Welcome to Term 4!

Hello, everyone. A warm welcome to Term 4. It's hard to believe that we are almost at the end of Year 3.

I trust that the holidays provided time for family activities and relaxation. It's great to see the boys and girls bouncing back through the school gate and ready for another exciting term of learning.

This term we extend an extra warm welcome to Abbey Beresford and her family (brother Lachlan, Year 5, sister Georgia, Year 6 and her parents). We trust that Abbey and her family will settle in quickly and feel embraced by our wonderful school community.

Here is a brief overview of what is happening in Term 4:

English: We will continue with our Literacy Learning Contracts. They worked really well last term and students enjoyed some independence in their learning. The contract activities typically include Spelling, Grammar, Creative Writing, Reading Group and Handwriting Activities. I will be fine tuning these to suit the needs of the students. We will focus on Descriptive writing, and in particular, in factual texts. We will also look at different types of poetry. Drama will be integrated with English.

Mathematics: Stage 2 Maths will continue on Mondays. We have planned a 'business plan' project in which students will work in teams to design, plan, create and operate a 'lemonade' type stall. We commence in Week 2 with the aim of setting up the stalls in Week 8. It will be a great opportunity for students to work mathematically and apply their knowledge and skills in a real-world context. During the term we will consolidate many concepts as well as investigate Mass, Position and Money.

If you can, it is really valuable to continue to engage with your child mathematically in your daily life such as reading and converting time (analog to digital); cooking (fractions, capacity (L & ml), mass/weighing (Kg & g), saving money or shopping with money (forecasting/estimating, adding, subtracting, calculating change). Times tables practice is also highly recommended.

Science: This Term's Unit is titled Our Living World. Students will investigate what it means to be alive, classify living things based on their observable features and studying life cycles by growing a bean plant. We have integrated this unit with English and Library lessons during which they will write an informative text on a land animal and continue developing their research, summarising and writing skills.

Geography: We are continuing our investigations into places that are similar and different. In particular we are building geographical knowledge about natural features, human features, climate, settlement patterns of places as well as mapping skills. We will compare and contrast Australia and neighbouring countries to identify similarities and differences.

Health and PE: Health lessons this term will be with Year 4. The theme is Safety including road and water safety. PE this term is Dance and Friday Sport includes Sailing (Weeks 1, 2 & 3) and Golf, Hockey and Ultimate Frisbee (Weeks 4, 5 & 6).

Dates for your diaries:

• Mon 22 Oct and 29 Oct: Lunchtime Recitals
• Thurs 25 Oct and 1 Nov: Lunchtime Recitals
• Wed 31 Oct: Year 3/4 Sculptures By the Sea Excursion
• Fri 23 Nov: Christmas Carols and Carnival
• Thu 6 Dec: Transition Morning
• Mon 10 Dec: Class Party Day
• Tue 11 Dec: Presentation Day (Y3-6)

Finally, our weekly routine remains the same as follows:

Monday: Chapel after lunch
Tuesday: Library (returns and borrowing) after lunch
Wednesday: Specialist Lessons (Art, Spanish and Christian Studies)
Thursday: Music and PE (wear sports uniform - coloured house shirt)
Friday: Assembly (8:30am); Sport (wear sports uniform - white sports shirt)

Kind regards
Wendy Lucas

PS: Students absolutely loved the sailing today and we were very blessed with the weather!