Year 6 News

Reading

This fortnight in Reading, our Year 6 students continued reading our class novel, I Am Malala, and completed the book. Throughout the unit, students explored important themes and messages including courage, resilience, equality, and the importance of education and speaking up for change. Over the past two weeks, students focused on making meaningful connections while reading, including text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections, helping them engage more deeply with the novel and its real-world impact. Students also developed their summarising skills by identifying key events and important ideas from the text and creating clear, concise summaries.

‘I liked reading how Malala kept fighting for girls rights to go to school’ - Mohamed 6A

‘I liked it when she published for the BBC and spoke at the UN. She did it under a false name, so her and her family were safe’ - Ibrahim 6A

‘I am enjoying how to spell and understand new words and summarise a text’. Annalaise 6B

“We got to read about Malala getting better and adjusting to her new life”- Mayassa 6C

Writing

In writing, Year 6 students have continued to explore different types of poetry. Students enjoyed writing free verse poems about topics of interest. Students explored the ‘Jabberwocky’ and analysed their whimsical and grammatical structure. Year 6’s then looked at narrative/free verse poems and compared these to narrative pieces of writing. Students were able to make comparisons about the story line and characters as well as following a similar structure to narratives. To support this learning students looked at ‘Beowulf’ and compared it to a narrative that they had written.

"I had fun learning about new words and how we can use them in our writing’ - AJ 6A

“ I like how we needed to find rhyming words for our limericks”- Riyansh 6C

‘I have enjoyed creating nonsense poems this week’. Aroosh 6B

Maths

This fortnight, the Year 6 students have focused on learning about special numbers. This includes: prime and composite numbers and using these to help identify square and triangular numbers. Students have also begun exploring multiplying and dividing whole and decimal numbers by powers of 10. Students have used place value charts to help and assist them in identifying the process of multiplying and dividing by powers of 10.

‘It was fun and easy learning about powers of 10’ - Hussain 6A

‘Learning how to multiply and divide using the decimal point has been fun’. Aleisha 6B

‘I liked learning about powers in maths, it was hard but I liked it as it gave me a challenge.’ - Holly 6A

‘Multiplying and dividing powers of ten is a good strategy to help me with Maths problems.’ Brody 6B

“ In math we are learning about multiplying and dividing by powers of 10”- Christine 6C

Inquiry

In Inquiry this fortnight, Year 6 students continued their exploration of Geography, comparing the physical and human characteristics of countries within the Asia-Pacific region with a focus on China. Students examined physical features like landforms, climate, and natural environments, alongside human elements including population, culture, and settlement patterns. They explored how these aspects are interconnected, developing an understanding of how geography shapes the way people live and interact with their environment.

‘We learnt about Japan, I love researching and Japan is really interesting. I learnt about templates in Japan and the food they eat. - Mahrosh 6A

‘The Himalayas are the world's highest mountains.’ Qasim 6B

“Learning about the Great Wall of China and its history like why it was created was interesting.”- Ronan 6C

Social and Emotional Learning / SWPBS

This fortnight in SEL, Year 6 students explored emotional support, meaningful relationships and bullying prevention. Students reflected on trusted people they can turn to for help and discussed how kindness, empathy, respect and friendship help others feel supported and included. Through activities such as “Helping Hands” and “Support Stars”, students identified people who support them, expressed appreciation, and reflected on ways they have helped others. Students also explored how embracing diversity and creating positive connections helps everyone feel safe and that they belong within the school community. Year 6 students also reflected on their visit to Craigieburn Secondary College to experience a day at high school.

‘I’m nervous about secondary school next year. Getting used to new friends and teachers and different classrooms. - Ivan 6A

‘I’m nervous about going to different classrooms for different subjects and using a locker. I'm excited about making some new friends. - Brodie 6A

‘I’m excited about Secondary School and creating a mind map about what l experienced’. Zander 6B

‘I learnt that taking trust in others helps me work with others’. Jhaveir 6B

‘ I am nervous and excited for secondary school’- Jobe 6C

AUSLAN

In Auslan, students have been focussing on how to correctly sign household appliances including lamp, heater, dishwasher, vacuum, fan, kettle, rice cooker and iron. They have also focussed on correctly signing and communicating medical signs to one another using vocabulary such as ambulance, nurse, hospital, medicine, tablet, bruise, headache, X-ray and exercise. Students have practised to ‘read back’ others signing to one another and perform role plays.

‘Learning AUSLAN is challenging, but I like it and I'd like to be able to speak to everyone’ - Ivan 6A

‘Today l learnt lots of different medical signs and create a role play’.Jhaveir 6B

“We learnt medical signs in Auslan”- Naya 6C

Special Events

Buddy Picnic

The Year 6 students in Week 3 enjoyed a ‘Special Buddy Picnic Day’ with their buddies in foundation and Year one. They experienced a light lunch together communicating and having fun playing a variety of minor games like soccer, football, throwing frisbees and catching a ball. They practised showing the school values of kindness, responsibility and resilience while spending quality time together in the school grounds. After the picnic, students had the opportunity to write about their experiences scribing a recount about what they did and how they felt.

Craigieburn Secondary College Open Day

Our Year 6 students also recently attended the Craigieburn Secondary College Open Day, where they experienced a day in the life of a high school student. Throughout the visit, students participated in a variety of classes, such as Science, Information Technology, Art, PE and Food Technology, rotating through different learning areas and engaging in hands-on activities. They also had the opportunity to meet teachers and current students, ask questions, and gain a better understanding of what high school life will be like. It was a valuable and engaging experience that supported students in preparing for their transition to secondary school.