Year 5

I have just finished reading a book called Acid. The book is set 1,000 years into the future and it’s about a girl called Jenna Strong who finds herself in lots of tricky situations. These include identity changes and breaking the law. ACID is the most brutal police force ever known to man; it will kill you if it finds you breaking the law. ACID controls the world. You are not allowed to get married, you have to get patented by ACID, you can’t find love yourself, and you also need a note to have a baby! I really enjoyed this book because it was full of adventure and mystery. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was the way it ended. It ended on such a cliff hanger. I was so annoyed and frustrated by this ending. It was written in the first person and I think that made it a lot more dramatic and exhilarating. Now that I’ve read it, I’ve also been inspired to write in the first person. I would certainly recommend this book, probably for ages ten and up. Ella Handley-Greaves, 5R After reading Catch a Falling Star in Year 5 Red Literacy class, we could clearly tell that this book is a heart-warming story; we follow a young girl, Frankie, as she overcomes the complications of life and comes to terms with her father’s disappearance. Her story induces feelings of sadness, sorrow, annoyance and empathy in the reader throughout the novel. Frankie is a responsible and independent girl because she helps her mother and does most of the housework. She also is a great big sister to her little brother Newt. Newt is small but intelligent and he has a limitless curiosity especially in science and space. Frankie has a mum and dad but unfortunately, her dad disappeared after he boarded an unlucky plane which crashed. She always feels depressed whenever she thinks of him but tries to stay strong for her family. You can feel the sadness swell into you when her thoughts flood with her memories of her dad. Even though I like Frankie and all the other characters, I especially like Newt because of his unique four-dimensional personality reflecting his fascination with the space station Skylab’s imminent descent. He always wants to be heard and never hides his feelings. The only person that this intelligent and young character doesn’t speak up to is his mum. He never upsets her and always adores her. This novel allows the reader to go into each character’s shoes and makes you realise how their complications are similar to the ones we have today. I recommend this book to both students and adults because of its distinctive and emotional writing style. Sooan Yoo, 5T

The book I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted is a fun and exciting book that will interest young readers. It is about space and the Apollo 11, one of the most extraordinary things that has ever happened in the world. In the story, the main character Mamie feels like she just doesn’t fit in because she does not know a lot about space and the Apollo 11. However, she has a best friend, his name is Buster and he does not laugh or tease her because she does not know much about space. Instead, he teaches her about it. This shows that Buster is a kind and friendly boy who does not think that he should be mean to anyone.

I give this book a four out of five star rating because it has a lot of interesting parts and always left us wanting to read more. However, I sometimes thought that the book got into a lot of information that I found a little boring. Otherwise, my class and I found the book very interesting and always wanted to read more. I certainly recommend this book for nine to 12-year-olds because I think they would enjoy a book about space. This book always hooked me in as the reader and when I read a page, I felt like I was in the scene, it was so amazing!

This novel is not a typical story that you would find in any old bookstore, it’s different to anything I’ve ever read. I Love You, Michael Collins is a unique and intriguing read. Give it a go. Amelia Bicego and Anjali Shah, 5R

Legend by Marie Lu

Fifteen-year-old June was born in an elite family, and lives in a wealthy sector with her brother Metias. A venerated, military prodigy in the Republic, she obtained a perfect score in her trial. Born in the slums of the Republic, Day is believed to have failed his trial. He lives a clandestine life as the Republic’s most wanted outlaw and criminal, and when Metias is killed, June seeks to avenge his death, while Day grapples for survival. June and Day could not have been more different, yet they were brought together by the Republic, fighting for justice when they smell the rancid stench of foul play. This is the dystopian novel of two teenagers fighting for what they believed was fair, just and ethical.

Our favourite character in this book is June, one of the protagonists of this book. Unflagging and dogged, she battles her way through sorrow and harrowing torment. Instead of yielding to her grief, she decides to continue her trajectory, trying to simply respect and honour those who clouded her grief. Her emotions were written down so touchingly and realistically, pulling at any avid reader’s heartstrings, so that she made sure that in every step she took along her journey, however small, the reader cried with her during times of pain and sorrow, and laughed with her during epochs of happiness and elation. Throughout the book, the scenes were written with vivid imagery, establishing the bedrock of sympathy for the characters. One thing that we disliked about the book was that some description was too intimate, rendering it lurid and romantic. We think that this book should be read by young adults, as this is a heartfelt and sincere dystopian and romance novel of justice and following your heart’s calling. We give this book a nine out of ten! Scarlett Li and Amelia Carlan, 5G

