It’s great to be back! 

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 Morton, Emma Winsall, Andrew Weekes, Lauren Collard and Jess Holmes are prepared for what’s ahead! 

GRADE 5 CAMP 

In Week 8 of this term, we are headed to Cave Hill Creek, for 2 nights, 3 days from March 16^th to 18th. 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.  

INTEGRATED STUDIES 

Our unit this term is called Protect, Connect, Respect. The students will discover how their digital footprint or reputation builds up over time. They will learn about positive online behaviours, including the value of respect, responsibility, empathy, resilience and critical thinking. The students will be examining the impact technology use has on their social, emotional and physical health. 

LITERACY  

This term in Reading, our Grade 5 students will be revisiting understanding of texts as well 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. With the revision and extension of these skills, we will arm our students with the best preparation possible to tackle NAPLAN with confidence. 

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.  

NUMERACY

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. 

NAPLAN 

This runs in Week 7 of this term 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. 

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 folder 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. 

Lauren Collard, Britt Morton, Emma Winsall and Andrew Weekes

TERM 1 SPECIALIST TIMETABLE

Term 1 Newsletter