will incorporate learning about our own wellbeing and resilience with the school's theme for the year, Hope. The students will explore personal strengths, strategies to manage social and emotional change and ways to provide self care.  

Mathematics

This term in Mathematics, we will be focusing on the following areas, using evidence-based, knowledge-rich and sequenced lessons. We will be adopting the explicit instruction sequence, beginning with teacher-guided instruction, and gradually shifting responsibility for learning to students with modelling and guided practice and finally, independent practice. Students will be encouraged to be problem solvers and verbalise their thinking processes throughout the maths lessons. Daily reviews and spaced practice will also be incorporated in our Maths lessons in order to reinforce learning and ensure retention.

• Number - Counting & Place Value:
  • reading, writing, representing numbers beyond 10,000
  • comparing and ordering numbers
  • writing the expanded form for numbers beyond 10,000
• Number & Algebra - Addition & Subtraction 
  • adding and subtracting numbers using place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers
  • adding and subtracting using empty number lines
  • Finding unknown values in addition and subtraction equations
• Measurement - Time
  • recognising and applying formal units of time
  • estimating and comparing the duration of events
  • solving problems involving the duration of time
• Number - Multiplication & Division
  • recalling multiplication facts for 3, 4, 5 and 10 (end of year 3)
  • recalling multiplication facts up to 10x10 and related division facts (end of year 4)
  • applying multiplication facts to division and explaining patterns

Literacy

Students will learn the features of narrative text types and plan, draft and write their own entertaining narrative. Through a book study on Roald Dahl’s Matilda, the students will explore new vocabulary, character descriptions and sentence-level writing. They will continue to develop their literal and inferential comprehension skills by reading and viewing a variety of stories and texts in class and small focus groups. Students will also read, explore and write a range of arguments, discussions and advertisements as part of our unit on persuasive texts. The students will engage in explicit teaching of Phonics spelling patterns and phonemes in class and these will also be reinforced in home learning tasks. 

Social & Emotional Learning

This term in SEL, students will be learning about the behaviour expectations of the Positive  Behaviour Matrix (PBL). This includes teaching and modelling positive behaviour when moving to a different room, using the toilet, during meditation and during our play breaks.

We are also partnering with The Resilience Project  where we will engage in lessons and practical strategies that will teach the students about emotional literacy, gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. 

STEM

This term our STEM unit has a Biology focus, providing the students with the opportunity to explore the features of living things and the ways living things can be grouped together and classified. The children will use observational skills and hands-on activities to document and compare the features of living and non living things. 

Specialists Lesson Timetable

Please see the timetable below for specialist lessons. All 3/4 students will be required to wear their sport uniform on Friday. Students will also need to bring in their library bag and books on their designated library days.

Home Learning

Home Learning will start shortly so stay tuned for more information. 

Implementation

Home learning should always be meaningful and may be given for the following reasons:

●     To reinforce skills and knowledge that the child is acquiring in the classroom

●     To research and prepare for presentation of research and gathering project materials

●     To provide interest and challenge

●     May involve digital tools and a variety of resources

Home learning tasks are assigned at the beginning of the week and students have until the end of the week or fortnight to complete them.

Parents will sign the student diary and/or reading records to ensure that all tasks are completed and to communicate any reason why they have not been completed.

Recommendation

• Year 3/4 Reading, Assigned Maths Tasks and Spelling
• 5 Free choice activities and 3 compulsory activities presented in a matrix, every fortnight. 

The connections between home and school are very important. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. 

We can be reached via email or leave a message at the office and we will endeavour to respond in a timely manner, between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. 

3/4A - Rebecca Stuart rstuart@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au

3/4B - Nicole Webb nwebb@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au (Monday-Wednesday)

3/4B - Anna Hendy ahendy@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au (Thursday & Friday)