Year 6

Sustainability Week Program

In June, Year 6 students took part in a Sustainability Week program – an opportunity for the students to immerse themselves in the diverse environment they live in and at the same time appreciate the impact they have on it.

Activities and experiences included a trip to the Melbourne Zoo, an engaging walk in the natural elements at the Dandenong Ranges 1000 Steps, viewing the natural world from a different perspective at The Mighty Micro Monsters in 3D at Imax, and a walk in the Botanical Gardens to understand how it all fits together.

Students concluded the week by debating a range of topics on Sustainability from vegetarianism, electric cars, and animal rights to genetically modified food. For many students, it was the first time they were involved in an official running of a debate.

Adrian Beck Visit

In August, the Year 6 students were fortunate to have children’s author, Adrian Beck, visit Camberwell Grammar. Adrian is a successful author of picture books and popular series, such as Stop the Dad Jokes and Derek Dool. Adrian spoke to the students about his writing journey and shared inspirational ideas around how to craft interesting narratives.

Many thanks to the Le Page family for arranging this opportunity for the students through their fundraising for a school that lost everything in the Lismore Floods in NSW.

The students were inspired by this generosity and, with the help of the Le Page family, raised over $1,000 in gift cards for Lismore South Public School, which will be using the funds to help rebuild its classrooms and create a new learning environment for its students.

The Man Cave

Students were able to be part of The Man Cave program in Term 4. The theme of the workshop was around celebrating graduation from Year 6 and looking forward to the exciting opportunities that they will have when they move into Year 7.

The workshop gave the students the opportunity to celebrate and honour each other and the experiences they have had in their journey at Camberwell Grammar up until this point. The Man Cave program also discussed the new and exciting opportunities that Year 7 will bring for them – including new relationships and personal growth opportunities. The program allows the students to understand tools they can call on to help them navigate through these new challenges in a positive way.

In the days after the program, many of the students expressed their delight in being part of something that allows them to gain further emotional strength. Especially considering the change they are about to embark on when a new group of Year 7 students begins at Camberwell Grammar. The students expressed how glad they were knowing they were going to be part of another Man Cave program in the future.

Science, Electricity Unit – Construction of Lightsabers

The students began the electricity unit by determining how to join the flow of electricity through a battery using resistors that flowed into copper to light up small LEDs that had been soldered onto a copper panel. The lights were fixed to the copper board by using soldering irons, flux, and solder prior to placing the battery onto the copper. The students were then assessed on the skills they had learnt, and this was the beginning of the initial stages of the Lightsaber Project.

The students connected switches, speakers, and battery packs to their board as their lightsabers began to take shape. All of these details took many weeks, and the students faced many hurdles considering how delicate each step of the project was.

With well over six weeks of work in our Science classes, this was the most complicated and time-consuming project, however, it was very rewarding to see the teamwork and sense of selfaccomplishment each group achieved in the final weeks of the term. Well done on creating such a memorable moment within the Year 6 Science unit.

Mr Nathan Jones and Mr Dominic McLaughlin Year 6 Teachers