Year 5/6 S/B Persuasive Writing & Inquiry

What changes would make our school an even better place?
Whose voices need to be heard when changes and decisions are being made?
How can we use facts and research to support the ideas we care about?
What issues in our school or community matter most to us and how can we take action/make positive change?

This term, Year 5/6 S/B has been exploring persuasive writing through an exciting inquiry regarding ‘change’. We started by reading articles about real-world issues that affect us and matter to our community—everything from social media bans in Australia to topics that impact students at school. This got us thinking about the changes we’d like to see.

We chose some topics we really care about and wanted to take action on:

• A school canteen – offering more healthy and diverse food options to suit everyone’s tastes and dietary needs.
• More Five Nights at Freddy’s books in the library – for students who love this popular series.
• Gardening as a choices option – to learn new skills and connect with nature.
• Cooking as a specialist subject – to develop practical skills and explore creativity in the kitchen.

To make our arguments strong, we conducted surveys to see what other students think, researched facts and studies and started writing persuasive letters to people in our school community. Our goal is to convince them to consider our ideas and make positive changes.

Through this, we’ve been practising persuasive writing, learning to back up our ideas with evidence and discovering how powerful our voices can be in shaping our school and community.

Can You Manage a Budget for a Week?

This week, 5/6 S/B explored the question ‘What is it like to manage money in everyday life?’

Students were highly engaged as they stepped into the role of independent budgeters, working with a weekly income (based on minimum wage after tax) to make real-life financial decisions.

Throughout this learning experience, students:

• Researched and selected rental properties
• Compared phone plans and chose a Wi-Fi provider
• Planned grocery shopping
• Calculated daily transport costs
• Worked out the average weekly cost for electricity and water for one- and two-person households and included these in their budgets
• Budgeted for weekend entertainment (if they had funds remaining)
• Attempted to set aside savings for the future

Inspired by the ABC TV series Teenage Boss, students explored the difference between needs and wants, while practising how to balance priorities to make their budget work.

This inquiry connected Mathematics, HASS and financial literacy, giving students a practical, hands-on experience in planning, problem-solving and money management—skills that they will hopefully carry with them well beyond the classroom.