Celebrating Learning in Years 3–6

It has been another busy and productive term for our Years 3–6 students, with plenty to celebrate across the school.

ICAS Assessments

Congratulations to all students who participated in the ICAS assessments this term. Students approached these assessments with persistence and a willingness to challenge themselves across a range of learning areas. We are proud of the way they represented Appin Public School and embraced the opportunity to extend their thinking.

Check-in Assessments

Students in Years 3–6 have also completed their Check-in assessments this term. These assessments provide our teachers with valuable information about student learning in reading and numeracy. Our teaching teams will use this information alongside classroom assessment and observations to identify strengths, respond to areas of need and plan the next steps in learning.

Mathematics Olympiad

Our Mathematics Olympiad students have completed their final Olympiad challenge for the year. These problems are designed to be exceptionally challenging and require students to think creatively, reason mathematically and persevere when solutions are not immediately obvious. Congratulations to our students for taking on the challenge and demonstrating such strong mathematical thinking throughout the year.

NSW Spelling Bee

A huge congratulations to William and Eden, who represented Appin Public School in the NSW Spelling Bee and progressed through to the finals! Reaching this stage is a fantastic achievement and reflects their strong spelling knowledge, confidence and preparation. We are incredibly proud of both students for representing our school so wonderfully.

Well done, William and Eden!

Opportunity Class Placement Outcomes

Opportunity Class placement outcomes for 2027 have now been released to families who submitted an application. Families are encouraged to check their application portal for their child’s outcome and any required next steps. We wish all of our students who participated in the selection process every success.

INSPIRE Mathematics – Learning Beyond Appin

Following the success of our INSPIRE Mathematics Extension Class, Appin Public School is excited to welcome teachers and leaders from other schools to observe the program in action and learn more about its structure and approach. INSPIRE provides opportunities for students to engage in challenging mathematical thinking, problem solving and rich mathematical discussion beyond their regular classroom learning. This will be extend across K-2 next term. 

The growing interest in the program is also creating valuable opportunities for collaboration across our network of schools, with educators sharing practice, ideas and approaches to supporting high-potential students in mathematics. We are proud to see the work happening at Appin contributing to professional learning and collaboration beyond our own school.

Learning Together

Throughout the first half of the year, my curriculum and instruction work focused closely on supporting our Years 3–6 teams, particularly in strengthening the teaching of multiplicative thinking in mathematics.

This term, my direct support has shifted to our Kindergarten–Year 2 teams, with a focus on building strong foundations in early number and additive thinking. I am working alongside teachers during collaborative planning, analysing student learning data and supporting the development of consistent, evidence-informed mathematics practices.

Our Years 3–6 teams will continue to build on the work established earlier in the year, with multiplicative thinking remaining an important focus across the school. This approach allows us to provide targeted curriculum support across different stages while continuing to strengthen a consistent approach to mathematics teaching from Kindergarten to Year 6.

What a busy and exciting term it has been for Flying Fox! Our students proudly performed their assembly item, showcasing their confidence and teamwork. They also enjoyed getting active through both an AFL clinic and a Soccer clinic, developing new skills and demonstrating great sportsmanship.

In English, we have continued exploring Rowan of Rin, with a focus on characterisation and how authors use language to develop characters. In Mathematics, students have been building their problem-solving skills by tackling two- and three-step worded problems, selecting and applying efficient strategies to solve increasingly complex problems. Students have also been regularly practising their times tables, developing their multiplication fluency, accuracy and confidence.

Students also put their creativity, collaboration and problem-solving skills to the test during a STEM challenge. Working in teams, they were given the task of building the tallest tower they could using only spaghetti and masking tape. It was fantastic to see students plan, experiment, problem-solve and persevere as they tested and refined their designs.

Students have also been learning about their rights, safety and protective behaviours through our Child Protection lessons. We were also fortunate to have a visit from Healthy Harold, where students learned about cyber safety, responsible online behaviour and strategies for staying safe while using the internet and digital devices.

It was lovely to welcome community members into the Flying Fox classroom, where students had the opportunity to showcase their learning and share the wonderful work they had completed throughout the term. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to celebrate their achievements and share their learning with others.

To round out the term, we enjoyed a fantastic Athletics Carnival, where students demonstrated persistence, resilience and plenty of team spirit.

It has been wonderful to see Flying Fox continue to grow, learn and challenge themselves throughout the term. Well done, Flying Fox!

It has been a busy and exciting term of learning in Wallaby Class! We have been diving into the world of Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda and following Rowan and his companions on their challenging journey. Through our reading, we have been exploring characterisation and thinking carefully about how characters’ thoughts, feelings, actions and experiences can change throughout a story. We have enjoyed discussing Rowan’s growth and noticing how he becomes more confident, courageous and determined as his adventure continues.

Our writing has taken us on our own adventures as we have been learning about the structure of narratives using a Story Mountain. We have been developing our understanding of the orientation, build-up, climax, resolution and ending, while experimenting with descriptive language, interesting vocabulary and dialogue to bring our stories to life. The students have enjoyed becoming authors and creating characters, problems and exciting adventures of their own!

