Grade 5

The Grade 5 program expands students from previous years to now begin their final years of Primary School. It extends further ownership of their learning, their voice and their agency. They are taught required skills for learning, social development and gaining they gain knowledge and behaviours for life-long learning.

Literacy
Literacy is a combination of Reading, Writing and Speaking & Listening activities. During Reading, students will participate in activities specifically designed to improve student’s comprehension skills and to encourage them to interpret and respond to a variety of genres. In writing, students will develop the necessary skills to produce Narratives, Information Reports, Persuasive Texts, Biographies and various forms of Poetry. The school also has a Reading Eggspress Licence which allows students to log on and participate in activities to develop and expand their reading and comprehension skills. 

Numeracy
Numeracy lessons involve teaching the proficiencies of understanding, fluency, problem solving and reasoning which are fundamental to working mathematically. Multiplicative Thinking is incorporated into day-to-day activities, so the students have a capacity to work flexibly with the concepts, strategies and representations of multiplication (and division) as they occur in a wide range of contexts. These skills are applied across all three strands of Number & Algebra, Measurement & Geometry, and Statistics and Probability.  The school has a Mathletics Licence, allowing students to participate in online Numeracy games and mathematical learning.

Inquiry Learning
In Grade 5 students will investigate the following topics:

How can matter change and have various effects? 
Students will learn about the natural world and its laws, the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies. It will allow students to use their understanding of scientific principles and the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and the environment.

How does the Earth work?
Students will learn how the Earth has changed over time and how Indigenous people harness the natural resources to live in balance with the Earth. Students will explore how mankind has accelerated the process of evolution and affected the natural balance of Earth. They will understand that we are part of a huge universe that needs to be protected and have a natural cycle that helps us to live a sustainable life. Students will investigate Earth Sciences, how the conditions of Earth can sustain life and the geographical significance that causes natural disasters (volcanoes and earthquakes).

How has the past shaped our present?
Students will have an understanding of sequenced significant events and lifetimes of people in chronological order to explain the developments in Australia’s colonial past and the causes and effects of colonisation on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Students will gain knowledge of the historical events and reasons for migration including, causes and effects on Australia’s society in the past, present and future. They will acquire important skills to thoroughly explain the causes of significant events and individuals that shaped the Australian colonies, and the effects of these on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and migrants.

How do inventions bring about change?
Students will learn that inventions are created in a range of ways and bring about change. They will learn that inventions follow a design process, where we keep record, reflect upon ideas, and evaluate. They will learn that inventions can have a positive or negative impact as well as learn about many significant Australian inventions overtime including the first investors, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Throughout the year, students participate in a range of incursions and excursions to further enhance and support their learning.

Homework
Grade 5 is an important year to continue developing time management skills and independent work habits. Homework incorporates a variety of Numeracy, Literacy and Inquiry tasks, reflecting learning that has occurred in class. Student Diaries are used to mark special days and due dates, to record reminders and to keep track of students daily/nightly reading progress.

NAPLAN
At the beginning of March, Grade 5 students participate in NAPLAN, a national assessment program in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy. Parents and schools receive the results later in the year, which are used to inform further learning.

Camp
The Grade 5 students have the opportunity to go on Camp during Term 3.