Year 5 - 6

The Y5 and Y6 department has a highly visible profile within the school.

The Y6 Medieval Banquet, held in Term 3 each year, is seen as an event not to be missed, and an unofficial graduation from the Y1 - 6 area of the school.  This event, for the entire family of the Y6 girls, is the culmination of a term’s study on The Middle Ages and is truly a rich task.  Parents take on many roles in the preparation for the night’s event including transforming Clouston Hall into a Medieval Castle and organising a genuine Medieval feast. The students provide the entertainment ranging from character dramatisations to tumblers and traditional music.

The Values Project for the Y5 and Y6 students also has an impact on the community. We support the Hearing Dogs charity where dogs are trained to support hearing impaired people. The collections from the year level chapel services and money raised by the girls in a working bee challenge at home is given to this charity to help in the training of dogs.  Another noteworthy activity of the Y6 classes is the annual EOTC trip to Wellington. Much organisation and attention to detail goes into the planning and resulting two days and one night adventure to Wellington. Parents and staff accompany the girls on the trip which includes a return flight to Wellington on a chartered aircraft, visits to Parliament, Te Papa, and a recording studio with a night tour of the zoo and sleepover in the Education classroom.

The Y5 girls are prepared for their Wellington trip in Y6 by experiencing a sleepover at Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World and Penguin Encounter. This occurs in Term 2 as part of their Science study on Sharks and Social Studies focus on Antarctica.  Activities on this trip include hand feeding the fish, learning about and touching the stingrays in Stingray Bay, dressing up as Antarctica explorers, having an up close look at Scott’s Hut and experiencing the ice water challenge.