Octavia Community

READING

Our Grade 6 Octavia community has been hard at work learning to summarise non-fiction, use criteria to compare, contrast, and analyse narrative texts (including wordless books), examine author’s purpose, and make connections. They’ve been sharpening their inference skills and experimenting with synthesising various forms of text.  We have analysed book covers and the theme of our reading during Harmony Week was especially memorable.  It has been so exciting to see students discover interests in new authors and become so engaged in the diverse, high-quality literature we’ve shared!  

WRITING

The Octavia students have published their narratives! They were super excited to learn about how artists use illustrations to convey meaning and elaborate on their stories. Students researched different artists' work and drew on this research in creating their own illustrations. It was great to see students' hard work come together in a workpiece they are proud of. 

MATHEMATICS

Number

Octavia students consolidated their addition and subtraction understanding by practising using different strategies (Break Up 1 number, Break Up 2 numbers, Change 1 number and Fix, Change 2 numbers, and Change 2 numbers and Fix). They combined these strategies with their knowledge of place value to add and subtract decimals.

Applied

Students planned and conducted statistical investigations by surveying other students in their class to collect either categorical or numerical data. They used digital spreadsheets to record and analyse their data. Additionally, the Octavia cohort investigated the changes to their pulse rate at different stages of doing exercise. They interpreted and compared their data with other students in order to discuss their findings.

During lessons on location and direction, Grade 6 students constructed a grid coordinate system that uses coordinates to locate positions within a space. They also examined the four quadrants of the Cartesian plane and learnt to describe the location of coordinates using its horizontal and vertical axes.

INQUIRY

Students have been researching notable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals to learn about their significant contributions to Australian society.  They are preparing biographical presentations based on their research and will be sharing them soon with the community.  Each group is focusing their research on a different person, so we will be learning about 24 different historical figures.  It’s encouraging to see the students become experts on their person and to witness their enthusiasm as they share the surprising/interesting facts they are learning about their lives!

SEL

During National eSmart Week 2024 (18-24 March), Octavia students worked on their eSmart Digital Literacy. They learnt how to communicate safely using a range of tools and adjust to their intended audience, manage the privacy of themselves and others, and identify and address inappropriate behaviours online.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

Excursions

• Camp payment and consent is due on April 19th 
• The local excursion form needs to be completed and handed to your child’s classroom teacher 

General/Ongoing

Please ensure your child comes to school EVERYDAY with:

• A fruit or vegetable snack
• Recess and lunch food
• A hat (labelled with their name)
• A drink bottle (labelled with their name)
• Their reader bag and school diary

Homework

Every student needs to complete:

• 15 minutes of reading every night
• 15 minutes of MyNumeracy on Essential Assessment every night

Diaries

Your child's teacher will check their diary every Friday. Please ensure your child is writing what text they are reading and how many pages they read each night.