Year 6 Term 2 Newsletter

Meet The Teaching Team

6A - Tom Packham

6B - Jason Crebbin

Education Support - Natasha Davy

Welcome to Term 2

A big welcome back to all students and families. We have an exciting term ahead, filled with special events and opportunities for students to grow in their learning. Camp is coming up in Week 6, Interschool Sport is well underway, and there will be many chances for students to challenge themselves and get involved throughout the term.

The transition to high school process has also begun. Information and application forms for public school enrolments have been posted on Compass and are due back to CEPS by Friday, 8 May.

We have no doubt it will be a fantastic term, and we look forward to sharing it with you.

Tom and Jason

 Specialist Timetable

Important Dates

May 18: Curriculum day + Learning progress meetings

May 21: Learning progress meetings cont.

May 25-27: Camp at ‘The Ranch’

June 8: King’s Birthday Public Holiday

June 19: Lightning Prem

June 26: End of Term, 2:30pm Dismissal

Daily Roll Marking

Student attendance is recorded twice daily (AM/PM)

Our electronic rolls are legal documents; therefore, we must be accountable for any absences. Please assist with this by informing the office of any absences as early as possible via phone or Compass.

Teaching and Learning

Reading

Our students will be engaged in shared and independent reading routines throughout the term. We will focus on the comprehension skills of summarising, making connections and inferences, while also building vocabulary and note-taking skills. Our class novel study is Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan, which explores themes of family, resilience and belonging. The novel will also connect closely to our Humanities unit on immigration, helping students develop a deeper understanding of the experiences and challenges many people face when moving to a new country.

Writing

Our focus genre for Term 2 is information reports. Throughout the term, students will explore the structure and language features of informative writing as they research and create a detailed report on an Asian country. They will develop skills in planning, organising information into clear subtopics, efficient researching skills and writing effective topic sentences. Students will also work on selecting relevant facts, using subject-specific vocabulary and presenting information in a clear and engaging way. Alongside this, we will continue to strengthen spelling, sentence structure and vocabulary through weekly Spelling sessions and free choice writing tasks designed to build confidence and fluency as writers.

Speaking & Listening

Students will be supported to develop their discussion skills with a focus on using language appropriate to different audiences and contexts, as well as speaking clearly and confidently when sharing ideas. They will practise active listening, building on the ideas of others and contributing thoughtfully to group discussions. Students will also be encouraged to ask questions, explain their thinking and justify their points of view during class conversations and collaborative learning tasks.

Mathematics

In Maths this term, our Grade 6 students will explore a variety of written and mental strategies to solve problems across key areas of the curriculum. They will engage with tasks at their individual point of need, and will be supported to build confidence and independence when tackling more complex challenges. Learning will be hands-on and collaborative, with a focus on developing a deep understanding through rich and engaging problem-solving opportunities.

This term’s topics include:

• Fractions & Decimals
• 3D Shapes
• Probability
• Number Patterns

Humanities

In Humanities, Grade 6 students are exploring the Big Question: ‘What impact has immigration had on Australia?’ This learning connects with our study of Wanting Mor, as students investigate how place, culture, conflict, family and identity shape people’s lives. We will explore Australia’s migration history, with a focus on connections to Asian countries, how war and displacement influence migration, and how migrants are represented in the media. Students will be encouraged to think respectfully about different cultures, beliefs and experiences. We would love to hear from family members who have immigrated to Australia and are willing to share their experiences with the class.

Wellbeing

In Year 6, we maintain an emphasis on the promotion of our school values through weekly wellbeing lessons and discussions.  During this phase of tremendous growth and change for our students,  wellbeing is at the fore. We regularly take time to celebrate our successes and share our thoughts to keep our classroom a happy,

caring and safe learning environment.  This term, we’re developing the skills needed for RESPECT by exploring themes and scenarios revolving around respectful relationships.

CEPS VALUES

COURTESY    RESPECT    CO-OPERATION    RESPONSIBILITY 

Fortnightly Friday assembly awards will be given to children who have shown personal growth relating to the school's values. To further support the school values, CEPS follows the SWPBS framework, which we refer to as CEPS Positive Behaviours Support. This framework encourages acknowledging positive behaviours displayed by students within the school. 

Your child may receive a CEPS raffle ticket for displaying the expected positive behaviours! Award winners will be drawn and announced during assembly on Friday afternoons. 

Supporting Learning from Home

Homework

In Grade 6, our aim is to help students build independent study techniques in preparation for their further education.  Students are expected to read at home for a minimum of 10 minutes per day, which counts towards the 120 minutes of homework per week (CEPS Homework Policy). We also encourage students to make the most of Mathletics by completing at least 30 minutes of activities per week.

Term 2 Additional Information

Headphones

We have some spare headphones in our classrooms, but if your child would prefer to bring their own set of ear/headphones, please ensure that you label them. Please note that Bluetooth headphones are not compatible with our school devices. 

Phones and Devices

In accordance with the Department of Education policy, phones that are brought to school must be switched off and handed to the teacher to be stored securely during the day. Students will not have access to these phones until 3:30 pm.

Further, smart watches (or similar) with messaging/calling/photography capabilities are required to be handed to the teacher to be safely stored while at school. 

Communication

Communication

You are welcome to contact your classroom teacher via email through Compass. Whilst families are navigating the transition to Compass, we are also still using Dojo for messages between parents and teachers at this stage. This is likely to be phased out at some stage this year. We are also still currently using Dojo to share learning updates from our classrooms.

With that said, you are always more than welcome to pop into the classroom before or after school if you have any queries or concerns. 

Whilst we endeavour to get back to you promptly, please understand that we are often unable to check these messages until after 3:30pm. If you need an important message to be passed on to your child, we ask that you communicate this via the office (e.g. to advise that your child will be collected early or by another family member). The office will then pass the message on to your child's classroom teacher.

Compass: Compass is the formal tool for communication regarding attendance, payments, excursions, camps, permission forms, school reports, etc.

Please use Compass to advise the school in a timely manner of all student absences.

Early Pick Up: If you need to pick up your child early, please collect them from the office area and be sure to sign them out. You will require an Early Leaver's Pass, provided by the office staff, before we are able to dismiss students. 

You can also keep up-to-date by using the school website and weekly newsletters:  http://www.cheltenhameast.vic.edu.au