Ulysses Community Report

Term 1 2022

We would like to say a big welcome to all of our families of the Ulysses community. We have 4 mentor groups in Ulysses and they are made up of the Ants, Bumblebees, Crickets and Dragonflies. The teachers of these mentor groups are Nicole, Andrea, Stacey/Jade, and Natalia.

Our students have settled in extremely well and we are very excited to watch them grow academically, socially and emotionally throughout our exciting learning programs.

We also look forward to celebrating all of our successes, achievements and learnings with you throughout the year.

Our Learning

Reading

Throughout Term 1, we have been reading and learning about Recount texts. Students identified that the purpose of a recount text, is to retell an event or experience, and have enjoyed being able to make connections with their real life. Students have been sharing examples of events or experiences that they have been part of, which have included, going to a friend's birthday party, visiting family, going on a roller coaster, and going on a holiday.

Whilst learning about recounts, students have been able to identify the importance of an author correctly sequencing their events. One student demonstrated this learning by commenting, “If the author didn’t put the events in the right order, it wouldn’t make any sense.”

Writing

In Term 1, we have been learning how to write Recount Texts. Students have been using the knowledge of Recount Texts that they learned through Reading, to support them with creating their own written recounts.

First we wrote recounts about the events and experiences that we all enjoyed over the Summer holidays. Then in our mentor groups, we went outside and shared an experience, so we could write about it together. This enabled us to begin writing a recount that included the correct structure of a text, including an orientation, sequencing of events and conclusion. In our Recounts, we also made sure that we included when the event or experience happened, who was with us, what we did, where the event or experience happened and why we completed the activities.

Maths

In Maths this Term, we have been practising our skip counting by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. We also started working on our place value and number knowledge. The students were able to represent numbers from 0-20 using a variety of materials or by drawing a picture, they were able to place numbers on a number line and to sort numbers from smallest to largest and vice versa.

SEL (Social and emotion literacy)

In Social and Emotional learning this term, students have been exploring school wide positive behaviours. As a community we have demonstrated ways we can care for ourselves and others. We practised being supportive classmates by taking turns to share our ideas, listening to others and using inside voices. We thought about what a good friendship looks, feels and sounds like. Students noted that a good friend will include everyone, use their manners and might ask someone if they are ok or need help. We also discussed our own emotions and ways to regulate ourselves. As a community we came up with some strategies to stay in the ‘green zone’ and be ready for learning. We practised asking for help and sharing our feelings, stepping away and taking deep breaths when needed, and creating routines so we know what to expect when we are at school.

Inquiry

Within our Term 1 Inquiry unit, we have integrated Social and Emotional learning with the Inquiry topic of ‘Friendship’, where students have been discussing what friends are and showing how we can be Good Friends. Students were able to provide examples of what good friends do, how they show kindness to others and how they help each other out when in need. We also drew a lot of pictures to show what good friends do in the classroom and around the school play areas.

Important Notes to Remember

Please label all belongings.
Students are encouraged to bring their iPads to school each day.
Bring clearly labelled hats and water bottles to school.
Please ensure your children are attending school as ‘It is not ok to be away’.