Welcome to Year 4!
Kaya Everyone!
A warm welcome to the 2023 school year! We are both very much excited about meeting you all and getting to know the students as we begin the school year. We thought that it would be helpful if we gave you some information about the routines of the first few weeks which may be handy in preparing your children to come to school this Wednesday 1st February.
Our first day is always busy and everyone (including us) is excited, and sometimes nervous about how the day will go. If you can make sure your child is at school as close to 8.30am as possible, this helps to settle the nerves!
Following is an extremely detailed and lengthy blogpost involving a lot of information. Future blogs will be a lot shorter and much easier to read - we promise! Feel absolutely free to email either of us if you have any questions at all before Wednesday, no matter how small they may seem as a quick response might be all you need to answer your wondering and put your mind at ease. There will also be a information Powerpoint shared via the blog at the end of Week 2 and a parent information session meet and greet time held in Week Three.
Okay, here we go!!!
Year 4 is the big kids year and your child has officially reached the higher years of primary school. It is a year of growing independence, responsibilities and a time for students to shine and develop their individual personalities and learning styles. It is a big, but exciting year where your child will, discover, grow, create, learn, reflect and experience an abundance of fun and interesting things in our class!
This Year, we will be having two teachers in Year Four. In Term 1, Mrs Chrissy Casella will teach the class from Mon-Wed and Mrs Amy Sherborne will teach on Thu-Fri. In Term 2 we welcome Mrs Paula Murphy back from Long Service Leave, who will take over Chrissy's Mon-Wed. Mrs Tina Hayward (Mon-Wed) and Mrs Lynn Peacock (Thu-Fri) will spend mornings across both Year 4 classrooms in the role of Education Assistants. The class will be known as 4M (M for 'Murphy'). Just to confuse you, on other occasions the class may be referred to as '4 Teal' via SEQTA.
First Day
Your child will see that they have been allocated a seat and a drawer within the classroom. As they come in, we ask that they bring in their bags to unpack, find their seat and then put their belongings in their drawer.
There is a home for their water bottles, and they are to keep their Crunch n Sip on their desks with their pencil cases. They will be directed to the whiteboard with reminders on what to do.
Stationery/Book Orders
Exercise and Scrap Books – If you can please make sure that you have purchased the given number of exercise and scrap books. There will be boxes in the classroom for the students to place these books on the first day. It will not be necessary to have names on the books, as we will label the books as we go (if you have already labelled books, not to worry)!
Pencil Cases - Your child will have their own pencil case. Please stock their pencil case with lead pencils, a handful of pens, highlighters, a sharpener, eraser, ruler and scissors as these are the most used items. If you would like to include coloured pencils, textas and crayons in this you are welcome to. Alternatively, you can include an additional pencil case with these items. The students can get these from their drawers as needed. We ask that all pencil case items are labelled with your child’s name. On day one, the children will place all spare stationery from their order in a ziplock bag labelled with their name on it so that they can replenish their pencil cases as needed. We will regularly check up on the students' pencil cases and keep you updated if they are needing anything.
Tissues - If your child can also remember to bring in their 2 boxes of tissues as well, we would be most appreciative.
Uniform
Please check in with the school website for any last-minute questions and make sure that your child adheres to our guidelines around hair and fringe length. Both boys and girls must have their hair off their face and tied up if it falls below their collar.
Gathering Time
Class is open from 8.30am. If you can endeavour to get your child to class on time it helps to feel settled and organised for the day.
This is an important time of the day for us to connect with the students and help get them set up for the day ahead. We are available for brief messages and welcome further communication via email. We are also available to meet with you upon request. We value clear communication between families and appreciate you keeping us informed about your child, as will we from the school front.
Daily Routine
We are very keen to encourage a sense of independence and personal responsibility amongst the Year 4 students. We expect that in the mornings they are carrying their own bags to class, water bottle and crunch and sip to come in to class, getting their own chairs and then settling to follow the given instructions on the board. We ask that you support your child to do as much of this independently as possible. We understand that some students require more organisational support than others, but we will work with your child to help develop those organisational skills, to build confidence within themselves as learners and members of the class.
Bell Times🔔 Doors O/Gathering Time: 8:30am - 8:40am (This is the time that your child will settle in, set up their desk, prepare learning space and chat/play with friends.
Learning begins: 8:40am
Recess: 10:40am - 11:00am
Lunch: 1:00pm - 1:40pm
End of School Day: 3:00pm for everyone, including pick up lane & bus.
Policy for Early Leaving🏫
This is the same OLC policy regarding early leaving - If you wish to collect your child early from school, you are required to come to go to the office first and sign out via SEQTA using the school Ipad. Students are not able to sign themselves in and out so please come into the school office with your child upon returning.
Swimming Lessons
Lessons will begin on the first day - Wednesday 1st February and will run through until Friday 10th February. Students are asked to wear their sports uniform every day from Wednesday.
Students will need to wear their regular sports uniform including sneakers to and from school and will need a separate bag with their towel, goggles and thongs ready to go.
We also encourage you to also pack a bottle of your child's preferred sunscreen in their swimming bag as well to reapply (especially if they have sensitivities) as we get changed and prepare to leave at half past eleven. Our lessons run from 12pm and we will leave 15 mins prior to our lesson and return within approximately 15 minutes of our lesson concluding.
A reminder that although they can wear thongs to the lesson, sneakers will be required for the remainder of the day. Please ensure that your child comes to school with sunscreen on and the following items for swimming:
Small bag with bathers, goggles, rash vest or t-shirt (this is compulsory no rashie - no swimming), towel, school hat, thongs/flip flops, water bottle.
Swimming is a very busy time where belongings can be misplaced or lost. We will both be reminding the children before, during and after the lessons that they have all of their belongings but it would be great if you could label all items so that if something does go missing, it can make its way back to the owner.
Physical Education/Sports Uniforms
Thursdays will be the day for Year 4M Sport lessons with Mrs Mandy Sinclair. Please wear sports uniform on Thursdays this year and coloured faction shirts sports uniform on Fridays.
Library
Library book exchange will commence in week 3. Year 4M will be required to bring their Library books and bags on a Monday.
Laptops
There is a lot of excitement surrounding our first use of personal laptops in Year 4. The students will commence using their laptops in week 3. It will not be necessary to bring laptops to school until Monday 13th January (after swimming lessons have finished - wet bathers and laptops are not a good combination)! We will keep you informed about our laptop guidelines and policies and further information will be provided at the Parent Information Evening.
Timetable
Once swimming has concluded, we will also advise of our classroom timetables, this is helpful to refer back to in case of booking appointments, music lessons and knowing what to bring/wear on each day.
Year Four Cohort
We are extremely lucky to have two small class sizes for Year Four which presents opportunities to do lots of learning together, create more learning opportunities and develop new friendships across the two classes. We plan to provide many times throughout the week for the classes to mix and swap in some different learning areas including Visual Arts, Technology and Health. In first term we will also be involved in additional Religion lessons with our preparation for our first Eucharist. Some fitness and some sports sessions will also be combined, in addition to always having break times at recess and lunch at the same time where students can eat and play together. All Year Four teachers also have dedicated planning time every week to plan and assess together and we will also be teaching a consistent Literacy and Mathematics program across both of the classes.
Enjoy the last days of holidays and we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!
Bornung Koort Dombart Wongi
Many Hearts One Voice
Chrissy and Amy
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