Mount Pleasant Road Primary School & Kindergarten

Leadership Centre

Curriculum

It was another busy week for our students in the Leadership Centre. In Leadership hour this week, Miss Campbell led an important discussion about our 'Let's Talk' program. This program is run by our 'Let's Talk' mentors across the school. In this program, students can let these mentors know if they need a chat. In the 5/6 classroom area, students can let our 'Let's Talk' mentors know how they are feeling by placing their name on the 'Let's Talk' board. This board let's our mentors know who is feeling great and who needs a little help. Students are welcome to change how they feel each day as everyday is different... some days we feel on top of the world, and some days we just need someone to reach out and say, 'Hey, are you ok?' A handful of Grade 5 students have been selected to participate in a first ever Let's Talk student mentor session where they will become peer mentors for our school- date and more information to come but we're very excited for this! 

 

Reading

In Reading students are continuing to work with their Book Club group on their given texts. Students are enjoying taking on different Literature Circle roles each week and then sharing their points of discussion in Guided Reading sessions with their teacher. It is important that students are keeping up to date with their reading and Literature Circle work to ensure the Literature Circle work continues. Have a chat with your child about their role for the week and ask them to share what this role entails and how they contribute to their Literature Circle discussion. 

Writing

Pebble-Rock-Boulder, Backfill, Sizzling Start.... do any of these terms sound familiar? It is all about narrative writing in 5/6 and our students are enjoying uplevelling their writing to make their story the very best it can be. An important focus for our students is keeping the reader engaged in their writing. Through feedback from peers and teachers, students have been editing different parts of their narrative writing to ensure their reader cannot put down their writing! This week we looked at Sizzling Starts and the importance of grabbing the readers attention straight away. Adding descriptive language such as adjectives and adverbs as well as varying sentences structure have been some of the strategies students have identified as ways to uplevel their sizzling starts. We have also enjoyed many discussions about how short, simple sentences can have impact. Ask your child about our class novel, Refugee and how the author has used simple sentences to build tension in the story. 

Maths

In Maths this week, we have continued working on Place Value with decimals and fractions. In small groups, students have worked on a variety activities which have included placing decimal numbers and fractions on number lines to solving mathematical problems with decimal numbers.

High School Transition 

Now is a great time to start discussing 2022 High School options with your child. Parents and carers can search the websites of High Schools to find out more information about school tours, open days and evenings. Transition applications will be distributed early in Term 2. If you have any questions about the transition process, please speak to your child’s classroom teacher or Matt O’Hern (Acting Assistant Principal) 

NAPLAN

To ensure a smooth transition for the upcoming NAPLAN testing we require all Year 5 students to download the NAP Locked Down Browser App for their Ipads by next week. 

 

 

 

 

 

5/6 teachers are looking forward to catching up with families at our Learning conferences this week and discussing all great achievements and future goals.

 

Terima Kasih

 

The Leadership Team

Student Voice

Why is our Let's Talk program so important?

  • Chris 5/6SB- "It’s important because it helps students and makes them feel better. It makes them feel like they're not alone and helps them cope with their problems."
  • Cadie 5/6SB- "This is important because if a kid is feeling sad or angry they need somebody to talk to and let’s talk helps you talk about that kind of stuff"
 

Reminders

Important Dates for your Diary

  • 3 Way Conferences this week! Please ask your child about the correct 'entry' and 'exit' for their classroom
  • 5/6 Planning Day- Monday March 22nd. Students will have all their specialist classes on this day so students will need to wear their PE uniform on this day.
  • 5/6 Summer sports gala - Tuesday March 23rd. Please ensure you have checked Sentral for payment and permission information.
  • 5/6 Parliament Incursion- Monday March 29th. Please check Sentral for further information.
  • School Photos- Tuesday March 30th
  • Cybersafety Incursion- Wednesday March 31st. Please check Sentral for further information

Other reminders

  • Please ensure that you check your child’s diary and sign it at the end of the week. Students will be including the books that they read in their diary.
  • Hats are to be worn during recess and lunch times. Please ensure that your child has a named hat at school.
  • All students are required to have their own set of headphones at school. Please ensure that your child has their name on theirs.
  • Students are expected to read each night for 20 minutes, each child in 5/6 have been assigned a ‘Book Club’ text to read over the term and will be discussing the text in Literature Circles each week.

Pupil of the Week

5/6B:  Hayley S -

For demonstrating the character strengths of love of learning and kindness when assisting her classmates during group activities in Maths. Well done Hayley, on helping your peers gain a better understanding of the knowledge you had around placing decimals on a number line. Keep it up!

 

5/6C: Ada O -

For displaying perseverance during the narrative Big Write. Well done on discussing your ideas to write a creative and interesting story as well as challenging yourself to include different sentence structure. Keep up the great writing Ada you have amazing ideas!

 

5/6SB: Cadie S -

For creativity and excellence in her Shape Shifter Portfolio Task. Wow Cadie! Your Shape shifter portfolio was outstanding. You have clearly demonstrated your mathematical understanding of geometry. Your shape is clearly labelled with various angles and shapes and meets all the criteria. Very impressive work Cadie. Looking forward to see you continuing this high standard throughout the year.

 

5/6W: Ollie C -

For responding positively to and acting on feedback given on your Big Write piece. You have grown more confident using both complex and simple sentences in your writing! Great work Ollie!