This term in Year 5, students have been exploring the world of non-fiction, with a focus on travel guides. In reading, they’ve compared fiction and non-fiction texts, made connections to travel content from different countries, and explored key structural and language features. Students have been learning to summarise sections, identify main ideas, and compare how information is presented across different texts. They've also begun synthesising ideas from what they read to form deeper understandings.

In writing, students have been developing their non-fiction writing skills step-by-step. They’ve generated ideas, researched facts, and organised their information using subheadings. A focus has been placed on using relevant vocabulary, structuring writing clearly, and expressing main ideas with supporting details. Across both reading and writing, students have regularly used speaking and listening strategies such as turn and talk, think-pair-share, and group discussions to share ideas and build their understanding.

• In maths, Year 5 students have been exploring data and decimals while also strengthening their understanding of operations. They've learned to collect and represent data using different types of graphs, including bar graphs, double graphs and histograms. Students practised analysing patterns and drawing conclusions based on real data.

• We’ve also been working with decimals—comparing, ordering and placing them on number lines. Using materials like MAB blocks has helped students visualise decimal values and deepen their number sense. As part of our focus on operations, students have been revising and applying multiplication and division strategies to solve problems efficiently, especially with larger numbers.

In CBL, we’ve started our geography unit by looking at how the world is organised. Students have discussed key ideas like continents, countries, and cities, and how they connect as part of the bigger picture. They worked in small groups to label countries on a world map and shared interesting facts. We’ve also begun defining important geographical terms and learning how to describe Earth’s “address” using examples like hemisphere, continent, and region. This has helped build a strong foundation for understanding how places are connected around the world.

In Sports, we’ve been focusing on building teamwork skills through fun, class-based games. Students have been learning how to work together, communicate clearly, and support one another during different activities. These sessions are helping strengthen both physical skills and team spirit in a positive, engaging way.

In Year 5, we’ve been learning about the importance of respect—what it means, what it looks like, and how it helps create a safe and supportive classroom. We defined respect as treating others with kindness, listening when someone is speaking, using polite language, and valuing everyone's ideas and feelings.

As a class, we explored real-life scenarios to show what respectful and disrespectful behaviour might look like. We discussed how disrespect—like interrupting, ignoring others, or using unkind words—can make people feel uncomfortable or excluded. On the other hand, respectful actions help build trust, encourage teamwork, and make our classroom a more positive place to learn.

Through these discussions and activities, we’re learning how to show respect in our everyday actions and build stronger relationships with each other.

The Year 5/6 students recently went on camp to Campaspe Downs in Tylden, where they participated in a variety of exciting outdoor activities. Some of the highlights included archery, climbing, the thrilling Leap of Faith, and a range of team-building challenges. Students showed great courage, cooperation, and persistence as they stepped outside their comfort zones and gave everything a go. The camp was not only a chance to have fun and enjoy the outdoors, but also a valuable opportunity to strengthen friendships, build confidence, and create lasting memories.

In Reading, we’ve been exploring non-fiction texts. Students have been learning to find the main idea and theme, highlight key and less important information, and ask questions to deepen their understanding. We’ve looked at how authors keep readers engaged, how they begin sentences, and how they connect ideas. Students have compared different texts by examining language and text features and practised asking both thick and thin questions. We’ve also discussed the differences between fiction, realistic fiction, and non-fiction to strengthen our understanding of text types.

In Writing, students have continued drafting their travel guides. They’ve researched their chosen country and organised facts under subheadings. We’ve focused on building strong vocabulary by using the five senses to describe a place. For example, students imagined, “If I was at the Taj Mahal, what would I see, hear, taste, smell, and feel?” They turned these ideas into detailed paragraphs with clear structure and word choice. We’ve also worked on writing strong introductions and using key language and text features. Students began creating their own Writer’s Toolkit and chose a personal memory to write about using different genres.

In Maths, we’ve been focusing on division and multiplication. Students reviewed known strategies and worked through division problems on their own, then with a partner, followed by a class reflection to share strategies. We explored division with one-digit and two-digit numbers, and multiplication using the area model. Students used MABs to help multiply by two-digit numbers and practised using both the associative and distributive properties. We provided different equations to support all learners. Students also worked on plotting coordinates on a grid and created their own to plot accurately.

In CBL, we focused on building our understanding of geography and key terms like exports, imports, economy, and agriculture. We talked about being global citizens and why it's important to understand how the world works. Students chose a country to research and investigated its location in the hemisphere, land size, population, landmarks, climate, agriculture, and economy.

In Personal and Social lessons, we’ve been learning about being responsible and showing respect for others and our belongings. Students took part in role plays and scenarios, such as pretending not to listen to the teacher, to understand how our actions affect others. We explored the impact of positive and negative self-talk—how the way we speak to ourselves can affect our confidence, mindset, and learning. Students shared examples of turning negative thoughts into positive ones. We also discussed the importance of respecting diversity in our classroom and school, and how everyone brings different strengths, cultures, and experiences that make our community stronger.

In Health, we have started learning about puberty and the physical and emotional changes that happen in both boys and girls. We talked about why it’s important to understand these changes so students feel prepared and confident as they grow. We also discussed how boys and girls can support each other and the importance of showing respect and understanding for everyone in their families and community.

Over the past few weeks, our Grade 5 students proudly presented their completed travel guides, showcasing their research and non-fiction writing skills. Following this, we launched our new unit on procedural texts.

To kick off the unit, students activated their prior knowledge by reading and annotating a variety of procedural texts. They worked on identifying and discussing the structural and language features of the genre. Students engaged in hands-on tasks such as solving jumbled-up procedural texts, answering comprehension questions, and comparing and contrasting different examples to deepen their understanding.

In writing, students began planning and drafting their own procedural texts, with a strong link to our Geography CBL unit. They brainstormed ideas such as how to pack for a trip, how to research a country, or how to use a map, and then started their writing cycle with step-by-step guidance on the structure and language of procedural writing.

Alongside this, students continued to build their Writer’s Toolkit, exploring tools like idioms, similes, metaphors, personification, sentence starters, and precise vocabulary to strengthen their writing voice and style.

It’s been a busy and productive time in Grade 5 Literacy, and we’re excited to see where the students’ creativity takes them next!

Over the past few weeks, Grade 5 students have been deepening their understanding in both Number and Measurement.

In Number, students learned how to multiply by 2-digit numbers using the written algorithm and applied their knowledge of factors to solve division problems. They also practised dividing using written algorithms, including how to represent remainders as decimals. Throughout these lessons, students made connections by applying the inverse relationship between multiplication and division.

In our Measurement unit, students explored length, using rulers to measure objects accurately, estimating distances, and converting between metres and kilometres. We’ve now started our focus on capacity, where students are learning to measure and convert between millilitres and litres, with plenty of hands-on activities.

It’s been great to see students applying their skills in practical and meaningful ways!

From Weeks 7 to 9, students have continued their in-depth research into their chosen countries. Our focus has now expanded to include learning about culture and traditions. Students are also discussing different ways they might present their learning, with the goal of producing a high-quality travel documentary. This project will be a showcase of their expertise, combining everything they’ve learned throughout the unit.

The final product could take the form of a website, video, brochure, or another creative format of their choice. As part of the process, students have also set a personal presentation goal, such as improving pronunciation, speaking clearly, or building confidence when presenting to an audience.

We are excited to see how students bring together their research, creativity, and personal goals in this meaningful and engaging showcase!