Year 5/6

TERM 1 2024

Welcome to senior school at N.N.G.P.S!

Welcome back for Term 1, 2025. We have a jam packed year ahead of us full of fun and lots of learning.

Our Grade 5/6 teachers are committed to building the confidence of all our students, so that they have the belief that they can achieve their best. Emily and Yolande are working with students to develop a growth mindset as this will allow them to face challenges with a ‘can do attitude’. Our teachers are there to support our students to achieve their personal best through differentiation, individual goals and by developing a positive learning environment. As students in 5/6 they are encouraged to take on leadership roles. Our teachers support students to build their capacity as role models and to lead.

For Reading at NNGPS, we follow the CAFÉ system which focuses on the areas of Comprehension, Accuracy and Analysis, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary. Students are exposed to a range of text types and media which are designed to improve their comprehension; ability to analyse information; develop their metacognition, and; ability to question. During reading sessions students will be encouraged to express their own opinions and ideas, and in doing so will improve their ability to convey their message in a clear and concise manner. This term we are working on developing the students ability to convey their own opinions and support these with evidence. We are focusing on being able to make connections with what we are reading through the use of our prior knowledge. From here we will be moving onto having a focus of literal and inferential comprehension. Students will participate in different forms of reading groups such as book groups and guided reading.

At NNGPS in Writing we focus on teaching the craft of writing where students will explore the areas of Ideas, Organisation, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency and Conventions. Through this process we hope to instill a love of writing and provide students, with the opportunity to express themselves through their writing. During first term we will be focusing on writing persuasive texts. Students will be learning how to use different forms of figurative language to influence their reader. There is a big push this term on grammar and punctuation where students will be learning how to correctly structure and punctuate sentences.

The Numeracy curriculum is broken into the strands of Number, Algebra, Measurement, Space, Statistics and Probability. During Term 1 the main focus in on Number, where students are learning about place value which is a foundation skill for more advanced topics being taught later in the year. Students are engaged during Numeracy sessions through the use of problem solving and open ended tasks. These problems allow students the opportunity to apply what they are learning in different contexts. Problem solving in Numeracy teaches students perseverance, resilience and to have a positive mind set. We will begin Open Learning this term where students will be split into their ability groups allowing them to be taught at their point of need.

Inquiry this term is focusing on History, where we will be looking at early Australian History. During our Inquiry sessions students will also be taught skills related to the Digital Technologies curriculum. They will be learning key computer skills such as saving and opening files, learning how to use different programs and how to be safe and responsible online. Students will be offered the opportunity to direct their own learning.

Students will participate in weekly Art, Physical Education, STEM and Music sessions. At NNGPS we use the Play Is The Way program to develop social and emotional learning in our students through structured games and activities. Students will also take part in the Respectful Relationships program which teaches students how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence.

Make sure that you keep up to date with the Seesaw app as it is here that your child’s teacher will communicate with you and where you will find up dates. The Seesaw app allows you to directly contact your childs classroom teacher and is a fabulous way for the school and families to communicate with one another. This year the Seesaw app will be used to give you snapshot reports regarding your childs progress.

Whether senior students were awarded a captain role or not, all 5/6 students play an important role in the everyday functioning of our terrific school. This includes

• Setting up and hosting assemblies
• Assisting with borrowing at the library
• Maintaining sports equipment
• Helping out in the canteen
• Year 6 Foundation Buddy mentoring
• Daily bin duties

Please refer to the school newslettter for any school news and key dates.

As always if you have any further questions please feel free to contact your classroom teacher.

Emily Harris and Yolande Kerin