Grade 5 News
Upcoming Dates – Term 4
Tuesday 25th November: School Captain speeches
Thursday 27th November: Bike Ed Session 3 (bike and helmet required at school)
Wednesday 3rd December: Market Day
Thursday 4th December: Bike Ed Session 4 (bike and helmet required at school)
Friday 5th December: Colour Run
Tuesday 9th December: Statewide Transition Day (Meet the Teacher 2026)
Wednesday 10th December: Christmas Concert 5:30-6:30pm
Friday 12th December: Meet the Teacher 2:00pm (2026)
Wednesday 17th December: Class Parties
Thursday 18th December: Christmas Raffle
Thursday 18th December: Last Day for students (1:30pm Dismissal)
Friday 19th December: Curriculum Day (Pupil free day)
Learning in Action
📖 Literacy
In Word Work, students wrapped up their learning on Verse and Vert words such as reverse and revert. Over the next few weeks, our new focus will be on Hydro based words, with hydro meaning water. Students will explore words like hydropower and hydrant while experimenting with different prefixes and suffixes to build and read new vocabulary.
In Reading, we are continuing our journey through The Last Bear. As we approach the final chapters, students are noticing the deep bond that has formed between April and Bear, as well as the beginning of a shift in April’s relationship with her dad. This has led to rich discussions about character growth and the author’s use of literary devices.
In Writing, students are developing their persuasive pieces about why polar bears need protection. At the sentence level, they are practising how to expand their writing by adding adverbials and meaningful details such as who, what, when, where, why and how. This is helping them create clearer and more engaging sentences as they build their final pieces.
Preview for Learning:
Students will soon finish The Last Bear and bring together all their learning as they complete their persuasive writing piece.
➗ Maths
This fortnight, our students have been diving into the world of decimals. They explored how to round decimals to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand and beyond, and used this knowledge to add, subtract and multiply decimals with confidence. They also learned how to estimate totals by rounding up or down to check the reasonableness of their answers.
A highlight of the fortnight was a hands-on game called Excursion Expert where students worked with a set budget and practised estimating and rounding while making “purchases.” This fun activity helped them apply their skills in a practical and meaningful way.
To finish, students transferred their learning into a real life context by creating a financial plan using an Excel spreadsheet, showing just how useful their new decimal skills can be.
Knowledge Rich
Over the last fortnight, students have been working closely in their groups to plan their upcoming market stalls. They discussed what they would sell, what materials or ingredients they needed, the cost of these items and who would be responsible for purchasing or preparing them. They also decided on fair selling prices and created eye catching posters designed to attract customers on the day. Their goal is to raise as much money as possible for a chosen charity, which will be announced soon.
As part of our economics unit, students have also been learning about international trade and different types of markets. These lessons have been highly relevant as they prepare for their own market experience, helping them make thoughtful and informed decisions for their stalls.
Bike Education
Last week, Mr Mac led the Bike Ed theory session, where students learned important road safety skills for riding a bike. Each week, students will rotate through small groups, beginning with a bike safety check before practising a range of riding skills. These include slow riding, sharp turns, braking, scanning, riding on different surfaces and maintaining a steady straight line.
Grade 5 Teachers
Karin Halstead, Peta Alexander, Rachel Manning, Craig McKenzie