Welcome to the final term of 2009!
It's going to be a fun and exciting term for everyone. Grade 6 students will be feeling a mixture of emotions this term as they say goodbye to primary school and look forward to whatever the future may hold for them! They will spend time together this term preparing for their transition into secondary school and getting ready for their graduation in the final week.
Studying Culture & "Earn and Learn"
The whole school concept this term is Culture. The 4/5/6 Learning Community is focusing our study on 'Many Cultures, One Community'. Students will be learning that a culture is a learned way of living shared by people, and that people live within organised communities in order to meet their needs and wants.
Students will be engaged in identifying our individual patterns of kinship, political, artistic, religious, and educational ways. They will be comparing and contrasting different types of culture in our own local and global communities, for example collecting data to classify into record findings of needs and wants and studying varied cultures. They will also be involved in reading and viewing folktales during Carnevale time and have been given the opportunity to choose from a variety of tasks dealing with the concept of culture when completing weekly homework tasks.
Our Learning Community is also participating in the Earn and Learn program. Earn and Learn is a program developed by Rod Vingerhoets and attempts to integrate mathematics and other associated curriculum content into a package which can be adapted to real life situations related to calculating and earning a wage, running small businesses, paying bills, budgeting, paying rent and mortgages, banking, buying groceries and paying tax. They will also learn about the importance of how a Government works and how it plays an important part when organizing the community's needs and wants.
Term 4 Homework
At the end of last term we asked for feedback from parents and students about the grid homework. Overall, the majority of families are happy to continue with the grid format this term. The expectation is that students will complete one of the activities each week and bring it in to school every Friday. Remember, grade 4s should be spending about 30-45 minutes completing their homework, grade 5s should be spending 45-60 minutes and grade 6s should be spending 60-90 minutes. Parents can help at home by:
- Providing a designated place and time for homework and reading where possible
- Encouraging and support your child to fulfil homework requirements
- Contacting class teachers if there are difficulties
- Allowing your child to accept responsibility for their own homework
- Discussing expectations with your child
- Providing assistance with the development of time management and organisation
Maths
This term we will be reviewing, consolidating and building on the concepts and skills introduced this year. We sill also be focussing on measurement with content drawn from the Victorian Essential Learning Standards.
Students will continue the challenge of whole-class maths investigations which promote problem solving, use of tools and skills, mathematical think and communication using the language of mathematics.
The 4/5/6 teaching team will continue peer coaching and working with each other to enhance our teaching and learning.
Sport and Physical Education
Training has commenced and squads selected for Grade 5/6 Brunswick District Interschool Sport. This term teams will be playing softball, basketball and bat tennis with all home games being played at BEPS. Parents are more than welcome to support their child on Friday mornings. Games commence around 9.30 and are usually completed by 10.30. Notes will be issued to students selected to play away games notifying you of venues and seeking permission to travel by bus. Teams will be named by the Monday prior to the match.
To supplement our regular sports we have contracted with Coach Approach to provide expert presenters in a range of alternative physical education areas. Our Grade 4 students, together with Grade 5/6 students not selected to play interschool sport in any particular week will participate in aerobics, hip hop dance, gymnastics, circus or fitness activities.
Year 6 Transition
Tuesday 8th December is Orientation day for year 6 students. On this day students visit their new secondary school and participate in meetings, activities and tours. It is an opportunity for your child to meet some of their teachers for next year and fellow classmates. It is important for your child to attend on this day.
All grade 6 students have been given a brochure titled "Welcome to Secondary school" a parents guide to Victorian Government Secondary schools. Please take the time to read it and discuss important aspects with your child. Even if your child is not attending a government school the information is still relevant. If your child is attending a non-government school you will be personally notified about their orientation program.
The grade 6 students have been allocated a time to participate in a "chat club" to discuss their feelings concerns, ideas and excitement about secondary schooling. We hope that this may allow students to feel more at ease about this next important step. The meetings will be held on four Wednesdays this term at 1.00pm to 1.30pm. Each 4/5/6 teacher will facilitate a session.
Portsea Camp
We have had an excellent response for camp - at last count we had 98 students attending with 10 staff members. The students are looking forward to it and are really excited about camp. Have a look on the website to find out about the camp and activities.
Lucy will be sending home Asthma Management Plans and Anaphylaxis Management Plans to those students who have indicated these medical conditions.
Communication
Please come and talk to your classroom teacher if you have any concerns or questions, or if you just want to pop in to say 'hello' and have a look around your child's classroom. Email is an efficient way to inform us about lost notes, absences etc. but please arrange a time to meet if you would like to discuss more important issues. If you're not receiving a class email please let your child's teacher know and remember to give the teacher your email. Email Addresses are listed at the top of the page.
Thanking you,
Lisa, Daren, Lucy, Tess, Carol and Rachel.