MRS AMANDA PEMBERTON
year 4 coordinator
Y
ear 4 certainly started the year off by “hitting the ground running”. Within three weeks of starting their Year 4 journey, the boys were off to their very first outdoor recreation camp at Tyalgum Ridge Retreat. The boys’ first away from school camp experience involved lots of group activities, meeting the farm animals, learning the ins and outs of archery, conquering the high ropes and the flying fox, canoeing in the dam, hiking up “mountains” and clambering over rock pools to cool off under a waterfall. They ate lots of great food and even had some free time swimming in the pool, playing a game of touch football, practising their snooker skills and having a game or two of table tennis. The night time allowed us to relax a little with a group trivia competition and a movie night. A good time was had by all, and there weren’t too many tears along the way. After three days and two nights, two busloads of exhausted boys and their even more exhausted teachers arrived back at Prep full of tales to share with relieved parents. Camp was just one of the many experiences that the boys enjoyed in 2018. As part of the Year 4 Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum, we visited St. Helena Island in Moreton Bay. Students and teachers enjoyed a busy day exploring the picturesque island under the watchful eyes of our ‘convict overseers’. Our experience began as soon as we got on board our ferry to the island with the “convicts” barking orders and totally confusing the boys. They really were a little perplexed at first but soon got into the swing of things and enjoyed the “reality” experiences during the day. St. Helena was Brisbane’s very own penal colony situated right in the middle of the bay. The boys were fascinated by the tales from the past and enjoyed the day “back in time”.
We continued to participate in all areas of the curriculum with visits to the library to visiting authors, enjoying our artwork on display at the art show, singing in choirs and engaging in academic competitions. Our boys embraced the Head of Prep reading challenge enjoying a range of texts to expand their reading choices and dressed up twice in both the 2018 Book Week Parade on Grandparents’ Day and as a picture on the THRASS chart in our Inaugural THRASS Dress Up Day.
Throughout the year, the boys of Year 4 were involved in the Year 4 Instrumental program. Each Wednesday the boys split up into their “music” groups and, after practising together for 45 minutes in their Year 4 band time, rotated between small group instrumental lessons, RE and class music. The program has been very successful and has seen a great number
94
SOUTHPORTONIAN
of boys continuing to play instruments throughout their school life. The program has also been able to support and develop the boys’ musical talents from a younger age.
During Term Three Science, the Year 4 boys studied physics through a STEM project where they had to research different forces and then design a park ride using some of the forces to make it work. The research and designs were completed in class then the ride models were created at home as part of their homework task. The boys enjoyed building their models and then presenting them to their peers to explain how the forces acted to enable their rides to work. They all did a fabulous job in presenting their rides and we were quite amazed with the creativity and thinking behind the designs.
