Welcome to Term 1
Level 6
Welcome to another year of fabulous learning at GWPS. Since we have returned to school it has been wonderful to see some many familiar faces in addition to welcoming our new families. As a Level Six team, it is our great honour to journey with and guide your child through their final year of primary school. Year Six provides its own unique challenges and opportunities. Our days are filled with opportunities to explore a passion, stretch the imagination, build leadership, participate in a range of events and celebrate our achievements.
This year, our highly capable Level Six team is made up of seven team members. Five of our team members are returning from previous years and may have already worked with your child in some capacity across the school. They are Mrs. Lauren Anderson (TaLL), Miss. Jess Wood as our Assistant TaLL, Mr. Robert Lou, Ivana Krsteska (Student Voice and Agency Learning Specialist) and Samantha Rich (TSL). In addition to this, we welcome Miss. Angelique Gabriel and Mr. Riley Youssef. Miss. Gabriel is an experienced teacher who brings with her a wide range of experience, passion and knowledge. Mr. Youssff is beginning his teaching career with us and worked closely with Ms. Lui last year as a student teacher, so already brings a wealth of knowledge to our team.
In addition to our teaching team, in the classroom we will be ably supported by the Learning Assistants. Thank you to all who have been able to meet your child’s teacher during the ‘Getting to Know You Interviews’ as this helps form a critical part of the Home/School Partnership, which helps to set your child up for success. If you have not yet had the chance to meet your child’s teacher please ensure you make a time through Compass. As always throughout the year, we encourage you to contact us if you have any queries regarding your child’s learning or wellbeing.
We look forward to a great year ahead,
The Level 6 Team.
Meet Miss Gabriel
Hello! My name is Angelique Gabriel and I am very excited to have joined the wonderful Glen Waverley Primary School community this year. I am teaching 6D and am thoroughly enjoying getting to know all the great learners at our school. This is my fifth year teaching, and I previously taught almost every year level at my last school. In my spare time, I like to bake sweet treats and watch foreign films to help me brush up on my Greek and French. I hope to be able to travel to those places (and others!) soon, too. I have a 1 year old cavoodle called Ollie who has lots of energy. He loves to play fetch at the park and walk along the beach, which is one of my favourite things to do, too! If you see me around, please come and say hi!
Meet Mr. Youssef
My name is Riley Youssef and I am the classroom teacher for 6E. This is my first year of teaching, and I am enjoying every minute of it so far! I have a wonderful group of learners, and I feel very fortunate to be beginning my teaching journey at Glen Waverley Primary School. Although I already feel like part of the team, I am looking forward to developing strong connections with the broader school community. My interests outside of school include reading, sport, socialising and adventuring. I love a good joke, and I am always up for a chat - so if you see me around school, please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself!
English
During Term One, learners are exploring informative texts with a focus on biographical writing, while considering how the development of the whole child can influence our overall holistic growth.
We will begin by reading and analysing varied examples of biographies, which will in turn assist the learners to develop an understanding of how authors use the strategies to engage the reader. It is through these strategies that they will immerse themselves in the experiences of these individuals and groups in society and develop their understanding of what led them to influence this change. Through identifying these skills in Reading, we will aim to have our learners transfer these skills to their own writing and provide them with opportunities to create biographies exploring these influential individuals and groups that have had this significant impact.
Learners will also have opportunities for independent reading and sustained writing; ensuring they can focus specifically on their personal literacy goals and apply learnt strategies. Some of the concepts we will be unpacking to a deeper level with the learners will include:
• Using the four traits of effective paragraphs – a topic sentence, evidence to support the argument, explanation of the argument and a well-crafted transition to the next paragraph.
• Understanding the building blocks of ‘who, what, when and where’ within a timeline and digging deeper into ‘why’ and ‘how‘ this significant development in society took place.
• Meaningful use of research sources including the ability to synthesise and paraphrase reliable and relevant information.
