The document provides information for parents about Year 6 at the school. It includes: - An overview of the learning areas and routines for the start of the year. - Details on student wellbeing programs including Kidsmatter and You Can Do It. - Information about the Year 6 camp. - Guidelines for homework expectations and aims. - Overviews of the approaches and units for numeracy, inquiry, science and literacy.

1. YEAR 6 INFORMATION NIGHT
Justin Whelan
Melanie Carson
Michael Beirne

2. WELCOME….
• Walk through Year 6 Learning
Area
• Leadership Roles
• Busy start to the year: Setting Routines,
Beach Days, Swim Sports
and Summer Lightning Premiership
selections
• Students have done a great job getting to know
their teacher and homegroups.

3. WELLBEING
The Foundations or “Keys To Success”
Organisation
Getting Along
Confidence
Persistence
Resilience
• Kidsmatter framework for mental health and wellbeing with a
focus on building positive relationships between all members
of the school community
• Explicit instruction through the You Can Do It Program
• Classroom rules and expectations negotiated
KidsMatter

4. CAMP
• Where: City, Collins Street
• When: March 16th – 18th 2016
• Activities: Melbourne Museum,
Melbourne Gaol, Night Walk, Ice Skating, Etihad
Stadium tour, Starflight, Melbourne Aquarium.

5. HOMEWORK
REGULAR HOMEWORK:
• Reading 15 mins per day – across a wide range of texts
• Literacy and Numeracy set Monday and Due Friday
ADDITIONAL HOMEWORK:
*Literacy as required
*Maths as required
*BIG WRITE Talk at home (Every 2nd Tuesday)
AIM OF HOMEWORK:
• Help keep home / school communication ongoing
• To consolidate concepts already covered in class and to
allow for individual research and independent thinking
• To make the students accountable & set good work
habits in preparation for Year 7

6. FOSTERING INDEPENDENCE AND PREPARING
FOR YEAR 7
TRANSITION BEGINS NOW!!
- MMPS Transition Co-ordinator is Michael Beirne.
Please contact him with any transition enquiries.
- Tuesday 8th March 9:30am
Brooke from Dromana SC (Student Wellbeing and
Transition Co-ordinator)
- Information will be given about open days as it becomes
available.

7. NUMERACY
• The Numeracy Program follows the Australian Curriculum, using the
content descriptors, achievement standards and work samples as
guides. The three strands taught are – Number and Algebra,
Measurement and Geometry and Statistics and Probability.
• A whole school approach to teaching Numeracy ensures that
students are engaged in activities that are meaningful, stimulating
and challenging.
• Team planning for Numeracy occurs within year 6, allowing for
consistency of content between grades and streamed maths groups.
The use of hands on materials, games, open ended tasks,
investigative work and problem solving activities that relate to real life
occur throughout the program. Within lessons, tasks are
differentiated providing opportunities for students to learn at their
own level. Existing technologies support the learning and
applications of mathematics, with all students having access to the
online program, Mathletics, at school and at home.

8. NUMERACY CONT’D.
• Fluid maths groups based on student data
• Year 6 is all about broadening their skills, problem solving,
investigating. We have an absolute focus on real life Maths.
• Real life open ended problems
• Learning intentions are clearly stated
• Using correct mathematical language
Curriculum Link
Lesson Structure
• Tuning in – maths game, mental maths
• Formal lesson – differentiated for student needs
• Reflection on mathematical processes and strategies as well
as what students have learnt.

11. INQUIRY UNITS
• Term 1: Who are we becoming?
Focus Leadership / You Can Do It Speeches
• Term 2: Altering Aussies
Focus How has our past affected our future?
• Term 3: Natural Disasters / Economics
Focus Impact on communities / Year 6 Market
• Term 4: Economics / Change
Focus We are the same but we are different / transition

12. Through inquiry students develop skills that allow them to:
- explore the similarities and differences in the values and beliefs
of a range of individuals and groups.
- reflect on what this may mean for themselves when building and
maintaining relationships with a diverse range of people.
- explore and discuss behaviours which demonstrate sensitivity to
cultural differences in their interactions with others.
- consider a range of approaches to learning and reflect on how
the approaches they use influence the quality of their
learning.
- They explore learning styles which may not be their preferred
style and consider why such experimentation is an important
aspect of their learning.

