Dear Parents, Welcome back to another busy term for Year 6. We hope that you have all had a wonderful mid-year break and enjoyed some quality time with family and friends. The second semester promises a number of exciting and challenging learning opportunities. As part of our end of year celebrations, students will be given the opportunity to purchase a Graduation t-shirt as a momento of their final year at Serpell. These have the School logo, ‘2020’ and a signature of each student and teacher from Year 6, screen printed on it. Students will be asked to wear their T-shirts on given days towards the end of the year. Sample t-shirts will be brought to the school later in the term for all Year 6 students to try on and determine their size and the cost will be confirmed once the number of orders are finalised. These t-shirts were proudly worn by the 2019 Year 6 students last year and will be a fabulous keepsake for your children.

Warm Regards,

Kim Jones, Jessica Cossar, Jennifer Dunnell, Eleni Pilafis, Monica

Sheo, Shona Stanford and Nick Thuys.

.

Welcome back for Term 3

Serpell Primary School

Year 6 Newsletter Newsletter Date:

July 2020

Volume 1 Term 3

Transition 2020 — 2021

On Wednesday 19th of August, parents of Year 6 students will receive confirmation of their Year 7 Secondary School placement for 2021. Students who have accepted placements in independent schools need not be concerned about this date as their placements have already been confirmed. As part of the Statewide transition process regulations, Serpell Primary is not permitted to disclose this information prior to Wednesday 19th of August. If you have accepted a place at a non-government school since submitting your transition form in Term 2, please notify Year 6 Leader Kim Jones in writing as soon as possible. Government secondary schools usually run an Orientation day on the Tuesday 8th of December. Students attending non-government schools will not be required to attend school on this date and will be notified by their non-government secondary school of their

Dates & Events:

(To Be Confirmed)

5/8 — Maths Olympiad

14/8 — Curriculum Day

6/9 —Father’s Day

8, 9, 10/9 — School Photos

14/9 — P/T Interviews

15/9 —P/T Interviews

16/9— Maths Olympiad

18/9 — Last Day (2:30pm

dismissal)

ICAS and AMC dates to be

advised at a later stage.

Inside this issue:

Dates and Events 1

Transition 1

Curriculum 2

Camp 2

Specialist Areas 3/4

Incursions/Technology 4

Year 6 Blog Address: Year6sps2020.global2.vic.edu.au

Page 2 Volume 1 Term 3 2020

Curriculum ENGLISH Speaking and Listening Students will take part in formal and informal debates linked to our Inquiry unit. They will be encouraged to develop and respond to opinions, using facts to support and strengthen their arguments. During Philosophy this term, the Year 6 students will be looking at two 'Big Ideas'. The first topic that students will be exploring this term is 'Sustainability - Connections to and Perceptions of the Environment.’ The second topic that students will be exploring is 'Lying'. The students will participate in a number of discussions and concept activities to help build on and further develop their understanding of these topics. The Public Speaking program which normally runs in Term 3 will commence when students return to classroom learning. Reading We will explore a range of text types during individual, group and whole class reading activities. Texts will link closely with our Inquiry unit and the writing focus. Comprehension skills will be applied as we work through a number of texts which explore recent global issues and events throughout geography. Writing Students will explore persuasive text types including advertisements, poetry, editorials and persuasive essays. Students will be encouraged to form opinions and carry out the necessary research to construct well supported written arguments for discussion texts. MATHEMATICS During Term 3, we will continue to consolidate key number skills while exploring measurement concepts including volume. Students will apply their mathematical skills to a variety of hands on learning tasks, including maths investigation projects. This term we will also focus on Algebra and Geometry, including the skills of translation, transformation and rotation.

UNIT OF INQUIRY: GEOGRAPHY

WE LIVE IN A DIVERSE AND CONNECTED WORLD

This unit of Inquiry provides the opportunity for students to make links between Australia and other countries around the world. This unit of learning will focus on the countries and cultures of Europe, Asia & North America exploring the diverse characteristics of these countries (demographic, economic, social and cultural). Throughout this unit, students will make connections and comparisons with these countries and Australia as well as investigating the impact of natural disasters on people and place.

