From the 5/6 Classrooms
A Wonderful Start to Term 3
Start Up
At the beginning of Term 3, students revisited key elements of our Start Up Program to re-establish a positive, safe and supportive learning environment. Throughout these sessions, students reconnected with one another, reflected on their learning behaviours and set themselves up for a successful term ahead.
Students:
- Revisited our school rights, responsibilities and values, with a particular focus on Responsibility and what this looks, sounds and feels like within our school community
- Explored the connection between responsibility and Care for Country, revisiting the Eastern Kulin Nation Seasonal Calendar with a focus on the Guling season and discussing ways we can care for our environment, including bringing waste-free food to school
- Revisited the Zones of Regulation, developing and practising calming strategies to support their wellbeing and readiness to learn
- Explored Respectful Relationships, learning about stress, identifying common stressors and developing strategies to manage challenges
- Built their eSafety knowledge by exploring privacy, online safety and the concept of clickbait
- Reflected on our Learning Assets, considering what they look, sound and feel like in action before setting an individual goal linked to a learning asset they would like to strengthen
English
Girl On Wire
Our mentor text this term is Girl on Wire by Lucy Estela. This beautifully written picture book is an uplifting allegory about a young girl learning to build her confidence and overcome the worries many children experience as they grow. Throughout this unit, students will explore how authors and illustrators communicate meaning through visual literacy, including colour, imagery, symbols and other multimodal elements.
To launch the unit, students closely examined the front cover and title, making predictions about the story and using evidence from the illustrations to justify their thinking. They also explored the blurb before working collaboratively with a partner to rewrite it, incorporating figurative language including personification, similes and metaphors.
Book Club
During Book Club, students have been introduced to their new novels and have enjoyed exploring the front covers, blurbs and opening pages. They have shared their initial thoughts and predictions about what might happen in their stories, using evidence from the text to support their ideas. Throughout the term, students will continue to work in small groups with novels carefully selected to support their individual learning needs while developing key comprehension strategies, including making predictions, exploring characterisation, considering social and historical contexts, summarising and sequencing events.
Maths
We have started the term off by exploring translations, rotations and reflections. We have also begun a unit on algebra. One of the first Mathematics investigations students completed involved exploring growing geometric patterns. Using matchsticks, students built a pattern of connected triangles, and then hexagons, and investigated how the pattern changed as more traingles and hexagons were added. They recorded the number of matchsticks required for each stage of the pattern in a table, identified the repeating structure and used their observations to develop a rule that could be used to determine the number of matchsticks needed for any number of triagnles and hexagons.
This investigation supported students to strengthen their understanding of growing patterns by representing them visually and numerically, identifying the relationship between each step, and developing early algebraic thinking through generalising mathematical rules.
Integrated Studies - Journey to Discovery
Students have kick-started our Science unit by immersing themselves in the concept of discovery and exploring the important role discoveries play in shaping our world. Through class discussions, students have shared their ideas about what makes something a discovery and considered how curiosity, observations and investigations can lead to new understandings.
Students have explored the types of questions scientists ask to guide their investigations and discoveries. They have considered questions that may have led scientists towards significant breakthroughs, answered questions about a range of scientific discoveries, and begun formulating their own questions about areas of science they would like to explore further.
As part of our learning around scientific investigation, students have also participated in a seed study and planting activity in preparation for National Science Week 2026 (Saturday 15 – Sunday 23 August). Through this hands-on investigation, students have begun exploring the processes involved in scientific observation, data collection and making predictions as they investigate plant growth and change over time.
We are looking forward to our upcoming Science Incursion taking place on Thursday July 30th.
Moving into the Teen Years Program
As part of our focus on student wellbeing and respectful relationships, Team 5/6 students will participate in the Interrelate: Moving into the Teen Years program. This program supports students as they begin to navigate the transition into adolescence, exploring topics such as relationships, identity, emotions, change and respectful communication in a safe and supportive environment.
The program will take place on:
- Thursday 6 August
- Thursday 13 August
Thursday 20 August
A friendly reminder that payment and permission are required via Compass for students to participate in this program. Thank you to families who have already completed this process.
Home Learning
A friendly reminder that each week, students are expected to complete the following:
Nightly Reading: 20 - 30 minutes each night, choosing a mix of fiction and non-fiction texts that interest them
Weekly SMART Spelling: practise their spelling words each night using a Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check process. Additional activities are also provided in students' Home Learning books to further reinforce spelling skills and word knowledge.
Mathematics Grid: complete one task from the Mathematics Grid each week. Parents sign once the task is completed.
For students who are still developing recall of multiplication facts up to 10 × 10, regular practice at home is strongly encouraged.
Optional Online Tasks: Optional My Numeracy and My Literacy tasks are available through Essential Assessment for students to explore online.
Students are to bring their Home Learning Book and School Diary to and from school each day.
Term 3 Newsletter
If you haven't had a chance to read our Team 5/6 Term 3 Newsletter, please use the link below:
Term 3 Dates
Friday 24th July: Interschool Sport - Away at St. Clement of Rome Primary School (postponed from Term 2)
Thursday 30th July : Team 5/6 Science Incursion
Monday 3rd August: ICAS Digital Technologies
Thursday 6th August: Interrelate Session 1
Monday 10th August: ICAS English
Tuesday 11th August: Team 5/6 Hooptime
Thursday 13th August: Interrelate Session 2
15th - 23rd August: Science Week
Friday 14th August: Science Showcase in the classrooms from 3:00 to 3:30pm
Monday 17th August: ICAS Science
Thursday 20th August: Interrelate Session 3
Monday 24th August: ICAS Maths
Tuesday 25th August: Book Week Author visit
Friday 28th August: Book Week Dress Up Parade
Wednesday 2nd September: District Athletics
Tuesday 8th September: Whole School Photo, Grade 6 Graduation Photo, Leadership Pillars & JSC Photos- 9am to 12pm
Friday 11th September - Whole School Expo 3pm - 4pm, Quiet Expo 2:30pm - 3:00pm
Wednesday 16th September - Friday 18th September: Grade 5 Camp