Grade 5/6

Literacy and Inquiry - Integrated Learning

Building on from last fortnight, students have explored deeper into what daily life was like for convicts living in the early colony. Through guided discussions, historical texts, and visual sources, they explored the routines, challenges, and expectations placed on those who had been transported from Britain as punishment for their crimes. They discovered that male convicts were most often assigned physically demanding labour such as clearing land, constructing roads, erecting buildings, or working on farms to help build the growing settlement. Female convicts, on the other hand, were usually placed in domestic roles, working as servants, cooks, or cleaners, often under strict supervision, and sometimes within wealthy households or institutions.

Students also examined the harsh living conditions, limited rights, and strict discipline convicts endured, along with the emotional toll of being so far from their families and homeland. 

To consolidate their understanding, students are now participating in a creative writing task where they take on the perspective of a convict in the early colony. In this task, they are writing a letter back home to a family member or friend in Britain. Through these letters, students are expressing what life was like in New South Wales, describing the daily routines, the work they are expected to do, the people around them, their hopes and fears, and their impressions of the new land. This immersive activity allows students to apply their historical knowledge while developing empathy and a deeper understanding of the human side of Australia's colonial past.

Numeracy

Our next topic in numeracy, our Year 5 and 6 students are going to be building on their understanding of addition and subtraction by exploring a variety of strategies to solve problems efficiently and accurately. They will be using mental and written methods, including column algorithms and number lines, to add and subtract large numbers, decimals, fractions and money amounts. Students will be applying their skills to real-world situations through word problems and open-ended tasks that encourage reasoning and problem-solving. By justifying their thinking and explaining different approaches, students are developing confidence and flexibility in their mathematical thinking.

Social Emotional Learning 

As part of our social-emotional learning program, Year 5 and 6 students have been learning about the catastrophe scale. Which is a tool that helps them recognise and manage their emotional responses to different situations. Through guided discussions and activities, students explored how to rate problems on a scale from small (like forgetting a pencil) to big (such as a serious accident), helping them to understand that not everything is a catastrophe. This strategy encourages students to pause, reflect, and respond more calmly and appropriately when things don’t go as planned. By learning to put challenges into perspective, students are developing emotional resilience and learning how to better regulate their reactions both in and out of the classroom.

Transition Program Grade 6's!

As part of the transition program, our Grade 6 students participated in hands-on activities that encouraged them to work together and listen to each other’s ideas. One highlight was the Wheelie Lego Pulley Race, where students collaborated in small teams to design and construct a working pulley system using Lego. This fun and challenging task required teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and patience, as students had to share ideas, listen to different perspectives, and work through trial and error together. Through this experience, they not only learned about basic mechanical principles but also strengthened important social skills like cooperation, respect, and the value of including others’ viewpoints, all key qualities for a smooth transition into high school.

REMEMBER: We have our school excursion to Polly Woodside next Tuesday the 17th of June. Please ensure you  have paid and consented on compass as soon as possible.