Grade 6

Classroom Teachers for 2024
6A/F – Mel Ancrum / Stacy Fiske
6C – Jake Condon
6TL – Brad Topp-Lowe
6T/F – Carli Turner/ Stacy Fiske

What’s on in our week
Monday – Art
Tuesday – Environmental Science
Wednesday – Phys Ed, Performing Arts, Chinese
Thursday –
Friday – Assembly, Sport

Grade 6 Curriculum

Literacy

Reading

Students at this level consciously make decisions on which strategies to use, when to use them, and how to use their prior knowledge and questioning to go deeper to learn the most from what they are reading. They draw together information from multiple locations within a text, and use it to justify their responses.
Students consider the author’s word choice and expand their vocabulary. They ask and respond to questions and draw inferences about events, characters, setting, and the main idea. Students explore the author’s purpose and how this influences the reader. They begin to explore broader themes, morals and issues, and how they personally connect to the text.

Spelling

Spelling focusses on the learning of morphology – how the prefixes, suffixes and root words come together to change and create words and different meanings. We also explore etymology – the history of where words come from, eg Latin, Ancient Greek, French, and so on. We use daily practice and revision through games and activities. Students then apply their learning to their writing.

Writing

Writing in Grade 5 covers a broad range of text types, including response, recount, narrative, persuasive, information, biography, procedure and poetry. Students consider their purpose and audience when they write. They review how texts are structured and the specific text features required. Students use this knowledge to create a cohesive text with strong ideas that engages the reader by:

creating imagery and emotion using deliberate word choice and figurative language
creating arguments, justifying reasons and providing evidence to back up each idea
adding descriptive details and dialogue
developing complex sentences
structuring strong paragraphs with a clear idea and topic sentence
varying the length of sentences
directing the reader on how to read writing through the use of punctuation

Numeracy

Mathematics

Students in Grade 6 bring not just their prior learning and real world experiences with them into the classroom, but also a toolkit of strategies that they have learnt along the way. Throughout Grade 6, they add to their toolkit and, with guidance, engage in a range of approaches as they make reasoned decisions to employ mathematical strategies to solve problems efficiently. Students in Grade 6:

expand the repertoire of types of numbers they work with to include rational numbers and the use of integers (positive and negative numbers)
extend their knowledge of factors and multiples to understand the properties of prime, composite, triangular and square numbers
solve number problems involving all 4 operations with whole numbers of any size
use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems, choosing models, representations and calculation strategies, and justifying solutions
apply computational thinking approaches to develop algorithms that use rules to generate numbers i.e. show their workings out!
represent objects and three-dimensional spaces in 2 dimensions, eg unfolding the net of a 3D object, drawing a 3D object.
apply their understanding of area and use multiplicative thinking to establish the formula for the area of a rectangle
begin to use the vocabulary of and reasoning in contexts involving lines and angles
describe and compare probabilities numerically
determine the mode and range and discuss the shape of distributions in findings from their statistical investigations
observe and compare long-run frequencies in repeated chance experiments and simulations.

Speaking & Listening

As the leaders of our school and in preparation for secondary school, we aim to build confidence in speaking and listening with their peers, be it conversational or work related. We focus on not just speaking clearly and audibly, but also, we explore what productive listening looks and feels like.
There is a lot of emphasis of being able to work with a partner or in small groups. Students participate in and contribute to discussions, clarifying ideas, sharing and evaluating information, experiences and opinions, and use of appropriate social interaction skills.
Additionally, students in Grade 6 aim to present at one of our Whole School Assemblies. They are also provided many opportunities to plan, rehearse and deliver speeches or presentations to small group, whole class, year level and whole school audiences.

