What's Happening in the Senior School
Year 5
What’s Happening in Year 5 in Weeks 5 and 6
On Thursday the 14/8/25, the students were lucky enough to have the Hour of Impact team come out and introduce the many skills and elements involved with GenAI. There were stations in which the students rotated through consisting of activities such as 3D printing, idea generation for story writing and character building.
Students will also continue their leadership workshops with the Year 1s and will engage with other year levels as well.
The Year 5 cohort will also be heading down on Thursday of Week 5 to watch the Beaumaris Secondary Students perform their musical, something we are really excited to see.
Over the next two weeks, we will be learning about:
Wellbeing
Students will learn how to recognise emotions and engage in positive self-talk through Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships lessons.
Literacy
The students will complete the novel study for Dirrarn, the sequel to Black Cockatoo. The novel study guided the Literacy unit in both reading and writing for the first 3 weeks. Students will continue to focus on sentence level writing structures and will learn how to write a factual recount of Jandamarra, First Nations hero of the Kimberly. We will continue the Word Origins spelling lessons. The students are enjoying finding out the meaning of new morphemes each week.
Maths
We will then be introducing Decimals as our next unit of work. Some of our focus areas will be writing thousandths in decimal format, placing thousandths in decimal format on a number line and writing the standard expanded form for numbers to three decimal places.
Knowledge Unit
Geography is the focus for this term’s Knowledge Unit. In this fortnight the students will continue learning about the different biomes present on each continent, the geographical features of continents and how countries around the world are interconnected with Australia. They will also learn about how places have changed over time, how these changes are managed. Also, we will discuss Bushfire management plans and how people can do their best to prepare themselves if these situations occur.
Homework
Mathletics tasks
30minutes of reading each night
Year 6
What’s Happening in Year 6 in Weeks 5 and 6
Over the past fortnight, Year 6 students have been busy and engaged across all areas of learning. In Literacy, they explored Word Origins and continued reading The Grandest Bookshop in the World, deepening their comprehension and vocabulary. In Wellbeing, they focused on the 4R’s Program and created a Gratitude Tree to share positive reflections. In Mathematics, students investigated probability and patterns, applying their knowledge to hands-on activities and problem-solving tasks.
Wellbeing
Year 6 students will explore important topics in their Wellbeing program this term, guided by the 4R’s Program – Rights, Responsibilities, Respect, and Relationships. They will engage in thoughtful discussions about violence, including its impact on individuals and communities, and will examine the issue of gender-based violence with maturity and empathy. Through these sessions, students will develop their understanding of respectful relationships and the importance of speaking out against harmful behaviours.
Literacy
In Literacy, Year 6 students will be delving into Word Origins, exploring the root morphemes duce/duct and milli/metre/gram to deepen their vocabulary and spelling knowledge. They will continue reading and analysing the novel The Grandest Bookshelf in the World, engaging in rich discussions about its themes, characters, and ideas. Students will also complete sentence-level and text-level activities linked to the novel, strengthening their comprehension and writing skills.
Maths
In Numeracy, Year 6 students will be building their understanding of fractions, working on skills such as comparing, ordering, and finding equivalent fractions. They will explore strategies for adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions, applying these skills to real-life problem-solving situations. This learning is aligned with the Victorian Curriculum and guided by the Ochre framework, ensuring students develop both confidence and accuracy in working with fractions.
Knowledge Unit
This term in their Knowledge Unit, Year 6 students will explore Biology as part of their Environmental Science lessons. Over the next few weeks, they will focus on understanding organisms and atoms, diving into the building blocks of life and the natural world. This integration will help deepen their scientific knowledge and appreciation for the environment. It’s an exciting opportunity for students to connect science concepts with real-world issues!
Homework
Students are expected to read for a minimum of 15-30 minutes, five times a week, to improve their reading skills. We would love to see students bring in their diary. Additionally, they will receive Mathletics tasks every fortnight to reinforce and build on their mathematical knowledge.
Reminders
Book Fair visit with Prep Buddies – Monday 18th August
Book Week activity with Preps – Monday 18th August
Year 6 Radio Show – Thursday 21st August
Thursday 21st August - Hour of Impact
Book Week Dress Up day – Friday 22nd August
Year 6 Radio Show – Thursday 21st August
Book Recommendations for Year 6 (Ages 11–14)
- Wonder – R.J. Palacio
- The Grandest Bookshop in the World – Amelia Mellor
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – Kate DiCamillo
- A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
- The Boy at the Back of the Class – Onjali Q. Raúf
- Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
- The Silver Sword – Ian Serraillier
- The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Holes – Louis Sachar
- The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Girl Who Stole an Elephant – Nizrana Farook
- Northern Lights (His Dark Materials #1) – Philip Pullman
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
- Coraline – Neil Gaiman
- Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt
- The Explorer – Katherine Rundell
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (Book 1: The Bad Beginning) – Lemony Snicket
- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
- The Secret Keepers – Trenton Lee Stewart
- Little Women (abridged/adapted editions recommended for upper primary) – Louisa May Alcott
