Reading

This fortnight, Year 6 students completed our class novel study of I Am Malala, finishing with a focus on media literacy and the importance of using your voice to create change. Students explored the BBC diary entries published by Malala and discussed how media can be used to raise awareness about important issues. They also watched and reflected on Malala’s inspiring speech to the United Nations, discussing themes of courage, education, equality and standing up for what you believe in.

To conclude the unit, students drafted and published thoughtful letters to Malala, sharing their reflections and responses to her story. They have now begun a new class novel, Wonder by R. J. Palacio, where students have focused on making predictions using clues from the text and their prior knowledge. Wonder encourages important discussions around kindness, empathy, inclusion and accepting differences, making it a valuable and meaningful text for our Year 6 students with strong links to our CPS values.

‘I like how Auggie is different to everybody and when people talk behind his back, he is strong enough to not let it bother him’ - Mohamed 6A

‘In Wonder, Auggie has a very sad story. He doesn't have many friends. I was happy he has Jack Will but sad that he feels betrayed by him. A very sad part of the story’ - Mahrosh 6A

‘In Wonder, l can make good connections when using the author's purpose.’ Ayden 6B

‘In Wonder , l have enjoyed making connections with author's purpose.’Aroosh 6B

‘I really like reading Wonder so far the Star Wars references are really fun.” - Zach 6C

‘I like how interesting Wonder is and all of the new characters’- Rylie 6C

Writing

This past fortnight Year 6 students have been learning about the prefix ‘milli/mille’ and ‘dem’. They were able to explain the definition of these and how they can use their understanding of different prefixes to build new words. Students then used these words to create sentences and paragraphs.

Year 6 students have begun exploring narrative writing by creating characters and settings that they will use to write a narrative in the coming weeks. They have been brainstorming ideas by linking characters to a variety of settings, while considering what they can include to create a suspenseful opening and establish an introduction that keeps the reader reading.

‘It was fun learning about future tense and learning how to write it in a recount or narrative.’ - Hriday 6A

‘ I can use my knowledge to understand the meaning of new words well.’ Qasim 6B

‘ I have enjoyed practising handwriting using formation to join letters.’- Ellie 6B

‘It was really fun getting to draw characters and use Canva to make them real’-Mayassa 6C

‘We got to describe settings and characters to use in our narratives’-Kaynen 6C

Maths

During the past fortnight, Year 6 students have been busy in maths. They revised their knowledge and understanding of finding unknown numbers and balanced equations to help them solve order of operation equations. Many students enjoyed this and the challenge of being able to correctly solve these equations with unknowns.

Year 6 students then began a new unit focusing on Measurement. They explored prior knowledge of how they have used estimation to help when looking at measurement.

Students were able to demonstrate their understanding of area and perimeter. They were also able to explain the difference between area and perimeter but also how they are linked. Year 6’s then began to link these understandings to capacity and how we can record our learning and understanding by using prior knowledge of multiplication and shapes.

‘It was fun and challenging learning about area, I had fun making estimations’ - Ivan 6A

‘I love measuring things and estimating the length of objects.’ Qasim 6B

‘I have enjoyed learning how to solve problems using shapes’ Emmerson 6B

‘I like finding the area of objects.’ Senuli 6B

‘In Maths we are learning about measurement like area and perimeter’- Artaaz 6C

‘For Maths we got to create our names out of shapes and calculate their area and perimeter’ - Chelsy 6C

Inquiry

This fortnight, Year 6 students continued their Geography inquiry unit by exploring the physical and human geography of India, Pakistan and Nepal. Students investigated significant physical features, including the Himalayan mountain range and Mount Everest, learning about the unique environments, climate and landscapes of the region. They also explored aspects of human geography by researching important cultural celebrations and traditions, including the festivals of Holi and Diwali. Through these learning experiences, students developed a deeper understanding of how geography, culture and traditions shape people’s lives across different parts of the world.

‘We have been learning about Mt Everest, India and learning special geological features. I liked learning about India’s Independence day. - Ibrahim 6A

‘I liked learning about Mt Everest and learning about new places. I liked learning about India’s celebrations’ - Marcus 6A

‘I like finding out facts about famous landmarks.’ Elijah 6B

‘I have enjoyed working on projects about the world.’ Maddison 6B

‘We learnt about festivals and celebrations and made posters, I picked Holi’ - Lily 6C

‘Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world and many people go to Nepal just to climb it - ’Ronan 6C

Social and Emotional Learning / SWPBS

This fortnight in SEL, Year 6 students explored the importance of help-seeking and practised using clear and confident communication in different situations. Students discussed trusted sources of support at school, including teachers, friends, family members, and other trusted adults. Through role plays and group discussions, students practised identifying problems, deciding who could help, and using calm and respectful language to ask for support. Students also reflected on how asking for help is an important life skill that can build confidence, safety, and positive relationships with others.

During our SWPBS lessons Year 6 students discussed the difference between equality and equity. Students had some great discussions about their understanding and thoughts around what is fair and what is equal. Students then read the book ‘All people are beautiful’ by Vincent Kelly and used this to discuss how we can show equality and equity at school.

‘Equity is when everybody gets what they need, equality is when everyone gets the same thing” - Aaron 6A

‘Everybody should have the opportunity to experience new things.’ - Ellie 6B

‘We learnt about the difference between equality and equity’ - Aaron 6C

AUSLAN

This fortnight, the Year 6 students have been practising how to recall letters of the Auslan alphabet and fingerspell simple words for others to recognise while attempting to read them back to each other. They have also learnt some Auslan signs relating to Camping such as camping, tent, sleeping bag, torch, campfire, wood, backpack, stars, toilet paper, fishing and hiking. Students have also attempted to build or create camping scenes in small groups using signs taught.

‘I like to learn AUSLAN. My favourite word to sign is fan!’ - Hussain 6A

‘ I enjoy practising words using fingerspelling.’ - Aroosh 6B

‘I liked learning the finger spelling’ - Jobe 6C

Special Event

On Friday the 25th of May, students from CPS participated in a Cross Country event held at Merrifield Recreation Reserve. All students enjoyed themselves and showed excellent sportsmanship on the day. Participants supported each other by cheering and giving each other encouragement while completing the course. The Cohort wish those that qualified for the next round all the best. Well done to everyone on making it such a successful event!

‘The race was so fun but tiring and everyone also had a good time’ - Hussain 6A

‘I liked competing against different schools in cross country’ - Zaylee 6C

‘ It was hard to run 3km but it was a fun day’ - Jehansa 6C

Important Dates