5/6

Kids Helpline

This week, our Year 5/6 students took part in a special Kids Helpline incursion all about building resilience. They learned what it means to be resilient — to bounce back after challenges and keep going, even when things get tough. The session helped students understand that everyone faces hard times, but there are ways to manage stress and look after their wellbeing.

Students learned strategies like:

• Taking deep breaths and calming their bodies
• Talking to someone they trust
• Staying positive and looking for solutions
• Recognising their strengths

The incursion reminded students that it’s okay to ask for help, and that building resilience makes them stronger, both at school and in life.

READING

In Reading, an important skill we’ve been building on is making connections between the text and the world around us. Students are encouraged to make:

• Text-to-self connections, linking the text to their own experiences or emotions
• Text-to-text connections, comparing it with other books, films, or stories they know
• Text-to-world connections, relating the text to real-life events, issues, or communities

We’ve also been building on summarising what we read. Students are learning to identify the most important parts of a text and share them in a clear and simple way. 

We focus on:

Who the main characters are

What the main events or problems are

Where and when the story takes place

Why the events are important

This helps students understand the big ideas in a story and explain them in their own words. Summarising also helps us remember what we’ve read and talk about it with others.

MATHS

In Maths, our students have been learning about multiples and factors. They’ve explored how numbers can be broken down into their factors and how multiples help us with patterns and problem-solving. They’ve enjoyed using games such as MULTO and Factor Captor to get the hang of it! These activities have helped build their confidence and make learning number concepts both fun and meaningful.

WRITING

In Writing, students have been learning about the story of Jandamarra, a powerful true story about a Bunuba resistance fighter from Western Australia. As they explore this important part of history, they are beginning to develop the skills needed to write a factual recount. Students are learning how to research, take notes, and organise information to retell real events clearly and accurately. This learning ties in with our Reading focus on the book Dirrarn, as both texts help students explore Aboriginal history, culture, and the strength of identity through real and powerful stories.