Saltwater College Newsletter

Year Five 

Dear Year Five Families/Carers, 

 

Wow! We are already halfway through the first term, and it has been a busy one. Firstly, thank you to those families/carers that were able to attend our Year Five Parent Information Night. It was wonderful to meet you and share with you the exciting year ahead for your children. We appreciate that for some families it was not practicable to attend, and we have shared the PowerPoint presentation on our Year Five Schoolbox page.

 

Friday was a Curriculum Day for the staff of Saltwater College. We completed our second session of the Side-by-Side training delivered through Berry Street and VACCA (Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency). This session gave staff practical strategies to build and support respectful relationships with their students as well as effective, proactive classroom management. 

 

NAPLAN is on the horizon; key dates are as follows:

 

  • Wednesday 13 March – Year 5 Writing
  • Thursday 14 March – Year 5 Reading
  • Monday 18 March – Year 5 Language Conventions
  • Tuesday 19 March – Year 5 Numeracy

There are several ways how you can support your child:

  • Students arriving to school on time each day and especially during the testing period.
  • Good night’s sleep leading up to testing days.
  • Minimise pressure and talk to child about trying their best.

If families wish to do any additional practise, here are some suggestions: review vocabulary; practise writing narrative and persuasive texts; practise reading and analysing short texts (fiction and non-fiction); revising key maths vocabulary; practising worded math questions. 

 

If your child is going to be absent during the NAPLAN testing time, please let their classroom teacher know as there will be make up sessions available within the testing period.

Homework was sent out on Monday 26 February and is due fortnightly. As discussed at the Information Session, it is not mandatory, but it is an extension of what we have been learning in the classroom. There will be no homework for the weeks where we have NAPLAN. 

 

Reading

Our Year Five Students have continued to revise comprehension strategies such as identifying the main idea in a text as well as the overall 

theme. The ability to locate/identify the main idea and significant details helps the reader understand the points the writer is expressing. For readers to find the main idea, they need to be able to identify the topic or theme of a text so that they can really understand what the author wants us to know.

 

Writing

In Writing, the students have been working on narratives and persuasive texts. We have been reviewing the different elements which are crucial to creating interesting and engaging texts for their readers. 

We use persuasive language/devices to convince others to agree with our opinions, 

share our values, accept our arguments and conclusions, and adopt our way of thinking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have also introduced  VCOP which stands for vocabulary; connectives; openers and punctuation.  

VCOP gives the students a great visual of areas they may need to revise and edit in their writing. We have also been doing a ‘word of the day’ to broaden student vocabulary.

 

Maths

In preparation for NAPLAN, the students have been revising work at their point of need. For example: area and perimeter; worded problems (all operations); division and inverse equations. We have been working between our pods to further support the students, either to clarify misconceptions, practise various strategies and extending their understanding.

 

Unit of Inquiry

We have begun our first unit of inquiry (UOI) under the Transdisciplinary Theme ‘Who We Are’ and our Central dea is ‘Characteristics of a leader may determine their legacy’. This is a great unit to begin the year with, as it will also

 enable the students to reflect on their own leadership qualities and the further development of these qualities. 

After all, as American football coach Vince Lombardi once said: “Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.”

 

 

Important Reminders:

  • On PE days and Fridays, students are permitted to wear their sports uniform. Students must be in their full academic uniform on the other days. 
  • Wide-brimmed hats are to be worn in Term One and Term Four. No hat, no play in the sun! Students will be required to sit under a shaded area during recess or lunch if they do not have a wide-brimmed hat. Please also make sure your child's hat is named. 
  • Our school day commences at 8:30am and students will be welcomed into the classroom each day from 8.20am, which will give them time to prepare for their day ahead. Students are not permitted to be in the school grounds prior to 8:20 am without a supervising adult. 
  • If your child needs to be dropped off at school early, please investigate the Big Childcare Program which runs before and after school. 
  • Any child who arrives after 8.40am will need to enter through the front office and will need to sign in using the kiosk. 
  • Laptops should be brought to school every day, along with headphones.
  • Please ensure your students get in the habit of charging their laptops overnight so that they are ready to be used for learning during the school day.

 

We look forward to working with you to provide the best learning outcomes for your child/ren. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher if you need clarification on anything or if you wish to discuss a matter regarding your child. It is best to email the class teacher using their preferred email address listed on your child’s class Schoolbox page to arrange a suitable time.

 

Kind Regards,

The Year Five Team.