Year 5

Understanding Our Past and What Makes Community

Year 5 focusses on understanding our past and what makes community. Students explore what happened during the Colonial period, learning about key events in Australia’s history during the 1850’s — Australian gold rush period; the history and traditions that shaped our community. They spend four days at Sovereign Hill exploring the difficulties and challenges faced by the miners and their families.  They participate in an 1850’s classroom environment and experience how different schooling has become.  Students wear the clothes and play the games of their 1850’s counterparts, learn how to make candles, observe gold smelting, and ride in a horse and carriage. This rich and vibrant experience allows the students to step into a world quite different to their everyday lives.

Students explore the interconnections between people and environments throughout the Natural Disasters unit. They examine how climate and landforms influence the human characteristics of places, and how human actions influence the environmental characteristics of places. Students learn that some climates produce hazards, such as, bushfires and floods that threaten the safety of places and gain an understanding of the application of the principles of prevention, mitigation and preparedness as ways of reducing the effects of these hazards.  Students visit the township of Marysville and observe how this community has responded and rebuilt following a natural disaster. 

Home Tasks

In Years 3 to 6, home tasks are set to help students develop regular study habits and cater for the needs of all students.

For further information please see the page on Home Tasks.