Year 3

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Curriculum Overview

Year 3 is an important transition year where students move from learning foundational skills to applying them with greater independence and confidence. The Year 3 curriculum is aligned to the Australian Curriculum Version 9 in Health and Physical Education, English, Mathematics and Science. Our curriculum​ supports students to strengthen literacy and numeracy skills while developing critical thinking, communication and positive learning habits.

English and Mathematics (daily learning)

English and Mathematics are a daily focus in Year 3, with clear learning intentions and increasing expectations for independence, accuracy and stamina.

• English: In Year 3, students continue to develop reading, writing, speaking and listening skills through structured literacy approaches, including LEM Phonics. Phonics instruction supports students to consolidate spelling patterns, decode multisyllabic words and read with increasing fluency. Students engage with a wide range of literary and informative texts, build vocabulary, strengthen comprehension strategies, and write structured texts for different purposes, audiences and contexts using appropriate grammar and punctuation.

• Mathematics (PR1ME Maths):
  Mathematics is taught using PR1ME Maths, a structured and evidence-based program aligned to the Australian Curriculum. Students deepen their understanding of place value, addition and subtraction, and extend into multiplication, division, fractions, measurement, geometry and data. Learning progresses from concrete materials to visual models and written strategies, with a strong emphasis on reasoning, explaining thinking and solving real-world problems.

Learning across all areas

Across the year, students also learn through:

• Science – investigating living things, forces, materials and Earth sciences

• HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) – learning about community, history, geography and connections to place

• Health and Physical Education – developing movement skills, personal health knowledge and respectful relationships

• The Arts – creating and responding through visual arts, music, drama and dance

• Technologies – designing, creating and evaluating solutions using materials and digital tools

Learning is increasingly integrated and purposeful, supporting students to apply skills across different learning areas.

Wellbeing, independence and learning behaviours

In Year 3, there is a strong focus on developing independence, responsibility and perseverance. Students learn to manage routines, collaborate effectively, set goals and respond to feedback. Teachers provide explicit instruction, clear expectations and ongoing support to help students build confidence and resilience as learners.

Our approach in Year 3

Learning in Year 3 includes:

• explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy skills

• structured literacy routines and explicit vocabulary instruction

• clear learning intentions and success criteria

• opportunities for discussion, collaboration and problem-solving

• increasing independence and self-management

This approach supports students to become confident readers, effective communicators and capable problem-solvers, preparing them for the increasing academic demands of the upper primary years.

​​​Term Overviews

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