YEAR 6 · NSW STAGE 3

Thinking Skills

Reason carefully, test ideas and solve problems.

YOUR STUDY YEAR

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Browse the topics below. Opening a lesson requires learner sign-in with the username and password your parent created.

Not sure where to begin?

This is the first topic in this year’s curriculum with an available lesson. It is a starting point, not a personal assessment.

Start with Evidence and useful questions: selection, alternatives and decision value →

T6.1 · First available lesson

Evidence and useful questions: selection, alternatives and decision value

A play area has a shorter queue after a second entrance opens.

1 lesson

Choose a lesson →T6.2

Arguments and evaluation: structure, principles and precise criticism

“The new timer is popular, so it must be accurate.” Does the reason establish the conclusion?

1 lesson

Choose a lesson →T6.3

Rules and deduction: compound conditions and exact negation

A notice says, “The buzzer sounds unless the mute switch is on.” With mute on, must the buzzer be silent?

1 lesson

Choose a lesson →T6.4

Term / weeks	Teaching focus	Evidence to look for
1–2	Diagnose unfamiliar mixed reasoning Map the actual test date and priority gaps	Component baseline and calendar
3–4	Audit samples and denominators Choose discriminating missing evidence	Supported claim with limits
5–6	Map reasons and intermediate conclusions Evaluate assumptions and alternatives	Argument structure critique
7–8	Translate compound rules precisely Use countermodels and truth tables	Complete allowed-case table
9–10	Combine dependencies and capacities Prove an optimum by bound and witness	Feasible optimal schedule
11–12	Compare rates and pricing models Check boundaries and sufficient data	Model-and-unit audit
13–14	Coordinate transformations and viewpoints Use complete spatial representations	Two-method spatial check
15–16	Trace and test algorithms Disprove a greedy claim with a counterexample	Algorithm repair
17–18	Use the current official online interface Attempt short mixed sets without overloading	Familiarity and error log
19–20	Consolidate persistent errors Review a limited timed sample when appropriate	Test-window readiness review
21–22	Rebuild a problem in a new context Compare two valid reasoning methods	Transfer portfolio
23–24	Evaluate an evidence-gathering plan Distinguish ethical observation from invented proof	Investigation design
25–26	Apply a stated principle consistently Repair a flawed or overstrong conclusion	Reasoned argument revision
27–28	Find all solutions and a decisive clue Explain uniqueness without guessing	Original constraint puzzle
29–30	Explore a quantitative counterexample Prove a boundary or general relationship	Secondary-bridge investigation
31–32	Compare differently drawn networks Bound hidden spatial quantities	Representation comparison
33–34	State algorithm correctness conditions Test smallest and extreme allowed inputs	Procedure specification
35–36	Design an original mixed challenge set Peer-check wording and answer uniqueness	Reviewed task bank
37–38	Present a substantial investigation Respond to a challenge and revise the model	Evidence-based presentation
39–40	Complete the Year 6 checkpoint Plan continued learning beyond admission decisions	Final portfolio and next steps

Thinking Skills

Not sure where to begin?

Evidence and useful questions: selection, alternatives and decision value

Arguments and evaluation: structure, principles and precise criticism

Rules and deduction: compound conditions and exact negation

Constraints and search: optimisation, dependencies and uniqueness

Quantitative reasoning: model choice and boundary checks

Spatial reasoning: transformations, paths and complete representations

Patterns and algorithms: counterexamples, stopping and optimality

Strategic reasoning: independent transfer and responsible confidence

Year 6 Thinking Skills test

Suggested 40-week sequence