Year Five Term One 2018 St Joseph s Primary School Respect for Self, Respect for Others, Respect for Environment ST JOSEPH S SCHOOL PRAYER Dear God, We thank you for our wonderful school. We are glad we belong to St Joseph's community. We pray that we will be safe and happy at school, and that we will learn much about You, ourselves and the world. Help us to treat each other with respect and generosity. We hope to be like St Joseph, a person who cared for others. Amen WELCOME Welcome back to another busy and exciting year in Year Five at St Joseph s and a warm welcome to our new teacher Miss Staunton. It has been an excellent start to the year for all the Year Fives and it has been wonderful to see them so settled and focused early on. There is a lot to digest in this newsletter, particularly in regards to Camp at Canberra, so please make sure you read all the information carefully and note down all the important dates below in your diary. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you need anything. We are looking forward to a wonderful year together, Tom Hartney, Karen Quitt, Siobhan Staunton thartney@sjelst.catholic.edu.au sstaunton@sjelst.catholic.edu.au kquitt @sjelst.catholic.edu.au IMPORTANT DATES Friday February 9th 2.30pm: Welcome Mass and Picnic 2.30pm Sunday February 18th 10.30am: Year 5 Family Mass Monday February 19th: School Photos Wednesday February 21st: Informal Parent/Teacher Exchange Meetings Thursday February 22nd: Informal Parent/Teacher Exchange Meetings Friday February 23rd: District Swimming Thursday March 1st: Well Waters Day Friday March 2nd: Grandparents Day 11.30am Thursday March 8th - Friday March 9th: School Closure Days Monday March 12th: Labor Day Public Holiday 1
Wednesday March 14th: St Joseph s School Sports Carnival Sunday March 18th: St Joseph s Feast Day Mass Monday March 19th - Friday March 23rd: Canberra Camp Friday March 29th 12pm: End of Term Mass Friday March 29th 1pm: School Concludes CAMP In Week 8, the children will be setting off to Camp in Canberra. We will depart for camp at 7:00am on Monday 19th March. Students are required to arrive at school at 6:30am with plenty of time to check in medication and load the bus. Parents are welcome to stay behind and wave us off. We will return at approximately 5.00pm on Friday 23rd March. We will keep you updated via CareMonkey should the time change due to traffic conditions. We are very fortunate that our location, The Bush Capital Lodge has a chef, so all meals, including snacks, are will be provided. The Bush Capital Lodge are able to accommodate most dietary requirements. Although the school has these on file, if your child requires alterations to the menu please see your classroom teacher and record it on the CareMonkey dietary form. If your child requires medication, it is to be signed in at the medication table on the day we depart for camp. Medication must be in a labelled ziplock bag and contain a note with directions on when it is to be administered. Medication will also need to be collected when we return to school. Please also note this on the CareMonkey form. Students are NOT permitted to bring money, valuables or electrical devices of any kind on camp. The school will be taking photos that students will have access to if they would like photos with their friends. For personal safety reasons, we are not allowing student cameras. School cameras will also not be permitted in bunk lodges. NUMERACY In Maths, we will be focusing on Place Value and mental and written strategies for the four operations. The students will be provided with opportunities to consolidate their knowledge of basic number and times table facts, in order to assist them to respond more confidently to the problems that will be posed over the course of this year. Place Value: Students understand the multiplicative relationship between decimal places and use place value to explain why one decimal fraction is bigger or smaller than another. They will locate whole and decimal numbers on a range of number lines, which they will use to find a number between two decimals. We will be focusing on partitioning decimals in standard ways through the use of place value. Addition and Subtraction: Students will be revising their skills of mental computation with whole numbers and money. They calculate mentally with easily visualised numbers and record the stages in adding and subtracting whole and decimal numbers that they cannot complete 2
mentally. These students use a range of efficient written methods to add and subtract whole numbers and common decimals. Multiplication and Division: Students use the inverse relationship between multiplication and division when dealing with situations involving whole and decimal numbers. They can use division in situations where the result is a whole number or has a remainder. They know that multiplying and dividing can each have the effect of increasing or reducing the original quantity, depending on the size of the multiplier or the divisor. LITERACY During the Reading hour this term, the students will look to improve and develop the key reading skills of inferring, summarising, paraphrasing and questioning. They will do this through exploring short stories and visual media. Below are helpful guides to each reading skill. Inferring : Efficient readers take information from a text and add their own ideas to make inferences. During the process of inferring, readers make predictions, draw conclusions and make judgements to create their interpretations of a text. Making inferences allows students to move beyond the literal text and to make assumptions about what is not precisely stated in the text. Summarising and Paraphrasing: Summarising and paraphrasing are part of the process of identifying, recording and writing the key ideas, main points or most important information from the text into your own words. Summarising is the ability to reduce a larger piece of text so the focus is on the most important elements in the text. The re-stating or re-writing of text into other words is referred to as paraphrasing. Summarising and paraphrasing involve using the key words and phrases to capture the main focus of a text. Questioning: Efficient readers continually think of questions before, during and after reading to assist them to comprehend texts. Often these questions are formed spontaneously and naturally, with one question leading to the next. Questions may relate to the content, style, structure, important messages, events, actions, inferences, predictions, author s purpose, or may be an attempt to clarify meaning. Students need to be aware that answers to all questions may not always be in the text. Helping students to become aware of questions they naturally ask is an important goal in this strategy. Encouraging students to understand how the generation of questions helps to develop a deeper understanding of the text being read is also important. During the Writing Hour, we will examine the genre writing to persuade. Below is a helpful guide for that writing genre. Writing to Persuade: A text written to persuade expresses an opinion about a topic. Writing to persuade involves the critical evaluation of ideas, and can include discussion, argument, persuasion or debate. All texts that persuade contain arguments and assertions, although these may be presented in different ways: A single perspective, in order to persuade readers to agree with a particular point of view. 3
