Term 1 Week 1

Parent Information – Term 1 Year 5, 2015

Welcome to Year 5. The three year 5 classes for 2015 are:

5M - Mrs Felicity Pryer                           fpryer@bne.catholic.edu.au

5G - Mr Bill Galea                                  wgalea@bne.catholic.edu

5N – Mrs Ellena Di Raimondo                            ediraimondo@bne.catholic.edu.au

5N – Mrs Jessica Wetkin                       jdoherty@bne.catholic.edu.au

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns or questions. To make an appointment, please contact us via email or through the school office. Alternatively, feel free to send a note with your child. We will get back to you with a suitable time for us to meet.

VISION STATEMENT

Our current unit of work is creating our Vision Statement. In this unit we look at rules and expectations at school, classroom rituals and routines and appropriate behaviour choices and consequences. The unit culminates in the children writing a Class Vision Statement together. At the end of the unit the children will be given their own copy of the vision statement and asked to go through it with you at home.

YEAR FOCUS FOR THE VISION STATEMENT

This year the focus is Ancient Words.

TERM UNIT WORK FOCUS

Religion – We start the term with creating the vision statement for our class which will give a reference point for our class to work towards for the year. After this, the children will look at look at Mary and prayers relating to Mary.

History  – The Australian Colonies. The children will look at the reasons for the establishment of British colonies and what caused the expansion of colonies throughout Australia (eg The discovery of gold). They will also explore the types of people who made up these colonies.

Science – Changing States: The children will learn about the different states of matter and how one substance can change from one state to another (e.g. water can change from ice to water to steam.)

Maths - We will be following the Australian National Curriculum in Maths. Mrs Susan Gambley has written a whole school curriculum in line with the National Curriculum and she has broken this down into year levels. There is a strong emphasis on drill and basics.

Literacy – Our Literacy will be in line with the National Curriculum as well. Punctuation and sentence structure feature very strongly in our work.

The children will also receive a magazine called Blast Off. This magazine is a valuable resource for the children to use both at home and school.

We can not stress enough the importance of your child reading for at least 15 minutes every day.

HOMEWORK

Homework will be relatively the same between the 3 classes.  In year, 5 we have weekly homework. This homework should take between 15 – 20 minutes each day to complete, including the writing out of their spelling words. Spelling will be done daily in class followed by various activities and there will be a weekly test on Friday. We understand that sometimes homework can not be completed and simply ask for a note or signature to indicate that you are aware your child has not completed set tasks for the week.

The weekly homework will on the class website along with any class information.  Please refer to the homework or parent information section. Please check this website regularly.

Mrs Pryer’s website is http://mrspryerclass.blogspot.com/

Mrs Di Riamondo and Mrs Wetkin’s website is http://5navy.blogspot.com.au/

Mr Galea’s website is www.mrgaleasclass.blogspot.com

BIRTHDAYSBirthdays are a special thing for children and we are happy to celebrate them at school. If you would like to bring something for the children to share please bring individual patty cakes or other things that are easy to hand out.

SPECIALIST TIMETABLE

Below is the specialist timetable for the year. You may like to put this in a place that can be easily seen at home.

SPECIALIST TIMETABLE FOR 5M CLASS

Specialist Lesson	Day	Time
Library and Library Borrowing	Tuesday	2.00 - 2.55
Music and PE	Tuesday	9.40 – 10.40
Cultural Literacy	Thursday	12.10 – 12.50

**Sports uniform days for all Year 5 classes = Tuesday and Friday.

INTERSCHOOL SPORT: This year the Year Fives and Sixes will be competing in interschool sport. Preference notes for the sport chosen have been sent home. Please get these back as soon as possible so teams can be worked out.

Year 5 teaching team,

Felicity Pryer, Bill Galea, Ellena Di Riamondo and Jess Wetkin.

Term 4 Week 7

Wow - how hot has it been?  It is only going to get worse I suspect........ Almost all the assessment is finished and we have the children finishing their Religion posters this week and doing their presentation. 


All of the children in the class have a role in the concert on 27th Nov.... Please advise me if you are not attending as our class is the nativity scene.... Please dress you child in cool singlet tops and light weight shorts as most of the children will have a costume provided for them and they will be wearing their clothes underneath.  It will be hot and don't overdress your child.  I will send out a note this week advising more detail about the concert.  The concert begins at 6.30 but your child needs to be in their room between 6 and 6.15pm.


Keep cool and enjoy the week.


Felicity

Term 4 Week 6

Another busy week ahead for the class.  We will be finishing our Religion and Science posters and then commencing work on our oral presentations. 


We will be having a Remembrance Day Liturgy on Tuesday afternoon at 2.25pm in Siena. 


NO swimming lessons on THIS FRIDAY 14th Nov.


Enjoy the week ahead.


Felicity

Term 4 Week 5

This week we start our swimming lessons. On Monday the children are required up in the classroom to get ready from 8.15am onwards.  Please let your child come to school in their togs as this will be more time effective.  On Friday our class leave for swimming at 1.15pm.  The children will have the opportunity to get changed into their togs during first break. 


On Wednesday and Thursday this week the class will be doing part A and part B of the Maths test. The students will also be finishing their Religion and Science Assessment. 


Enjoy the week ahead.


Felicity    

Term 4 Week 4

Welcome to another week.  This week the class will commence some assessment tasks.  The English assessment on the Dreamtime stories, the posters for science and religion as well as our Health test. 


Please ensure your child reads each night and returns their folder to receive a new book the following day.  Please also ask your child if they nee any lead pencils or rubbers.  Many students are running low.


Swimming lessons will start next week in week 5.


Enjoy your week.


Felicity

Term 4 Week 2

Week 2 will see our year 2 class in the usual routine.  In maths we will be commencing the concept of division.  Our usual literacy and numeracy rotations will commence this week also.  Homework is due on Friday and the spelling words will be tested on Friday morning.


Enjoy the week ahead.


Felicity

Term 4 Week 1

Welcome back to school! We hope that everybody has had a fantastic holiday and you are well rested, ready for our final busy term of the year.  In term 4 our science unit is the “water cycle”.  This unit will explore Earth’s natural resources, with a special focus on water. Throughout hands-on investigations, students will examine the water cycle and explore ways to reduce and conserve water use at home and at school.  This unit integrates Science, Technology and some components of Mathematics.  Our English unit is based on multimedia narratives and indigenous stories. Students will develop an understanding of the different features of multimedia and print texts, according to the audience, purpose, context and cultural background, and they will share opinions about characters, events and settings.  In Religion, students will examine the story of Zacchaeus and learn about Catholic missions and different organisations and later in the term we will explore the life and writings of St Francis.

 

 In Mathematics, we will explore

-              simple multiplication using groups and arrays

-              area

-              chance and possible outcomes of events

-              location and transformation

-              problem solving strategies

 

This term, students will continue to receive homework sheets and spelling lists. These will be distributed each Friday, glued in student’s homework book, to be returned to school on Friday.

 

In addition, swimming lessons will begin in Week 5 on Monday and Fridays for 3 weeks, beginning on Tuesday 3^rd  November and ending on Thursday 24^th November at Logan West Aquatic centre (formally Logan’s Hero’s) Students require swimmers, a towel, a cap and will travel to and from the pool by bus.

 

Dates to remember are the Pupil free day in week 3 on the 20^th October, and the end of year concert on Wednesday 26^th November. Please note this date has changed since the last school newsletter last term.

 

Have a good week.

Felicity