Integrated Studies

Grade 6 begins with the new and exciting role of being leaders of the school. Students compose nomination speeches for Student Government and then participate in the election process. They explore and challenge their value set with regards to consumerism and how they can be thoughtful and well-informed consumers. This culminates with students working together to create a stall for the Enterprise Showcase and determining the percentage to give to a nominated charity.
Next, students explore the powerful Earth, its structure, and then learn about Natural Disasters; the destruction they cause, the impact on environments and communities and how people can respond.
Delving into society, its history and how it changes is a major part of Grade 6. We explore why people move and how immigration has shaped Australia and in particular, Bendigo. We investigate the stories of refugees and those forced to leave their homes and compare them to those who moved here in search of gold and riches during the Goldrush. Students interview someone they know for a more personal understanding of the backgrounds of others and how they came to live in Bendigo (or Australia).
Students end the year researching different types of inventions and the invention process. They brainstorm ideas, then use these to design and create an invention that will make a person’s life easier, solve a problem or make something work better. Inventions are shared with the school community at the Grade 6 Invention Convention.

Extra-Curricular Highlights

Grade 6 is a rite of passage at Maiden Gully and it is a wonderful year to truly shine and take in every final moment of primary school. Grade 6 are strongly involved in school life and they have a strong presence. They lead and run our assemblies, play a major role in whole school sporting events and many special events and dress up days. They support the canteen, fundraising, running the sports shed, and peer mediating in the yard.
In addition, they have opportunity to represent the school at interschool sporting competitions, such as, soccer, AFL, netball, basketball and cricket. They also have opportunity to participate and perform as part of the choir, in the Senior School Concert, and as part of the instrumental guitar and keyboard group.

Student Leadership

Everyone is a leader in Grade 6.
All students uphold the responsibility of being role models and being looked up to by their younger peers. There are many other opportunities for our students to develop their leadership and public speaking capacity, including School Captains, Student Government, House Captains, Peer Mediators, Sports Shed Duty, Junior Canteen Assistants, Prep Buddies and more.

Wellbeing

At Maiden Gully Primary School, we believe that Wellbeing begins with relationships and one another individually and as members of a group, with a focus on inclusion, respect, tolerance and kindness both in our day to day relationships and our connections online. Wellbeing sessions are aimed at teaching mindfulness, social skills, gratitude, empathy and problem-solving strategies. Throughout Grade 6, students explore their strengths, strategies to deal with emotions, how to see a situation from someone else’s perspective, how to resolve problems with others and when to seek help. They work on the choices they make and how it affects them and others.
Students participate in three wellbeing programs, the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships program, Smiling Minds, and Play is the Way.
The RRRR learning materials are designed to develop students’ social, emotional and positive relationship skills.
Play is the Way is a practical methodology for teaching social and emotional skills using guided play, cooperative games and empowering language. It is a process that gives students a way to develop, improve and entrench the personal and social capabilities.
Smiling Minds is a life-long, evidence-based tool to deliver the essential mental fitness skills needed to underpin good mental health and resilience from an early age.

Home Partnership

Daily Home Reading

Students are expected to read 20 minutes per night for at least 5 nights each week and fill in their diary for each night they read. The diary must be kept in their bag and brought to school each day.
Whilst you may not listen to them read aloud every night at this age, try to ask students about any words they read and what they thought they meant. Ask them to summarise what they have read, then discuss important facts and new information they have learnt. This will assist your child to develop their comprehension.

Supporting S.T.E.M. at Home

At various times throughout the year, your child may require assistance to locate and bring to school things to assist their learning. It may be access to interview a family member or friend of the family for a biography task. Alternatively, it may need a little more of your assistance with regards to the Enterprise Showcase or the Invention Convention. We encourage you to discuss real-life considerations, such as financial maths involved, any chance and probability (is it worth it?), any measurements, etc that could be involved.

Communication

The Compass Parent Portal is one of our major communication methods between Teachers and parent/carers. Please check your emails and your child’s profile regularly for any updates.
Please directly contact the office for any immediate changes to your child’s day, eg change to the end of school pick up. Our primary concern is teaching and we may not see a Compass email until after 3:30pm. The office is a safer option for everyone.

Year 7 Transition

The Secondary Transition process begins at the beginning of Term 2. We encourage students to attend any school tours with their parents to get a feel for what secondary school involves. There will be further opportunities from late Term 3 onward for students in Year 6 to be involved in formal transition opportunities at their Secondary College, including Step Up Day in December.