Yr5 Curriculum Update – 30/08/19

Working together to achieve success for every child

Dear Parents,

Hello and welcome to all our Year 5 families.  We hope that you had a wonderful break with your children and enjoyed the various summer activities in Hong Kong and/or around the world.

We would like to introduce the Year 5 team this year (from back left to front right): Ian Wishart, Vanessa Sheppard, Diana Chutt, Dom Parry, Dana MacLennan, Emily McCarthy and Pat Turver.  Diana and Pat are both parents of KJS alumni and are committed to the wellbeing of the current students. We are very lucky to have them as our educational assistants again in Year 5.

 

Unit of Inquiry

The first two weeks of this year have been focusing on the Who We Are unit.  This will continue to be explored throughout the year with a focus on different lines of inquiry each time.

Central Idea

Values and beliefs define individuals and communities

Lines of Inquiry

• Tools and strategies for creating and maintaining positive relationships (Function)
• How our actions impact on our relationships with others (Perspective)
• Personal, physical and emotional changes we go through (Change)

The focus for the past two weeks has been RESPECT and looking at the first two lines of inquiry.  Each class has discussed respect to self, others and the environment and what that looks like at KJS, in Year 5 and in their classrooms.  We have explored what respect means and how we can relate that to the learner profile.  For example, when you are being an inquirer, what could respect look like, sound like or feel like.  Students have a very good understanding about respect and how they can be respectful as learners in Year 5.

Students have been learning to work respectfully with different groups across the curriculum.  Activities such as the Escape Room have challenged them as communicators and problem solvers.  The skills they learnt during this activity were valuable during The Amazing Race challenge during P.E last Thursday.  Students reflected on the need to cooperate, read the instructions carefully, encourage each other and communicate clearly.

We have also begun tuning in to our next unit of inquiry which is How the World Works. Students have been exploring their current thinking around states of matter and what they know about the properties of these states.  Students have had the chance to do some hands on experiments as well as observe different states of matter changing.  Over the coming weeks we will further unpack the central idea that matter exists in different forms which can be changed and used for different purposes.  Stay tuned for the next curriculum update.

 

Literacy

Literacy has been focused on finding out about students as readers, what they like to read and setting up reading spaces that encourage learners to read a variety of books.  Students have begun to set achievable reading targets for themselves that they wish to work on for the beginning of this year.

Students are expected to read at home daily and have the option of taking a levelled home reader from the shared area or reading a book of their choice from the library or at home.  Please encourage your child/ren to do this.

 

Maths

The start of the year has been an opportunity for students to be reminded of having a growth mindset and using mistakes as learning opportunities.  Students have been exploring Jo Boaler’s week of inspirational maths and working collaboratively to challenge themselves to think critically and imaginatively.

Have a look at the Jo Boaler website for examples of learning that has been happening and ask your child/ren to share some of what they have done, or choose an activity to do together.

Inspirational Math

 

P.E

Our Y5 spent the first weeks preparing for and engaging in their Amazing Race. A series of group challenges designed to test their physical and mental abilities and of course, crucially, their ability to work with others, deal with situations when it goes a little wrong (which it did) and engage with their classmates with a fun, positive attitude. At this time of year, this gives our students an opportunity to identify and reflect on areas of wellbeing they may want to be mindful of and develop in the weeks to come.

Request from parents please:

Each student is allocated an individual chromebook for learning purposes in Year 5.  It is often helpful for students to have their own set of headphones to support their learning in a hygienic way.  If you could supply a set of headphones (optional to have a microphone), it would be appreciated.  Students can keep their headphones in their individual trays in their classroom.

 

Kind regards,

The Year 5 team

 

Key Dates for the Diary

• Monday 2 September   ‘You Tell Us’ Meetings – No school
• Friday 6 September   PTA AGM and Mid Autumn Festival Evening
• Thursday 12 September   CPD – No school
• Monday 30 September   CPD – No school
• Tuesday 1 October   National Day – No school
• Friday 4 October   Day before Mid-Term Break – FULL Day Classes
• 7 – 11 October Mid-Term Break