Curriculum News

English

In English this term we will be focusing on improving our comprehension skills, including sequencing events in texts, comparing and contrasting, points of view and finding directly stated information.  We will be exploring different phonological foci each week in Spelling, as well as improving our understanding of different aspects of grammar. In Writing, we will be concentrating on Writing to Inform and  Historical Narratives which will support our Inquiry Unit.

Maths

In Mathematics this term we will be continuing to extend our knowledge of place value, addition, subtraction, division and multiplication (Number and Algebra), time, length and perimeter (Measurement and Geometry) and Displaying and Interpreting Data (Statistics and Probability). Students will use an online program called MFacts to practise their times tables each week. MFacts will also become part of the children’s homework. The children will be required to practise their tables at home but Assessment tasks MUST BE COMPLETED AT SCHOOL. 

Inquiry/Religion

Our Inquiry Unit for Term 1 is ‘Celebrations, Community and Remembrance’, where we will learn about Australian symbols and celebrations, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander symbols and  celebrations.  We will also learn about church symbols and celebrations, as well as the symbols and celebrations of different cultures.

In Religious Education  we will be learning about ‘Church and Community’ as we lead into Lent and the preparation for Easter. The Grade 4 children will also begin their preparation for the Sacrament of Eucharist. We will be exploring Catholic celebrations and scripture that shows these. We will also identify who is in our Catholic community, reflecting and putting into action ways we can contribute to Mary of the Cross Parish giving back to our community.

Below is a basic list of our Inquiry unit Vocabulary:

celebration, ceremony, community, national, memorial, emblem, diversity, parade, food, costumes, culture, harmony, beliefs, religion, sacrifice, wreath, reconciliation, symbol, Easter, chronological, tradition, resurrection, intercultural, coat of arms, historical commemoration,  NAIDOC week, ANZAC Day, Australia Day, Queens Birthday, Labor Day

Social & Emotional Wellbeing

We will start the year by revisiting our ‘Show Me Five’ rules, with activities planned to focus on what behaviours are the core of each rule. We will also work with the children on Growth Mindset activities in developing a positive, resilient and persistent attitude/mindset to school and learning. In all the activities the important aspect is to ‘give it a go’ and that making ‘mistakes’ are part of learning.

We will also focus on 'Emotional Literacy'. This has an emphasis on the children's ability to understand themselves and other people, and the ability to understand and express feelings by revisiting the ‘Zones of Regulation’