Grade 5 & 6


GRADE 5 TERM 1 2024

 

The Grade 5 students have made a fantastic start to the school year, settling in well and becoming familiar with their new teachers, location and classmates. Although it’s slightly sad that the Summer holiday break is over, we’re all happy to be back in the classrooms. Grade 5 is an awesome year for students with many rich learning opportunities presenting themselves in the curriculum. We have an incredibly busy term ahead of us, but rest assured that the experienced team of Britt Davidson, Emma Winsall, Mitch Smart, and Lauren Collard are prepared for what’s ahead!

 

Grade 5 Camp

In Week 5 of this term, we are headed to Cave Hill Creek, for 2 nights, 3 days from February 26th to 28th. Along the way we will visit the Eureka Centre to participate in an education program. Once we’re at camp, students will complete activities such as Abseiling, Canoeing, Initiatives, Archery, and many others. The food is fantastic, with all dietary and allergies catered for. On our way home from camp, we will be visiting Sovereign Hill for the day. The event is on Compass awaiting consent, payment, and volunteers. More information such as packing lists etc will be coming home over the next couple of weeks.

 

CBL

Our topic for this term is Discovery - Historical and Geographical. Students will create ‘Wonderings’ and explore these over the course of the term before providing a presentation at the end of the term showing evidence of their investigation. This will tie in well with our Sovereign Hill trip!

 

Literacy

This term in Reading, our Grade 5 students will be revisiting understanding and applying a variety of comprehension strategies. We will draw upon these skills to assist in understanding the texts we will read and engage with. These include both fiction and non fiction texts such as narratives, information reports, biographies and letters.

 

In Writing, our Grade 5 students will continue to build on their persuasive and imaginative writing skills in order for preparation of NAPLAN. We will be exposing them to numerous timed writing prompts for both text types to allow them to be equipped for this. As NAPLAN will be on devices this year, they will be spending their writing sessions on laptops to increase their typing skills. We do encourage any time they can be typing on a laptop a great assistance.

 

Mathematics

The Grade 5 team will use an open ended / problem solving approach to our teaching of maths.  This approach is more engaging and hands-on, which leads to mathematicians that not only understand concepts but can also explain their thinking and reasoning.  This term we will be focusing on Place Value and Location & Mapping, as well as preparing how to give ourselves the best chance of success during assessments, such as NAPLAN.

 

Compass & Class Dojo

All teachers at TBPS use Compass and Class Dojo to communicate with parents. Please ensure you have notifications turned on for both and keep up to date with any announcements that come out. If you have changed your email address be sure to let the office staff know.

IMPORTANT—if you have a message to convey to your child regarding after school pick up arrangements please call the office rather than message us as we get busy during the day and often don’t check these platforms until after school.

 

NAPLAN

This runs in Week 7 of this term, across the 15th, 16th and 17th of March and will be conducted online. Students will be prepared by their teachers to achieve their best. During this time we understand that many students become very stressed and anxious so we try our best to ensure that they’re relaxed and understand that NAPLAN is just a test, not a reflection of who they are. More information will be coming home over the coming weeks.

 

Homework

Will be sent out Friday of Week 3. Students will be expected to complete 60 minutes of reading over the week which will be recorded in a Reading Log - they can choose to spread this out over several days - as well as a Maths sheet that will allow them to revise concepts.  These will be levelled and based on the student’s point of need.

 

A significant aspect of homework, particularly in the Senior School, is students developing the organisation skills required throughout their learning journey.  This includes not only completing a set task by a due date, but also to ensure they bring their homework book to and from school.

 

We look forward to working with you throughout the year. If you have any concerns at any time please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Britt Davidson, Lauren Collard, Mitch Smart & Emma Winsall

 

GRADE 6 TERM 1 2024

What a busy start to the term it’s been.  It’s been such a joy getting to know the Class of 2024. All of the Grade 6 teachers have been impressed with how settled and ready to learn the students have been. We are really looking forward to the year ahead and all the exciting things we have planned.

 

Literacy

In Reading this term, we will be establishing our classroom routines around our reading practices. Students will be using a Reader’s Notebook to develop and record their thinking. We will be developing our skills to become analytical, voracious readers.

 

This term in Writing we will be following the Writer’s Workshop model.  Our focus will be on revising and re-establishing the routines that were introduced last year, with the goal of increasing the writing stamina and independent writing skills of the students.

 

In Spelling, we will be continuing to implement our Structured Word Inquiry. We will be developing our understanding of spelling through teaching different strategies. The major spelling strategies we will be exploring are Visual Memory, Graphophonic (sound- symbol knowledge) and Morphology (word knowledge). Students will also participate in whole class word inquiry unit.

 

Mathematics

The Grade 6 team will continue to use an Open ended / problem solving approach to our teaching of maths.  This approach is more engaging and hands on, which leads to mathematicians that not only understand concepts but can also explain their thinking and reasoning.  This term we will be focusing on Place Value, Location and Mapping and Data collecting.

 

Challenge Based Learning

The CBL ‘Big Idea’ for Term 1 is Discovery and will result in individuals researching an event of their choice that has ‘shaped our nation’. As students delve into the significance of historical events and influential individuals in the Australian context, they'll be sharpening some vital skills. Students will learn to analyse and interpret historical events, understanding the cause-and-effect relationships that have shaped Australia since Federation. This journey will foster critical thinking as they delve into the motivations and impact of key figures. Research skills will get a boost as students dig into primary and secondary sources to piece together the puzzle of our nation's past. Additionally, they'll practice effective communication by articulating their findings, connecting the dots between historical events and our present-day society. Overall, this exploration promises to nurture a well-rounded set of historical, analytical, and communication skills in our budding historians.

 

Compass & Class Dojo

All teachers at TBPS use Compass and Class Dojo to communicate with parents. Please ensure you have notifications turned on for both and keep up to date with any announcements that come out. If you have changed your email address be sure to let the office staff know.

IMPORTANT—if you have a message to convey to your child regarding after school pick up arrangements please call the office rather than message us as we get busy during the day and often don’t check these platforms until after school.

 

Homework

We will be starting homework in Week 3.  This will go out on Tuesday and be due back the following Monday.

We encourage you to take some time to sit with your child and set up a study routine that will help develop some good homework habits for this year and for secondary school.

 

CAMP

Camp is sure to be a highlight for this term, if not the whole year.  On Monday 4th of March we head off to Philip Island Adventure Resort for 3 days of fun, excitement and challenging ourselves.  We will be returning on Wednesday 6th of March. Thank you to all of the parents who have volunteered to support us.

Please check Compass to make sure that your child’s permission form and payment is completed. 

 

If there’s anything we can help with, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with your child’s teacher.  This can be done via Compass or by calling the school office.  We are so looking forward to a wonderful year!

 

Thank you for your ongoing support.

 

Lisa MacLean, Claire Knight, Nick Jones and Deb Houghton