Fortnightly Classroom Wrap-Up

We’ve had a busy and rewarding couple of weeks in Year 5/6, diving into some rich learning across all areas.

Maths – Thinking Flexibly with Multiplication
In Maths, we’ve moved beyond just recalling times tables and focused on understanding different multiplication strategies. It’s not about speed—it’s about working efficiently and choosing the best strategy for the numbers we’re working with. We’ve explored the associative property, distributive property, and using known facts to solve more complex problems. Students are learning to explain their thinking, build on what they already know, and apply strategies in ways that make sense to them.

English – Persuasive Writing with Voice
We’ve been learning how to write persuasively using the book What Really Happened to Little Red Riding Hood: The Wolf’s Story. Students explored persuasive techniques like emotive language, rhetorical questions, repetition, and exaggeration. They then wrote letters from the perspective of another character, responding to the Wolf’s side of the story. Their writing has been thoughtful, creative, and very entertaining.

History – Student-led Inquiry
We’ve launched our new History inquiry unit, and the students are taking the lead. They’ve helped decide what we’ll explore and how we’ll approach it. Now that we’re wrapping up our persuasive writing, we’ll be linking this History unit with our upcoming English novel study, allowing students to explore historical themes through both fiction and nonfiction lenses.

This week we welcomed teachers from Huonville High School to our class. They shared what life at their school looks like and gave students a helpful insight into the opportunities available as they transition to high school. It was a great way for students to ask questions and feel more confident about the journey ahead.

Art with Tom
Our students have also been creating some stunning work in Art with Tom. They’ve been exploring marine life as a theme and learning how to use watercolours to bring these animals to life on paper. From layering washes to using fine detail brushes and learning about colour blending and tone, students have developed some really impressive technical skills. I’m not always privy to what goes on behind the scenes in Tom’s lessons, but the results speak for themselves—I’ve absolutely loved seeing the creativity and care coming through in their work.