Art
The Primary Arts Department at Darul Ulum College of Victoria recognises the need to engage, inspire and enrich all students while encouraging them to reach their full artistic potential. The Arts department provides opportunities for students to learn how to create, design, represent, communicate and share their ideas, emotions, observations and experiences. Our aim is for students to develop a positive disposition towards learning and creating. This is done through many interactive experiences including incursions and student interest-based learning activities. Students also have exposure to many different forms of cultural art, including Islamic Art, they also explore the contributions of Our First Nations People.
English
The English curriculum in Australia focuses on three interrelated strands: Language, Literature, and Literacy. Year 4 students are encouraged to interact with different audiences and engage with a variety of literary and informative texts. They also create imaginative, informative, and persuasive types of texts for different purposes and audiences. By the end of Year 4, students are expected to interact with others, listen to and create spoken and/or multimodal texts, and comprehend texts created to inform, influence, and/or engage audiences.
Writing is also an important aspect of the Year 4 English curriculum, with students expected to create written and/or multimodal texts, use paragraphs to organise and link ideas, and use language features including complex sentences, topic-specific vocabulary, and literary devices. Additionally, students must understand and describe the diversity of experiences of people in Australia prior to and following 1788, as well as the importance of environments, sustainable allocation and management of resources, and the importance and role of local government, community members, laws, and cultural and social factors that shape identity.
Overall, the Year 4 English curriculum in Australia is designed to develop students’ knowledge, understanding, and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing, and creating. The learning process is recursive and cumulative, building on concepts, skills, and processes developed in earlier years. By the end of Year 4, students are expected to have a solid foundation in English and be well-equipped for further learning in subsequent years.
In summary, the Year 4 English curriculum in Australia is designed to develop students’ knowledge, understanding.
Humanities
“How people, places and environments interact, past and present".
The Year 4 curriculum focuses on interactions between people, places and environments over time and space, and the effects of these interactions. Students develop understandings about the causes and nature of significant events related to the First Fleet and the experiences of people involved in colonisation prior to 1800. They study the diversity of First Nations Australians prior to colonisation, their continuous connection to Country/Place, and the impacts of contact on them and their Countries/Places. Students examine the ways in which environments are important to people and animals, as well as the ways people sustainably allocate and manage renewable and non-renewable resources. Students’ understanding of democratic decision-making is developed through investigating the role of their local government and the contribution of citizens to their community. They examine how rules and laws affect them and the importance of laws in society. Students explore cultural diversity in their community and how belonging to different groups can shape personal identity.
Inquiry questions provide a framework for developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills. They allow for connections to be made within and across the HASS sub-strands or with other learning areas.
By the end of Year 4, students describe the diversity of experiences of people in Australia prior to and following 1788. They describe the events and causes of the establishment of the first British colony in Australia. They describe the effects of colonisation on people and environments. Students describe the importance of environments, and sustainable allocation and management of resources. They describe the importance and role of local government, community members and laws, and the cultural and social factors that shape identity.
Students develop questions and locate, collect and record information and data from a range of sources and formats. They interpret and analyse information and data to identify perspectives and draw conclusions. Students propose considered actions or responses. Students use ideas from sources and relevant subject-specific terms to present descriptions and explanations.
Mathematics
Year 4 Mathematics is focused on building upon students' prior learning and experiences to develop their understanding of mathematical concepts, procedures, and processes. Students are encouraged to practice and make connections through reasoning and problem-solving to become proficient in mathematics. This proficiency enables them to use mathematical strategies to solve problems efficiently and make informed decisions in familiar and unfamiliar situations.
To cultivate a positive attitude towards learning and increase confidence in mathematical abilities, various interactive programs, events, and competitions are embedded in the curriculum. Students are encouraged to participate in activities such as Numeracy Week, incursions, and annual maths competitions like the Times-Table and Problem-Solving Competitions.
By the end of Year 4, students have proficiency in several mathematical areas, including place value, multiplication, addition, and subtraction. They can use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems, interpret results, and recognise equivalent fractions. Students learn to use appropriate units and scaled instruments to measure length, mass, capacity, and temperature, as well as identify line and rotational symmetry in plane shapes and create symmetrical patterns.
Statistical investigations are also a part of Year 4 Mathematics, where students learn to create data displays, assess suitability, and discuss distributions and variation. They use surveys and digital tools to generate data and communicate their findings. Additionally, students learn to order events or outcomes of chance experiments and identify independent or dependent events.
Overall, Year 4 Mathematics aims to help students become proficient in a range of mathematical skills and concepts, develop a positive attitude towards learning mathematics, and increase confidence in their problem-solving abilities.
Science
In year 4 Science explores the natural world through observation and experimentation. It is integrated into other subjects as it is a study helping students discover and appreciate the wondrous world of science and its relevance to their daily lives. Teachers are encouraged to relate every concept taught to the magnificence of Allah’s creations. This enables students to appreciate the greatness of Allah as Al-Khaliq and build a more holistic connection to the topics they have learned in class.
