Year 5/6 Team News

Hello Year 5/6 families, 

Another busy fortnight in 5/6! It has been full steam ahead as we head into Election Week! We kicked off the campaign with a Q&A featuring some key speakers from each party on the panel. The panel did a fabulous job answering the well thought out questions from the 5/6 audience. We even gained some expert advice from a former local Mayor about how to connect with voters. We look forward to 5/6H hosting this week's Whole School Assembly, introducing the 5 Election parties to the entire school. 

Election Day will be held next Wednesday 17th June. The entire school will visit the exhibit throughout the day and enjoy a democracy sausage after they have voted. Parents and the wider community are invited to visit the exhibit and participate in preferential voting from 3pm-3:30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

A big thanks goes out to the wonderful 5/6 parents who have volunteered their time to cook and prepare the democracy sausages for our student voters. We couldn't do this without your support! 

What's Coming up in the Classroom:

Reading: In Weeks 9 & 10, we explore the text 'The Rabbits' and learn to analyse the text using comprehension strategies such as summarising and making connections. Students will explore character development and use of symbolism. In Week 10 we will also read about the Franklin Blockade and hear from a guest speaker on what it was like to be a part of community voice making a difference in political decisions. 

Writing: In Weeks 9, students will time to complete all key persuasive and advertising material for their party on election day. In Week 10, students will be using their writing time to work through the writing process on their own chosen texts, as well as prepare for the upcoming student led conferences in Week 11. 

Numeracy: Students are almost complete with their community garden measurement projects. They will then complete a measurement task on Essential Assessment. To end the term, students will revisit Data, learning to find the mean, median, mode and range of sets of data. 

Inquiry: In Weeks 9&10, we are very much looking forward to watching our election unfold and the weeks of hard work come together. Parents and community members are invited to join us in the Gallery and Deck classrooms from 3pm-3:30pm on Wednesday 17th June. You are also invited to complete a preferential vote that will be counted towards the results. The winning party will be announced in Week 10 and organise a time to meet with Mat and Lisa to discuss key policies that will be able to be put in place in Term. Mat and Lisa are very much looking forward to discussing what policies and plans they can green light for a celebration day (or maybe even permanently put in place!) 

Willy Kids/Respectful Relationships: In Weeks 9&10, Willy Kids respect the rights of others. They will explore ways they currently do this, and ways they can improve for the future. In RR, students will learn about how talk can harm and talk can heal. We will begin with how we can talk kindly about ourselves as a way to celebrate all of our wonderful work this semester. 

Term 2 Interschool Sport:

Week 8: Away V Seaholme PS

*Alternative- Multisport Rotations x2 @ WPS

*Hockey @ WPS

Week 9: Finals all sports @ Newport Garden PS

*Alternative- Multisport Rotations x2 @ WPS 

*Non finals games to stay at WPS. (All TBC)

Parliament Prize:

The Parliament Prize is an annual competition delivered by the Victorian Parliament that gives students an opportunity to talk about issues that are important to them. Students are asked to consider what they would say to parliament if they were an MP and record their own 90-second Member’s Statement video. 

Although this in an OPTIONAL extracurricular event, in Week 7 students in 5/6 prepared a Member's Statement draft during Writing, and have the option of filming this for submission in the Parliament Prize. If you would like more information about this project, please view the details on https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/teach-and-learn/Resources/preparing-for-the-parliament-prize/ and follow the details for submission. Submissions are due THIS Friday at 5pm and is the responsibility of parents. 

Important Dates:

• Week 8 Friday 5/6H hosting assembly (All other 5/6 classes are hosting in Term 3)
• Week 9 Wednesday WPS ELECTION DAY! 3pm-3:30pm Gallery and deck classrooms will be open for viewing and parent/community voting. 

Term 4:

• Grade 5 Camp: Mon 26th-Wed 28th October (Term 4)
• Grade 6 Camp: Wed 28th-Fri 30th October (Term 4)

Have a lovely fortnight everyone!

Warm regards,

The Grade 5/6 Team - Christina Crosland (5/6C), Molly Hedditch (5/6H), Melati Cordell & Laura Bartholomeusz (5/6M), Matt Eason-Jones (5/6E) & Edan Baccega (5/6B)