13. - negotiate learning improvement goals and justify the choices
they make about their own learning.
- actively develop, monitor and refine protocols that create a
positive learning environment in the classroom.
- develop their own questions for investigation, collect relevant
information from a range of sources and make judgments
about its worth.
- distinguish between fact and opinion. They use the information
they collect to develop concepts, solve problems or inform
decision making. They develop reasoned arguments using
supporting evidence
- use creative thinking strategies to generate imaginative
solutions when solving problems. They demonstrate creativity
in their thinking in a range of contexts and test the possibilities
of concrete and abstract ideas generated by themselves and
others.

14. TIME
CAPSULE
Handed in late with some
sections incomplete or
missing.
Handed in on time with
all sections reasonably
attempted.
NOT HANDED IN
(Parents notified. Work
to be submitted on a date
given by the teacher.)
HANDED IN
0%
∙All content is relevant and accurate.
∙Demonstrates excellent organisation and presentation.
∙Work is very detailed and completed as per instructions.
∙Work shows a high level of originality and creativity.
∙Equal contribution from all group members
∙Most content is relevant and accurate.
∙Demonstrates good organisation and presentation.
∙Work is detailed and completed as per instructions.
∙Work shows a good level of originality and creativity.
∙Equal contribution from all group members
∙Some content is relevant and accurate.
∙Demonstrates some organisation and presentation.
∙Work is simple and mainly completed as per instructions.
∙Work shows some evidence of originality and creativity.
∙Contribution from all group members
Handed in on time with
some sections incomplete
or missing.
Handed in late with all
sections reasonably
attempted.
∙All content is relevant and accurate.
∙Demonstrates good organisation and presentation.
∙Work is very detailed and completed as per instructions.
∙Work shows a high level of originality and creativity.
∙Equal contribution from all group members.
∙Most content is relevant and accurate.
∙Demonstrates good organisation and presentation.
∙Work is detailed and completed as per instructions.
∙Work shows a good level of originality and creativity.
∙Equal contribution from all group members
∙Content shows little relevance and accuracy.
∙Demonstrates poor organisation and presentation.
∙Work is simple and not completed as per instructions.
∙Work shows little evidence of originality and creativity.
∙Contribution from all group members not evident
Less than 30
Less than 20
Less than 10
Less than 40
More than 40
Handed in on
time with
many sections
incomplete or
missing.
SPELLING,GRAMMARANDPUNCTUATIONERRORS
Less than 30
Less than 20
Less than 10
Less than 40
More than 40
Less than 30
Less than 20
Less than 10
Less than 40
More than 40
Less than 30
Less than 20
Less than 10
Less than 40
More than 40
Less than 30
Less than 20
Less than 10
Less than 40
More than 40
Less than 30
Less than 20
Less than 10
Less than 40
More than 40
SPELLING,GRAMMARANDPUNCTUATIONERRORS
1
4

15. Name Percentage
of work
completed by
this person.
A brief explanation of your mark for
this person.
( You first)
This column
must total
100%
I thought our group….
Topic: __________________________
Time Capsule Project
Peer and Self Assessment

16. Natural Disaster Project
Your task is to complete a project on a natural disaster and determine the
effects this disaster had on a country or community.
Your project must include the first 4 items on the below list, as well as 4 other
items of your choice from the below list.
1. A detailed model – this could be of your disaster, your country or something else.
2. Researched facts relating to the past, present and future effects of your disaster
on the country or community. Researched facts about your country’s people and
culture.
3. A clearly label diagram - again this could be of your disaster, your country or
something else.
4. A piece of writing.

