We have had an excellent start to Term 4. We have enjoyed welcoming students into the learning environment, seeing their smiling faces and hearing about their holiday adventures. Upon our return we welcomed Sebastian (Year 4) to Penbank.

Our current Unit of Inquiry, How the World Works, has continued from last term, with students researching systems, particularly systems relating to human health e.g., body systems - cardiovascular, integumentary, digestive, and the nervous system. Students are learning to create well-structured information reports. We have discussed the components of this text type, including headings, imagery (illustrations, photos, diagrams, charts, tables), paragraphs, supporting details, and topic sentences. Students are writing information reports with familiar subject content that will incorporate fact-finding research informed by their personal interests. We would like to welcome families to view the students work during Week 4 – more details to come!

Maths is all about fractions! Students are viewing fractions as parts of a whole, recognising that fractions are equal parts, seeing different ways to name fractions (common, decimal, percentages), naming, comparing and renaming, making, ordering, and much more. As well, we play games to develop strategies when working with numbers. It is so exciting to hear students talk about their strategies, questions, and elaborations when involved in math games. Although we work towards developing conceptual understandings with maths, quick recall of number facts helps a great deal. So, creating drills with your kids with spontaneous multiplication questions, as well as addition, subtraction, and division (sharing) problems can be a great help.

We see children who are happy each day, and eager to attend school every morning! We value open communication with you, so please reach out if you have any questions or simply want to check in and say hello.

KATHERINE, JUSTIN, GAYLE and SALLY
Year 3 and 4 Teachers