Grade 6 Term 2 Curriculum Newsletter, 2021

This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your children’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the new term.

There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

GENERAL
Welcome back to another exciting term! We hope everyone had a happy and safe Easter break with their families, friends and loved ones. The Grade 6 Department has made a great start to the year, with students getting to know a wider group of peers, in both a social and academic setting. This was further encouraged by a fantastic camp at Kangaroobie. Students had an opportunity to push themselves out of their comfort zones, develop their resilience and organisation skills, and support their peers in a range of activities.

Both students and teachers have settled into our new routines and structures, and some impressive learning is occurring. We are encouraging students to continue to develop their ability to be active and honest learners, so they can seek support to aid their learning journey. The Grade 6 teachers are looking forward to building on the important values of self-awareness, independence, organisation and initiative throughout the year.

Congratulations to the student representatives that were elected as House Captains and Junior School Council members as part of the Grade 6 leadership body. We would also like to acknowledge those students who have volunteered to assist with additional extra-curricular leadership roles, including managing the Grade Prep Buddy Program and speaking at assemblies. We know these students will represent the school at a high standard as they demonstrate positive decision making and self-awareness. It is important that all our Grade 6 students continue to show these attributes as they are role models for the rest of our school. It has been brilliant to see all the students wear their new distinctive red hoodies and t-shirts with excitement and pride!

ENGLISH
In Reading, the students will continue to refine their ability to use a range of reading strategies independently. It is expected that students have engaged in sustained reading over the holiday period. This term, we will continue to delve into the facets of the reading process to enhance their understandings, whilst maintaining a love for reading by utilising our expansive classroom library. We will be working towards students further developing their ability to identify and articulate the skills they are using while they read, including inferring, analysing, critiquing and summarising. At home, you can continue to support your child by engaging in rich discussions around the texts they are reading. We suggest reading the same text in your own time, jumping ahead so you are informed of the plot, character traits and themes within the story. At the senior level, we place significant importance on the discussions about texts, and not simply listening to your child read aloud.

In Writing, students will continue to engage their passion for writing as part of the Writer’s Workshop. Students will be encouraged to experiment with different text structures and language features they have come across in the reading and include it in their own writing. A spelling focus on understanding how to use banks of known words, word origins, base words, prefixes, suffixes, spelling patterns and generalisations to spell new words will also be included weekly as part of the writing program. Should you wish to support your child at home, you may like to focus on supporting them to correctly select and use various forms of punctuation, particularly when editing their writing. We would also love to see students focusing on quality over quantity – short, sharp, well written pieces are a great start. Help your child to select a text type (narrative, procedure, exposition etc.) and encourage the use of interesting sentence structures and complex vocabulary.

NUMERACY
In Mathematics, the students are applying their skills to solve more advanced mathematical problems. The focus this term will be on problem solving strategies and real—life problems involving multiplication, division, measurement and time. This will include using a wide variety of strategies which will be discussed in differentiated groups and whole group settings. Students will explore these concepts through project-based learning and open ended questions, which will cater for and extend, the diverse range of learners in the classroom.

At this level we expect that most students know their times tables (1-12) and can recall these quickly. In addition to this, the knowledge of basic number facts (across all areas of Maths) is also expected (eg. 35-9=, 48÷6=, 10% of $500, 2/5 of $15).

We ask that families assist Maths learning at home by encouraging children to play games involving counting, money, time and number facts. Please ensure your child has access to Essential Assessment on a regular basis as this supports the learning in our classroom.

INQUIRY
Throughout Term 2, as part of our Inquiry Unit - ‘Australia- Government, Law and Democracy,’ students will explore the roles and responsibilities of the three levels of government. Students will spend time researching the fundamentals of government and law making through a range of inquiry based tasks, including classroom role plays. The unit will culminate with a virtual excursion to Victorian Parliament and the Old Treasury Building.

The iPads will continue to be used daily, therefore it is imperative that these are at school and fully charged every day.

HOMEWORK
Research has found that regular reading and rehearsal of Maths concepts (including times tables) greatly contributes to ongoing improvement in results and student engagement. We ask you to continue your support in ensuring that homework is completed regularly and handed in on the due dates. It is expected that students read at home (minimum of 4 days for at least 20 minutes) and complete at least 40 minutes of Essential Assessment or Hit the Button practise or approved math's specific tasks on a weekly basis. This is in line with the LLPS homework policy distributed earlier this year.

DEVICES
A reminder that Department of Education policy stipulates that phones, watches or other devices with communicative ability cannot be carried by students while on the school premises during school hours, without Principal approval. For further details please refer to the policy documents on Compass and the Lara Lake PS website.

We are proud of the students’ attitudes and successes from Term 1 and look forward to the students continuing to push themselves whilst maintaining the high expectations they displayed in Term 1.