Welcome Back to Term 4!

Good afternoon everyone,

Welcome back to our final term together! I hope you and your children have managed to have a fun and restful break. I switched off in week one and am truly grateful for it now, as I feel refreshed and ready for a busy final term.

As I think about how quickly this year has gone and how close we are to the end I can't help but reflect on how much the students have grown and matured. I am looking forward to an important term together, working hard to prepare them as best as I can for the transition into high school next year.

WEEK 1 - REMINDERS

TOMATO PLANTS

Mr Lee is asking if any clever little munchkins managed to continue growing their tomato seeds from term 3 and have baby tomato plants growing to bring them back to school. He would like to use these to fundraise money, along with the worm whizz later on this term.

ASSEMBLIES
This term, assemblies will recommence on Friday afternoons. As we are still in Phase 4 Restrictions, parents are still not allowed to attend due to the restricted numbers available in the hall for social distancing. Any Merits and Star Citizens will be recorded and posted onto the class blog. More information to follow in the coming newsletters.


IMPORTANT DATES 

• Ian Lillico Parent Workshop - Monday, 19th October 7-9pm in the school hall.
• First Eucharist - Sunday 8th November at 10am at Our Lady of the Southern Cross Church. All Year 4 students are expected to attend to support their classmates making their First Eucharist.
• Pupil Free Day - Monday 23rd November
• Year 6 Musical - Friday 27th November.
• International Day of Disabilities - Friday 4th December
• Year 6 Graduation Mass & Celebration - Location TBA - Friday 4th December
• End of Year Christmas Concert - Tuesday 8th December (Further details to come)
• Year Six End of Year Excursion - Wednesday 9th December
• Colour Run/Last Day of Term 4 - Friday 11th December.

RECYCLED ART MATERIALS

We are hoping that your child by this stage of the holidays has collected their 'Recycled Art' materials and are ready to be brought in on Thursday 15th October (week 1) to begin creating their Art piece. Remember they needed to collect one type of recycled material and many of them, e.g. numerous wine bottle lids or milk lids or bread tags or used coffee pods or corks, etc. 


UNIFORM REMINDERS

If I can just ask you to make sure that your child is coming to school with their hat each day...particularly coming in to Term 4 the weather is warm and hats are a necessity. We are back into the summer dress for the ladies and shorts for the boys.


GRADUATION

At this stage, I am waiting on the final decision of what graduation will look like in 2020 from Administration. This will be finalised by the end of week 2 and families will be informed as soon as possible. I just wanted you to know that discussions have been had and that Graduation has not been forgotten about.

LEARNING - WEEK 1

ENGLISH

In English this term we are starting with a whole class novel study on the book 'Once' by Morris Gleitzman. For those unfamiliar to this text, it is a children’s historical fiction novel. Set in Poland during World War II, the story follows Felix, a 10-year-old Jewish boy being hidden from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage, as he embarks on a quest to find his parents. Gleitzman was inspired by the true experiences of the Polish-Jewish educator and author Janusz Korczak during the Holocaust. Korczak is the inspiration for the character Barney, who sacrifices himself to try to ensure the well-being of Jewish orphans. Once is the first title in his seven-book series that follows Felix through World War II into old age. 

I am aware a few students have already read this book, however they will develop a deeper understanding of WWII and the holocaust as I will be providing support through numerous writing sessions that will give them the background information they required to really understand the novel.

Over the holidays I have been reading a book called The Writing Revolution, and have been inspired to go back and teach the nitty gritty of sentence and paragraph formation. This process will enable a child to structure sentences and paragraphs with purpose and elaborate and expand on their ideas without even knowing they are doing it. The lower primary teachers started using part of the process last term and have seen impressive improvements in their writing already. Teaching students incredible and complex content in a simple way, this will hopefully enhance their writing in all subject areas. I will run this program alongside 'Information Reports', this way the students can then practice what they are learning about in their Information Reports.

Later in the term we will run Book Club, where students will read individual texts in groups and complete a novel study on it.

MATHS
In Maths this term, we are focusing on becoming geniuses in reading digital, analogue and 24-hour time, as well as calculating elapsed time with any of these forms. They will also be reading and creating their own timetables on excel/word. 

After this we will look at Finanacial Maths and end the year with Cartesian Planes (plotting coordinates).

SCIENCE

I am super excited about our physical science topic this term. We will be looking at 'Electricity' and learning about how it is made, renewable and non-renewable sources, creating electrical circuits and experimenting with trying to make a light globe like Thomas Edison. 

We will finish the term with a fun STEM project in week 6 where the students in groups have to create their own Christmas quiz game creating an electrical buzzer. SO MUCH FUN!!

HEALTH

We will be completing a unit on 'Transitioning to High School'. This will identify the the similarities and differences between primary school and high school, organizational/study skills required, what are electives, best ways to stay engaged, plan and prioritize and provide opportunities for them to voice their nerves and ask any questions. Hopefully this will help in some way!

RELIGION

In Religion this term we will first be completing the the unit on Prayer, followed by Vocation and then Advent. 

MUSICAL

Amongst all of this learning we will be also practising for the Muscial. This will take place on a Wednesday each week from 11.45-1pm. Can you please ensure your child is there, as all students have an important role to play in this Muscial. 

Please Note: There will be a BRIEF Musical meeting on Wednesday 14th October (week 1) in the hall at 3.15pm after school. For those who can make it, it would be greatly appreciated as Maureen will discuss the musical and any costume requirements. If you are unable to attend, I will pass on the information missed in the blog.

WEEK 1 - HOMEWORK

Homework for this week includes:

1. Learning Grid - Free Choice Tasks - students are to complete 3 different activities from the bottom section of their grid.
2. Spelling - 2 Activities - Dictionary Meaning and Word Pictures (at least 7 of their words)
3. Mathletics Tasks - Complete 2 SET TASKS by Friday
4. Reading - out loud 20 minutes each night (titles to be written into their diaries)

ASSESSMENTS:

PAT Reading Assessment -  Wednesday 14th October

PAT Spelling Assessment - Friday 16th October

PAT Maths Assessment - Monday 19th October

PAT Grammar Assessment - Wednesday 21st October

I will be using the results of the PAT Assessments in my transition meeting with St Mary McKillop College later this term.

Have a great week everyone. Thank you for your ongoing support :) 

Mrs Ricciardone & Mrs Martin