Level 5: Connect

Reading Log - Winners are Grinners

5A were crowned the Term 1 Reading Log Champions and, as promised, celebrated with hot chips on the first Friday of term! Students should be incredibly proud of their consistent reading efforts and enthusiastic participation throughout the term. To make the celebration even more exciting, they were joined by a couple of very fun special guests for the occasion! A wonderful way to recognise the hard work, dedication and love of reading shown by the class. Well done to all of our passionate readers, and to those who are continuing to grow their enjoyment of reading, for such a fantastic effort last term.

 Literacy

Literacy this term will be strongly inspired by our Inquiry Unit on Australian History. Using our mentor text 'The Rabbits’, students have analysed how language, symbolism and sentence structure can convey mood, point of view and establish a theme in a text. They have particularly inspected how pronouns can shape point of view, and that sentence structure can control the pace and mood of a story, with a particular focus on simple and compound sentences. By the end of the week, students will draw inspiration from 'The Rabbits' to draft their own text that conveys a certain mood and point of view, while experimenting with symbolism.

Next week, we are beginning our novel study on ‘Yong: The Unworthy Son', which recounts the experience of a young Chinese migrant whose family is hoping to find gold during the Victorian Gold Rush. The story relates beautifully to the 'push and pull' factors being explored in Inquiry and allows students to consider the risks people took to create a new life in Australia, as well as the significant impact immigration had on the country's economic, geographical and political development.

Our Literacy and Inquiry units will lead perfectly into our end of term camp to Sovereign Hill.

Sovereign Hill Camp

A friendly reminder that our Level 5 Sovereign Hill Camp will be on the last week of this term (Wednesday 24th of June to Friday 26th of June). Please refer to the Compass e-mail sent by Michelle Stainforth regarding the collection of personal, medical and dietary information of students attending our camp due Thursday 15th of May. 

The camp is an immersive historical experience for students. Sovereign Hill will provide students with an authentic, historical costume to wear during the program. 

They have kindly asked that family's provide the following for your child: 

• Shoes: plain black or brown leather-style lace-up shoes or pull-on boots, preferably no zips

• Socks: 

o Girls – long plain white, black or navy (no logos/patterns) 

o Boys – plain white, black, navy or grey (no logos/patterns) 

• Hair: 
  • Girls should have their hair in two plaits (if long enough)
  • Boys with long hair should have a low ponytail.

Further information about Camp will be posted on Compass shortly.

Numeracy

 It’s been a busy and engaging time in Numeracy! 

Students have been exploring measurement, with a focus on length and the units we use to measure it. They’ve been learning how to use their place value understanding to convert between units (such as millimetres, centimetres and metres) and applying this knowledge in practical ways—measuring real objects and solving problems involving area and perimeter.

Alongside this, we have been building strong classroom routines in preparation for our new number fluency program, which begins next week. Students have been practising a range of short, engaging activities designed to develop confidence, accuracy and flexibility with numbers.

We are especially excited to begin the program developed by Dr Ange Rogers. This approach uses quick, 15-minute routines to keep students actively involved while strengthening their number knowledge.

It’s wonderful to see students showing enthusiasm and persistence as they develop their mathematical skills!

Inquiry

Our Inquiry unit this term is History, with a focus on Colonisation and the Gold Rush. We have introduced this unit by exploring the Indigenous perspective and examining the push and pull factors that influenced migration during the 18th and 19th centuries. Students will investigate why people chose to leave their homelands and journey to Australia, as well as the impact this movement of people had on First Nations Peoples, communities and the development of colonial Australia.

Throughout the term, students will develop an understanding of how the discovery of gold changed life in Australia socially, economically and environmentally. They will explore the experiences of a range of groups during this time, including miners, migrants, Chinese communities, women, children and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Students will also examine how colonisation affected Indigenous communities through loss of land, changes to ways of life and ongoing impacts that continue to be felt today.

Warm regards,

The Level 5 Team - Michelle, Cazz and Katie