A Hectic Term!

The end of last term was a busy one for Year 6 with debates, lots of learning, and school camp! Here are some student reflections on their experiences.

Camp Reflections

Written by Zoe, 6C

Some of our favourite parts of camp were the water activities, we did free swimming, canoeing and raft building! We had the wonderful privilege of using two person canoes, we learnt how to paddle and we played lots of fun games.

We also did raft building. For the first part of the activity, we were taught how to tie knots like the alien knot, the lashing square, and lots of others. Then we were split into two groups to build our own rafts. We were given some materials, barrels, planks of wood and ropes, then we worked together to make a (very inexperienced) raft. But the fun didn't stop there, afterwards we took our rafts into the lake and attempted to float on them! As you can imagine it was an amazing disaster. Overall we had a great time at camp Jungai

Written by Eloise, 6A

At camp we had a wide variety of activities such as possum pull, high ropes, canoeing, raft building, hiking, bush skills, photo rallies, team time, and other initiatives. My favourite activity was possum pull because it pushed me out of my comfort zone. Once we got to the top we would drop teddy bears down into a bucket (though only a few people, not including me, made it into the bucket) then we would be lowered down by the rest of our group.

Written by Walt, 6C

At camp we were told Aboriginal stories, and cultural practices by Indigenous elder Aunty Aurore. Aunty Aurore taught us all about Indigenous culture, like how when a person is born they are given a possum skin cloak and throughout that person's life they will stitch more and more possum skins onto the first possum skin until it is very big. She also told us about the story of a man who was blind, he sat under his hut every day while his wife went out hunting and foraging. We also learn how a didgeridoo is traditionally called a Yiḏaki and that the word didgeridoo is a western word.

Written by Siena, 6A

The second day of camp fell on April 1st (April Fools' Day). The first prank of the day was pulled by the staff and teachers.

One of the camp staff (Dan) told us that there had been some unfortunate world news and that Donald Trump had unfortunately stopped supplying petrol to Australia and with the current petrol shortage the buses would not be able to pick us up at the end of camp. Instead of taking a short 5km bushwalk that we were planning on taking, we would actually have to take a 15km walk to the nearest town where a bus would pick us up and try and take us home before Easter. There were worries from lots of people, ranging from not being able to carry all their luggage, not wanting a war to start, worried that they would not make it home by Easter to not wanting to miss out on the last two days of camp. That was when Cathy stole the stage with a loud “April Fools!”

The students retorted by collecting fake vomit from the kitchen with the help of a parent volunteer, and then pretending to vomit in a vomit bag, then getting someone to grab Cathy. Cathy was stressed and on the verge of calling the parents of the student before the students said, “April Fools!”

Written by Alina, 6B

In the last week of term one all the Grade 6s went to Camp Jungai, located in the Rubicon Valley around 2 hours northeast of Melbourne. The bus drive there was long but we all arrived there safely (apart from a few twists and turns along the way). We stayed there for 3 nights and 4 days and the cabins were great; everyone had lots of fun hanging out with their friends.

Written by Keith, 6B

While I and my fellow grade sixes were at school camp we had some delicious food while we were away. We had pasta with some garlic bread and it almost tasted like bolognaise to me. We also had some delicious burgers with our own choice of what to put in it. We enjoyed some tasty desserts such as chocolate mousse and some jelly. For breakfast there was toast with lots of different spreads to choose from and lots of different types of cereal. We also got a little glass of juice and some hash browns one morning. Yum!

Camp Memory Jars

Written by Lews, 6B

After camp all the year 6s made camp jars explaining all about our favourite things we did in our cabin and what we were surprised about. I learnt that women can’t play the Yiḏaki (didgeridoo). I enjoyed the play we did in our cabins as a team. My cabin made a play using tennis balls and a rubbish bin as a basketball hoop. My favorite activity was canoeing. It was very fun making the jars and going on camp!

Pictured below are the camp memory jars.

Maths – Learning about Cartesian Planes

Written by Matilda & Reuben, 6A

In term one, we focused on prime, composite, triangular and square numbers, as well as Cartesian planes and coordinates. We found Cartesian planes fun to work with, especially when we made our own designs. I did a fairy penguin (Matilda). and I did Pac-Man (Reuben). It was definitely the highlight of maths!

Look at all our cartesian planes!

Debating

Students worked incredibly hard throughout term one, learning how to plan for and participate in a formal debate. They have learnt how to respectfully challenge the ideas and evidence of a peer presenting a counter argument.

Written by Navy, 6A

In writing our focus was debating and we did a mock debate and a parent debate. My favourite part was being announced and getting an applause from the parents and feeling important, like a politician.

Written by Nina, 6A

At the start of term, I had no idea what debating was, now I know the set up, the structure and where it takes place. Debating helped my reading aloud and getting over my stage fright. I really liked debating because I liked being the bell/dinging person and working with my team to make this amazing, persuasive debating structure that we got to show the parents.

Written by Max, 6A

In writing we did debates. First we did a mock debate to know what to do for the real debate. For the presentation debate, we got into new groups and planned our debates for 1.5 weeks, then we presented our speeches to our parents and friends. Overall, debating was a good topic and I had so much fun doing it.

Pictures from the debating afternoon.

Year 6 teachers (Anna, Conor, Jourdan & Emily) and Students

Year Level Term Newsletters

Term Two