Year 5/6 - Senior Unit

The students have had a very busy couple of weeks. 

Our Year 5 students recently took part in an inspiring Leadership Day, designed to help them explore what it means to be a leader and how they can make a positive difference in their school community. Throughout the day, students engaged in a range of interactive activities and listened to guest speakers who shared insights into the personal qualities of effective leaders and the steps leaders take to create meaningful change. Students also had the opportunity to apply their leadership and teamwork skills in practical challenges that encouraged communication, problem-solving, and collaboration. It was a wonderful day of learning and reflection, helping our students build confidence and prepare for their upcoming Year 6 leadership applications. 

The Year 6 students have started planning their own Fundraising Day to support their upcoming Celebration Day. Working in small groups, they have been designing a variety of creative fundraising activities; from games and challenges to stalls and competitions, while developing valuable skills in planning, budgeting, teamwork, and communication. It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm and commitment as they collaborate to bring their ideas to life. We’re looking forward to seeing their hard work in action on the day and finding out how much they raise for this exciting event!

Literacy

In Literacy, our Year 5 and 6 students have been exploring ballads, inspired by the classic Australian poem The Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson. Students have been learning how rhythm, rhyme, and repetition work together to tell a dramatic story through verse. They’ve analysed how Paterson captures action, settings and character through vivid language and strong imagery, then applied these techniques to craft their own narrative poems. It’s been wonderful to see students experimenting with voice, rhythm, rhyme and structure to bring their ballads to life. 

Numeracy

In Mathematics, students continued our work with angles, exploring how angles connect and combine. They’ve discovered that angles around a point add up to 360 degrees, and learned to identify complementary and supplementary angles in different shapes and designs. Students applied this knowledge in a fun coding-style challenge, using their knowledge of angles to decode and represent the letters of their own names and then measuring and adding together a range of different angles.

Inquiry

In Chemical Science, the students have been investigating the properties of solids and liquids, exploring how materials can be described and classified based on their observable features. They’ve learned that solids have a fixed shape and volume, while liquids take the shape of their container but keep a consistent volume. Through hands-on experiments and observations, students have been developing their scientific inquiry skills and deepening their understanding of how matter behaves in everyday life. 

Year 6 Events

This is a very busy term for our Year 6 students, with many exciting events coming up! Information about Graduation and the Graduation Dinner at the Vic Hotel in Woodend will be sent out soon. 

Students have begun to plan the fundraising activities for the celebration event. This will allow us to finalise the cost and share full details with families very soon. 

If your child did not attend Woodend Primary School in Prep, please send a hard copy of their Prep photo to school or email a digital copy to Katie Cashen.

Year 5/6 Teachers

Katie Cashen (56C), Brenda Elliot (56E), Ann Ireland (56I)