Curriculum - 5/6 Curriculum

5/6 Curriculum

Term one is always an exciting and busy start to the year with the Grade 5/6 students moving into their new leadership roles across the school.  With this in mind, our curriculum for the beginning of the year focuses on students understanding the roles and responsibilities of being a leader within the school and wider community.  Through our unit of work entitled ‘Leading the Way’ students work in different teams and take on responsibility for a variety of leadership roles and tasks across the school. In various teams they develop timelines, complete tasks of varying length and complexity and evaluate their own and the team’s performance.  Encompassed in their leadership roles all Grade 5/6 students are peer mediators who receive training to manage and resolve any minor playground issues that may arise.  They model respect for a diverse range of people and groups and display empathy for the points of view and feelings of others through the mediation process.

With an understanding of the benefits of team, the latter half of term one provides students with opportunity to work as individuals and in teams responsible for generating alternative designs for Housing and Breakfast suggestions.  During our unit of work ‘Design It’, students use a range of investigative and research tools to collect data in response to their design briefs taking into account consumer needs, technology, environmental and social constraints.  With a clear idea of how the intended product will function or be used, students safely use a range of materials, tools and techniques to produce a finished product with moving parts. Students use their criteria to reflect on their finished product and justify their design choices.  They make modifications of their design after considering feedback from peers and teachers, as well as self reflection. 

In Term 2 students begin the term researching the work of Australian scientists and how their work contributes to our every day lives.  Following that students investigate chemical reactions through a number of experiments over the course of several weeks.  Their studies of science culminate in a Forensic Science incursion where students put their investigative and experimental skills to the test as well as see first hand the important role science plays in a ‘real situation’.

The local natural environment and sustainable living practices are major focus for Grade 5/6 students throughout this term through our Science and Geography topics of ‘Science at Work’ and ‘Around Australia’.  Students consider how we use the land and environment around us and how our use creates specific local environmental issues. In response to the issues identified students brainstorm sustainable practices, devise and carry out personal action plans for sustainable living to reduce their impact on the environment.  A talk by a local council member and a field trip to Margaret Lewis Reserve adjacent to the school gives students insight into the history and purpose of the reserve while also highlighted to importance of caring for the local environment.

Our focus for the beginning of term three provides students with learning opportunities to develop their understanding of history as a sequence of events over time.  Specifically students study the history, life and culture of our nearest Asian neighbour, Indonesia, from pre-colonial time to the present and make comparisons to the history, life and culture of Australia for the same time period.  They study the key people associated with significant events in Indonesia’s and Australia’s history. Students also study in-depth aspects of Indonesian daily life, customs, government and religious beliefs and develop their understanding that these are different from Australia’s lifestyle, customs, government and religious beliefs.

Following that students are introduced to the world of Economics through a lively hands-on program incorporating Rob Vingerhoets ‘Earn and Learn’.  We establish a mini community in the classroom where students earn wages, pay taxes and bills, take on the roles of producers and consumers and engage in banking, budgeting and saving. Through these and other learning activities students recognise that scarcity is what drives economics.  Students are encouraged to be informed consumers by weighing up the benefits and costs to them to enable them make the best choice now so they don’t have unintentional consequences in the future.  Within the program, the concept of work is recognised as an important role in our society and students investigate paid and unpaid positions that exist within our community.  Students are introduced to the concept that banking, budgeting and saving are important strategies to use to effectively manage our personal money.

Term 4 has a Health focus where students explore healthy bodies and healthy choices.  We begin this term by getting out and about with our Bike Education program.  Firstly in the classroom students learn about their bike and how to be a safer cyclist covering topics such as safe and unsafe behaviour whilst riding a bike, visibility and helmets, bike security and road rules.  Students have the opportunity to improve their bike skills and apply what they have learnt in class during the practical bike education training program which runs within the school grounds and adjacent reserve over the course of a few weeks.

We recognise that students in grade 5/6 are faced with many choices and we aim to equip them with knowledge and skills so they can independently make informed choices. We explore peer pressure, drug education, puberty and support networks. i.e.: ambulance for emergency situations.

Grade 5 students continue their health study with a project on the workings of the human body while Grade 6 students prepare for their graduation to Secondary College.  They collect photos, work samples, award certificates and any other memorabilia which reflects their time at primary school.  These wonderful memories are compiled into interesting and colourful memoirs created by each of the Grade 6 students themselves.  They turn out to be a wonderful keepsake to look back on over the years.