Year Five/ Six

 Communicating with the Year Five/Six Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2025, and welcome your input:

Krista Carpenter (Class 56A) Krista.Carpenter@education.vic.gov.au  

Andrew McFarlane (Class 56B) Andrew.McFarlane3@education.vic.gov.au 

Stacey Bowles (Class 56C) Stacey.Bowles@education.vic.gov.au 

What will you find in this issue:

Term Three/Book Week/Extra Curricular/Life Ed/5-6 Timetables    

Term Three

English & Inquiry: Students explored the 1850s Victorian Gold Rush, focusing on life in Ballarat. They learned how to write historical journals, creating pieces that captured the voices and experiences of people living through this important time in Australia’s history. As part of our novel study, students read Fly a Rebel Flag by Robyn Annear. Through the story, they gained a deeper understanding of events like the Eureka Stockade and the perspectives of those involved. They also built a dictionary of key vocabulary from the novel, helping them understand and use historical and descriptive language effectively.

Mathematics: In Maths, students strengthened their skills in a range of areas:

• Multiplication and Division: solving problems efficiently with different strategies.
• Area and Perimeter: applying measurement to real-world and problem-solving contexts.
• Number Patterns: identifying, predicting, and creating sequences.
• Cartesian Planes: plotting coordinates and understanding position and movement.
• Fractions: comparing, ordering, and solving problems using fractions.

• Money: applying operations to real-life financial contexts, including making change and calculating costs.

   

Highlights of the Term

• Using creative writing to bring historical voices to life.
• Gaining a deeper understanding of the Gold Rush and the Eureka Stockade through both history and literature.
• Expanding mathematical thinking and applying it in practical, hands-on ways.
• Building confidence in using new vocabulary and seeing how words connect to history and storytelling.
• Year Five students continuing the engage in Buddy sessions with their Foundation buddy. 
• Year Six students creating stop motion short movies using different materials/resources including Lego, pipe cleaners, play dough, cardboard and more!

• Going on camp to Sovereign Hill!

   

Overall, students have shown great curiosity, creativity, and persistence in their learning throughout Term Three.

*Below are some photos from our Year Six stop motion project from throughout the term*

Book Week Dress Up Day

On Wednesday 20th August USPS celebrated Book Week and the theme "Book an Adventure!". It was wonderful to see the students dressed as many different literary characters. 

Extra Curricular Events

Term Three has been an exciting time for Year 5/6 students, with many opportunities to complete activities beyond the classroom. Students represented our school at district and division sports, showing great sportsmanship and determination. Our school aerobics team, The Diamond Lyrebirds, travelled to Queensland for the National Championships and achieved an outstanding 4th place in Australia!

Students involved in the Victorian State Schools Spectacular (VSSS) worked hard through hub and city rehearsals before performing atJohn Cain Arenain front of a huge audience – a truly memorable experience. Meanwhile, ourRoboCup teamsshowcased their creativity and problem-solving by coding robots, designing sets, and performing exciting routines to music. Both teams did a wonderful job presenting their creations at the State Championships on Saturday 13th September in Kew. Congratulations to Team Minyans for winning the RMIT University Engineering Award. 

It has been wonderful to see so many students take part, challenge themselves, and celebrate their talents in these diverse events this term.

Life Education

Life Education for the Year 5/6 students will occur within the first two weeks of term on the following dates: Thursday 9th October, Tuesday 14th October, Wednesday 15th October and Thursday 16th October. 

Students will engage in three modules in their year level that build on students' strengths, empowering them with knowledge & skills to make safer and healthier choices.

The Life Ed event is now live on Compass for payment and consent. All relevant details can be found within the event. Any questions linked to Life Ed, please email your child's classroom teacher. 

Thank you to all our families for another great term. We hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday break and we look forward to Term Four.

Stacey Bowles, Krista Carpenter and Andrew McFarlane

Specialist Timetable

Please note the following information regarding the days that each grade has specialist classes.  * These times are subject to change during school-wide events (eg: swimming timetables) *