Grade 6

Grade 6 is an exciting year where we impart knowledge and skills required for students to extend all the previous years of primary school learning, social development and gaining the required knowledge and behaviours for life-long learning going into secondary school.

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. Within all of these areas, Speaking and Listening is taught for students to develop and improve speaking for future learning.

Numeracy
Numeracy lessons involve teaching the proficiencies of understanding, fluency, problem solving and reasoning which are fundamental to working mathematically. These skills are applied across all three strands of Number & Algebra, Measurement & Geometry, and Statistics and Probability.  Students will participate in tasks at their level of need, within pairs or even group tasks. At times, will access a variety of mathematical based websites to develop and support their skills and knowledge of numeracy.

Inquiry Learning
In Grade 6 students will investigate the following topics:

‘Our Learning Community’
The Learning Community topic helps to create a positive learning environment in each classroom and encourages the students to discover how they learn best and what helps and hinders their learning process.

‘What does it mean to be Australian?’
This is a unit in which students will explore the formation of an Australian Federation by using an assortment of learning strategies, such as cooperative learning activities and inquiry-based tasks. Students will learn about the origins of our system of national government and discover who the important figures were and the reasons for uniting our nation.

‘Who’s got the power?’
This is a unit in which students’ will complete a wide-range of activities and investigations in order to develop their understanding about our nation’s government and democracy, laws and citizens and citizenship. Students learn about the main institutions of Australia’s democratic government, including local government, state/territory government and the federal government, including the role of the parliaments.

‘How do we manage Money?’
Students will investigate and discover how finances and the cost of living impact everyone’s lives. Students will be introduced to the concept of consumer decision making, by exploring the difference between needs and wants. There are a variety of skills and services that students will identify that can assist with finances. Businesses make choices that impact the decision of consumers. Students will discover that complex, financial decisions will be made when running a business.

‘What on earth is going on?’
This is a unit in which students will explore all forms of energy and how they can be transferred and transformed, and the generation, transfer, open and closed circuits and use of electricity in our daily lives. Students will build upon their understanding of how electricity can be created as they consider how vital electricity is to their daily life, as well as to other communities from around the world.

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

Prep Buddy Program –
At the beginning of the year the Grade 6 students are paired up with a ‘Prep Buddy’ providing opportunities to demonstrate leadership and model school values and expectations to the younger students. The Buddy Program is one aspect of the School’s Values Program, it is designed to enhance self-esteem, foster positive relationships between students and provide new opportunities for learning. Furthermore, the program supports the ideals of the Values Program.

Camp –
The Grade 6 students have the opportunity to attend camp during Term 1. The 3-day adventure camp is to Briars, Mornington. Students travel by bus to Briars and participate in a variety of activities that allows them to experience team building and problem solving. Students engage in a variety of activities that promote self-esteem and confidence.

 Homework
Grade 6 is an extremely 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. Homework will be handed out on a weekly basis.

Student Diaries

The Student Diary is for home/school communication and is to assist students in their personal organisation to prepare them for secondary school. It should be used to mark special days and due dates, to record reminders and to keep track of students’ daily reading. Parents are welcome to use the diary as a communication between home and school.  Students are expected to have their diary at school every day and take it home each night.