Class 5 Steiner
Kii 5S Families,
Main Lesson
It was a wonderful way to round off our year immersed in the world of Ancient Greece with the Greek Olympics, generously hosted by Collingwood College. The day was made even more special with the inclusion of Thornbury Primary School’s Grade 6 students, who did not have the opportunity to participate last year.
After being warmly welcomed by Collingwood College staff and students, TPS students quickly donned their Greek tunics and were divided into their city states: Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Thebes. We then enjoyed a theatrical opening ceremony, spoke the athlete’s oath, and began the event heats for discus, javelin, standing long jump, wrestling, and the 50-metre dash.
Once these were completed, we shared a Greek feast together before the excitement of the afternoon’s finals and relay races began. To great cheers and shouts of encouragement, the finalists stepped forward to be judged not only on distance, speed and strength, but, in true Ancient Greek tradition, also on the beauty and form of their movement.
At the close of the day, students who excelled were thrilled to receive an olive leaf crown in recognition of their efforts, proudly wearing them home on the train.
A special thank you to Collingwood College and Frank Stanley for organising such a memorable and beautifully curated event. A wonderful day was truly had by all.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, students have continued to build their understanding of location by plotting and interpreting coordinates on number planes, using ordered pairs to accurately describe position and movement. They applied these skills to problem-solving tasks and explored how coordinates can be used to represent real-world locations.
Students also deepened their knowledge of geometric transformations, investigating how shapes can be translated, reflected and rotated. They described the effects of these transformations using appropriate mathematical language and explained how the position and orientation of shapes change.
To finish the year, students explored probability, investigating the likelihood of different events. They learned to describe outcomes as certain, likely, unlikely or impossible, and to compare probabilities using fractions. Students conducted simple chance experiments, recorded and represented their results, and discussed how experimental outcomes relate to expected probability, developing their reasoning and interpretation skills.
Literacy
Over the past two weeks, students have been completing their Literature Circle novels and participating in their final group discussions. During these sessions, students shared thoughtful reflections on the texts they read, demonstrating a strong understanding of characters, key events and themes.
It has been wonderful to see the growth and development students have made across the term, as well as the maturity with which they approached these weekly discussions. Students showed responsibility by completing their set reading, preparing their assigned roles, and actively participating in meaningful group conversations.
Most importantly, it was wonderful to see students’ enthusiasm for the stories and the enjoyment they experienced through sharing and discussing these books together.
5S have been an absolute joy to teach this year, and it is exciting to have the Class 4 Steiner students joining us next year to form our 5/6S class. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you next year.