Grade 5 News 

Upcoming Dates – Term 2

Thursday 7th May: Mother’s Day Stall

Friday 8th May: Rowville District Cross Country (selected students only)

Friday 22nd May: Winter Round Robin Day 1

Friday 29th May: Winter Round Robin Day 2

Important Reminders

• The Grade 5 maths curriculum assumes that all students know their multiplication tables. If your child is still working on this skill, we ask that you support them by finding some time to practise. If you would like suggestions about how to practise, please get in touch with your child's classroom teacher.
• Grade 6 Leaders will be selling icy poles each Monday and Tuesday at lunchtime for $1

• Hats - As per our school's SunSmart policy, all students are required to wear hats until the end of April 2026.

   

Grade 5 Specialist Timetable

Learning in Action

📖 Literacy

Word Work

At the end of Term 1, students continued to investigate the Latin base mit–miss–mise, meaning “to send.” By examining this Latin base alongside common prefixes such as per–, dis–, inter– and com–, students developed a deeper understanding of how word parts combine to shape meaning. Through this exploration, they unpacked the meanings of words such as transmit, permit, demissed, intermittent, recognising how each word reflects the underlying concept of “sending” in different contexts.

Preview for learning:

In Term 2, students will begin exploring the meanings of words derived from the Latin base graph-gram, meaning to read or record. They will focus on how the addition of different prefixes and suffixes modify the base to create new meanings.

Literature

We finally finished War Horse with very mixed emotions! Students explored the period when Joey was reunited with the English army and his beloved owner, Albert. Surviving tetanus and miraculously managing to return home to England, the story ended happily for Joey and Albert. However, students discussed this was not the case for many horses at war. They learnt what was to be their fate, as well as the interesting fact that only 1 Australian horse was ever to return to Australia after World War 1.

Students completed their responses to the prompt, ‘Should horses have been used in World War One?’ While planning their arguments, they were encouraged to consider both sides of the issue, weighing the reasons for and against the usage of horses in wartime. Students were introduced to a range of persuasive language features, including rhetorical questions, emotive and persuasive language, nominalisations, and high-modality words to help them present clear, convincing arguments and influence their readers to support their viewpoint.

Preview for Learning: 

In Term 2, students will embark on a new novel for their Literature unit. We will be reading Black Cockatoo by Carl Herrison and Hakea Hustler, which tells the story of an Indigenous child living in The Kimberley region, in Western Australia.

The short novel focusses on several themes, including cultural connection and identity, family dynamics, personal growth, protection of the environment and living in a remote community.

➗ Maths

We finished off Term 1 by completing the Multiplication and Division unit. Students were exposed to recording remainders as either a fraction or a decimal when solving division problems. We also revisited perimeter and applied our knowledge to real world problems. For example, if the paddock has a perimeter of 156m, how much would it cost to replace the fence at $5 per metre.

Preview for Learning:

This term, students will make the connection between perimeter and area. They will calculate the area of composite shapes, and find strategies to calculate a length of a side if it is not provided. Later in the term, they will investigate fractions that are greater and less than 1. They will find equivalent fractions and convert between mixed numerals and improper fractions.

Knowledge Rich

In Term 2, students will be completing a unit on Australia in the 1800s. They will discover why this time is known as the Victorian Era. They will be looking at significant events during that time, including why people moved to Australia and the impact that had on the local Indigenous people.

Wellbeing

At the end of Term 1, students enjoyed connecting with their Buddies and together completed an ‘All About Me’ activity. 

Our last Circles session was centred around Harmony Day, where we discussed cultural diversity and the importance of inclusivity. Students looked fabulous dressed up in a ‘touch’ of orange.

Preview for Learning: 

Students will begin the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) program. The first topic is Emotional Literacy. Over several weeks, students will delve into what emotions look like, recognising positive, negative and mixed emotions, and dealing with intense emotions.

John Monash Science School

Quentin, Indi, Elton and I (Harry) went to John Monash Science School to participate in the Mini Mathematicians program. When we got there, we noticed there were plenty of other year five students from different schools eager to do the maths they had prepared for us. Every school group had Year Ten students helping them. We had a Year Ten student named Lexter who had gone to LPS just like us. When we were there, we did math games and the group who won got lollies.

Care Packages for the Troops - Thankyou for your support with these care packages. These photos show some of the items that we bought for them. We really hope the deployed Australians enjoy the goodies!

Letters to the troops: 

Athletics Day

Happy Hat Parade

Grade 5 Teachers

Karin Halstead, Peta Alexander, Susanne Stokol and Irene Chalmers