Length:

10 months

Subjects:

Module Names:

Modules 20-30 (first year at Intermediate school)

Equivalent school years

Australian years 6 / New Zealand year 7

Maths

With a good grasp of the four processes and the ability to move seamlessly between them, along with familiarity in working with both whole and part numbers, it’s now time to apply all the knowledge to real-life situations. Statistics is now reflected through a Commercial Maths project and used to track expenses, profits and loss, GST and investment. The percentages learning is extended to incorporate banking and debt cycles and applied to real-world situations. Tax is investigated along with compound interest and the role of money in modern society. Alongside this is a brief foray into alternative money systems and their role in society. Geometry continues to build upon previous knowledge and alongside a proficient use of a compass comes the protractor and understanding angles and movement out of two dimensional and into three-dimensional shapes. The foundations for Algebra are uncovered, ready to be explored more in-depth in the coming year.

English

The focus this year is to bring about awareness of persuasive writing and emotive language. The point is to understand the author's intention and for the author to sway the audience toward a particular outcome. The writing has moved beyond the retelling of stories, from earlier years and further still beyond instructional writing. The ability to persuade leads also into explanatory writing. Being able to explain one’s position clearly and project it out to the audience using a valid argument takes writing to a new level. The student now owns their opinions and wishes to express them in a concise manner. Having already learned how to construct writing using a variety of sentences, paragraphs, descriptive writing and correct punctuation and grammar, this is the next level to aspire to. These history topics include; Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Rise of Christianity and Islam and the Middle Ages, provide plenty of story fodder for the students to take sides and express their opinions in ink.

The Arts

Art is still an important aspect of the learning, only now, it is developing into the student’s individual expression of creativity. Previous years have exposed the students to a variety of techniques and methods and now with that practice and confidence, the students can begin to explore their own art and allow it to form as they see it. There is a movement towards black and white shading to add depth to the art and the opportunity to develop Geometry into a sacred art form. Handwork continues to play a role, and the ability to visualise a formed end product, create a 2D pattern from that image and then hand sew that pattern into a finished 3D object utilising maths skills, visual arts and fine motor skills are quite the challenge.

Science

Class 6 is heavily weighted toward the sciences. From Geology, Mineralogy and Astronomy to Physics, it’s all covered. There is a natural stepping away now from the largely historical content of the curriculum and into the science laden world of facts and discovery as we follow the natural progression of human evolution through the past 10,000 years since modern civilisation began. Physics includes; light, sound, electricity, magnetism and heat. Students are not taught existing theories, and are instead encouraged to observe the phenomena taking place and draw their own conclusions based on their findings.