Year Six

YEAR 6 - BACK TO SCHOOL!

Imogen   – 6A

The night before Friday morning, I was really excited and I did not want to go to sleep because I was so ecstatic. I woke up the next morning and I was ready to go. I went to the fridge to grab my lunch but it wasn't there! I hadn't been into school for so long she had totally forgotten she needed to pack my lunch. I quickly raced to the cupboard and grabbed some snacks and then raced out the back door to the back shed, and hopped on my bike and raced out the front gate. One of the reasons I was pretty excited was because the teachers said that we wouldn't have to do as much work!

When I was finally at school, I went to find all my friends. When I saw them all, it felt a little weird as we were all wearing masks, but it was still nice to see at least half of their faces! We came inside together and everyone was chatting. There was music playing in the classrooms and it looked like a very welcoming first day back! We got settled into our new seats (we got to pick who we sat next to) and the first thing that we did was play a game of Balderdash! It was really fun and quite funny to see some of the suggestions that some people came up with. After that, we could finally start to work on our year 6 memoirs that the teachers had been telling us about for about a week in online school so everyone was pretty excited to get theirs under-way!

After we had been working on those all morning it was recess time! At recess I went out with Mia B, Aria A and Pippa. We played on the oval on the bars all recess. Straight after recess we had Japanese for half an hour. In Japanese we did some mindfulness drawing and spotting Japanese symbols in a maze. After Japanese, all of year six came outside for a game of Bingo! It was super fun and I only had two numbers left before somebody else shouted Bingo. We had fruit-break, which was the best because everyone got the Zooper Doopers that Mr Ross had been promising the whole of grade 6 for weeks of remote learning and he was finally paying up! In the middle of fruit-break, Mrs Anderson took photos for year 6 Archibald comp which we are starting when we go back to school. After fruit break we came back ino the classrooms to work some more on our memoirs and then it was lunch! If I am being honest, lunch wasn't that interesting… we kind of did the same thing as recess, but anyway I did see 3 owls in the tree so that's a bonus I guess?!

After lunch, we all met up in the year 6 great space, and the teachers acknowledged a few of the stand-out students from each of the classes and they just congratulated us on how far we've come and how well everyone has been doing. Then we got the choice for the rest of the day to either: keep working on our memoirs, play a game outside, or play a game inside with friends. I chose to keep working on my memoirs because I really enjoyed doing it earlier! Then everyone came back into the classroom and it was almost home time! I was going home with a friend as we were having a sleepover for the first time in a long time. And that was my Friday, the 22nd of October, first day back!

Rosie – 6B

For some reason going back to school was easier than I had thought. Although we'd been away for so long, it felt almost natural.

I had been so anxious about school work I hadn't done and people I hadn't seen that I was overlooking the fact that the one day we got to go to school was going to be filled with loud cheers, smiles and laughter.

At school we had lots of time to chat & chill, catch up with our friends and play games like Bingo and Monopoly Deal. 

We started the first two pages of our primary school years memoirs, looked back at old prep photos and even got our promised Zooper Doopers!

I loved seeing all the wonderful, colourful Welcome Back signs around the school and class rooms, surprisingly going back to school was easier than I thought.

At lunch, I played Cops and Robbers with my friends which probably wasn’t a good idea as it was a hot, hot day and we had to wear masks when we were back in the classroom.

Overall I would say going back to school was nerve wracking, exciting and heart-warming. I can't wait to go back again full-time on Thursday!

Maddy  – 6B

It felt great to be back at school and to see everyone who I hadn't seen for a whole term. There are some things which I'm going to miss about being in lockdown. I could wake up at 8:50am because I didn't have to be anywhere but now I will have to wake up at 6:30am so that I can get to school on time! We have to wear masks at school and we are getting in to Summer so it is getting warm, but it is better than staying on a screen all day! I think many would love to be out of lockdown but I kind of like it because I'm not always so busy. I have things that I want to do like redo my room but I do enjoy seeing people from school who I haven't seen in such a long time.

Josh  – 6B

I woke up at 7:52am. I set an alarm but then when it went off I said to myself, ‘Why do I have an alarm on this early?’ so I tried to go back to sleep but then I realised I had school so I got right up and I felt heaps of excitement. I went and had a shower, I had some breakfast then I was off to school. I saw everyone and they looked so different and taller. I saw my friends and said, ‘These face masks are going to be bad,’ so then I went back to class and chilled. At recess we played memory tag which was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it but then when the bell went I was boiling hot and didn’t want to wear my face mask. We did some work in class which was fun and we also had fruit break in the Year 4 area and Mr Ross gave us Zooper Doopers. We went inside and I had to go to a Wellbeing meeting and we talked about remote learning. I heard the lunch bell and that meant it was time to eat. All I had was a Vegemite sandwich but still I had a lot of fun during lunch time. After playing at lunchtime I was roasting and my legs were itchy. It was horrible but then the teachers mentioned playing a game and I couldn't disagree with that, so we played and we did well until the end. We lost. It was annoying. But then we heard the bell and that was the end of the day! James invited me to come over to his house so I went over and we got slurpees and had Korean noodles which was good. When I saw the time it was 7:45pm and I heard my mum so I went down the elevator and my mum picked me up and took me home. We watched a nice movie and it was the end of the day. I decided to go to bed because I was very tired.

