Building on previous years, students engage with increasingly complex texts, mathematical concepts, and investigations across all learning areas. This year emphasises critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication as students prepare for upper primary learning. Through collaborative projects, hands-on experiences, and explicit teaching, Year 4 students strengthen their academic skills while developing resilience, creativity, and a deeper understanding of themselves and their world.
English – Students use language to interact and develop relationships in different contexts, engaging with diverse texts for enjoyment and learning. They listen to, read, view, and interpret spoken, written, and multimodal texts including short novels, poetry, non-fiction, film, and dramatic performances from Australian and world authors. As independent readers, students study texts with sequences of events developing over chapters, varied sentence structures, unfamiliar vocabulary including words derived from other languages, and sophisticated punctuation conventions. They create narrative, informative, and persuasive texts, for specific purposes and audiences, demonstrating growing confidence in expressing their ideas clearly and creatively.
Mathematics – Students consolidate their knowledge of arithmetic operations, drawing on number facts, fractions, and decimals to deepen their understanding of how numbers work. They develop and use multiplication strategies based on their understanding of operations and mathematical laws, choosing efficient mental and written strategies when solving problems and communicating solutions within real world contexts. Students use algorithms to generate number patterns, recognising and describing emerging patterns while becoming aware of the importance of context and purpose when making judgements about measurements and calculations. They measure and estimate using conventional instruments and metric units, develop surveys to collect relevant data for statistical investigations, and analyse chance events by identifying independent and dependent events. Through repeated chance experiments, students investigate variability and observe results, strengthening their mathematical reasoning skills.
Humanities – Students explore their world and community through three interconnected areas. Civics and Citizenship introduces democracy in familiar contexts, examining how decisions are made democratically within communities and understanding local government’s role in providing services. They investigate why rules and laws are created, how they affect daily life, and consider how belonging to diverse groups shapes personal identity and community participation. Geography expands students’ mental map of the world by examining Australia’s location, its neighbouring countries, and comparing natural, managed, and constructed features of different places. They explore interconnections between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Country across Australia, investigate relationships between climate and vegetation, and learn about sustainability through resource use and waste management. History helps students discover why the past matters to their local community by investigating significant places, buildings, and people. They examine how home life and family structures have changed over time, explore how technological changes have shaped daily life in communication and travel, and develop historical thinking skills through asking questions, examining sources, and creating evidence based accounts.
Health and Physical Education – Students develop personal and social skills including leadership, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and decision making through health and movement contexts. They explore factors that contribute to their identities, developing strategies for managing physical and social changes as they grow. They refine fundamental movement skills introduced in earlier years, applying these to various indoor and outdoor settings, and combine different skills to create complex movement patterns and sequences in game-like situations.
Science – Students recognise that scientific inquiry leads to explanations for phenomena and solutions to problems. They explore grouping and classifying objects based on similarities and differences, investigating different materials to understand the relationship between form and function. Through hands-on investigations, students learn about forces, energy, and heat transfer, discovering that some interactions result from phenomena that cannot be seen with the unaided eye. They conduct fair tests to answer questions and draw conclusions, using tables, graphs, and standard units of measurement to identify patterns and relationships in their observations.
Social and Emotional Learning – Students deepen their understanding of themselves and others in their changing world. They explore personal and social factors that shape their identities and emotional responses in various situations, developing strategies for managing transitions they may experience as they grow older. Through relationship building activities, students learn the importance of empathy, diversity, respect, and inclusion in initiating and maintaining respectful relationships. They examine how community health messages influence actions and decisions, enhancing their capacity to take responsibility for their own wellbeing.
Technologies – Students create designed solutions across engineering, food production, and materials specialisations, developing ownership of their ideas while considering their communities as consumers. They explore how technologies address needs and opportunities, learning to harness creative approaches to achieve designed products and services. Students clarify ideas using graphical representation techniques like annotated diagrams and 3D modelling, developing time management and collaboration skills while following safety protocols. In Digital Technologies, they explore how digital systems connect and transmit data, create passwords to secure personal information, and understand how data can be represented in different ways. Through creating simple visual programs, students develop computational thinking by defining problems, designing solutions, and implementing their ideas individually and in groups.
The Arts – Students engage with creative expression across multiple art forms. Visual Arts explores artworks from diverse cultures, while creating 2D, 3D, and time-based artworks using various materials and techniques. Performing Arts develops character understanding through improvisation and dramatic play, learning elements like role, movement, and voice to present stories to audiences. Students use their whole body to communicate ideas, exploring movement elements and choreographic skills while experiencing dances from various cultures and times.
Our core learning areas are taught using structured, evidence-based practices aligned with the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM 2.0). Lessons follow the Mindalk Instructional Model with a clear learning pathway, with explicit teaching, guided practice, feedback, and opportunities to apply knowledge. Teachers differentiate instruction and adjust supports so every student can access and extend their learning. As students move through year levels, their knowledge and skills build in complexity, ensuring strong progression and deep understanding across all core subjects.
Year 4 camp extends to two nights, marking a significant step in students’ independence journey. This longer experience allows deeper engagement with adventure activities and challenges that build courage and perseverance. The extended time away from home fosters maturity, self-management skills, and stronger cohort connections through shared experiences.