Amelia Carlan and Abby Lim, 5G

Challenge by Choice

Challenge by Choice was a period at school every Thursday where we did a project that was our passion. We made or researched for an hour each Thursday in the afternoon about what we were doing. Some girls created cookbooks, designed a whole world in Minecraft or wrote their own stories. Challenge by Choice was a fantastic way to let girls do what they love. Challenge by Choice lets you learn through creativity and play. You can have the opportunity to work in a group of girls on a project and it teaches you to work together as a team. If you choose what you want to do, then you will be doing something that you really like, are passionate about and something you want to do today. You will probably be more interested, make more effort, and maybe learn more. When we do Challenge by Choice the energy in the classroom feels different. Girls are having fun and seem more relaxed sometimes. I think this is a great way to learn something new. Addison Woods, 5R

Challenge by Choice was a fun way to learn new things, entertain people or teach other people skills; for example, how to bake a cake or make a movie. I loved Challenge by Choice because l learned so many new things such as how to make pancakes and how to make dumplings. When doing Challenge by Choice you can work in groups or individually. My partner and l had to brainstorm some topics we wanted to do first. We chose pancakes. We then had to research how to make pancakes. We wrote the ingredients we needed on a slide to show others what they needed. After we wrote the ingredients, we wrote the steps from one to ten on what they needed to do. At the end we suggested some toppings that would be delicious on the pancakes. What l realised the first time l did Challenge by Choice was that the topic you have may not work. The first time my partner and l chose a topic we decided to do dumplings because she said her mum knew how to make dumplings. We did all the research and it was finally time for her to make the dumplings. It turned out that she didn’t have all the ingredients, so we decided to do the next topic on our list which was pancakes.

Maya Ostapenko, 5B

Online learning was a rollercoaster of fun and challenges galore. There were the fun parts, like baking at home and ‘Show and Tell’ with objects you could never bring to school (like a giant stuffed panda!) but there were also the challenges, like technology difficulties and all the distractions an iPad can hold. Here is a summary of my time in online learning. I, personally, didn’t mind online learning. There were many perks about it, like being able to hug your puppy whilst learning how to subtract fractions, or eating lunch and recess in the comfort of your home.

It was sometimes a bit distracting, but it was enjoyable all the same. I also got a lot of good work done, one of my best pieces of writing came from a spark of inspiration I found in online learning. It was a huge test for my independence and self-control, which led to a challenge I had to overcome.

One of the problems of online learning was the distractions. I enjoyed the freedom of being allowed to choose my own actions, whether it was to focus on what I was expected to do, or look into things I wasn’t supposed to be doing. Another complication was not being able to participate in physical group activities. One of my favourite parts of school is being able to see my friends and engage in activities that include multiple people. Overall, online learning was extremely different from normal, face-to-face learning.

Milly Xu, 5T Coronavirus started this year and it was a worldwide disaster. We still haven’t come up with a cure for this dreadful disease yet! Every country in the world was forced into lockdown. But what happened to the kids/teens that still needed education from school? Online learning started. Online learning was kind of interesting at first, Microsoft Teams was a new app and everyone was having fun with it, changing their avatars, messaging friends, and figuring out new things every day. Sure, Teams was an awesome app, but after a few days it got boring. I started to feel a bit lonely. Staying away from my friends and teachers was not an easy thing to do. My classmates started constantly saying, “It’s not working!” or “I can't find it!”. This didn’t apply to everyone, but I have siblings. Since they were the only company I had during my day (Mum and Dad were working), they started to get really annoying, hopefully some other people can relate. If I had a chance to hit the rewind button and go back in time to fix online learning, I would take that chance. If online learning ever happens again, I would be sad, but for our own safety, I guess it’s worth it. I know online learning was a safety precaution for our country, but I didn’t really enjoy it. Emily Chiang, 5G

Stella Sharp, 5G, Jemma Hung, 5G, Ashleigh Song, 5B and Isis Li, 5M

In Term 3, Year 5 had a Wellbeing Day. The reason we had the Wellbeing Day was so we could take a break from schoolwork, to get to know our friends a little better and to take some time out to look after ourselves.

We did lots of fun activities like yoga, craft, playing in the pool on a huge inflatable and some outdoor games like ‘Survival tag’ and ‘Capture the flag’, but my favourite activity was planting marigolds. We each got a small clay pot and markers which we used to draw anything we wanted. I found it really calming to sit down with my friends and talk while being creative with drawing. After we had decorated our pot, we got to put in our marigold plant. As soon as I got home, I made sure to water my flower and I am still looking after it now. I had a lot of fun with my friends and teachers and I thought it was great to get outdoors and do something different to normal classes. I hope we get to do another Wellbeing Day soon.