Camp If camps are able to be attended in November, below is some information on the Year 6 Camp.

The Year 6 Camp is Camp Howqua which is situated in the Victorian High Country, not far from Mansfield. It covers in excess of 64 hectares of picturesque countryside and has excellent facilities including 20 double brick cabins with full ensuites. The students are able to participate in activities including flying fox, a water slide, a survivor course, archery and a high ropes course!

The proposed dates are Monday 16th of November until Friday 20th of November.

Permission forms and deposit requests will be sent out at the end of this term once we have had advice from the Department of Education.

Page 3 Volume 1 Term 3 2020

Specialist Areas of Curriculum

Art

Welcome back to Term 3 remote learning. In the Art room, our learning will be based on the inquiry topic of Geography and each year level will be exploring Art activities relating to landscapes, architecture and global landmarks. We will base lessons around simple materials that can be found at home with an emphasis on drawing, the elements of line and shape and the principles of repetition, pattern and composition. The students were able to focus on new techniques to aid drawing last term while working remotely and produced some outstanding work in their Art, some of which is displayed on the Art room blog. Please feel free to visit http://spsart.global2.vic.edu.au/ . Students will be accessing their weekly assigned Art lessons through both SeeSaw and the Art room blog this term and will upload their work to their SeeSaw journals.

Physical Education and Sport

Children will continue with remote learning in the coming weeks of Term 3. They will have the opportunity to work on their physical fitness in preparation for the individual Beep test on our return to school. Children will continue to have weekly lessons on the Phys Ed blog and have the opportunity to access further skipping, fitness, dance and stretching activities for their own individual well-being. During this term, there will be a variety of tasks involving the opportunity to gain house points. Make sure your child enters responses through the Seesaw platform before the appropriate closure dates. Parents can encourage their children to consistently be active (30 mins a day at least) throughout this time.

Specialist Areas of Curriculum Continued

Languages

Mandarin

This term in Mandarin, students will focus on the theme of “Sport”. They will learn a variety of vocabulary and sentences related to Chinese and Australian Sports. Students will learn different types of popular Chinese sports such as Tai Chi, Martial Arts, Badminton and Table tennis. Activities will include making a sports survey, designing a poster on a popular Chinese sport, and introducing a sportsman representing it in the world sports event. Parents are encouraged to help students to practise the vocabulary and sentences they’ve learnt about Chinese sports.

Greek

This term, students will continue developing their reading, speaking and writing skills. They will work on improving their fluency, reading and presenting their work in class. They will use: 1) verbs for example, τρέχω, θέλω, γράφω τρώω ,παίζω, 2) nouns for example, ο άνθρωπος, η μητέρα, το παιδί, 3) adjectives for example, καλός, μεγάλος, ωραία and 4) conjunctions to construct and expand sentences and apply basic rules of spelling and punctuation, such as question marks, capital letters, commas, and exclamation marks.

Students will continue with the topic of Greece and its Geography and also look at the Olympic Games now and the then. (Ancient Olympic games) They will investigate how the Olympic Games began the events that took place and the influence they had around the world. The students will experience a variety of activities for example making an Olympic flame, Olympic rings and venn diagram now and then.

Library

What makes a great picture book? In the library this term we will focus on literature using the Children’s Book Council of Australia short listed picture books for 2020. Students will respond to the books by analysing and reflecting on the characters, story, theme and illustrations. Towards the end of term, students will have the opportunity to vote for their personal favourite short listed book using criteria they have developed over the term. The CBCA shortlist of books can be found at https://www.cbca.org.au/shortlist-2020.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge comes to an end this term. By Friday 4th of September each student must enter all books read onto their online page to be verified by Mrs Gardner. If you require further information about the Challenge, see the website http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/events/prc/Pages/default.aspx. Congratulations to the children who have already completed the challenge!

Digital Technologies

This term in Year 6, we will continue exploring coding by using blocks and various apps. Students will also investigate how binary codes work and build upon their Microsoft skills.