To develop the understanding of the concepts taught, a lot of time and planning is spent developing scientific skills, such as questioning and predicting, planning and conducting investigations, processing and analysing data collected, and finally evaluating and communicating their findings through multimodal texts. Besides some engaging pen and paper activities, students enjoy regular hands-on activities, experiments, observations, incursions, excursions, annual science fair, etc.
By the end of Year 4 students identify the roles of organisms in a habitat and construct food chains. They identify key processes in the water cycle and describe how water cycles through the environment. They identify forces acting on objects and describe their effect. They relate the uses of materials to their properties. They explain the role of data in science inquiry. They identify solutions based on scientific explanations and describe the needs these meet.
Students pose questions to identify patterns and relationships and make predictions based on observations. They plan investigations using planning scaffolds, identify key elements of fair tests and describe how they conduct investigations safely. They use simple procedures to make accurate formal measurements. They construct representations to organise data and information and identify patterns and relationships. They compare their findings with those of others, assess the fairness of their investigation, identify further questions for investigation and draw conclusions. They communicate ideas and findings for an identified audience and purpose, including using scientific vocabulary when appropriate.
Tarbiyah
The educational philosophy of the year 4 Tarbiyah program is based on authentic guidance from the Quran and Sunnah. This year’s curriculum is designed for the nurturing of a myriad of aspects of students’ personalities. Exploring the names of Allah swt adds profound meaning to an otherwise mundane routine. It opens windows of opportunities for students to make connections with the amazing attributes of Allah swt and how they can reflect some of those attributes in real-life situations from a practical point of view. To further provide important insight into Islamic education, topics such as the reason for existence, appointment of the Prophets throughout Islamic history, the rationale behind the creation of paradise and hell, and by extension the deeds that are praiseworthy as well as the ones that invite Allah swt’s wrath are discussed extensively. A special focus remains on the pressing need to translate belief into purposeful actions – ones that are the truest reflection of our faith in the sovereignty of Allah swt. To reinforce the role of youth in upholding Islamic values, especially in Western culture, Prophetic stories make up an integral part of the curriculum allowing deep reflection on the moralistic outlook on life. In the wake of moral turpitude, establishing daily prayers and the potential character-building that it inevitably leads to is emphasized and students are highly encouraged to be mindful of their company. The transformation-driven aspect of the syllabus is the inclusion of the lives of some of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH who were the epitome of great character. Through integrating Seerah excerpts in the syllabus, students can appreciate the love He PBUH had for his ummah and feel motivated to adopt the most beautiful characteristics of his PBUH’s personality as a sign of reverence and dedication towards Him and his blessed mission.
The year level 4 curriculum is based on the social, moral, and spiritual growth of the students in accordance with the guidance from Shariah. The element of Fiqh embedded in the curriculum caters to the lofty value of cleanliness in Islam, creating awareness of the (najasah) impurities, and common issues (masa ’il) associated with the two. So, the prime concern of the Tarbiyah education is to raise believers that are God-conscious and perceive Islam to be a holistic way of life not limited to an era or geographical boundary. This vision of Islamic education, therefore, aims to equip students with the authentic knowledge derived from the Quran and Sunnah on matters related to shirk, monotheism, love for the Prophet PBUH, the reason for existence, prophets, and their lofty mission, etc. It is through imparting this holistic and integrated vision of Islam that students are empowered to transform not just themselves, but the societies based on pure Islamic principles.
Health and Physical Education
Health and Physical Education enables students to develop skills, understanding and willingness to positively influence the health and wellbeing of themselves and their communities. In an increasingly complex, sedentary and rapidly changing world, it is critical for every young Australian to flourish as a healthy, safe, active and informed citizen. It is essential that young people develop their ability to respond to new health issues and evolving physical activity options.
Integral to Health and Physical Education is the acquisition and application of movement skills, concepts and strategies across a range of physical activity contexts. This enables students to participate confidently and competently when moving. Movement is a powerful medium for learning through which students can acquire and practise personal, social and cognitive skills. When learning in movement contexts, students gain skills, understanding and dispositions that support lifelong physical activity participation and enhanced movement performance.
In Health and Physical Education, students develop personal and social skills through interacting with others in classroom and movement contexts. They use health and physical activity resources to enhance their own and others’ wellbeing. Health and Physical Education addresses factors that influence the health, safety, relationships, wellbeing and physical activity patterns of individuals, groups and communities. Students develop the understanding to challenge discrimination, assumptions and stereotypes. They gain skills to take positive action regarding diversity, inclusion, consent and respect in different social contexts.
Health and Physical Education is presented in 2-year band levels from Year 3 to Year 4.
Content in Health and Physical Education is organised under 2 strands that are interrelated and inform and support each other:
- Personal, social and community health
- Movement and physical activity
Incursions and Excursions
- Humanities Incursion: First fleet
- Science excursion: Food webs and food chains to Sea life aquarium
- English excursion: Werribee Zoo
- Science and Humanities excursion: IMAX
