Year 5/6

Welcome Back! 

Term 3 Recap

We want to kick-start Term 4 by celebrating the work our wonderful Year 5/6 students did last term. Specifically, their Poem Forest entries, which can now be viewed online via the Red Room Poetry website. All of our students who submitted a poem to Poem Forest can win $5,000 in prizes, including $500 cash for each category, book packs, garden tours, plants, journals and more. On top of this, every poem our students submitted means a tree is planted to help heal habitats and create a 'poem forest' for future generations. 

Term 3 Learning 

In Term 3, one of our literacy activities we participated in was a book club. This consisted of 33 marvellous chapter books granted to us by the school. We all picked preferences and Mrs. Smith sorted us into groups of 5-7 people. Each week we read a portion of our selected book and we all had jobs to fulfil. The book club showed us how to collaborate with other people by reading together and sharing ideas.

Written by Rachael Campbell and Samantha Craig

Last term, the 5/6 cohort went to the Melbourne Museum . In the morning we caught a train from Cheltenham Station to Parliament Station, and from there we walked to the Melbourne Museum. Once we got there, they had us put our bags on a large rolling trolley. When we went inside we first looked at the fossil exhibit. The area had dinosaur bones from dinosaurs , and a VR headset that let you see what earth looked like 100 million years ago. After that we went exploring for roughly half an hour going into a nature exhibit and looking at a joint ore and spider exhibit. After that we went to the main event, the natural disaster documentary. This was the main reason for the excursion because it was our topic that term. The movie was what you would expect from a documentary, and was very educational. The movie roughly went for 40- 45 minutes but overall we had an amazing time and would definitely recommend it to other communities and schools. 

Written by Alex Wood and Lewis Sung 5/6C

In term three, we had an incursion with a natural disaster expert. He came and taught us about the different types of natural disasters and how they work. For example, we learnt how seismologists study earthquakes, how landslides occur and why volcanoes erupt. He explained how earthquakes, landslides, tornadoes and volcanoes work. The students all had lots of fun doing the many activities and experiments they were presented with. Overall, everyone enjoyed the excursion and learnt something new.

By Charlotte Lay-Pass and Loa Lee 5/6C

“In Term 3, we expanded our understanding in figuring out ways to solve division equations. I personally preferred the Area Method, because it lets me see the numbers in a way that makes it easier to solve, and it’s kinda fun actually.” 

-Jack T 5/6B

“In Term 3, we learnt about statistics and collecting data. We started to understand how percentages work and how that is shown in a pie graph. We learnt different ways to represent the data we collected. We were learning how to focus on the data and find results or outcomes from it.” 

-Louie C 5/6B

Term 4: Inquiry, Literacy & Numeracy

We have a big final term of learning coming up with the Year 5 students preparing to enter their final year of primary education and Year 6 students transitioning to secondary school.

Through our main mentor text for Term 4, Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz, students will further develop essential comprehension skills such as inferring, making connections, building word knowledge and asking questions. During Writing lessons, students will have numerous opportunities to pursue their writing interests through independent writing choices and hone the skills they have learned across the year. Particular areas of focus for all students’ writing skills will include punctuation, improving sentence and paragraph structure and word choice. 

In Writing, students are exploring biographies and through author studies, are looking at how they are structured. They will also link with our Inquiry unit to investigate how advertising affects consumers, looking at how authors use language to persuade their audience. Students will analyse a range of biographies and create their own on an author of their choice. They will need to research major life events and organise the biography in chronological order.

In Mathematics, students will be focusing on developing their mathematical skills in key areas such as decimals, fractions, percentages, and probability. Through hands-on activities and real-world examples, they have been exploring the relationships between these concepts and deepening their understanding of how they apply them in everyday life. From comparing fractions to calculating percentages and predicting outcomes in probability, students are building a strong foundation in these essential mathematical topics. We encourage families to support this learning at home by discussing how these concepts come up in daily situations like shopping, cooking, or games.

In term 3, the 5/6s competed in a bunch of sports in and out of school. Starting off in PE where we worked hard in track and field in weekly PE sessions for the upcoming athletics carnival. We practised lots of events, some of which are long jump, high jump, discus and shot put.

Now onto the district sports, The Girls' Soccer team where they progressed from Districts to Kingston Division. Aspendale Gardens, Caulfield Junior College and Parkdale competed to earn their spot at Regionals. Cheltenham finished in 2nd spot with wins over Aspendale 1-0 and Caulfield 2-0 before putting their best effort into a tough match against Parkdale.

Next came the Girls' footy where they played 4 games at Bonbeach Recreation Reserve winning one of their 4 games.

After that, we had District Basketball where the boys and girls played 7 matches each at Springers Leisure Center in Keysborough. The boys played well winning 2 out of 7 matches, while the girls were crowned district champions and will progress to division later this term.

Finally, we had the long-awaited Athletics Carnival, students in years 3-6 all went down to Moorabbin Little Athletics Course to try and qualify for the district team. All students showed great sportsmanship and everyone had a great time.

Reminders & Key Dates

A reminder that hats must be worn outside at all times for the remainder of the year. This includes before and afterschool. Please ensure your child has access to a school hat each day. 

• October 17th and 18th - 'Market Manoeuvres' Incursion 
• November 4th - Curriculum Day (student-free)
• November 5th - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
• December 10th - Year 6 Transition to Secondary School Day
• December 11th - Year 6 Graduation
• December 18th - End of Celebration (Gravity Zone)