What to expect this term

Year 6 news – what lies ahead!

This newsletter outlines the term’s learning for your child’s year group. We hope that this provides you with a picture of what is ahead.

This newsletter provides an overview for your child’s learning this term, which fits within our approach to:

• How we teach
• How we teach Literacy
• How we teach Numeracy

Welcome to the term!

Welcome back for the start of a new school year. We are really looking forward to getting to know your children, establish positive routines to help us all have a great start to the school year. A new year brings lots of excitement and questions, as well as a few nerves. We have spent the first two weeks setting up our routines and expectations, and getting to know each other in our new class groups.

Year 6 teachers

A special year

Year 6 is a special year, marking the final year of the children's primary school journey. As well as our classroom learning, there is lots to look forward to in Year 6!

• Getting our Year 6 t-shirts and jumpers
• Our trip to Funfields
• School camp
• Debate presentations
• Interschool sports gala day

  ... and that is just term one! 

A typical day in Year 6

Please note:

• *Humanities subjects covered in term one: Civics and Citizenship. Later in the year Geography, History, Economics & Business will be covered.
• **Specialist times can affect order.
• Subjects are described in more detail below.

Below are some photos of the grade 6 students in action. 

Specialist times

Literacy Block

Our Literacy work this term will align with our Humanities unit which focuses on; Civics and Citizenship, Democracy and Government. 

In Reading, our class study novel will be 'No Words', by Maryam Master, which explores themes such as immigration, democracy in Australia compared to other countries, and the power of our voice to share opinions, beliefs and experiences. 

Throughout this text we will develop comprehension focus strategies including, our prior knowledge, accurate evidence based predictions, asking deep questions, making connections and summarising. We have class sets of this text. Students will be reading and keeping this book at school. 

In Writing, students will be building on their understanding of persuasive writing, though the process of learning about and conducting a debate. They will learn about the roles of each person in a debate and its formal structure. They will learn to utilise evidence to enhance their ideas and work within their teams to present their side of the argument. 

Students will present a mock debate within their class, practising rebuttals which counter the opposition's arguments. Finally, the term will conclude with a presentation of a final debate which parents and guardians will be invited to attend. 

Our Literacy Block sessions will also include weekly fluency, handwriting, grammar and punctuation lessons, with teaching based on early assessments and writing samples. 

At home you can:

• Read together daily and talk about what your child is reading.
• Encourage your child to read aloud with expression and fluency.
• Encourage your child to read and explore a range of nonfiction and fiction texts; be adventurous and curious about more mature texts. 
• Explore new words in books or daily life and discuss their meanings.
• Encourage and engage in discussions with your child about our government system and current political topics of interest.
•  Encourage your child to write; poetry, stories, reports, etc. 
• Emphasise correct punctuation and neat handwriting.

Mathematics

In Mathematics, students will be revising their understanding of the place value system. They will be exploring negative and positive numbers and representing them on a number line. They will describe the properties of prime, composite, square and triangular numbers and use these properties to solve problems and simplify calculations. 

Students will also continue to build their understanding of measurement, including the measurement of angles. In the area of space, they will explore and plot co-ordinates on the cartesian plane. Towards the end of the term students will explore statistics and how these are represented in the media. 

At home you can: 

• Play number games and create multi-digit numbers to compare. 
• Practise reading and writing large numbers in words. 
• Identify and discuss angles in everyday situations. 
• Discuss statistics and how they may be used in media to create influence.

Further ideas to support students at home can be found here: Literacy & Numeracy Tips to Help Your Child.

Respectful Relationships (RRRR) 

RRRR learning supports our school values of Community, Respect, Excellence and Creativity. Our first unit in Year 6 focuses on Emotional Literacy, where students learn to identify, understand and manage their emotions, as well as recognise the feelings of others. Students will develop emotional literacy, build positive and respectful relationships, recognise personal strengths, and practise skills for cooperation, problem-solving and help-seeking. Through stories, discussions and collaborative activities, students will learn how to contribute positively to our school community.

Specialist subjects 

French

Students will be practising classroom routines. They will revise personal information by asking and answering questions about their name, age, address, favourite colour, favourite sport and languages spoken. Students will also prepare Harmony Day activities for the whole school.

Performing Arts

Students will further embed their music making skills. They will build on their knowledge of playing ukulele, guitars, keyboards and drums. To do this, they will use conventional and graphic notation, working in small groups and as a whole class.

Physical Education

Students will be revisiting the expectations and the procedures used in PE. They will also practise some of the skills and learn some of the rules for the sports played during next term's Winter interschool sports competition. Students will be given a chance to practise the school cross country course and complete laps of the course as part of the school's cross country trials.

Science

Students will be focusing on chemical science. They will discover how the observable properties of matter (solids, liquids and gases) can be explained by modelling the motion and arrangement of their particles and how mixtures (including solutions) can be formed by combining two or more different substances.

Visual Arts

Indigenous landscape artist Albert Namatjira and his great grandson Vincent Namatjira, a contemporary portrait artist will be the spotlight for study this year.

Initially, students will be decorating their art folios and Visual Art journal. They will then be focussing on the art element colour, expressing it through paint. They will continue to study, examine and reflect on their prior knowledge, refining their colour mixing skills to create tones, blends, tints, and shades for colour charts.

Positive relationships

We look forward to establishing positive relationships with your children, and also to work in collaborative partnerships with yourselves. 

Kind regards,

Anna, Conor, Jourdan, Emily & the Specialist teachers