Grade 6 Community News

Dear Year 6 Families,

It's been a busy couple of weeks around the school. In the classroom, students have been deep in the world of Dirrarn, angels, and Australia in the 1900s. Outside the classroom, students also wrapped up their swimming program, building water safety skills and confidence in the pool, a great achievement for everyone involved. 

If your child requires a sensory tool, this will be provided by the school. All other fidgets, squishies, or toys MUST stay at home.

English

Over the past few weeks, our students have moved from the non-fiction research phase of our literature unit into the opening chapters of Dirrarn, the sequel to Black Cockatoo.

Lesson 10 rounded out our non-fiction focus, with students learning to locate key information in articles and videos about the history of Moola Bulla Station and the Stolen Generation. This is built directly on events in the novel, where Mia's grandparents, Jawiji and Jaja, were separated from their families as children. Alongside this, students continued drafting their character analysis writing, working on structuring a second paragraph with a clear topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence.

Lessons 11 to 13 then took us into the novel itself, as students read the opening chapters aloud together. Mia leaves home to start boarding school in Perth, where she meets her new friend Naya and quickly notices how different she feels, in her accent, in the school's rules, and in how far she is from her ancestors and Country. Students discussed Mia's homesickness and the culture shock she and Naya experienced, followed by her friendship with older student Tilly, and tracked the ongoing tension with a classmate, Charlotte. By Lesson 13, students were exploring how Mia's experiences highlight real differences in opportunity between communities, as she reflects on her boarding school opportunities against those available to her friends and family back home.

Alongside the novel, students have been building their sentence-writing toolkit: repositioning adverbials at the front or end of a sentence, joining ideas using but, so and because, and expanding simple sentences by adding who, what, when, where, why and how.

It's been a rich few weeks of reading, discussion and writing, we look forward to sharing more of Mia's story as the unit continues.

Maths 

Over Weeks 3 and 4, our Grade 6 mathematicians have dove headfirst into the fascinating world of geometry during our Angles Unit. Students have mastered complex geometric concepts, learning to identify and calculate complementary, supplementary, vertically opposite, and angles at a point. They have also put their skills to the test by constructing geometric shapes and calculating tricky unknown angles. To bring this learning to life, our classes dove into two exciting application projects: first, they became Crime Scene Investigators for "The Missing Trophy" case, using their angle knowledge to crack clues and find the culprit; next, they became architects by designing their very own mini-golf holes using precise angle paths. Ask your child to show you some of their geometric designs at home!

Upcoming units: decimals part 2 in week 5, and measurement in weeks 6-7!

Humanities 

Our Grade 6 historians have continued exploring our Australia in the 1900s unit. This week, we shifted our focus toward some incredibly inspiring stories that shaped our nation. First, we investigated the changing rights and roles of women through the 20th century, looking at how they fought for equality in politics, work, and daily life. We also explored our rich migration history, mapping the powerful personal stories of people who journeyed to Australia and helped build the vibrant, diverse nation we live in today. 

We will wrap up this historical journey next week before starting our final, icy unit of the term: Antarctica! For this exciting geography and science project, students will become Antarctic engineers, challenged to design and build a physical shelter that can survive a hyper-specific, extreme weather scenario card.

Reminders for upcoming weeks: 

Please ensure students are bringing in any materials they may want to use for scrapbooking as well as their Antarctica project as we will begin these in the coming weeks. 

If your child made it through to district athletics day, this will be happening on the 13th August. If they make it through to division, this will be happening 18th August.

Thank you for your continued support,

PLC 6