A compare and contrast perspective, developing a case that aims to persuade the reader that the writer s premise is correct. An analysis of a topic perspective, where all points of view are presented and a logical conclusion is stated. The writer s aim is that the reader, having read the information provided, will form the same conclusion. Different forms of texts that persuade include expositions, discussion papers, job applications, editorials and advertisements. Writer s Notebook will also commence this term. The purpose of Writer s Notebook is to provide a place for students to record ideas, images and thoughts. It is not a Dear Diary type of notebook, nor is it a journal. It is a place to put artifacts and ideas that will spark interest for later writings. In short, it is a writer s collection box! We will be constantly using the notebook even while working on a piece for publication. We tell the students that they never know when an idea for a great piece of writing will emerge. SPELLING One of the best ways way to help students acquire spelling proficiency is to teach spelling within the context of everyday writing. Addressing individual spelling needs during writing tasks is an effective way to individualise instruction and teach at the point of need. However, a comprehensive approach to teaching spelling also requires the provision of explicit teaching, frequent opportunities to investigate and analyse words. This term we will focus on a range of different prefixes and suffixes, as well as the six different syllable types. The students will continue developing their spelling using the Multi Syllabic Learning approach that was implemented last year. This involves syllable division and the structural analysis of words. INQUIRY For our topic this term, the students will be investigating the unit Shaping Our Nation, via the Victorian Curriculum domains of Civics and Citizenship and History. This unit will investigate the government structure in Australia, the responsibilities of voting citizen, the roles and responsibilities of the different levels of government, and the way in which laws are developed and enforced in Australia. The students will be investigating how the two house system of government operates and be given the opportunity to take part in role plays of this nature in the classroom. They will learn about the process of turning bills into laws in both state and federal parliament. Students will complete the unit by touring federal parliament in Canberra on our excursion. CYBER SAFETY Cyber Safety will form a large part of our ICT curriculum this year. At the end of every student s journey at St. Joseph s, we would hope to have equipped them with ample knowledge on the following topics as they go into high school: Passwords 4
Digital Footprint - Think before you post Online Ownership Cyberbullying Staying Safe Online Digital Predators HOMEWORK & DIARIES In accordance with the St. Joseph s homework policy, homework will be handed out to students on a Monday and submitted on a Friday, unless otherwise specified. The students are also expected to be reading for at least twenty minutes a night and keeping a record of this, which needs to be signed off before being brought into school on Friday. We appreciate your support and cooperation with encouraging your children to be responsible for their own learning at home. SPECIALIST PROGRAMS The children have Physical Education, Italian, Music and Visual Arts on TUESDAY. They will need their library bags and art smocks at school, if they don t already have them. PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Louise Howell This term, the Year Six children will be focusing on athletics activities in preparation for our school athletics Carnival on Wednesday 14th March. We will focus on activities such as sprints, hurdles, shot put and long jump. Parents are most welcome to attend the carnival. We are always looking for parents who are able to assist at this event, if you are able, please let your classroom teacher know. The Year Six students have the opportunity to trial for state sporting teams in AFL, netball & soccer. If you feel your child is highly skilled and has the potential to play at a state level in one of these sports, please visit the school sports victoria website and follow the appropriate links to submit your child's application. ( www.ssv.vic.edu.au ) Information regarding the District swimming sports has gone out to children who have expressed an interest in this event. If your child is a highly confident swimmer, please encourage them to submit times to Mrs Howell for this event by 9am on Thursday 15th February at the very latest. We look forward to an exciting and busy term in Physical Education. ITALIAN: Franca Butera- Cera In term 1 students will learn vocabulary related to healthy eating by analysing an Italian food pyramid. They will learn to verbally express foods that they eat mangio, I like- mi piace and prefer preferisco with correct pronunciation. There will be a focus on the Winter Olympics and students will learn vocabulary related to winter sports. Students will explore Leonardo Da Vinci s Last Supper and learn about Easter, and the traditions associated with it s celebration in Italy. 5
VISUAL ARTS - Lidia Chris First Term is about extending drawing and construction skills based on the Inquiry Unit, 'Shaping Our Nation'. The children will begin with sketching their own version of Parliament House and then construct a 3D model based on their design. They will conclude the term with an Easter activity. MUSIC - Lizbeth Quinn Coming into 2018 we continue to build on the foundations of music that have been established to date. This term the children will be immersed in learning about notation and instrumentation which form the basis of composition. They will work in groups to create music and dances, and perform these to their peers. BIRTHDAYS Birthdays are a special celebration in every child s life and we are happy for you to send along a small treat, e.g. cupcakes or ice creams to share in the class. Individual treats are preferred. When bringing items into school, all ingredients must be clearly labelled. Please remember that we have allergies to eggs, nuts and dairy present so please be mindful when sending in treats that will be shared. We are looking forward to a wonderful year together in Year Five, where your child grows academically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. Tom Hartney, Siobhan Staunton and Karen Quitt. 6