Years 5 to 6

Year 5 and Year 6 teaching resources

Five lessons of 55 to 60 minutes, about 5 hours plus the visit. Lesson 1 runs before the visit, lesson 2 is the visit, and lessons 3 to 5 come after it.

The idea the unit runs on: The set you keep.

The summative piece is the campaign piece from lesson 5, made across that lesson and a follow-up session of 30 to 40 minutes, with the four-row rubric named there.

Draft for the clinicians’ review

This material is research-led and has not yet been checked by an oral health clinician. Nothing below is known to be wrong.

8 claims here are waiting on a clinician:

H1The reversible / irreversible threshold. "A surface that has softened can re-harden. A hole cannot."Confirmed by the clinicians on 7 September 2026: Asked whether to say reversible or something else, the clinicians answered "Reversible." The threshold ships as written and is not to be sharpened.
H2What a remineralising varnish does, in one child-facing sentence.Confirmed by the clinicians on 7 September 2026: "It is painted on every child" whose family consented. Both bands now say so, and the decks agree with the game that has always shown it as step 4 of everyone's check-up.
H6The critical pH of about 5.5.Confirmed by the clinicians on 7 September 2026: "Yes." The critical pH stays "about 5.5" on both Years 5 and 6 slides, and nothing about how it is taught changes.
H8Sports and energy drinks: the framing.Confirmed by the clinicians on 7 September 2026: "Not for kids. I am staunch on that." Sugar detective's line stays word for word, and the game page now says whose position it is.
H9"Night brushing matters most."Confirmed by the clinicians on 7 September 2026: "The night brush is the important one", which is already the slide's wording. "Marked verify" has left the note.
H10The 30-minute wait before brushing after acid.
H13The AIHW national figures are from the National Child Oral Health Study 2012–14.
H16Milk and plain tap water have no pH in our data.
H17The Queensland Child Oral Health Study 2021–24 figures (38.8% (was 49.5%), 63%, 40%, 2.9 surfaces).Confirmed by the clinicians on 7 September 2026: "Say 40-45%. That 38.8% is for whole of queensland, in the low SES schools we are at, decay rate is more like 50%." The statewide figures stay exactly where they are, with their survey years; the program's own figure is a separate claim on separate surfaces, attributed to the clinicians.
H20Whether fissure sealants should be taught at Years 5–6 at all.Confirmed by the clinicians on 7 September 2026: The visit checks for sealants and does not place them, which is what both bands already say. Her own consent form lists the Child Dental Benefits Schedule items the clinic claims, and fissure sealing is not among them.
H22The fasting wording.
H23The risk note for the eggshell investigation.
H25The check-up interval sentence.
H28The source study's own summary table does not add up.
H29The shipped pH figures are category means, not products.

The words this unit teaches

Every word a lesson pre-teaches, defined at this band’s reading level. Up to six a lesson, and no slide introduces more than three new ones.

permanent dentition: the full adult set of teeth
erupt: when a tooth comes through the gum
decay: damage caused by bacteria making acid from sugar
erosion: damage caused by acid you ate or drank, with no bacteria involved
enamel: the hard outer layer of a tooth
plaque: the soft film of bacteria on a tooth
demineralisation: minerals leaving the enamel
remineralisation: minerals going back into the enamel
buffer: something that cancels out acid
cavitation: the point at which a softened surface becomes a hole
pH: a number that says how acidic something is; lower means more acidic
critical pH: about 5.5, below which enamel starts to dissolve
erosive: able to dissolve the surface of a tooth
saliva: spit, which neutralises acid and carries minerals back
fissure: a deep narrow groove on the chewing surface of a back tooth
fissure sealant: a coating painted into those grooves
preventive: done to stop something before it starts
remineralising varnish: a coating painted on to help put minerals back into a tooth
risk: how likely something is for a particular person
prevalence: how common something is in a group of people
reversible: a change that can go back
irreversible: a change that cannot
variable: something in an investigation that can change
range: the gap between the highest and lowest value
mode: the value that appears most often
sample: the things that were actually measured
sample size: how many things were measured
source: where a piece of information came from
claim: something someone says is true
verify: check whether something is actually true
follow-up question: a second question that comes from the answer to the first
vested interest: a reason someone gains from you believing them
audience: the particular people a message is for

The visit, part by part

What Oral Health Home runs on the day, and the lessons that build on each part.

1
Play & Learn
A 30-minute interactive show with puppets and big tooth models that gets the whole class joining in.
In class
- 1. Your permanent set
2
Discover
Children find out what their different teeth do, feel food textures, and try biting and chewing for themselves.
In class
3
Practice
Small groups of four to six children practise brushing and flossing with an oral health therapist beside them.
In class
- 2. The Whole Bite Club visit
- 5. Who is telling you what to drink?
4
Receive
Each child has an oral health check, including how their teeth bite together, and then takes home a free toothbrush + toothpaste pack. With consent, they also have a remineralising varnish.
In class
- 2. The Whole Bite Club visit
- 5. Who is telling you what to drink?

What you get with a free teacher account

The lessons, the decks and the games are open to everyone. An account adds the files you print and a place to keep track.

Every worksheet and the teacher guide
My classroom, with a tick for each lesson
First word when new year levels launch

Create a free teacher account Sign in

The lessons

Taught in order. Each one opens with its learning intention, success criteria and everything you need to run it.

Curriculum links

Aligned to the Health and Physical Education learning area of the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0.

AC9HP6P08
Year 5 and 6
analyse and rehearse protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies that can be used in a range of online and offline situations
Personal, social and community health
AC9HP6P09
Year 5 and 6
investigate different sources and types of health information and how these apply to their own and others' health choices
Personal, social and community health
AC9HP6P10
Year 5 and 6
analyse how behaviours influence the health, safety, relationships and wellbeing of individuals and communities
Personal, social and community health

See which lesson covers which code

© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2010 to present, unless otherwise indicated. This material was downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed 5 September 2026) and was not modified. The material is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Attribution 4.0 International Deed.

ACARA does not endorse any product that uses the Australian Curriculum or make any representations as to the quality of such products. Any product that uses material published on this website should not be taken to be affiliated with ACARA or have the sponsorship or approval of ACARA.