Year Five/ Six

Communicating with the Year Five/Six Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2021, and welcome your input:

Llewela Humphries (Class 56A) Llewela.Humphries@education.vic.gov.au

Melissa Woollard (Class 34C) Melissa.Woollard@education.vic.gov.au

Llewela Humphries
Melissa Woollard
Llewela Humphries
Melissa Woollard

Welcome back to school.

We would like to welcome all our 2021 Year Five & Six students back to school. We have had a settled and organised start to Term One, and both Miss Humphries and Mrs Woollard are very excited for what the year has to offer. During the course of the year our senior students will have the opportunity to participate in many different extra-curriculum activities. We encourage all of our students to be brave, and give as much as possible a go. 

Lunchtime games on a wet day
Chess or checkers anyone?
Lunchtime games on a wet day
Chess or checkers anyone?

What are we learning in Term One?

WELLBEING 

Part of a successful return to school is developing strong relationships and a positive connection to our school environment. Purposeful links between handwriting topics, reading materials and wellbeing activities allows us all to revisit our three school values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. All students have individually developed their own 'Ready to Learn Scale' which ties into student weekly goals on a personalised named place mat. We have spent time identifying stress signals in our body which will move to understanding  how our brain functions under stress. Most importantly we will develop strategies to minimise the impact on our Social and Emotional growth and communication. See the photos below for student examples:

 

Ready to Learn and Goal Setting place mats
Senior students focused on learning
Identifying stress signals in our body
Showing our personalities through our Ready to Learn scale
Student discussions in 5/6B
Ready to Learn and Goal Setting place mats
Senior students focused on learning
Identifying stress signals in our body
Showing our personalities through our Ready to Learn scale
Student discussions in 5/6B

INQUIRY

During Term One, our Inquiry unit is The Human Body which is a Biological Science / Health focus. This unit is designed to build further upon our understanding of the human body, and will extend student's knowledge beyond the regular primary focus of 'body systems' as we investigate the body at a cellular level, and make linkages to current events around the world. 

 

The main theme of the unit is: 

Students investigate the human body through science at a variety of levels, including the introduction of the human body at cellular level. They investigate life cycles, developmental changes and transitions.

Students study how the growth and survival of humans is affected by the nature and physical conditions of their environment. They explore how changes to these conditions can impact this growth and survival. 

Students investigate community resources and strategies to seek help about health, safety and wellbeing. They also learn how participation in physical and outdoor activities supports personal health and wellbeing.

 

The Essential Questions we are covering are:

What are cells?

What do humans need to live?

Where do we source the things we need to live?

How has this changed over time?

How does our environment impact on our survival?

How do humans change as they age?

How can we keep our bodies in a healthy state?

Fact or Fiction?
Fact or Fiction?

ENGLISH 

During Term One we will have a writing focus of three different text types. We have started with the students writing recounts which are linked with activities undertaken during summer holidays. Students are being explicitly taught the correct structure and key features used in recounts (time connectives, chronological order, emotive language, action verbs and descriptive language). The other texts we will cover during the term are information reports and persuasive text types.

 

To start Reading off in 2021 students are completing activities which allow them to understanding the Readers Workshop model (see below). Working along side Reader's Workshop we will have a comprehension focused skill building understanding within the students reading. This week the focus is Prediction which will move into Questioning in Week Three. 

Reader's Workshop classroom model.
Reader's Workshop classroom model.

Our class novel is Storm Boy, written by Colin Theile. Students will undertake a range of activities that link to the book as well as finish off the Term viewing the current movie as our celebration of English.

 

 

MATHEMATICS

During Term One we are beginning our Mathematics journey with a clear and engaging unit focused on Place value. Have a look at our students playing a place value game of 'Beat my partner':

Place Value - Beat your Partner
5/6A maths activities
Who will make the highest number?
Keep your number a secret!
Place Value - Beat your Partner
5/6A maths activities
Who will make the highest number?
Keep your number a secret!

 

Over the next few weeks we are moving on to Addition and Subtraction. A clear and concise focus of learning and understanding the different process and strategies involved with working out these sums will occur. Students will then be given an opportunity to put theses skills into practice by completing real world maths problems and investigation projects.