Lily Mancey, 5G

Since this year was filled with the craziness of the coronavirus, we weren’t able to go on our usual excursions. So, our amazing teachers set up a day dedicated to wellbeing for the Year 5 girls. The day included five activities, which were all planned by our teachers. We got sorted into groups and went to our activities. We got to do yoga, pot planting, swimming, craft and sport. My favourite activity was the swimming. When I walked into the area, I was absolutely mind-blown by the gigantic inflatable obstacle course floating across the swimming pool! I had a blast having a laugh while continuously slipping into the pool. For the craft activity, we made awesome dream catchers! They looked amazing, thanks to our mentors, Mrs Giles and Miss Charles. For sport we played ‘Capture the flag’ and dodgeball, which was really fun, and I sizzled like a sausage on a barbecue because I was so hot! I also got to decorate a beautiful pot and I planted marigold flowers, which I water every day as it sits in the sun on our splendid deck. Overall, the day made me feel better and more joyful about my week. It was nice to take a break from school and just have fun. It was a great change to step away from our classes and focus on our wellbeing. Hopefully we could do more of these fun activities next term just to check in on our wellbeing. We are so grateful to the teachers for organising such a fun day.

Mia Chan, 5G

Gabriella Sheh, 5T and Gillian Dow, 5C

In Term 3 we were fortunate to have a wonderful learning experience to meet an African American astronaut during Inquiry, as we were learning about space. Her name was Joan Higginbotham. We met her on Microsoft Teams and she told us about her astronautical experience and how she got to become an astronaut.

Before we met her, we got the privilege to go into groups of three and come up with questions that we could ask her. We then put the question onto a piece of paper. After that, we gave these questions to the teachers and they took the time to choose some of those questions and send them to Joan to think about her answers.

On the day of the interview, we listened to her answers and stories of her experience of persevering. Joan told us about how she originally didn’t plan on becoming an astronaut but her boss urged her to, how she didn’t make it but tried again, and how funny her multicultural crewmates were who played pranks on her. Joan also told us about how there were so many people from different countries with different cultures, but they got along very well, so she wondered about why they could get along but not others. Joan Higginbotham also told us life experience and tips to become the best that we can be. We were extremely excited and inspired by the courageous astronaut's stories and tales she told. We all hope that we will be able to have that many learning experiences and opportunities to become better and brighter girls and eventually, women. Jacquelyn Zhu, 5T

Starting off, Scope IT was very fun and entertaining as we got the opportunity to do something very engaging. A lot of people enjoyed it, and everyone had the chance to make a game and participate in coding. We also had the chance to have fun not only independently but in pairs as well. We were able to meet really nice educators who helped us learn a lot more about coding. I didn’t know that much about coding until they started to teach us. All of the games were very fun. We had fun by learning new skills and techniques for coding. I also learned that there is something called an algorithm. I do know that an algorithm is also part of maths but the algorithm type for coding is an order of steps. At first the games and tasks were challenging, but our educators helped us and we all got better and better at the coding. Everyone in Year 5 thanks the educators for teaching us a lot of new skills and being able to be there when we had trouble doing a task or game. The educators tried very hard to make everything right and perfect for us. They also made everything a lot of fun. We are very thankful for them and we all enjoyed it. It was a very good experience to be able to code like a master and still have fun at the same time! Scope IT was enjoyable for all of Year 5. Thank you so much for helping us learn coding!

Amelia Lee, 5C

Lily Mancey, 5G, Bonnie Hebblewhite, 5T and Amelia Bicego, 5R

There was water everywhere flooding out of my eyes I couldn’t believe it said all its goodbyes We searched everywhere the ups and downs But still nowhere to be seen in the humongous town Everywhere I looked all I could see Was only all the people in glee It is always the favourite to me But I wonder if it longed to be free All the sadness takes over my heart This will make us be apart My dad and I searched for ages But on we went through the pages The more we searched The more my heart lurched Down and down until it hit the ground And all it did was pound and pound Until it hurt my chest And I needed some rest

The next day we were up again I hope we find it soon but when! All my hope is lost I’ll have to pay the cost I didn’t do anything But it still makes me sting But maybe that will bring it back It can’t stay out there in lack Of food, water and love to be The best of all the mighty three But maybe it can do it it will have to go down a bit No way I found him But he has some Grimm Guess who is my special favourite The one I keep in my kit But is not that small But bigger than a ball The thing with a frizz My little brother it is Sophie Rigg, 5M