5/6 Team
Term 1 Letter – 2024
Dear families,
Welcome to 2024! What a fantastic start to the new year. Our 5/6 leaders have settled in well to their new cohort and are already demonstrating an eagerness to learn.
This letter aims to provide you with a greater level of insight into what we will be covering in our classrooms during the first term. At Turner we recognise the importance of establishing strong collaborative partnerships between home and school in order to meet our children’s educational needs. Thank you to those families who have touched base to tell us more about your child. It is wonderful to learn about them and see them through your eyes. We encourage those of you who have not yet connected with us, to send either a letter via email or the student information sheet attached to this letter.
This term, 5/6 students at Turner School have opportunities to channel their learning through the following big inquiry questions, connected to the concepts below;
Leadership
- How do leaders demonstrate different skills and dispositions when making decisions to improve their community?
- How can I be a leader in my learning?
Colonisation to Federation Colonisation has been a common occurrence throughout history, shaping a nation’s identity
- How did we become ‘Australia’?
We aim to assist students to make connections across subjects to layer, consolidate and transfer their learning in addition to providing opportunities to personalise learning. We have also spent the last few weeks reflecting on ourselves as learners and begun to look at Learner Assets to identify our strengths in the classroom. The Learner Assets, their skills and dispositions will be at the core of each of our lessons across the curriculum throughout the year. We will set goals around them and acknowledge areas of development to improve ourselves as learners.
5/6 classrooms offer flexible learning spaces as we believe this promotes collaboration and caters for different learning styles. With the children, we have established work areas that are both functional and fun and the children have choice over where and how they work.
For more information about Turner’s approach to learning, please follow the link below (also found on the Turner School website). Turner School - Learning From Home Hub - Beginning of Year Information (google.com)
This year we will be holding our fifth biennial STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) Festival. You may remember previous festivals and all the exciting and engaging learning activities that were held around the school. Reflecting our focus on the theme for our STEAM Festival, ‘Tinkering Takes Time’, all the 5/6 classes this year are named after things that produce or are a result of light and electricity. We will do more investigating into this during our term 3 Science unit.
Zoe Fellows – 5/6ZF Sunbeams
Leanne Reinke and Salma Khan – 5/6KR Nuclear Power
Anna Dougan – 5/6AD Microwaves
Ryan Bartley – 5/6RB Sparks
Sammy Noble – 5/6SN Ghost Mushrooms
Extracurricular Activities
In term 1, we establish many of our extracurricular opportunities to enrich student learning. More detailed information about community projects which could include activities such as Djembe group, Ukulele, Earthlings or choir performance opportunities will be advertised in the week 3 newsletter and also communicated with students. Our regular extracurricular activities will begin in week 4.
Devices & GAFE (Google Apps For Education)
In 5/6, we use Chromebooks and iPads to complement learning when relevant. Both of these devices are used to access Google Apps For Education (GAFE) and conduct research. Through GAFE, students have the opportunity to be part of Google Classrooms where they can share their work, seek and provide feedback. GAFE encompasses Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides and Google Forms. Classes will access these programs throughout the year to assist with learning. Across the year, we explicitly teach and reinforce cyber-safe practices when utilising technology. The ‘Appropriate use of IT’ note was sent home in week 1. Please support us by having these conversations at home with your child before signing and returning the note.
Phones / Smart Watches
Children with mobile phones, smart watches and any other devices that can connect to the internet or the network, have a daily routine of checking them into the Condamine Street office on arrival at school and retrieving them at 3pm. Children should not bring valuable items and toys to school.
Home Learning
A Home Learning grid is posted to your child’s Google Classroom at the start of each term and provides opportunities for students to practice, share, consolidate and extend what they have been learning in the classroom. A typical termly home learning grid includes opportunities related to all curriculum areas and is linked with the term’s Inquiry focus. There will be times throughout the year when high investment learning experiences will naturally overflow into learning at home. These opportunities include the Senior Story Telling Awards, passion projects, leadership projects and the Year 5/6 Market Day. These learning experiences can be completed independently and are not compulsory. If your child chooses to complete the home learning, they can return it to their class teacher fortnightly on a Friday (odd weeks) for feedback.
Fruit and Brain Breaks
Children in 5/6 classes are encouraged to self-manage their fruit (or vegetable) break to help maintain energy levels throughout the morning session.
Coming up in 5/6 in 2024…
Throughout the year there will be many whole-school and 5/6 specific activities. These dates will be included in the fortnightly newsletters. Here are some to add to your calendar…
- Senior Assembly (led by year 5/6) – 21st February
- Swimming Carnival – 6th March
- Menslink (Unplugged presentation) – 27th March
- NAPLAN (year 5 only) – 13th-25th March
- School Photos – 2nd April
- End of term assembly (Harmony Day focus)– 10th April
Year 5/6 overnight camp to Birrigai
Term 2, week 5 (Wednesday 29th - Friday 31st May)
Students have the opportunity to experience an overnight camp twice while they are at Turner. Both our camps are in year 5/6 where students are a little older and a little more able to manage all the worthwhile challenges an overnight camp provides.
More information will come later this term about the camp and how we can best support your child.
Learning Overview for Year 5/6
Please find below the Term 1 Overview (including Achievement Standards from the new Australian Curriculum version 9.0) and the inquiry focus that will frame your child’s learning experiences.
Learning Area | Focus | Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards |
Inquiry
Leadership (General Capabilities)
Colonisation to Federation (HASS –History) | * What are the qualities of a good leader (skills and dispositions)? * How can I develop leadership qualities? * What is the impact of leaders on society?
*What do we know about the lives of people in Australian’s colonial past? *What/who were the significant events/people that shaped Australian colonies? *What was the impact of colonisation on the environment and First Nations people? | Year 5
Year 6
|
English | Writing to Persuade
Spelling
Speaking (opinion and debate)
Language features, literary devices and comprehension strategies linked to the Mentor Text – ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar
| Year 5
Year 6
|
Reading Strategies | We are sending home a ‘reading strategies bookmark’ handout that your child could use at home to support them creating their own learning goals and to encourage them to read regularly at home.
| |
Health & Physical Education
| Safety
Fair play
Fundamental Movement Skills | Year 5 and 6
|
Technology | Digital Technology | Year 5 and 6
|
Mathematics | Place Value
Number (4 operations)
Patterns & Algebra
Time
| Year 5
Year 6
|
The Arts | Music Rhythm, composition and exploring and performing with percussion instruments
Visual Art Exploring various mediums | Years 5 & 6
|
Indonesian | Language and Culture
| Years 5 & 6
|
Believing that working in partnership with you best supports your child’s learning, you are welcome to contact your child’s class teacher to discuss their progress at any time. Please email them directly or call Turner School on 6142 2430.
We are looking forward to a great year of learning!
Kind regards,
The 2024 5/6 Team
Sammy – samantha.noble@ed.act.edu.au
Ryan - Ryan.Bartley@ed.act.edu.au
Anna – anna.dougan@ed.act.edu.au
Salma – salma.khan@ed.act.edu.au
Leanne – leanne.reinke@ed.act.edu.au
Zoe - zoe.fellows@ed.act.edu.au
Kat – katrina.vesala@ed.act.edu.au (music)
Rima - rima.kemp@ed.act.edu.au (Indonesian)
Ruby - ruby.christensen@ed.act.edu.au (youth worker)
Jess – jessica.engele@ed.act.edu.au (team leader)