17. 1. A Survival kit with items that would help you survive your natural disaster.
2. A filmed news report or a Claymation of your disaster
3. A detail newspaper account of your disaster
4. A tourist brochure for your country
5. A song written (recorded) by you to uplift a community through a disaster
6. A game that children with limited resources could play
7. A detailed housing design that could withstand your disaster in the future
8. A Glogster
9. Negotiated task
Student/s Name: ________________________
Project Name: ___________________________

19. SCIENCE UNITS
o Term 1: Physical sciences
Focus Electrical circuits
o Term 2: Biological sciences
Focus The growth and survival of living things
o Term 3: Chemical sciences
Focus Reversible and irreversible changes
o Term4: Earth and space sciences
Focus Extreme weather / natural disasters
Science Curriculum
Students work in small groups of 3 and undertake units that follow the
engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate learning model. Each
student has the role of Manager, Speaker or Director which changes
each term.

21. YEAR 6 BLOG AND WEEKLY NEWS
• http://mrbeirne.global2.vic.edu.au
• http://carson.global2.vic.edu.au
• http://justinwhelan.global2.vic.edu.au/
• Year 6 weekly news and Blog leaders will
showcase Year 6 learning every week starting this
week.
• Please make positive comments, ask questions
share your experiences, insert links, articles.

22. LITERACY
• Built around the three interrelated strands of Language, Literature and Literacy.
• Various types of media texts including newspapers, film and digital texts, junior and early
adolescent novels, poetry, non-fiction and dramatic performances.
• Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts such as
narratives, procedures, performances, reports, reviews, explanations and discussions.
• We teach the programs of VCOP and Big Write, Soundwaves Spelling and CAFÉ reading.
These initiatives can be found online to read more about.

23. LITERACY YEAR SIX MMPS 2016

24. BIG WRITE
Big Write and VCOP is an initiative to encourage children to become
independent and expert writers.
V—Vocabulary
C—Connectives
O—Openers
P—Punctuation
What does VCOP stand for?
V - is for vocabulary (ambitious WOW words) and children are encourage to widen their use of
language to make their writing richer. In the classroom new and expressive words are shared.
C - is for connectives (joining words) such as and, because, so, besides, although etc. This makes
writing more cohesive and interesting.
O - is for openers (opening sentences in a variety of ways). Varying the way sentences are opened
makes them more engaging to read. We will focus on opening sentences using connectives, and
words ending in –ly, –ing and –ed.
P - is for punctuation— using punctuation appropriately for the text type. Students are taught the
names and symbols for all forms of punctuation. They learn to use these different forms of
punctuation to ‘uplevel’ their writing. The focus at this level is correct use of boundary punctuation.
Students are explicitly taught which vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation are suitable
for varying tasks and writing genres and how to use them within their own writing.

25. HOW YOU CAN HELP WITH BIG WRITE
Video Example
Wednesday morning
Big Write Session
What the room looks like;
-Quiet, candles, calm
Every second Tuesday Big Talk
Homework

26. ISSIE AND TIA’S EXPERIENCE IN GRADE SIX
LITERACY IN 2016….
This year we have been introduced to new learning styles in Literacy.
We have really enjoyed being more confident with different learning
strategies. Every Thursday morning we have our big write sessions. In
big write we write for a whole hour on one topic that the year 6
teachers have chosen. Each week it is a different style of writing. We
have also been taught VCOP which stands for Vocabulary,
Connectives, Openers and Punctuation. One of the things we learn
about in VCOP is different spelling rules. We have also been taught
wow words to make our writing more engaging and interesting.
One game we play in literacy is called Kung Fu Punctuation which
expands our knowledge of punctuation. We play quick thinking games
to get our brains active ready for our Literacy lessons. Every morning
we read for 30 minutes with a book we have chosen from the library
or home.

27. • Talk positively about school and learning
• Try to support your child with their learning at home
• Please communicate any concerns with your
child’s class teacher
THREE – WAY
PARTNERSHIP
School
HomeStudent

28. • Any questions please stay behind or see home group
teacher at a later date.
THANK-YOU