The final year at Primary School is an exciting time. The transition into secondary school is just around the corner! Here's what you can expect for your child in Year 6.
What to expect in Year 6
Your child’s final year of primary school is here! Starting high school is a massive milestone, but let’s not focus too much on what’s to come just yet. Towards the end of Year 6, you can start practising the daily routine that will be required to be ready for high school. Before then, let them enjoy being school leaders, have fun with their friends, and appreciate the journey they’ve been on.
Testing is a focus in Year 6, but there are other aspects of the curriculum that can still make learning enjoyable. Children can expect lots of cross-curricular learning including design and technology, art, geography, and history. Science is another subject for hands-on, investigative learning. Of course, the big transition into secondary school is nearly there, which is why Year 6 may also involve visiting potential new schools and meeting new teachers.
Fear of the unknown is one of the biggest challenges children face in any situation. If you notice your child is feeling anxious about it, remind them that not everything changes when they go to high school. There will still be a uniform, they will still have a lunch break and there will still be rules. If not done already, now is the time to establish a study routine to help your child be organised and adjust to secondary school expectations.
What does your child learn in Year 6?
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) outlines what children will learn in each of the school years. The national curriculum is the framework within which schools work to ensure consistency in learning. It sets out the most important skills that children should be learning, sets standards to allow for better provision and monitoring of learning, and offers flexibility to accommodate students’ diverse needs.
The national curriculum has eight specific learning areas and is designed to help young Australians become successful and confident learners, creative individuals, and active and informed members of society. The areas of learning are:
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Health & Physical Education
- Humanities & Social Sciences
- The Arts
- Technologies
- Languages
The content descriptions of each learning area specify what students will learn, and achievement standards describe the depth of understanding, knowledge and skills that are expected of them by the end of each school year. See a full description of the content descriptions of the Australian Curriculum in Year 6 here.
In addition to tackling a more challenging array of questions, Year 6 students are expected to recognise that numbers can be positive or negative, apply the rules for the order of operations, add and subtract decimals in real-life contexts and learn to use a Cartesian plane.
Greater ability to think about the practical application of mathematical rules enables students to understand and represent data in more complex ways. By the end of Year 6, students should be exam ready and have a good understanding of:
- Long multiplication and division
- Working with fractions, decimals and percentages and ratios
- Solve a wide range of problems including properties of numbers and arithmetic
- Solve problems with efficient written and mental calculations
- Classify shapes with complex geometrical properties and their appropriate vocabulary
Find out how Cluey can help your child with Maths: https://clueylearning.com.au/year-6-maths/
Students build their analytical skills, gaining greater insight into the choices made by the creators of texts and how these impact readers. The focus on evaluation in the final year of the primary curriculum requires a larger technical vocabulary, greater ability to understand abstract meaning and figurative language, and to master a range of text types.
By the end of Year 6, students are expected to display a solid understanding of punctuation and show that they can write in a variety of sentence structures. Pre-essaying writing skills are consolidated in preparation for Year 7. Their vocabulary must be strong and display accurate spelling of their words. Students should also demonstrate the following skills:
- Speak clearly and confidently for a range of topics and audiences
- Read independently, compare characters and versions of the same event
- Discuss viewpoints or fictional characters and their authors
- Write for a range of purposes and control the structure of their sentences
- Apply knowledge of linguistic terms to discuss writing and reading
Find out how Cluey can help your child with English: https://clueylearning.com.au/year-6-english/
Things you can do to help your child get exam ready
As homework and studying should be a regular activity, preparing for a test isn’t a last-minute cram session. However, if you notice that your child is anxious about exam time, ask them about their fears and worries and help them put it all into perspective. Sometimes, just being listened to is enough to build their confidence.
Students also tend to feel more in control when they know what to expect, so doing a practise exam or two together is a great idea. If you highlight how well your child already knows the concepts that will be covered in the test, they’ll feel more ready.
Reinforce important skills that make it easier, like making sure they’ve read the question properly, answering the questions they know they can get right first, and leaving enough time to check their work. This will also help them feel more confident about the exam.
Make sure they’re prepared on exam day. Do what you can to help them have a good night’s sleep and a nutritious breakfast. Help them sort out everything they need for the test: pens and pencils, a bottle of water, tissues, and so on. Focus on confidence, as that’s the goal.
How Cluey's tutoring can help your child succeed
Personalised learning is at the heart of Cluey, as we understand that all students learn in different ways. Whether your child is falling behind or excelling in Year 6, Cluey Learning can maximise their education with personalised, interactive tutoring sessions. We’re all experienced ATAR achievers and qualified teachers who enjoy nothing more than supporting children to stay on track and engage their minds.
Cluey’s tutors deliver quality content in programs that are structured according to the skill level and individual needs of your child. Each student’s journey begins with a call with one of Cluey’s learning advisors to discuss the child’s needs and personality. We do this because we know how important it is for your child to be matched with a tutor that fits their personality and skillset best. That’s how they get the most out of our programs.
All sessions are face-to-face and take place online between 7.00am and 10.00pm via Cluey’s virtual learning platform, which means you can work the lessons around your schedule. The platform has an interface that allows student-teacher interaction in real time — both can see what the other is typing and drawing as it happens.
We map our content to the curriculum, so it's aligned to exactly what your child is learning at school (including state-by-state variations). This helps build confidence, reinforces what they're already learning and helps them prepare for the upcoming exams.
We’ve helped thousands of families throughout Australia with schoolwork support, thanks to our fun and personalised learning programs in both English and Maths.
Find out more about our primary school support and tutoring
And discover what parents all across Australian are saying about Cluey - read our Google reviews