Creativity has also been a big part of our learning this term! We have explored a range of fun art activities inspired by our learning and have had opportunities to experiment with different materials, techniques and ideas. 

 In Mathematics, we have been busy building our understanding of area, learning how to measure and compare the space inside different shapes. We have also been exploring multiplication and number patterns, using known facts, doubling strategies and patterns to help us solve problems and discover mathematical relationships. We have been practising explaining our thinking and finding different ways to solve problems like mathematicians!

It has been wonderful to see the students' confidence, creativity and enthusiasm for learning continue to grow throughout the term. I am very proud of the effort Wallaby Class has put into their learning and can't wait to see what the rest of the term brings!

Echidna Class have been busy learning, creating and performing! 

In English, we have absolutely loved diving into Rowan of Rin, becoming immersed in its characters, adventures and magical world. We have created some fantastic artwork inspired by the story and have used the story mountain to plan and write our own exciting narratives using dialogue. 

In Maths, we have shown incredible growth in all areas. We have developed our understanding of multiplicative thinking and our times tables facts are getting quicker each day. We enjoyed going outside and using trundle wheels to measure different areas around the school and learning about symmetry in 2D shapes.

It has been a busy term of sport with our Athletics Carnival, Gala Days and visits from both the Sydney Giants and the Macarthur Bulls. Congratulations to our students who went on to represent our school at the Zone Carnival.

The students have continued to show their best efforts, respect and behaviour, making Echidna class a wonderful place to be each day.

5/6 Kangaroo have had an extremely busy and productive Term 3!

In English, we have been learning about fake news and developing the skills needed to analyse texts and determine whether the information they contain is trustworthy. Students have explored how authors use language, evidence and sources to influence readers. They have also been learning to write their own informative and persuasive news articles.

In mathematics, our learning has focused on multiplication and two dimensional space. Students have also been developing their problem solving skills by working through challenging worded problems involving multiple steps.

Outside the classroom, the Kangaroos have enjoyed participating in a wide variety of sporting events and special programs. These have included the Winter Gala Days, our school athletics carnival and visits from the GWS Giants and Bulls in Schools sporting programs. Several students also proudly represented Appin Public School at the Zone Athletics Carnival. A highlight for many students was the always popular visit from Healthy Harold!

It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm, effort and teamwork demonstrated by the Kangaroos throughout the term. We are very proud of everything they have achieved!

Wombat have had a massive Term 3 in all apsects of school!

In English, Wombat have been investigating argument, authority and the tricky world of fake news. Students have examined how authors use language, perspective, modality and digital features to influence an audience, while learning to question the accuracy, reliability and authority of information they encounter online. They have planned, drafted, revised and published articles, making deliberate choices to engage and persuade their readers. Our persuasive writing has also focused on developing clear positions, selecting convincing evidence and building arguments that grow in strength.

In Mathematics, students have tackled a broad range of number and geometry concepts. They have represented and ordered numbers into the billions, worked with decimals to thousandths and explored connections between fractions, decimals and percentages. Students have also selected efficient strategies for multiplication and division problems, used inverse operations to find missing values and strengthened their reasoning through multi-step challenges. Our geometry work has included symmetry, transformations and calculating the area of composite shapes, parallelograms and triangles. By cutting, moving and rearranging shapes, students have developed a clearer understanding of why different area rules work.

In PDHPE, Wombat has explored how to stay safe, seek help and act as an upstander both online and offline. Students have discussed consent, trusted adults, personal safety strategies, online boundaries, protecting personal information and responsible digital citizenship. During PE, they have refined their skills and decision-making in target and territory games, with a strong focus on teamwork, fair play, goal setting and creating inclusive games. Our Year 6 students also enjoyed their final Healthy Harold visit. It was a small but memorable reminder that their primary school years are quickly drawing to a close.

Beyond the classroom, Wombat brought plenty of creativity to Book Week in Week 3 and enjoyed welcoming so many parents into our school and classroom during Education Week. Students have also represented Appin in debating against other schools. Congratulations to Imogen M, who will represented our school at the regional public speaking competition and to Eden M, who represented us at the regional spelling bee. We are equally proud of every student who competed at our school athletics carnival and those who progressed to zone, where Appin Public School again won the Zone Athletics Championships. Special congratulations go to Koby T, who will compete at the regional carnival. 

With Term 3 almost complete, our Year 6 students are now preparing for their final term at Appin Public School.

What a busy term it has been for Gecko! It has been wonderful to watch the students take on new challenges, develop their confidence and continue to grow as learners. 

In English, we have been exploring fake news and how we can determine whether information is trustworthy. Students have become more critical readers, looking closely at sources, evidence and the language used to influence an audience. They have also put these skills into action by writing their own informative and persuasive news articles. 

Our Mathematics learning has taken us through multiplication, 2D spacial structure and efficient problem solving. Students have been challenged to explain their thinking, choose appropriate strategies and work through multi-step problems rather than simply looking for the quickest answer. 

We have also had a very busy term outside the classroom! From Book Week and our Athletics Carnival to visits from Healthy Harold and professional sporting teams, there have been plenty of opportunities for students to get involved. I was especially proud to see our Gecko students representing Appin at Zone Athletics Carnival, HPGE workshops and Public Speaking events.