Welcome back to Term 4! Here we are almost at the end of Grade 5.  It’s hard to believe just how far the students have come this year.  We have no doubt this term will prepare them for their final year of Primary School. This term will no doubt be another busy one with STEAM projects, Student Leadership nominations, Grandparents Day, Book Fair, Christmas Carols - just to name a few.  As well as, of course, the amazing classroom learning we’ll be doing.

Buddies

In ‘Buddies’ this term, we will continue to build our students' leadership skills by having them plan and deliver a lesson to their Buddy class.  This will provide them with the wonderful opportunity to work as a team, research engaging tasks and develop confidence to present in front of the class.

Student Leadership

This term the Grade 5 students will be reflecting on the current student leadership model and deciding the structure they wish this to take during 2026.  They will also be involved in nominating themselves for the various captaincy roles, and for those interested in being a school captain, giving a speech to their peers about why they would be a wonderful student leader for our school. This process provides our students with Student Voice and Agency in how the Student Leadership is conducted during their Grade 6 year.  

Integrated Studies

This term in CBL students will be focusing on the theme of ‘Disaster Strikes’. As well as investigating natural disasters such as bushfires, floods, and earthquakes, the students will be involved in the STEAM (Science - Technology - Engineering - Art - Maths) Project. This will involve them designing and building a prototype for cleaning up our oceans and waterways. It is always a huge highlight of the student’s year as they stretch their creative muscles to create innovative and engaging designs. We can’t wait for you all to see the results at our STEAM presentation day later in the term.

Writing
In Writing this term, our Grade 5 students are focusing on explanation texts and scientific written descriptions. They are learning how to explain processes and ideas step by step, as well as how to use clear, accurate language when describing scientific observations. These skills not only build strong writing foundations but also help students develop confidence in communicating their thinking across different subjects. Bringing science and writing together in an exciting and meaningful project, as part of our STEAM learning, students will be applying these skills to topics such as natural disasters and other real-world scientific phenomena to allow students to use precise vocabulary and structured writing to share their knowledge in an engaging way.

Reading

This term in Reading and Viewing, our Grade 5 students will be exploring a wider variety of text types including news articles, documentaries and a selection of podcasts. They will learn to further examine the way an author presents information in order to persuade the viewer. This includes both sound and visual elements. Additionally, we will continue our “Book Club” sessions to further develop our students' comprehension skills. Through these small group discussions, students will conduct deeper connections regarding meaning, questioning, inferring messages, summarising and making connections with a shared text.

Mathematics

In Maths this term students will explore the various concepts related to Fractions, Decimals and Percentages. This will include the connection these have to money and financial literacy.  We will also be learning about 2D nets for 3D shapes as well as Mass and Capacity. Our STEAM projects will provide students with the opportunity to utilise their Maths skills in a real world scenario.  This will include creating scaled blueprint drawings. Throughout our Maths lessons we will be continuing to utilise our open-ended, problem solving approach.

Homework

Homework will be students working on their Leadership application letters and speeches for those students who wish to apply for a position for 2026. We will then continue using the same structure as we have in the previous three terms.  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 various concepts.

We encourage families to create a Study planner for when homework tasks will be completed.  This will be invaluable as they move onto secondary school in a little over 12 months time.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact your child’s teacher.

We look forward to another great term!

Kind regards,

Britt Morton, Emma Winsall, Lauren Collard and Mitch Smart

Term 4 Newsletter