Year 5/6

Welcome

Welcome parents, guardians and students to a new year of learning in Years Five and Six. This newsletter will be distributed at the commencement of each term throughout the year. The newsletter aims to give families an insight into what will be occurring at the school during each term. We extend a big welcome to our new families in the 5/6 community. The 5/6 team for 2024 is as follows:

5/6M

Joachim Min Fa

5/6P

Daniella Polites (Mon- Thurs) /Nella Lo Presti (Friday)

5/6C

Rosario Corio

5/6DW

Sarah De Guzman-Wettenhall 

Our Learning this Term

English

Each day our students will participate in a two hour Literacy block. The morning Literacy block has designated times of one hour for Reading and one hour for Writing.

Reading

This term, the focus of our Reading will be on Comprehension Skills using non-fiction texts. Students will read a range of information texts and be required to answer literal and inferential questions. 

For Reading Groups, children will be explicitly taught to practise and demonstrate many skills.  

Self-monitor - Stop and make sure you understand what you’re reading. 

Reread - if you don’t understand, Ask questions to help you think deeper about the text. Vocabulary- identify key words and explain their meaning using synonyms. Visualise- create a picture in your mind.

Make predictions - think about what will come next.

Make connections to your life, other texts and the world to help you understand the text. Summarise - retell the important parts and Infer - use what you know and what you read to think deeper about the author’s meaning. 

Writing

In Term One, our Writing will cover Information Narratives based on the lives of significant, historical  people. Students will learn how to write factual information using the timeline of key events and retell their life using subheadings about their Early Life, Achievements and Challenges. 

Maths

The students will complete a daily one hour Mathematics lesson. There will be a focus on 

Number and Place Value, Length, Perimeter, Area and work on various strategies to solve equations related to the Four Processes of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division.

It is expected that all students have a very good understanding of Multiplication and Division facts from 1-10 (This is listed by the end of Year Four in the Victorian Curriculum). Students are encouraged to continue to practise these at home. They may wish to use Hit the Button (website). It covers both Multiplication and Division facts.

SPECIALIST SUBJECTS

Students will have Music, Italian , Physical Education and Art every Wednesday. 

Please ensure that the correct Sport’s Uniform is worn.

LIBRARY BORROWING TIMES

Students need to ensure that all books they borrow from the Library are returned on the day that their class borrows . It is compulsory that they have an appropriate Library Bag to protect their books.

5/6DW   Monday                      5/6M   Monday

5/6P      Monday                       5/6C   Monday

INTERSCHOOL SPORTS

Every Thursday, students will be competing against other schools in the zone and must come to school wearing their Sport Uniform and have their water bottles ready.

15/2/24 - Away Vs St Peter’s

22/2/24- BYE

29/2/24- Home vs Coatesville

7/3/24- Away vs Murrumbeena

14/3/24- Home vs Oakleigh South

Religious Education 

In Religious Education, students will review the St Andrew’s vision statement and use this to assist in creating a Class Charter. The students will further develop their knowledge and understanding of the importance of Prayer in their daily lives. In Week Three, the students will attend Ash Wednesday Mass. They will then begin to investigate the Season of Lent and Jesus’ journey to His Resurrection. 

Wellbeing

The school term will begin with SWELL COME week.  This three day program will allow students the opportunity to build friendships and working relationships with their classmates. Its aim is to foster the teacher-student relationship and help create a sense of belonging in a safe environment. Another area of focus for the term will be: Lining Up, Transitions and Routines (Morning, End of Day , Entering the Room) , Be Safe and Sun Smart, Be Ready To Learn, Keeping Hands, Feet and Objects to Self, Using Kind Words and Following Staff Directions. 

Positive behaviour for Learning (PBL) Lessons will be explicitly taught on a weekly basis with a time allocation of 45 minutes on a Monday. Students will have a workbook to record their learning and will be encouraged to practise and model appropriate ways to behave in different settings.

Inquiry

Students will be given the opportunity to explore the ways we can build a school culture where we are all supported to thrive as learners. We will discuss what a safe learning environment looks, feels and sounds like and the qualities and strengths they need to be a positive role model at St Andrew’s.

Homework

In line with our St Andrew’s Homework Policy, it is an expectation that Year Five and Year Six students complete the following as homework tasks:

• 20 minutes of Reading per night to be recorded in their diary (Title, pages/chapters read)
• 10-15 minutes of other tasks per night as set by the classroom teacher. This will generally be 1-2 weekly Literacy/R.E./Maths/Inquiry task(s) linked to our current classroom learning to be worked on at home throughout the week. (Please note these additional tasks will commence from Week 4 of Term 1 beginning Monday 19th February.

The purpose of our Homework program is to strengthen home-school partnerships and reaffirm the role of parents and guardians as partners in education. It is an opportunity for students to reinforce and share their classroom learning and develop productive routines and time management skills.

