Year 5
In English Innovation, students will deepen their learning from Term 3, where they combined new knowledge of government and parliament with an enhanced understanding of persuasive texts. They will draw upon their understanding of parliamentary procedures and their participation in an incursion, during which they voted on a bill to reduce the school week. Students will investigate an issue relevant to a range of stakeholders, conduct research and create a persuasive argument to support the creation of a new law. They will then transfer their skills by engaging in a ‘mock parliament’ experience, where they will argue to convince their ‘parliamentary peers’ to vote in favour of their proposed law.
In Mathematics Innovation, students will investigate open-ended Fermi problems to analyse questions such as, ‘How many breaths do they take in a minute?’ and ‘How many leaves are on a tree?’ They will also calculate the surface area of individual leaves and consider the total leaf surface area of a tree. Students will build their understanding of the oxygen cycle and explore how it connects to and benefits the natural world and humanity. As students develop their solutions, there will be a focus on providing clear justifications and expressing their mathematical thinking clearly.
STEAM Innovation in Year 5 will focus on the concept of future living, both in relation to the local community, the city students live in and the wider world around them. To begin, students will take on the challenge of designing the ideal living space of the future, inspired by Victoria’s ‘20-minute neighbourhood’ concept. They will consider how schools, hospitals, roads and public transport can be incorporated into a suburb.
Through this project, students will explore architecture, city planning and sustainable development, gaining an understanding of how urban spaces have evolved from the past to the present and how they might look in the future. Students will then turn their attention to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, analysing how these objectives can be meaningfully addressed and achieved within this century.
Aviation Innovation will offer students a chance to learn more about the world of planes and flight. Having flown their first model in the previous term, students will investigate potential ways to improve their design, taking inspiration from historical aircraft designs and their own research into the subject. Once they have done so, they will create an entirely new plane design from scratch, using their creativity and knowledge to increase their aircraft’s performance in the sky and explore how fast and high it can fly.
In Robotics Innovation, students will continue using the SPIKE Prime LEGO robotics kits to design, modify and create different robotic builds. They will work collaboratively with a partner to create and test prototypes and explore different ideas. Students will showcase their learning by identifying a real-life problem that they would like to solve. They will brainstorm ideas with their partner before developing a prototype that they can continually test, improve and evaluate.
Working collaboratively, students will combine their knowledge, enthusiasm, creativity and design skills to challenge themselves and build their teamwork skills while continually refining and developing their robotics and coding expertise.
In Media Arts Innovation, students will continue creating and developing their news reports, applying their filmmaking, interviewing and editing skills to communicate information effectively to an audience. Students will work collaboratively to refine their reports and develop their confidence in media production. This term, students will explore and create the ‘GWPS Newsroom’, applying their knowledge of news production to create engaging reports about events and learning within our school community.
Following a successful Term 3, our Year 5 and 6 students will continue with the Badminton Sports Innovation program throughout Term 4. Building on the skills and knowledge developed last term, students will continue to refine their serving, forehand and backhand strokes, net play and defensive skills through engaging activities, challenges and game-based learning.
Students will further develop their tactical awareness and strategic thinking as they apply their skills in singles and doubles matches. Term 4 will provide students with opportunities to challenge themselves, put their skills into practice and enjoy the ongoing development of their badminton abilities in a fun, supportive and active environment.
Languages Innovation
This term, students will continue their journey into the fascinating world of Ancient Chinese inventions, with a special focus on woodblock printing, one of China’s important contributions to the way information and ideas were shared. Year 5 and 6 students will take their learning further by exploring how woodblock printing developed and why it was so important. They will investigate how printing helped people share knowledge, stories and ideas with a wider audience and how this invention influenced the world.
Students will also take part in creative printing projects while using their Chinese language skills along the way. Through these activities, students will build a deeper understanding of Chinese culture, history and innovation while learning in a creative and engaging way.