Year 5/6 Level Newsletter
Teacher Email Address Contacts
Upcoming Important Dates
From The Team
What a jam-packed fortnight it’s been! There has been an incredible amount of learning happening, much of it beyond the walls of the classroom. Our time at The Summit camp was a tremendous success. We’re extremely proud of how every student got involved in the activities and took the time to reflect on their growth after each one. The camp was all about building resilience, stepping beyond our comfort zones, and discovering just how capable we really are.
On Monday, we concluded our Government unit with an excursion to Parliament House in Melbourne. Mr Kim Wells, the Member for Rowville, welcomed us and guided us through the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Council, and around the Parliament House building and gardens. While in the Legislative Council chamber, we held two debates: Should plastic bottles be banned? and Should 10-year-olds be allowed to vote? This experience offered a valuable insight into how laws are created.
- Caz, Sarah, Jamie and Rachel
What We Are Learning
Reminders
Homework: Homework is due on Friday the 13th of June.
Recyclable Materials - Design and Technologies Task: The students will be designing and creating their own mini sustainable houses later this term. We would appreciate donations of any recyclable materials for the students to use during this task, such as cardboard, boxes, plastic bottles, cardboard rolls, etc.
Try This...
Year 5/6 Camp - The Summit
On Wednesday the 28th of May, the Year 5/6 students set off on an exciting adventure to Camp Summit. After a long hour-and-a-half bus ride filled with chatter and excitement, we arrived and sorted into our cabins: two for the girls, two for the boys, and one for the teachers. Once we had time to unpack and settle in, we jumped straight into our first set of activities, including the high wire, flying fox, and bush challenge. These activities helped us build confidence, courage and teamwork. That evening, after a tasty dinner, we enjoyed a fun trivia night organised by the teachers. We worked in teams to answer a variety of questions, and had a great time laughing and cheering each other on.
Day two was packed with even more exciting challenges like the giant swing, treasure hunt, leap of faith, foam pit and, the highlight of the day, the monster course and mud run! We encouraged each other through every muddy obstacle and finished the course feeling proud and accomplished. That night, we had a movie night and watched Wreck-It Ralph while snacking on chips and lollies.
On our final day, we completed our last round of activities before packing up. To finish off camp with a bang, each group nominated a teammate who showed great effort and teamwork. These students got the thrilling chance to go in a tank and drive over a car! Camp Summit was an unforgettable experience. We learned new skills, supported one another, and made some incredible memories we’ll never forget.
By Gracie and Hayden
Parliament House Tour
On the 2nd of June, the Year 5/6 students went on an exciting excursion to the city to tour Parliament House. After a 45-minute bus ride, we arrived and went through security before placing our bags down. We were joined by Mr Kim Wells, who gave us valuable information about Parliament House, including how laws are made. He led us into the Legislative Assembly, also known as the Green House, and explained how a debate works. We held two mock debates with three people on each team, affirmative and negative. The first debate topic was "Disposable bottles should be banned," which narrowly lost 24–25. The second topic was "Ten-year-olds should be able to vote," which also lost 21–30. Eason spoke in the first debate, and Kai was the speaker for the second. We also had clerks supporting each debate - Georgia, Savannah and Arian for the first, and Summer, Jonas and Jaxon for the second.
After the debates, we were taken to the Legislative Council Chamber, also known as the Red House. We learned that in the Victorian Parliament, only royalty is allowed to walk on the red carpet. Interestingly, members of the Green House are not allowed into the Red House, and vice versa. We then visited Queen’s Hall, where we saw the sculpture of Queen Victoria. This statue was originally sent from London to Melbourne due to a royal protocol error — her left foot was placed in front of the right, which in royal tradition means going into battle. The sculptor, Marshall Wood, was so embarrassed that he sent it to the furthest place from London: Melbourne. On its way here, the statue’s arm broke off and had to be repaired with one kilogram of glue!
Afterwards, we explored the library, filled with old books and records of past speeches. We discovered that anything said during debates, even by accident, must be written down. Each house has its own record book (green for the Assembly, red for the Council), and nothing can be changed once spoken. For example, if someone accidentally said something like “Collingwood is the worst” and wanted to take it back, the answer would be a firm no!
We also visited the dining hall before learning about the process of entering debates. When the warning bells ring, members have only four minutes to enter their respective house — otherwise, the doors are locked and their vote doesn’t count. During debates, microphones are activated for the person selected by the minister to speak, and they are asked to explain their chosen side. It was a fascinating and memorable day that helped us understand how Victoria’s Parliament works!
By Hannah & Harmony
