News from Year Six
St Joseph's School
End of Term 3
We made it! End of Term 3 already. With the Madagascar production and bazaar, we have had a busy term. We are only just going to finish our class novel, Once on the last day.
Camp
Term 4 is almost upon us with camp at CYC the Island in Week 1 and Graduation in Week 10. By now, most families have responded to the Camp permission form. You will receive an email in the next couple of days with a 'What to Pack' list.
Graduation
Save the Date: Wednesday, 10 December at 6pm at the Warburton Golf Club.
Early next term, we will ask people to put in a request for how many tickets to Graduation they would like. The Warburton Golf Club has a capacity of about 150 people, so we are looking at roughly 5 guests per family, plus 21 graduating students and staff members. Some families may require less than 5 guests and some may request more. We are hoping that we will have enough room to accommodate everyone.
Dress: Students usually take this opportunity to dress up a little in a nice dress/pantsuit, or shirt and pants.
Book Reviews
Once - by Morris Gleitzman
This term our class read a book called once, it was thrilling and sad all at the same time. The book was based on the holocaust, the main character was a jewish person called Felix. My first impression of the book was thinking it was gonna be really boring but in the end I ended up loving it.
The main character Felix, escaped from an orphanage and went on a journey to find his parents. He didn't know that there was a lot going on between the Jewish and Nazis but found out soon enough after he left.
Felix, Zelda and Barney were the main characters. Zelda is a little girl around the age of 6. Felix found her and that’s when they became friends. She tagged along on his journey as Felix took care of her. Barney hid from the Nazis and took care of the kids. He helped out a lot and was very kind but strong minded.
My favorite part was the end. It was nerve wrecking,frightening but sad and I loved how it described everything so well, especially in that bit.
Some of the words could get a bit confusing from time to time because it had such complex vocabulary which was very impressive but confusing. I loved the book a lot but it could get a bit repetitive with the main story line and had multiple side quests along the way.
I would definitely recommend this book to tweens going to teens it was very good to read but you would have to be older to get some of the things in this book but definitely would recommend ⅘ star book for me loved it a lot.
by Toby
Once by Morris Gleitzman
Once is a historical fiction book about a young Jewish boy during the time period of World War 2 holocaust.
When I first started this book my first impression was not good, I didn’t think Once would be as good as it ended up being.
Once is about Felix, a young Jewish boy escaping the orphanage to go on a mission to find his parents. He makes trusted friends along the way and all of them together try to survive the holocaust.
The main characters are Felix, a courageous 12-year-old Jewish boy who is very brave and willing to take on anything, and has a wild imagination. Zelda is a young Jewish girl who loves to explore and has a bubbly but bossy personality. Barney an adult who loves to help people, is very brave and selfless.
My favourite part was how the main characters stayed hopeful, kept fighting, and helping each other to the end.
I really enjoyed this book because of how well written it was and how easy you could understand their emotions and words. It’s easy to put yourself into their shoes and imagine what their going through. There were a lot of ups and downs in the book, and usually the kids came out on top, which kept the book more lighthearted and hopeful.
What could've been better in my opinion was the start. I think the start could've been a little more grabbing and exciting for the reader.
Overall, I loved this book and I recommend once to older kids and teenagers because they are more capable to understand. I rate this book a 9.5/10.
By Summer