Religion
In Religion we are developing an understanding and appreciation of mission and the call to mission through Scripture. The students have been exploring and learning to implement ways to continue the mission of Jesus in our school and community. 

English
In Literacy this term we have been reading ‘The Wild Robot’ by Peter Brown. It is an action-packed and heartwarming story about when technology and nature collide - a robots adventure in the wild! The students were very much intrigued and engaged in the story that we have finished the novel and have begun reading the second story - The Wild Robot Escapes. During our reading workshops, students have been reading Roald Dahl novels within small groups. 

The students have written a range of texts this term. We have linked our writing to our History by writing a journal entry based on being a convict. We then took on the role of a journalist writing a newspaper article based on the First Fleet arrival. Year 4 are currently poets, exploring vocabulary and a play on words as we write Haikus with picture prompts!

Maths
In Maths we are following the direct-instruction program ‘Connecting Maths Concepts’. This program teaches specific strategies that enable students to master challenging concepts. It also develops the students' problem solving skills and their ability to think and communicate mathematically. Our students have been placed in groups according to their ability. Over the past couple of weeks we have been exploring number families, multiplication facts, word problems and fractions. 

Science
In Science this term, our Physics unit has had a strong focus on forces. Some of the concepts we have covered have included how objects can affect other objects at a distance, changing the movement of an object requires a net force to be acting on it, comparing and contrasting the effect of friction on different surfaces and investigating the effect of forces on the behaviour of an object through actions such as dropping, throwing, bouncing and rolling. It’s been a real hands on unit of work and a lot of fun investigating different forces. 

History
Why don't escaped convicts make good writers? Because they never finish their sentences! History is always fun to learn about and Year 4 has delved right into learning about The First Fleet, convicts, colonisation and the impacts of colonisation on the Indigenous population. They have explored the significance of events in bringing about change, how and why life changed in the past, identified aspects of the past that have remained the same and the experiences of an individual or group in the past.

Creative Arts
Mrs Ziegler has been teaching us Visual Art and Music this term. In Visual Art we have been learning about complimentary colours and positive space (foreground) and negative space (background) to determine the overall composition in artworks. We used the first initial letter of our name to arrange the letters to balance the positive and negative space. Our second art piece was to create a piece of art using our knowledge of observational drawings from the beginning of the term. The students had to also demonstrate their knowledge of complementary colours, form and balance. 

In Music the students have been learning about beat, rhythm and how music can represent different day or night sounds using percussion instruments. 

PDHPE
Students have been fortunate over the past few weeks to have been part of the AFL Primary Play coaching sessions. Each Friday, students have been taught the skills to handle and catch an AFL ball, kicking short and long distances as well as lots of games to help with fair play, cooperation and sportsmanship. It has been a lot of fun!!!

Year 4 have had an amazing time swimming on Wednesdays, showing tremendous growth in both their confidence and abilities in the water. As part of their weekly lessons, students have also been taught how to perform a dry rescue safely, using a variety of accessories like pool noodles, kick boards and life jackets.

We have also had a recent visit to the Life Ed van to learn about Friends and Feelings. This was a great opportunity to learn about identifying and practising assertive communications skills and practise emotional regulation skills. 

Highlights of Year 4

Gracie P: In Year 4 I loved playing different sports with Mr Hill such as soccer and Capture the Flag. I love learning about our health with Mr Hill. I really enjoyed when we used pastels in Art. I loved seeing my art displayed in the classroom. 

Abbie H: My favourite part this year was the Athletics Carnival and Cross Country. I really love sport and it encourages me to be faster. I really enjoy trying to make it to other levels and improve on my personal best. 

Ollie A: I loved the swimming carnival because I made it to Sydney for the relay. My team got to warm up in the Sydney Olympic diving pool and race in the Olympic pool. I also loved Geography because I loved researching about different places. 

Andre L: I loved going on school camp this year - it was really fun! We went bowling and to the Deep Space Complex. I enjoyed Connecting Maths Concepts because I am learning how to add fractions and more challenging questions. 

Tessa H: This year in Howard we won the Swimming Carnival. It was not easy but after our hard work we won. It was a very close carnival and a very long day. It was my favourite part of the year. I really enjoyed History because I loved learning about the First Fleet and what it was like living during those times. It was interesting to see how harsh the conditions were. 

Billie B: I have enjoyed many things in Year 4 but one thing that has stood out to me was how great, encouraging, kind and amazing my teachers were. I would like Mr Bateman, Mrs Kenny and Mrs Ziegler to all remember this class and be given a great big gold star. Thank you!

