Challenge Term Four 2024 Learning Overview
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome back for another term brimming with engaging learning experiences in Challenge! We’re thrilled about the opportunities that await us this term.
Student Wellbeing
This term, we are continuing to focus on student well-being, which is essential for effective learning both at school and at home. The students will enhance their self-awareness and learn to regulate their emotions during challenging situations. They will be encouraged to express their feelings with trusted peers and adults while exploring tools and strategies to help shift their emotions for better outcomes.
Investigations
This term, we will be clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the three levels of government, local, state/territory, and federal, while also identifying and discussing the key features of the Australian electoral process. Students will investigate how individuals become Australian citizens and explain their personal roles and actions as citizens in school and in the wider community. Additionally, we will explore different perspectives on contemporary issues related to democracy and citizenship by participating in relevant democratic processes, such as the school decision-making process and the student council.
English
During Term Four, the students will continue to be engaged with a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts. Their main focus is to identify key information and subject-specific vocabulary. Students will investigate words within the text, creating a vocabulary chart and researching synonyms and antonyms to extend their vocabulary. They will continue to develop their writing to engage the reader by using appropriate conjunctions when writing to persuade an audience. The students will have opportunities to present their learning to an audience, maintaining a focus on eye contact, appropriate tone, and fluency.
Mathematics
While participating in Mathematics, the students will compare and order common unit fractions with the same and related denominators, including mixed numbers, and represent them on a number line. They will solve problems involving multiple operations to evaluate missing variables. Students will apply their knowledge of equivalence to compare and represent halves, thirds, and quarters, justifying their position on a number line.
Auslan
During Term Four, the students will learn that the Deaf community is a diverse intersectional community. They will engage with learning about Deaf Catholics, Deaf refugees, Deaf Lebanese-born Australians, Deaf Muslims, Deaf wheelchair users, Deaf women, and elderly Deaf individuals. The students will continue to discover that Deaf people choose to celebrate what is important to them in a visual way. They will retrieve signs for religious terms, times, pronouns, celebrations, and questions.
Religion
In Term Four, the students will investigate the values of St. Francis of Assisi, such as peace, humility, love of nature, and service to the poor. They will reflect on how they can live out these values in their home, school, and community. The students will explore the story of Nativity and compare and contrast the versions found in Scripture.
Reading Diaries
It is an expectation that all students at St Lawrence read for 20 minutes every school night. Students will continue to use their reading diary to record details (Title of the book, pages read and parent signature) on the day they have read at home. Your child’s teachers will collect the student diaries every fortnight, to check and ensure they have been reading every day.
Home Learning
To promote student accountability towards managing their learning during class time, students are encouraged to take home unfinished school work to complete at home.
Year Six Graduation
The Year Six students will celebrate their Graduation Mass on Wednesday, December 11, at St. Anthony’s Parish Church from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. Following this, they will hold their celebratory dinner on Thursday, December 12, in Building 1 at St. Lawrence of Brindisi from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM.
Enrolments for Secondary School
We would like to provide a friendly reminder to our families to inform the school about enrollments for your child’s secondary school in 2025 and 2026. This will assist our teachers in preparing for transition programs with your child’s secondary school for Year Seven.
Contact details
If you would like to contact us via email, our email addresses* are:
Thomas Punzalan – thomas.punzalan@slweirviews.catholic.edu.au
Natalie Bruzzesse-Natalie.bruzzesse@slweirviews.catholic.edu.au
*Please note that we will endeavour to respond to emails within 48 hours within the working week. We are not able to respond to emails after school hours.
Kind regards,
Natalie Bruzzese and Thomas Punzalan
Challenge Learning Community Teachers