Welcome to this edition of the 5/6 newsletter!

To start off this week's newsletter, we have a group of student journalists who will be using their spare time to showcase what we have been working hard on. We have recently started our inquiry, focusing on different ways to improve our school. In literacy, our classes are working on informational texts related to our inquiry subjects. We are all about to finish our books in literacy circles, and everyone is doing very well! In math, everyone is working on a project where we draw a city and find the measurements for all buildings. For more information, please read the full newsletter.

Literacy

In Literacy, we have been working on our informational texts based on our inquiry groups. We’ve had lots of fun doing research and planning our informational texts. During reading time, we have been reading books in literature circles, which are groups based on our reading levels. We have also been making reading tracks and discussing what is happening in the books with our groups. In grammar and spelling, we have been expanding our vocabulary and our understanding of parts of speech, figurative language, and morphology.

What do you enjoy about literacy?

Bethany: “I enjoy doing reading comprehension activities and reading my literature circle books.”

Polina: “I like writing informational texts based on our inquiry groups.”

Noah: “I enjoy writing different texts like informational reports, creative writing, and persuasive writing.”

Naomi: “I enjoy the fact that we connect inquiry groups with our literacy groups so we get to expand our understanding of our inquiry topics."

Ira: “I enjoy how we get to enlarge EPS’s biodiversity while we learn about how to write informational texts.”

Miley: “I love participating in our literature circles and sharing different opinions on the book.”

Numeracy

In math, the 5/6s have been finishing off our measurement project by designing our own cities. All the students were required to include basic needs such as schools. We have been learning about area, perimeter, and circumference. We have also started learning about volume and capacity. Volume is the amount of space that an object occupies. Capacity is the amount that something can hold. We have been doing experiments to investigate the volume of objects using the water displacement method as well as calculating the volume of 3D objects.

This is what some people enjoy about Numeracy:

Lacey: "I liked measuring the volume of objects using the water displacment method."

Ira: “I enjoy how we get to examine the graphs and use skills that we will be able to use in our future careers.”

Inquiry

In Inquiry, the 5/6s have been doing different activities to improve EPS’s biodiversity. We split up into different inquiry groups to cover this topic, such as sustainable eating, creating habitats, clean energy, reducing waste, and repurposing fast fashion.

In the Gardening team, we have been growing our veggie garden to boost biodiversity. We have been planting kale, potatoes, and many more crops. Our end goal is to have a beautiful garden with lots of crops and plants that we can share with our community.

In the Creating Habitats team, we have been deciding whether to create air-bee-n-bees or birdhouses to place around our school. We have also been learning and thinking about the impacts if one species went completely extinct.

In the Reducing Waste at School group, we have been focusing on the positive impacts of having a worm farm. Some students have sent emails to Bunnings and the Moonee Valley City Council to request support and resources to start our own worm farm. The Moonee Valley City Council has sent us some FOGO bins to collect food scraps around the school to put in the worm farm. Bunnings replied and told us they would also be happy to give us materials to build our worm farm. Hopefully, they will soon send us their support so we can begin. In the Fast Fashion group, they have been planning how to make plushies and creating stuffed animals with unused fabric from their old clothing.

Wellbeing

In Wellbeing, the 5/6s have been trying to find ways to be calm and mindful. Last week, they did little drawings or patterns in hexagons called ZenDoodles. They also received booklets from the Resilience Project to do their work in. They also did body scan meditation, which is a form of meditation in which we scan our bodies to find pain or tension. It helps you feel more connected to your inner self, which is really important. We watched a video where Martin (who is an advocate for mental health and resilience) talked about mindfulness and being in the moment. He emphasized that people focus too much on the future or the past and that you should just focus on what you are doing right now. He discussed strategies to do this, including using a fidget toy, deep breathing, drawing, listening to music of your choice, and more.

Peer Support

The 5/6 students have been preparing and running peer support sessions for their group of younger students. The topic of these sessions is being positive. Some of these activities are about discovering your strengths and the things they enjoy. Across the school, students have been having fun in peer support and looking forward to the next sessions.

Interschool Sports

Near the end of Term 1, the 5/6 students tried out for their sport of choice, including soccer, tee-ball, netball, footy, and recreational sports for those who missed out on the teams. After the teams were assigned, multiple training sessions were held before the big first game on Friday against Saint Monica's. The teams were transported by bus, where multiple songs were sung. The second Friday there was a bye, and then the games resumed the next week. Although some teams didn’t win, every team had a lot of fun. The football team, unfortunately, didn’t get a win, but a lot of outstanding teamwork was shown by the team and some specific players. The soccer team had a great season as always, with lots of great performances from the players and good teamwork and sportsmanship.

E.P.S Got Talent

Congratulations to all the students who went out of their way and showed us their amazing talents for E.P.S Got Talent. We’re proud to say the finalists have been announced, and they will perform outside of the green room on Monday, June 17 (Junior Finals) and on Wednesday, June 19 (Senior Finals). The lists of the finalists are outside the green room, where the finalists will also perform their acts.

Buddies

Every Wednesday, the year 5s have been going down to the prep space to do activities with their buddies. The year 5s have been helping their buddies write cards for Mother’s Day, helping them do surveys about their time at school, teaching them how to use Lexia (the reading and writing app), and much more. They have been teaching their buddies new games to play outside at lunch and recess with their friends while the gaga pit is off-limits. Some of the games they have been playing are Red Light, Green Light, Hopscotch, and Helicopter, a game that you play with a skipping rope.

This is what some people enjoy about buddy time:

"I like doing the activities and playing with them because it's fun for the buddies and the year 5s."

"I enjoy getting to learn more about my buddy and making them smile."

"It is fun getting to have one-on-one time with my buddy and teaching them some new games to play outside with their friends. I like seeing my buddy get more independent."

"It's very easy to teach my buddy and it's very fun."

Futsal Oz Brunswick & Thomastown