 

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) *

 

56A

56B

PE: Tuesdays 1:00pm

Visual Arts: Wednesdays 1:00pm

Performing Arts: Wednesdays 11:30am

Japanese: Thursdays 9:00am (even weeks)

 

PE: Wednesdays 11:30am

Visual Arts: Thursdays 2:30pm

Performing Arts: Wednesdays 1:00pm

Japanese: Thursdays 11:50am (even weeks)


Digital Learning and access to iPads 

As you would be aware, 2020 marked the end of our school's previous BYOD program. 

 

Our school chose to move away from a BYOD program due to a number of factors, which have previously been communicated to families. Should you wish to seek further information as to the reasoning behind this decision, we encourage you to make contact with your child's classroom teacher. 

From the commencement of 2021, all students in Year Five and Year Six will be provided with a school owned and managed device. 

Please refer to the important details below, which will help to support your child with their learning: 

 

Does each student receive an iPad, and can they take it home?

Each student in Year Five/Six is allocated a school-owned and managed device. Each student will retain the same device for the duration of the year, and is therefore responsible for the care and use of the device. 

 

Students are not able to take the devices home. At all times the device remains the property of the school, and remains on school premises. 

 

Can students download content or apps onto the device?

No. Each device is managed centrally by our DET technician; inclusive of lockdown browsers and enhanced security features. 

 

What if a device is damaged or broken?

The school retains ownership, and therefore responsibility for the maintenance of the device. If the device is malfunctioning, the school will provide a replacement device. 

 

Willful damage of/or disregard for devices

As with all school property, should a student willfully damage a device, or damage a device through not meeting classroom expectations, then a conversation will be held with the family of the student/s involved. 

 

The family of each student involved may also be instructed to make a contribution to rectify any damage caused through misuse or neglect. 

 

Do families need to sign an iPad user Agreement, as in previous years?

No. The device is school-owned, and therefore this is not necessary. 

 

Students are expected at all times to follow and adhere to classroom norms and safe online practices. Students who choose to disregard their own or others online safety will have their access to devices limited. 

 

Will students have access to Google Classrooms?

Yes. Year Five and Year Six students will have access to Google Classrooms. The setup for this platform will be similar to the use of the platform during Remote Learning. 

 

However, it is important that you are aware that the device will not replace face-to-face learning or traditional bookwork, as occurred during Remote Learning. 

 

An additional reminder regarding Google Classroom access will be provided in the coming fortnight, via Compass. Please note that all Google Classroom passwords have been reset, and details as to how to reset these passwords will be provided in the aforementioned form via Compass. 

 

Please see summary information below: 

 


Student Leadership

Over the next few weeks, we will be announcing our 2021 student leadership group. This week an Expression of Interest form went home with all interested students, as well as a compass message to all Year Five/Six parents. Any student who is interested in the following leadership opportunists, can nominate themselves:

Sports, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Japanese, ICT and SWPBL. Leadership positions are shared between Year Five/Six students, apart from Spots captains which are selected from Year Six students initially.

 

John Monash Science School- Partnership

In 2021, we are excited to announce that our school has again been selected to take part in the John Monash Science School Program. This is great for our students, as we are the only school in the Dandenong Ranges area which has been invited to take part. 

Our Year Six students will have the opportunity to nominate for a position in one of the following programs: Mini Mathematicians, Big Science, Little Scientists and RoboGals (Robotic and Coding). 12 students will be selected.

 

Please see below, an extract of information about the program. 

As a school we are focused upon providing our students with opportunities to engage with their learning beyond the classroom. Therefore, we are extremely excited to have been invited to participate in the “JMSS Mini Mathematicians Program”, the “JMSS Little Scientists Big Science Program” and the “JMSS RoboGals Program” in Term One, 2021. Please note that RoboGals is only available to female students.

John Monash Science School (http://www.jmss.vic.edu.au/) is a select entry government secondary school, which offers specialised education for students in their senior years of schooling. Each year, JMSS offers immersion programs for senior primary students (Mini Mathematicians, Little Scientists Big Science, and RoboGals) to enrich their learning. These programs are highly sought after, and are only offered to a few select schools each year. The programs provide valuable learning opportunities and enrichment for students who have an interest in expanding their knowledge in the area of Science, Mathematics, and Robotics. Due to the high-demand for the immersion programs, each selected school may send up to four senior students to participate in each of the programs.

 

 

If you have any further queries please direct them to your classroom teacher.

 

Llew Humphries & Melissa Woollard.