Year 5 Term 2 2021

Dear Families

Welcome back to school for Term 2.  I hope you all had a restful holiday with your family and are looking forward to the term getting underway.

Congratulations to the following students who have (already) completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge: Holly K. and Natalia S.  As you’re already aware, nightly reading (and filling in their Reading Diary) is a Year 5M homework expectation.  With this in mind, I would expect all Year 5M students to complete this year’s Premier’s Reading Challenge - all they have to do is read the Premier’s list books which are available in the Loft.

In Week 3, the students will sit the NAPLAN Tests.  The tests commence on Tuesday 11 May with Writing.  The following tests, in order are: Reading, Conventions of language (both on 12 May) and Numeracy (13 May).  There will be opportunity for students who miss a test/s, to catchup.  For further information visit, https://nap.edu.au/

Workshops, incursions and more feature prominently this term.  In week 3, students will attend a Start Smart Financial Literacy workshop run by the Commonwealth Bank.  The workshop aims to equip students with the confidence and competence needed to make smart decisions about money.  Also in Week 3, students will have their first of 4, Growing With Gratitude sessions.  Growing With Gratitude is a resilience program that builds and protects young people’s mental wellbeing. 

In Week 7, students will attend The Matter Show, an interactive show run by Mobile Science Education.  With help from a few litres of liquid nitrogen, a few chemicals and a gas burner, students will be shown how the particle model is used to explain the behaviour of solids, liquids and gases. 

Near the end of term in Week 9 (Wednesday 23 - Friday 25 June) the Years 3 to 5 will travel to Woodhouse Activity Centre, just 15 minutes up the freeway, for a three day, two night camp. (The Year 3s are only staying for one night).  Detailed information was sent home late last term.  If you have not filled in and returned consent and medical forms, please do so ASAP.  A reminder that payment for the camp is due by Friday 11 June (Week 7).  Students and staff are looking forward to the exciting activities planned, in particular crawling, climbing, swinging and splashing around the obstacles on Challenge Hill.

I look forward to working in partnership with you and the students to develop a learning environment where St Raphael’s Learner Dispositions flourish.

Kind regards,
David Monti
Year 5 Teacher

The intended learning for Term 2 is summarised below. 

Religious Education
Students will explore Jesus’ compassion towards the sick and how this is reflected in the Sacraments of healing.  They will express their personal views about showing compassion to the vulnerable and publish a prayer/poem, which comforts an elderly person, by focussing on Jesus’ empathy for the sick.

English
Students will explore the text structure of Expositions, Reports and Descriptions.  They will use language features, images and vocabulary associated with the persuasive, factual and descriptive writing.  Students will practise using correct grammar, punctuation and a variety of sentence types.  They will edit their work for cohesive structure and meaning.  Students will analyse and explain literal and implied information from a variety of texts, including our class novel Once, by Morris Gleitzman.  They will describe how events, characters and settings in texts are depicted and explain their own responses to them.

Mathematics
Students will compare and order common unit fractions.  They will investigate strategies to solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions with the same denominator.  Students will recognise that place value systems can be extended beyond hundredths.  They will pose questions and collect categorical data by observation or survey.

Science
Students will formulate a hypothesis to investigate the observable properties and behaviour of solids, liquids and gases.  They will construct tables and graphs to organise their data and identify patterns in the data.  Students explore how scientific developments like insulation, have improved people’s lives by enabling matter to remain in a solid state for longer.

HASS
Students will explore the area of Civics and Citizenship and are learning to be active and informed Australian Citizen in a Democratic Representative Country. Students will identify the importance of values and processes to Australia’s democracy and describe the roles of different people in Australia’s legal system. They will describe different views on how to respond to an issue or challenge.

Visual Arts
Students will use visual conventions and visual arts practices to express a personal view in their artwork, about the need to show compassion to the vulnerable.  They will explore the influence of Optical (Op) Art and demonstrate different techniques and processes in planning and making Op Art. 

Performing Arts
Students will examine how the elements of music communicate meaning by comparing popular music from different social, cultural and historical contexts,. They will work collaboratively to present research on a specific country and era.

Technologies
Students will be learning about Design Technologies. Students will describe competing considerations in the design of products, services and environments, taking into account sustainability. They describe how design and technologies contribute to meeting present and future needs. Students will investigate how electrical energy can control movement, sound and light in designed product and systems. Students will create simple circuits and create a Wind powered system to generate power to light a LED bulb.

Health
Students will distinguish between harm and abuse and plan and practise strategies to promote health, safety and wellbeing.  They will examine the influence of emotional responses on behaviour and relationships, and practise skills to establish and manage positive relationships.  Students will exercise skills to…overcome adversity and build resilience.

Physical Education
Students will engage in: soccer kick skills; lacrosse catching, throwing, running and dodging; long distance, cross-country running; and short and long distance, athletics running.

Japanese
Students will explore the following: Japanese Greetings, Schooling in Japan, Japanese Children’s Day, Hiragana Reading and Writing, and Kanji Symbols.