If you wish to support your child’s learning at home in the area of Literacy this term, you can:
• Discuss ideas with your child, encourage them to support their claims with supporting details, personal experience or research.
• Encourage your child to read regularly, discussing their books with them and asking questions to determine your child’s understanding of their text.
Mathematics
During Term One, Level Six learners will be focusing strongly on expanding their mathematical vocabularies. Maths vocabulary plays a vital role in a student’s ability to understand new concepts, daily lessons, discuss ideas and strategies during Math Talks, and solve worded problems. By focusing on building the learners bank of Terminology, we are building a solid foundation for them to be confident and effective mathematicians in the future. Students will be encouraged to identify and define new terms, show their understanding pictorially and share their new knowledge with others by adding it to our interactive Vocabulary walls.
We will continue to use our Whole School Approach to Mathematics, which involves the Four Mathematical Proficiencies known at our school as SURF. When working mathematically, people tend to focus mainly on the two areas of Problem Solving and Fluency, which refers to processes needed to solve the problem and correct calculations of the numbers. Research shows that to create a more profound knowledge of mathematical concepts, we need to be talking with children about their Understanding and Reasoning. A great way to do this is by requesting your child explain their thinking behind their answers, prove their answer is correct or ask them if there is another way you can demonstrate that is correct?
This term, concepts that will be covered in class include:
Number and Algebra:
- Patterns and Algebra
- Place Value (including integers, properties of number, fractions, decimals and percentages)
- Consolidating and building their ability to use the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in multiple contexts.
Measurement and Geometry:
- Transferring their knowledge of the four operations, decimals and fractions to calculate area, perimeter and surface areas.
- Developing fluency and reasoning strategies to calculate the area and perimeter of regular and irregular shapes
- Investigating how different metric systems are used worldwide and why we have them.
To help your child enhance their understanding of these concepts, take opportunities to discuss with them ideas such as where patterns (both Numerical and Geometric) can be found in the real world and moving furniture around the room and using strategies to estimate what will fit where (the learners may even want to rearrange their own bedroom).
You Can Do It
‘You can do it’ (YCDI) is our whole school approach to social and emotional learning, which is centred around five ‘Keys to Success’; Confidence, Persistence, Organisation, Getting Along and Resilience. Level Six has begun our first two weeks of Term One with an emphasis on building a positive classroom culture of learning, by investigating connections between collaboration, the five keys and our School Values.
Later in the term, YCDI learning will be deeply intertwined with our Inquiry unit focusing on the concept of a ‘Whole Child’. Students will deepen their understanding of the skills and knowledge needed to navigate education and relationships in a 21st Century context. Furthermore, all students will be presented with the unique opportunity of participating in Level Six Sport, an authentic context in which students can transfer their social/emotional strategies and strengthen their interpersonal skills.
To support your child’s YCDI learning at home, here are some suggestions:
- Regularly check-in with your child regarding their YCDI learning at school. Find opportunities to discuss the School Values and how they can be displayed in and beyond the classroom
- Discuss the importance of maintaining respectful relationships across the school community and strategies that can support them to form new connections.
Inquiry
This term in Level 6 we are exploring the question, ‘How do we develop as a whole child in a global context?’ With the whole school thread of identity as our theme, learners will be investigating the meaning of the whole child, global context and development. They will complete this investigation through the lens of Global Goal 3, ‘Good Health and Wellbeing’, where they will analyse different aspects of themselves inclusive of their emotions, personal values and cultural influences. By the end of this unit of learning, students will attain a better understanding of who they are and the different factors that contribute to their ‘whole’ self.
In Level 6, learners have begun their learning by collaborating together in order to develop a shared understanding of what a ‘whole child’ is.
Here are some examples of their thinking:
“A whole child is someone who possesses an array of skills, and who has a growth mindset, despite the situation.”
What you can do at home:
Watch the following video to build your understanding of a whole child! Have a go at brainstorming with your child the different aspects of their identity. Quite often, others see qualities in us we do not normally notice ourselves. You might be able to broaden their understanding of themselves!