Grade 6 News

Our newsletter is brought to you by the Grade 6 Public Relations leaders; Bella, Jack and Charlie.

Important Reminders

Please return your High School Transition forms as soon as possible, the grade who returns all of their forms first will win a prize! All forms are due back by May 10th. 

Learning in Action

Literacy

By Bella Grace

Watch out parents because in Grade 6 we have been learning about tricks of persuasion. We have recently learnt about the four most important tricks to have up our sleeves. Do you want to hear them; talking right to you (saying You, Your), asking questions, acting like your friend, and putting distance between you and your enemy. On the other hand we have been looking into debates, such as parliament debates, where they use a more you could say aggressive attempt, for example:

“You are a miserable pipsqueak of a man”,  

- Michael Gove

Let's just make it clear, the Grade 6 students are much more respectful than the parliamentarians we have been looking at.

Preview for Learning: Over the next two weeks, students will be tying together their learning about forming an opinion, adding detail to their arguments, using persuasive language and organising an argument to create a persuasive piece about a topic they feel passionate about. Additionally, in Week 4, students will begin presenting their persuasive speeches as part of our Speech Club program. This is an important component of students deepening their understanding of persuasive texts and practising public speaking.

Maths

Over the past two weeks, students have been getting stuck into a variety of mental and written strategies to solve multiplication problems. We have been investigating the way multiplication problems can be split up using addition, place value and factors. Additionally, students have been learning how to use the vertical algorithm for multiplication. Lots of practise has meant that our Grade 6 students are feeling more confident solving 1 x 1, 1 x 2 and 2 x 2 digit problems both mentally and on paper. Furthermore, students have continued their learning around data, with a focus on reading and creating side-by-side column graphs. See below for a fantastic example from Jess Van Mourik in 6M.

Preview for Learning: Next week we will be continuing our work with multiplication strategies as well as looking at the similarities and differences between multiplication and division. Simultaneously we will also be working on our data investigations where we look at how to collect data and represent it using different forms of graphs.

To find out more about what will be covered in Year 6 Maths click here.

Inquiry

By Charlotte Potts

Over the past few weeks we have been learning about geography and different cultures around the world. Along with our peers we have been working on a project in a group of three. We all chose a country to learn more and make a presentation about. The different parts of culture have been an interesting and fun topic to learn about, we have looked at arts such as dancing as well as looking at indigenous cultures around the world.

Wellbeing

By Bella Grace

This term in Wellbeing we are learning about stress and it’s effects on the human mind. Last week we heard about the 5 types of rest, physical (sleep), mental (doing something that doesn’t require thinking), sensory (away from noise and overstimulating environments), emotional (to express emotions), and social rest (being away from others). 

Sport

By Jack Garratt

Today a handful of Grade 6 students went to compete in a district cross country event. It will was held at Gilbert Park. They ran against a bunch of other Grade 6s from different schools. They tried to push themselves to the finish line. If they get a certain place they will move on to the next stage of the competition.

High School Transition

STATEWIDE YEAR 6 TO 7 PLACEMENT TIMELINE 2024-25 – FOR YEAR 7 PLACEMENT IN 2025 SCHOOL YEAR

Calendar and Events

May 9th - Mother's Day Stall

May 23rd - Knox Division Girls AFL Carnival

May 24th - Winter Round Robin Day 1

May 29th - Knox Division Cross Country

May 31st - Winter Round Robin Day 2

June 13th - Regional Cross Country 

June 26th - Celebration Morning

June 27th - Senior Hooptime

June 28th - Last Day of Term 2

Exciting times ahead in STEM!

We are thrilled to share some exciting updates about our STEM program! As we continue to inspire and empower our students to explore the wonders of these vital fields, we are reaching out to our wonderful community for support.

Your generosity has always been instrumental in helping us provide enriching educational experiences for our students, and we are once again asking for your support to ensure the success and sustainability of our STEM initiatives.

Your support makes a significant difference to our students' learning opportunities and the success of our STEM program. Here are a few ways you can contribute:

Opportunities to help: 

• Donations of Timber/Wood, appropriate for construction E.g. Billy Cart bases or other small vehicles.   
• If you own or are a part of a company or business who would be willing to sponsor our engineering program. 
• If you have connections with hardware stores/companies, help us to make contact to obtain suitable engineering resources. 
• If you have any household STEM-related materials such as; plastic bottles, milk bottle lids, masking tape, balloons, wooden skewers, plastic or paper cups, unwanted CD’s or DVD’s, Aluminum Foil please drop them off outside the STEM room. 
• Construction Crew: If you're handy with tools and have some basic experience in woodwork or mechanics, we would be delighted to have your help in the upcoming terms to assist with our Grade 6 Science and Engineering program. Please email sophiechamberlain@lysterfieldps.com or melissaadams@lysterfieldps.com

Thank you for your continued support,

Melissa Adams & Sophie Chamberlain

STEM Leaders

At Lysterfield Primary School, we promote high expectations for all our students, and want to encourage our students to challenge themselves and tackle new and interesting opportunities. In light of this, we are encouraging interested students in Grades 3-6 to participate in the Australian Mathematics Competition this year.

The Australian Mathematics Competition, run by the Australian Maths Trust, is Australia’s longest running, largest and most well-known maths competition for school students. It is made up of 30 unique problems designed to challenge and extend students’ problem solving skills. 

Students have 60 minutes to complete the competition which will occur at school sometime between Tuesday 6th - 8th August (exact date and time TBC). 

Every student who participates will receive recognition and an award at their level of achievement. The levels are:

• Participation
• Proficiency
• Credit
• Distinction
• High Distinction

The competition will cost $8.50 per student. 

For more information about the competition, watch this video from AMT, check out their website, or contact Zahra Harvey (zahra.harvey@education.vic.gov.au).

If you are interested in your child participating in the Australian Mathematics Competition this year, please add their names to the form below by Friday 31st May:

Australian Mathematics Competition Expression of Interest