Classroom Organisation

The start of the year is always busy in regards to classroom organisation. Below are some items of note:

• Any student who may need to bring a mobile to school, it is expected that they hand in their phone to the classroom teacher in the morning.  All phones will be returned prior to the end of the school day. 
• Each student is asked to bring one of the following; a box of tissues,  Chux wipes, hand wash, paper towels to contribute to the classroom. Thank you to all families who have already donated these items.
• It is expected that students complete 2 ½ hours of Reading at home per week with the following recorded in their personal diary (Title of book, pages read/duration of reading, parent signature)
• Sports shoes are only to be worn on a Wednesday and Thursday (Interschool Sport). Children are expected to bring their Library Bag to school on designated Library days. 
• Students are expected to responsibly use their Chromebooks at school and at home. When carrying their Chromebook to and from school they are expected to use the Chromebook case supplied by the school. Please note that it is the responsibility of parents and guardians to monitor their children whilst using their Chromebooks at home. It is encouraged that students use their Chromebooks in a shared space. It is an expectation that Chromebooks are charged in readiness for the school day.

Key Dates

Important dates to remember for Term One 2024

Shrove Tuesday 13th February

Ash Wednesday  Mass- 14th February 12pm

First Whole School Assembly 9am 16th February (presenation of Leader Badges)

Presentation Of Year 6 Jumpers 2.50- 3.15PM- 6th March

School Closure Day 8th March

Labour Day 11th March

Year 3-6s Cross Country Event - 15th March

School Photos - 19th March

Harmony Day - 21st March

School Athletics Carnival and Kaboom 1-3pm - 22nd March

Parent Teacher Interviews 2.30-7pm 25th March

End of Term -Thursday 28th March (1.30pm)

How to Contact Us

We would like to see ourselves as the first point of contact in regards to your child’s learning. Please feel free to contact us by the following: We politely request that there is an understanding that emails may only be responded to during working hours.

School Phone:  9551 5094                                 

Year 5 / 6 Teacher Emails: 

Daniella Polites: dpolites@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Joachim Min Fa: jminfa@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Sarah De Guzman: sdeguzman@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Rosario Corio: rosario@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Nella Lo Presti: nlopresti@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

SPECIALIST PROGRAMS

L.O.T.E. Italian

  L.O.T.E.  Italian   

Ciao a tutti e felice anno nuovo.

Dear parents, welcome to 2024. May it be a happy and healthy year for all.

The students In Years Five and Six begin this term by revising, recycling and consolidating previously-acquired language through written and oral activities. They will use familiar language to talk about themselves, to share information about their families, and their likes and dislikes. 

They will also be writing personal profile cards to read out in class. “Chi sono?” Who am I? (Oral & Aural comprehension)The students will continue to develop their skills in Italian and build on their vocabulary and grammatical knowledge in a unit of work which is centered on Ancient Rome. The aim of this unit is to build on and extend previous knowledge of Ancient Rome and to increase the students’ awareness of the contributions the Romans have made to the world in which we live.

Students will begin by comparing a scene from Ancient Rome and another from modern day society and in pairs will discuss and record the changes they have observed and the reasons for these changes. Students will illustrate the differences under the headings Then and Now.

By reading and summarizing the text “The Founding of Ancient Rome” in small groups the students will learn about the beginnings of this civilization which they will then share with the rest of the class.

In pairs they will present a PowerPoint to show how attitudes today have changed about: the father’s role in the family -women’s role in society –the importance of education and the treatment of children. In turn, each pair will share their learnings with the rest of the class. They will complete varied and structured tasks such as descriptions and translations using the newly-acquired vocabulary and grammar.

During the lessons the students will continue to participate in playing quizzes, games and completing interactive tasks on Duolingo in order to practise their oral and speaking skills and deepen their vocabulary and grammatical knowledge.

Buon lavoro e ciao a presto. 

Best wishes,

Signora White            

Physical Education

Art

Hi and welcome to grade 5/6s to the Art Room in 2024. To begin the term the children will be given the opportunity to contribute some artwork to a school mosaic display. We encourage independent thinking that will enable children to develop their ideas and express these in an appropriate manner in their art pieces. The children are given opportunities to feel free and confident to express ideas and are encouraged to respond to the artwork of others. We incorporate both art making and art appreciation and help the children develop a visual arts language. They will enjoy experimenting with various art materials and also complete art works linking with other areas of the curriculum such as Inquiry units and Religious studies e.g. Artworks from different cultural backgrounds that help to make up our community of St. Andrew’s and the season of Lent and Easter. They will be concentrating on outline drawings, shapes, tone, textures using acrylic paints, water-colour pencils, oil pastels and various construction papers. 

We aim to have lots of fun during our new learnings, creations and experimentations during art classes throughout term one.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Cathy Bartlett

Performing Arts

Welcome back to all of our 5/6 students and families!  I can’t wait to get started on another fantastic year of Performing Arts at St Andrew’s.

This term we’ll be focusing on how to play musical instruments, including proper instrumental technique.  We’ll begin with percussion instruments, and build up to melodic percussion (such as xylophones, glockenspiels, metallophones etc) and then ukuleles or other instruments (keyboards).

Once students have built their confidence up in playing technique, they’ll be working on playing together with a combination of instruments, sharpening their listening skills, timing, beat, rhythm, musical notation and overall musical sound. We’ll be learning a traditional song called “The Blacksmith’s Apprentice,” breaking it into four different parts including a bass line, melody and 2 accompaniments and practicing it up to performance standard.

This song also comes with an associated folk dance, so whenever we need a brain break, we can break out the groovy moves.

Wishing all the students a fabulous term of amazing learning and fun!

Mrs Cooper