Mathematics

At ASPS we know that the greatest mathematicians are not the fastest or those who never make mistakes. Rather, they are those who:

• Are curious.
• Solve problems in more than one way.
• Clearly communicate their thinking
• See mistakes as opportunities for learning.
• Accept challenges.
• Collaborate with others.
• Recognise and use their own strengths and weaknesses.

Our teachers nurture a classroom culture that promotes this “growth mindset” approach to the learning of mathematics.

Literacy

We follow the Australian Curriculum to ensure that English standards are met for our year level. Following these guidelines we plan lessons with an emphasis on real literature at the core, to explicitly teach concepts involved in Reading & Viewing, Speaking & Listening and Writing.

The way we approach teaching the English curriculum enables our students to:

• be confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens who learn to analyse, understand, communicate with, and build relationships with others and with the world around them.
• read, view, speak, write, create, and reflect on increasingly complex and sophisticated spoken, written, and multimodal texts across a growing range of context with accuracy, fluency, and purpose.
• learn to appreciate, enjoy, and use the English language in all its variations and develop a sense of its richness and power to evoke feelings, convey information from ideas, facilitate interaction with others, entertain, persuade, and debate.

Inquiry Units

This year the topics we will be learning about are:

Term 1

Students will learn about the lives of the First Australians before European settlers arrived in Australia and the causes and reasons for the journey of the First Fleet. They will practice thinking and acting like historians as they are immersed in stories of first contact between Indigenous Australians and European Settlers.

Term 2                                                                                                                                                                     

Students will appreciate the idea that Earth is one environment and the only place that we know of which can sustain life. They will be able to participate in discussions about whose responsibility it is to sustain the environment. Students will be able to list strategies for helping endangered animals. They will be curious to learn more about environmental sustainability and motivated to contribute to conservation campaigns.

Term 3                                                                                                                                                  

Students will learn about social justice issues experienced by people with disabilities. They learn about the role that rules and laws play in our community as they share their opinions about existing laws. Your students will research a disability and write creatively about an important day in the life of someone who has the disability that they have researched.

Term 4                                                                                                                                                         

Students will develop an understanding and an appreciation of the skills that are required to develop a creative story. They will be more confident to use technology, attempting unfamiliar tasks with a 'give it a go' mentality. Your students will appreciate how artists have used computers to enhance creative ideas, and they will use computers to bring their creative ideas to life.

In the 3/4 unit, we also have learning in the areas of Growth Mindset, Respectful Relationships, Physical Education, Art and Digital Technologies.