Year 4

Assalamu Alaikum Parents/Guardians

Year 4A students had a very exciting and busy term of adjusting to routines and learning about expectations set by both school and teachers. They are settling in quite well and most students have undertaken a lot of responsibilities to demonstrate the four core values consistently. Students are continuing to learn a lot this term about organising and managing their time at home to complete homework, revise their daily work and are looking ahead to many more challenges to continually develop a growth mindset approach to all learning tasks.

In English, we are using the Seven Steps program to understand how to write narratives and students have learned how to plan for success by generating ideas that allows them to think about the story graph in depth which is structured into introduction to characters and settings, events leading to a major problem and then an exciting end. Spelling words are taught weekly using Jolly Phonics which is integrated in Homework Hound as well as other activities provided as part of their classwork and homework to revise rules and meanings. In Comprehension, students learned to use the reading strategies of Activating Prior Knowledge, Making Connections and Questioning using various texts in class. Grammar has been integrated into daily use of writing and spelling with basics such as identifying use of correct punctuation, capital letters, nouns, adjectives and verbs.

 Our focus in Maths was based on properties of odd and even numbers as well as place values. Students learned to apply basic place value concepts to develop skills in comparing, ordering and rounding numbers, writing and reading numerals up to 5-digits, writing numbers in expanded notations and adding 5-digit numbers using various strategies. They are also revising and practicing their daily times tables to maintain accuracy and speed on a weekly basis.

They have applied their experiences and knowledge of four core values this term to design their Harmony Day projects related to the concept of designing a mural using cubes in Arts and designed boomerangs using basic Aboriginal art patterns. Harmony Day consisted of activities related to writing ten facts about this day and its importance in Australia. Students also thought from Islamic perspective to discuss and make a pledge on how to attain harmony throughout the year by listing goals that are measurable and attainable.

In Science, students learnt about Daintree Rainforests, concepts related to ecosystem and how conservation of living organisms in an ecosystem sustained the various biological cycles related to food chains. They learned about the differences between habitats and ecosystems as well and how that maintains the food chain when the right factors are met.

In HASS we have been learning about Australia’s First People. Students had a great foundation for this learning over the course of last year and finished the term with a major project on a Famous First Australian. There were some interesting choices including Pemulwuy who we decided was akin to an Indigenous Superhero. Our class is becoming very socially aware of nation’s history and is developing an understanding of the injustices of the past.

We have been looking at how to be responsible digital citizens. Students have learnt about their digital footprint and how to be safe when using the internet socially and educationally. We finished the term by navigating our way through Canva which was a new program for many students. Everyone designed a comic strip around the topics of online safety, cyber bullying and or digital citizenship.

In health this term we have looked at how we can better form respectful relationships. This has included a focus on bullying which tied nicely to our digital technologies. Students were tasked to write a story for Junior Primary about friendships and bullying situations. Keeping stories simplistic for younger students was a challenge for some but the task was achieved, and we enjoyed reading our books to the Receptions in our last lesson.

Our Physical Education was split into two parts this term. Half the term we focused on preparing for sports day. We had several new events and wanted to build team spirit by practicing the team-based events. The other half we spent on volleyball, which our class got a double dose of. With me as their PE teacher and the Sporting Schools Coach attending on a separate day, they developed some impressive skills. It was certainly a very popular sport and I would recommend looking into Volleyball SA’s School Holiday Clinics. Swimming was a success as students participated in developing more skills to enhance their learning experiences in this area of P.E.

The joy of Ramadan approaching has lifted everyone’s spirits in the classroom as students are eagerly working away on Ramadan art projects to end the last week of this term by setting goals both academically as well as from a religious perspective to attain the many blessings this holy month brings. We look forward to a productive start in Term 2 Inn Shaa Allah and wish all parents and students a very blessed beginning this Ramadan and a safe term break.

Rumana Mazhar

Emina Kosovac