Elsie  – 6C

When we went back to school on Friday it was probably one of the strangest experiences. First when we got to school we went to our classrooms and sat down in our seats. We were all wearing masks and it was really hard to understand everyone. The first activity we had was doing our primary school memoirs. We were sticking down our Prep pictures and writing down what we remembered. We could work outside, on the floor or in the other classrooms. We did that for about 1 hour then we went outside to play Bingo. It was so weird sitting down with so many people around me, all talking at once. The noise wasn't too loud but it was really intense. After bingo we had recess then we came back inside and did more of our memoirs. At fruit break we went outside to the best surprise - Mr Ross had gotten us all a Zooper Dooper! He still owes us like 6 more each but it was delicious. For the rest of the day we just did our memoirs. It got hard wearing the masks. They got hot and sweaty and it was really hard not to take them off. After lunch we could go outside for a game or stay inside. By the end of the day it was nice to be able to take off our masks and go home. The hardest part of the day was coming in from recess and lunch and going through the doors. There were so many people pushing and shoving. But all in all I can't wait to go back to school.

Archie  – 6C

Going back to school was and is one of the best feelings I have had in SOOO long. It has been an emotional roller-coaster and I am so incredibly happy that we are going back for the last time. I personally thought that camp wouldn't happen and was really sad because we had already missed out on last year's so finding out that we are going to do it made such a big difference to my mood and the way I look at the year or the whole COVID-19 situation. Honestly I am not fazed at all that I just got banned from gaming for a while - this makes it 99% easier. I can't wait to get back and have a lunch order and play around the school and most of all be with my friends. I would like to say a big thanks to all the teachers, staff, support staff, on site learning team and parents for helping us get through this tough time and applaud them all.

Evelyn  – 6D

When I arrive at school I feel slightly nervous but mostly excited to see friends and teachers again. It is very different from doing online schooling because we aren't just completing work on a computer, we are actually going to school where we will have to do work in class and with classmates. As I walk into the bag shed to hang up my bag I realise that one of my friends is already there. I try to remember where my bag goes and I place the bag on its hook. As we walk out of the bag shed I see two more of my friends walking up to it. Then soon after I can see two more of my friends again and we run up to each other excitedly. We haven't seen each other since term 2! As we walk back into the bag shed to get our things we pass other friends as well as classmates! 

Finally we walk inside but make sure to put our masks on before going into the classroom. We quickly place our pencil cases on a table and start talking to our friends. As more people walk into the classroom we go up to other friends and meet them. Music is playing while everyone talks and our teacher walks into the room. I look up at the board to see what we have today. The first two hours are Spelling and Maths. Then we have memoirs and  Japanese. Then we have lunch. Mr Arnold puts on one last song before asking who wants to do Spelling and Maths. Naturally no one seems to and Mr Arnold swaps them for writing memoirs instead. We have to design the front cover first. We can choose to work outside where we can take off our masks or inside the classroom. We work inside the classroom. After a while we stop working on memoirs and we sit on the floor with our hats and pencils. 

We all walk outside to the top oval and sit down. Then we are handed a Bingo card. One of the teachers from our year level has a large container with numbered balls inside. We sit on the green fake grass and discuss how to play Bingo. Soon after the teachers explain how to play and we start. We are close to getting Bingo but I don't get it. After a while of sitting in the hot sun, we go and get our recess. We meet at the bag shed and eventually walk to the oval. We walk over to the soccer goals and meet everyone there. 

After 30 minutes the recess bell goes and we walk up to the classrooms again. We gather in the Great Space and the teachers explain more about the memoirs. When we get to the classroom it is almost time for Japanese. We get our pencil cases and walk up to the Japanese room. When we get inside we sit on the floor while the teacher explains what we are doing. We go back outside and do an exercise, then we complete a hiragana work sheet while listening to the hiragana rap. After that, we go back into the classroom and watch a Power point. 

When we finish we walk back to the classrooms to work on memoirs. Soon after we get back we are told to back to the top oval outside. As we walk outside I feel like I can tell what we are doing and when we get there I am right. We line up in the line to get a Zooper Dooper, after Mr Ross kept promising us ones he didn't have. I got a pineapple one and sat down with my friends again on the grass. Then we worked on memoirs again until lunch. At lunch I spent time with my friends and played games. Just before lunch I got my art photo taken for the Archibald prize drawing. After lunch we could choose to do multiple things but I chose to play dodgeball with friends. I threw the ball multiple times, it never hit anyone but I also tried to be helpful by passing people balls that needed them. Then we returned back to the classroom. After a while we went outside to go home. I remembered to get my phone and walked outside with my friends. I also walked with a few friends through the school until I got to my car. It was good getting to go back to school for a day to see friends and teachers and be at school. I think it will be good to go back on Thursday.      

Eden  – 6D

I was nervous on the first day as I was new but everyone I met was kind and welcoming so this made me feel a bit less worried. The learning is fun and the game of BINGO made me realise that being an old grandma won't be as bad as I thought it would be. The only problem with the day was the stupid masks that we had to wear almost ALL day and the sanitiser was the worst since I had a cut in my hand.

I met some new friends and meeting everyone in person has made me less nervous online. My morning routine wasn’t changed that much just because I still woke up at 7:45 to 8 in the morning just because the school was right around the corner. I got done quite fast because I'm used to waking up late. The only thing different was I had to pack my bag which could get quite tiring if I forgot something upstairs multiple times.