Sam W: My highlights for Year 4 are the swimming carnival, running at Wolumla, going to the Botanical Gardens in Term 1. I loved going bowling on school camp in Term 4. My favourite artwork that we completed was our Pete Cromer inspired artwork. 

Liam M: I loved the Athletics carnival because I made it on to compete for my school in the discus, 100m and the 100m relay. It was my first time making it on - I came 3rd in the 100m and 3rd in the relay. I was proud of myself even though I didn't make it onto Canberra. I really enjoyed Maths this year because it was interesting to learn new large numbers. 

Bella S: This year the one thing that stood out to me was when I made it to Bega for the Athletics Carnival. I made it on in high jump, shot put, long jump, 100m, 200m, and the relay. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed it. I then made it on to Canberra in the 100m and the relay. It was my first time since Year 2. I was really nervous. I also loved completing the NAIDOC Week art where we had to do a dot painting around our hand. 

Matilda W: In Year 4, my teachers have really stood out for me. Mrs Kenny and her big smile every day and her amazing art lessons, Mr Bateman and how he always makes sure that we are on task and not distracted and our Prac student teacher Mrs Ziegler because she is willing to step in and lead our class. Thank you so much teachers, we love you so much. We will miss you next year Mrs Kenny, but we will never, ever forget you.  

Dakota S: My favourite highlight of the year was probably School Camp because we got to spend time with each other. We were able to learn new things in Canberra. My second highlight is running because we get to all cheer people on. I really enjoyed Art this year because you were able to express your feelings. 

Mackenzie H: I loved the athletics carnival this year because I made it to Sydney in long jump. I jumped 164cm. My favourite part this year has been PDHPE because I love sport - mainly soccer. I have also enjoyed Connecting Maths Concepts because of the independent work. 

Madelyn M: This year I have enjoyed swimming carnivals and lessons. I love swimming in general so this is why I love doing it at school. We’ve learnt about the backstroke flags to help guide us, practised tumble turns and you get to do all different dives. I love racing in carnivals but if you don’t want to you can watch your friends and get some tips on the stroke. I loved Art - in particular drawing. 

Alex: I love CMC because it is great for teaching people to learn more about maths. I love sport because it keeps you energetic for running and I love the carnivals.

Declan T: This year in Yr 4 I had a go at cross country and I won first place. I had to go on to Wolumla, then Canberra and then Sydney to compete. It was very exciting and definitely my favourite part of the school year. 

Sam H:  In year 4 we started a program called CMC. It’s a maths program that is fun because you do things like timetables and algebra. We do it 4 days a week and the CMC levels get harder and harder.

Lily M: I just had the best time at camp. We just played and got together as Stage 2. All of us got along. We got to go to so many places like the AIS, the Deep Space Complex and there were many more places. Here is one thing I learnt. It looks like shingleback lizards have two heads.

Dion P: I really like the athletics carnival. I like doing sporty stuff. I like nearly anything to do with sport. 

Brielle B: In Year 4 I love playing games and sports. I feel confident to play even when I do not know the game. It makes me very happy. 

Anikah H: This year, one thing that stood out is Athletics because about a year ago I made it onto  MacKillop level in Sydney for the relay, but this year I made it on in long jump and the 100m.

Charnaya T: What I loved about this year was school camp. I really enjoyed having fun when we went bowling. The other thing I loved about this year was swimming. It was hard at the start but then I got used to it and it was really fun to do. I also liked CMC. It wasn’t that hard and it was really calming maths.

Benji R: I loved camp because we did ten pin bowling. I came 3rd place. After the ten pin bowling my friends and I went to the arcade. At dinner, when I ate it, it was so good, but when they said we would be having chocolate ice cream, I thought “Blah”. But this wasn’t normal chocolate ice cream. The yucky part of the ice cream wasn’t there! The ice cream was actually pretty good. Big surprise!

Anthony M:  I loved writing about the Wild Robot because it was very interesting and fun. I wrote 5 paragraphs in my book about the Wild Robot and I loved doing our narrative writing. It was very fun.

Liam G: This year I really liked reading the books at fruit break. I really like it because we learned about cool fiction stories based on adventure and animals.

Ellie R: This year we went on Stage 2 camp to Canberra. It was lots of fun, especially when we went to the AIS and got to learn about all the different sports and races that are in the Olympics. We even got to see some Olympians such as weight lifters and volley ballers train. We even sang happy birthday to one of the weight lifters.

Mrs Sophie Kenny and Mr Justin Bateman
Year 4 Teachers