What’s happening in Year 6

Friendship

It is a well-known fact that friendships improve wellbeing, attitudes to learning and academic performance. Developing and maintaining friendships is important for a child’s social, emotional, psychological and moral development.

Positive friendships enable children to learn and practise important social and emotional skills. These include communicating effectively, getting along with others, coping with and solving problems, self-regulation of emotions, and understanding and responding to the reactions and points of view of others. Within friendship groups, children develop their ability to think about issues that arise between friends, to negotiate and solve problems.

Having just one supportive, loyal, trustworthy friend promotes the development of psychological resilience. It helps play a protective role when managing relationships with a difficult peer relationship, peer group or social conflict in general. The quality of a friendship can have an impact on resilience, providing a buffer against stress and challenging life events. 

Recess and lunch times are a wonderful time for the girls in Year 6 to strengthen friendships, make new connections and get to know one another. Some girls like to sit and relax, talking in groups, while others enjoy walking around, playing sports or even visiting the library. It is lovely to see the girls enjoying themselves, laughing and having fun, especially as the weather starts to warm up. I’m sure it is a highlight of many girls when asked about their day at school!

Tiffany Anderson 
Year 6 Teacher

Mathematics

Year 6 has started their new mathematics unit on Representing Quantity, focusing on fractions. Students are learning to understand fractions as parts of a whole, identifying the numerator, denominator, and vinculum. To reinforce their understanding of comparing common fractions with related denominators, they created a fraction number line. Each student wrote fractions with denominators of halves, quarters, eighths, thirds, sixths, fifths, and tenths on a post-it note. Using their knowledge of common multiples, they then placed their fractions on the number line. This engaging, hands-on activity left the students feeling confident about fractions!

Sian Tierney
Year 6 teacher

Public Speaking

This term the Year 6 students have focused on developing their Public Speaking skills. The students chose from six topics, brainstormed, researched and wrote a two-to-three-minute speech. The students conferenced with their teachers and with each other, to receive constructive feedback to encourage and develop their public speaking writing skills. This week all students presented their speech to the class. All students did an amazing job and impressed us with their subject matter, manner and method. 

Marisa Maks and Eamonn Dunphy
Year 6 Teachers