Grade Bulletins

YEAR THREE

Grade Bulletin - Term One, 2023

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School provides a range of holistic learning experiences to enable students to:

  • Participate in the life and mission of the school.
  • Deepen their knowledge and engagement with the Catholic faith and tradition.
  • Build capacity to continuously reason, reflectively, logically and critically.
  • Embrace interdependence of human existence as global citizens, who are responsible to and for themselves and others.
  • Engage in learning in a multitude of ways, through personalised and self-paced learning.

Religious Education

3.1 Created by God – A Gift to Share

This unit explores how students are created in the image and likeness of God and loved by God. This unit introduces the second story of creation in the book of Genesis in which we are called to share. They will explore God’s love revealed in them, in others and in all of creation. 

3.2 Lent – A time for reaching out in Love

This unit examines the season of Lent as a time to reflect on ways we can change and follow Jesus through prayer, fasting and giving. The students will explore Lent as a time of renewal. 

English

This term the students will explore imaginative texts through literature. These texts include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Imaginative Text), My Two Blankets (Imaginative Text) and Dry to Dry - The Seasons of Kakadu (Hybrid Text). The focus is on developing students' reading comprehension and writing, whilst exploring the author’s purpose, effective vocabulary and structure of the text. Students will follow the ‘Seven Steps of Writing program’ to assist in the structure of their written texts. Students will be taught explicit skills in grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. They will also engage in the ‘Sound Waves’ spelling program that is implemented throughout the school.

Mathematics

Flexible learning groups will begin this term, four days a week. The activities are differentiated, and the children are grouped, in order to cater to their needs and abilities. The students are explicitly taught concepts from the NSW Mathematics K-10 Syllabus. The topics taught in Term 1 include: Data, Whole Number, Addition and Subtraction, Length and Patterns and Algebra.

Science and Technology

This semester students will engage in the Science and Technology unit ‘Living World’. They will focus on the classification, life cycle and survival of living things. Students will have the opportunity to plan, create and communicate information and ideas through design and production, using digital solutions and programming software. Students examine and consider the agricultural processes used to grow plants and raise animals. They are given the opportunity to design and support the growth of a plant and/or animal.

Mandarin

This term Year 3 students will continue the Chinese language program called the Meg Language Program. The Meg Curriculum is written by the co-author of the Australian Curriculum. All students and teachers will participate in the digital learning platform via Zoom weekly sessions.

Amadeus Music Program

This year students from all grades will be involved in the Amadeus Music Education program, introduced by Sydney Catholic Schools providing students with a high quality music education program. The program offers students expert classroom music lessons, ensemble lessons, and for primary students, group tuition.

 

Students will participate in activities in listening, performing and organising sound (Kindergarten to Year 6), within their regular Classroom Music lessons. Within these lessons, students will:

  • Sing in unison and in parts
  • Play tuned and untuned percussion instruments
  • Play available instruments such as Ukulele, Guitar and Keyboard (Grade appropriate)

For students in Years 3- 6 the program has three essential elements:

  1. Classroom Music: Whole-class music lessons taught by specialist Music tutors for up to 1 hour per week.
  2. Small Group Tuition: Students in groups of five to seven, will spend 30 minutes per week learning to play on a string, woodwind or brass instrument. 
  3. Ensemble Rehearsal: Students will play their instrument in a string ensemble, orchestra or concert band (whole of class) for up to 1 hour per week.

Small Group Tuition (Grades 3-6)

Students from Year 3 - Year 6 are required to attend weekly small group tuition lessons with their Instrumental Tutor.

  • Small group tuition lessons are 30 minutes in length and occur during the school day. 
  • Students are required to attend all scheduled lessons. 
  • Students will be given a music timetable at the start of each term and are responsible for being on-time and prepared.
  • Students are responsible for catching up on any work missed in class. They must speak to their teacher to ensure they understand any missed content.
  • It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that they:
    • Arrive on time for each lesson
    • Bring their instrument and required accessories to every lesson
    • Bring their Essential Elements* music book
    • Bring a lead pencil and eraser

*Each student will be issued an Essential Elements Music Book with their instrument. This contains all of the repertoire and material they need for their ensemble and tutorial lessons.

Creative Arts

In Visual Arts the students will focus on a variety of Australian landscape artists and their works. There are links to the English text ‘Dry to Dry - The Seasons of Kakadu’ and the Geography unit this semester. Later in the term, the students will use different media to represent the events of Holy Week. 

Personal Development, Health and Physical Education

A new program titled Open Parachute will be implemented K-6. Open Parachute aims to provide practical support on mental health to students. The program aims to reduce stigma and generate authentic dialogue in classrooms about the real issues students face. The psychological skills-building exercises aim to increase empathy, self-compassion, self-awareness, mental health literacy, and self-efficacy in students. 

The stage 2 Physical Education unit is aimed at providing opportunities for students to develop their skills and build confidence in Athletics activities using Fundamental Movement Skills. Students will practice and apply these skills through activities and team games. Games are encouraged to build teamwork, communication, strategy and resilience.

Homework 

It is recommended that Year 3 students spend up to a duration of 30 minutes on homework per day. This includes 20 minutes of reading every night. Students are required to record what was read in their School Diary each week. Parents are to sign their child’s diary weekly. 

 

Important Dates for Year 3

This semester, students will be participating in a rotation of sport, music and library lessons each Friday. This means that all students are to wear their sports uniform and bring their library bags to school every Friday.

 

Sport

Students are required to wear their sports uniform on the following days:

3 White: Monday and Friday

3 Gold: Wednesday and Friday

3 Blue: Tuesday and Friday

NAPLAN testing will be taking place at school from 15th - 27th March. Further information will be shared with you closer to the date.

 

School Term - Friday 27th January - Thursday, 6th April 2023

Parent calendar available at this link 

 

We look forward to working with you and your child this term. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher via a note or by appointment via the office. 

 

Miss Taylar Puskaric (3Blue)

Miss Kathleen Kennedy (3Gold)

Mr Thomas Gair (3White)