Year 5/6 Team News

Hello Year 5/6 families, 

We have enjoyed another busy fortnight together in 5/6 with our Beach Days at WSLSC, the GRIP leadership conference, Hobson's Bay Divisional Swimming Finals and the first of our JSC leaders heading off to meet other leaders at Hobson's Bay City Council. 

This week we hear from Flynn (5/6M) and Annabelle (5/6S) about their past fortnight: 

We went to Beach Day! Beach day is a fun day when you get to go down to the beach and the Life saving club. You get put into groups with different coaches from the club. You do fun activities like, flags, sandcastle competition, boogie boarding and so much more. It’s especially fun when you get to compete. You also get to learn about water and beach safety. Overall it’s a really great experience. Flynn

On Tuesday 4th of March, the JSC, House Captains, School Captains and specially selected students went to the Melbourne Convention Centre for the annual GRIP Leadership conference. I was a specially seleted student to attend to learn how to be a great leader. We got to do activities and interact with other schools. They made learning about leadership fun by making it into video games and challenges. We had little activity booklets to fill in while we were listening. Overall it was a great learning experience and very enjoyable. Thank you to Molly and Matt for taking us. Annabelle 

What's happening in the Classroom:

Inquiry: Students have been introduced to their major inquiry project for the term: They will be investigating a chosen natural disaster and will complete a presentation on this at the conclusion of the term. It will be integrated into our literacy work allowing students to refine their skills in gathering information, preparing an information report and presenting orally to an audience. There will be a key component in the project that asks students to create a 'preparation' or 'safety' resource to accompany their information report. Students will need to explain why this device/resource is important when faced with this type of disaster. We look forward to lots of creative ideas and conversations being shared in inquiry time! 

Reading: Students will be reading, skimming and scanning, note taking and interpreting the effectiveness of multimedia forms in relation to their chosen natural disaster. This will help prepare them to complete the project in class over the coming weeks. They will also be participating within literacy-based groups to enhance their reading and writing skills at targeted levels. Within these groups, students are refining their reciprocal reading skills: predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarising texts. 

Writing: Students are now completing their persuasive essay publications using Slides and incorporating multimedia elements to enhance it's effectiveness. To help prepare for the inquiry project, students will explore Information Reports and begin using the Willy Writing Cycle and the 6+1 traits of Writing to complete their own digital information report for the project presentation.  

Maths: Students are refining skills using the 4 operations. Students will explore many written and mental strategies to help them solve problems. Students are beginnig to set goals and reflect on their progress throughout the units of study. If you are looking for a fun game to play at home to help with multiplication and division, check out this game: https://www.nctm.org/Classroom-Resources/Illuminations/Interactives/Product-Game/

Willy Kids: In weeks 7 & 8, Willy Kids are considerate. Within our discussion, we will explore the the text 'The Brain Forest' and discuss why it is imporatnt to be considerate of others. We will celebrate our differences and create a class brain forest. 

Respectful Relationships: We have continued to explore how Self Talk can be an effective tool when managing stressful situations. Students have looked at scenarios and practised using self talk in these situations. 

NAPLAN 2025:

Wed 12th March: Writing Session 1

Thursday 13th March: Reading Session 3

Friday 14th March: Catch Up

Monday 17th March: Conventions Of Language Session 1

Tuesday 18th March: Maths Session 3

Wednesday 19th March: Catch Up 

Please bring devices FULLY charged on these day and ensure that NAP 2025 APP is updated (as many year 5 students had 2023 app only when completing the practise test this week) 

Interschool Sport Rounds 5,6,7:

Week 6: Forfeit from competing school so we will have 2hrs training on Friday instead of Wednesday. 

Alternative program will still run as planned. 

Week 7: Vs Willy North (Home)

Week 8: Vs St Mary's (Home)

Event Cost Adjustments: (Repeat Information)

To give families sufficient time to plan ahead, we wish to notify you of some key costs that will be attached to events this year. As you are probably aware, the cost of buses has had a big impact on the cost of excursions, so we are trying to mitigate this, as much as possible, by reducing the number of bus excursions taken during the year. 

As part of our unit on Australian History, we are in the process of arranging an excursion to Sovereign Hill in Term 2. This is expected to cost around $55. We feel, strongly, that the immersive experience provided by Sovereign Hill will have great impact on our students’ ability to engage with the unit. 

In Term 3, we will be off to Camp Toolangi for two nights. These camps will take place from 25-29 August. In Week 8 of this Term we will be launching the Compass event for camp deposits and this event will outline the exact dates your child will be attending. At this stage, the camp is expected to cost around $400 per student. Please note, this figure is dependent on the number of families who commit through payment of the deposit. 

In Term 4, students will be participating in a three-part incursion for Health Education. It is a wonderful program and we received fantastic reviews from the students who participated in 2024. As it was a pilot program, last year, the school subsidized part of the cost. This year, the program will cost approximately $40 per student.

Finally, another expense for the year is our end-of-year excursion as part of Celebration Week. In the past, we have visited Luna Park, Adventure Park and the Sun Theatre. At this stage we have not determined the location for the excursion, but would you like you to know that this excursion has traditionally cost around $50 per student.

As per communications from the school, the Victorian Schools Saving Bonus of $400 is available to all families with school-aged children. This money can be used to cover school events, such as excursions, incursions and camps. If you require further information on how to use you Savings Bonus for school events, please contact the school office.

•            Term 2: Sovereign Hill $55 approximately

•            Term 3: Camp Toolangi $400 approximately

•            Term 4: Health Program $40 approximately

•            Term 4: End-of-Year Excursion $50 approximately

REMINDERS:

A final reminder that 5/6 students are expected to bring their iPads in fully charged each day (we have had a lot of forgetfulness this past week!), their hats for Term 1 and a drink bottle. We also want to remind families that we aim to have rubbish free classrooms and ask our students to take home any rubbish from their lunch with them. 

Have a great fortnight everyone!

Warm regards,

The Grade 5/6 Team - Christina Crosland (5/6C), Emma Chang (5/6E), Molly Hedditch (5/6H), Bianca Italiano & Bianca Russo (5/6I), Matt Eason-Jones (5/6M) & Brittlee Salvo (5/6S)