Upper Primary Learning
UPA
UPA has had a thrilling term 3, as we zoomed around the world learning all about What Makes a Country for our Discovery unit. Students enjoyed learning about the Olympics and the highlight of meeting an Olympic diver at the Sports Museum early on, set our appetite to learn more about the Olympics and the hosting city of Paris. Students loved using various styles of maps and atlases to learn more about our world and to identify other countries.
Students developed geography skills as they located nine countries on the world map by pinning a flag to each country and learning about the language, landmarks, culture and the national flag for each of the countries. We then compared Canada to Australia and learned to play the national sport of Hockey. Students were astonished at how heavy the equipment was to wear as they tried to move around the room.
Upper Primary held a travel expo where each of the classes had a turn to present their class country. UPA presented Canada and demonstrated their knowledge in saying “hello” in English and French, serving up some Maple syrup and teaching others about Hockey. UPA enjoyed visiting the other classes and were enriched by each demonstration.
It was a busy term of fun events with Book week, Anti Bullying week, Mini Olympics, Green & Gold Day, Travel expo, Primary Sports Day, Indigenous experience and year 6 Camp too, just to name a few of the exciting events this term.
Our fabulous five-year sixers headed to Philip Island for three days and two nights. It was an honour to be away with this bunch who had the best attitude and motto to give everything a go to their best of their abilities.
We all left with smiles and some uncertainties but soon returned home with beaming smiles from ear to ear. Students participated in many camp activities, highlights being an evening watching the penguins, beach walk and giant swing along with lots of time spent with our friends, as it was ‘awesome’ to sleep in bunks with our friends. It has been a fabulous whirl wind of a term 3 and we are all looking forward to a well deserved break before another term of action packed learning.
UPB
Although there are only 10 weeks in this term, it feels like we have explored and achieved a lot together! Everyone in UPB has thoroughly enjoyed learning about the countries and took on the Olympics spirit to try their best at work and respect the differences.
For the Discovery Unit, we started off by investigating the landmarks, culture and history of Australia. Students were thrilled to visit the Melbourne Sports Museum and learned about our rich sporting history. During the Olympics weeks, we went on learning about other countries including France, Greece and India, which many students feel connected with. We talked about the beautiful landscape, landmarks and special language or animals in India.
We had fun making pookalam and doing Bollywood dancing or yoga. As a whole class, we then created a video to showcase what we have learned about India with the whole section during the Travel Expo. It brings me so much joy to see the confidence and pride on students’ faces! Well done, UPB!
UPC
It is hard to believe that another term has already come and gone. Term 3 is well known for being a busy, engaging and exciting term and this one has been no different. The students in UPC have been captivated by a range of hands-on learning experiences, which provoked their interest and expanded their knowledge.
The term began with students navigating their way around Australia, discovering all the landmarks, culture and history our incredible country has to offer. Students attended an excursion at the Melbourne Sports Museum, connecting them to Australia's rich sporting history. Highlights included, hearing an informative presentation made by a past Olympian, Jenny Donnet, who represented Australia in diving and being able to eat lunch in the MCG stand, while looking over the spectacular ground.
As we got closer to the 2024 Paris Olympics students started looking at different countries, focusing on Brazil. Over several weeks, students developed an understanding of Brazilian culture, landscapes and language. Students created Brazilian flags, Amazon rainforest animals, learnt the Samba and played football (soccer), they showcased all their learning to the rest of Upper Primary in our travel expo.
During Book Week the students got to dress up as their favourite book character, while also enjoying an incursion, where author Vicki Conley read one of her award-winning books.
In Mathematics students have enjoyed learning and extended their knowledge of money, using a class store to practise this skill in a real life setting.
As you can see it has been a fun-filled and enriching Term 3 that has continued to promote lifelong learning for everyone in UPC. Bring on an exciting Term 4!
UPD
The expression “Time flies when you’re having fun” certainly applies to Term 3 in UPD. The students have been enthralled by all the fun and enriching experiences this term. These experiences have led to fantastic writing and oral language opportunities. Students began the term by navigating their way around Australia to learn more about our cities, landmarks, flora and fauna.
One of the most exciting ventures was our excursion to the Melbourne Sports Museum where students were immersed in the history of the Melbourne Olympics and able to engage in interactive sports activities. The highlight was definitely eating lunch in the grandstand at the MCG. An informative presentation was made by a past Olympian, Jenny Donnet, who represented Australia in diving. Leading up to the 2024 Olympics in Paris the students dressed up in French attire complete with a neck tie and beret. They certainly looked the part as they participated in our torch relay and then competed in our Mini Olympics.
The students also loved becoming French artists and painting on an easel in the style of famous artists such as Monet and Matisse. They showcased their artworks in our class gallery during our section Travel Expo. During Book Week the students enjoyed an incursion, where Vicki Conley read one of her award-winning books. To round off the term many of the Grade 6 students had a thrilling camp to Phillip Island where they displayed their adventurous side during all the exciting activities.
In Maths, the students have thoroughly enjoyed learning and honing their money skills by using the class Fruit Market to identify, add coins and calculate change.
Congratulations to Phenix who has been our SRC rep. this term and to Hayden for being our Class Captain.
All in all, it has been a jam-packed term full of learning and authentic experiences to promote life-long learning.
UPE
It’s amazing how quickly another term has flown by! Term 3 is always known for being busy, engaging, and exciting, and this one was no exception. The students in UPE were captivated by a variety of hands-on learning experiences that sparked their interest and broadened their knowledge.
The term kicked off with students exploring Australia, discovering its landmarks, culture, and history. We attended an excursion at the Melbourne Sports Museum, where we connected with Australia’s rich sporting heritage. Some highlights included an informative presentation by past Olympian Jenny Donnet, who represented Australia in diving, and enjoying lunch in the MCG stand while overlooking the spectacular ground.
As the 2024 Paris Olympics approached, students began exploring different countries, with a focus on Italy. Over several weeks, we developed an understanding of Italian culture, landscapes, and language. We got lots of opportunities to learn and engage with Italian culture, we made pizza and pasta from scratch and looked at Italian landmarks and foods. Our learning was showcased in an Upper Primary travel expo where we got to explore different countries from other classrooms.
During Book Week, students dressed up as their favourite book characters and enjoyed an incursion where author Vicki Conley read one of her award-winning books. In Mathematics, students extended their knowledge of money by using a class store to practise this skill in a real-life setting.
Overall, Term 3 was a fun-filled and enriching experience that continued to promote lifelong learning for everyone in UPE. Here’s to an exciting Term 4 ahead!
UPF
It has been a fantastic term in UPF! We have learnt about the Olympics and countries and even competed in Upper Primary’s Mini Olympics as the United States of America. We very proudly won the gold for the Mini Olympics. We thoroughly enjoyed our excursion to the Australian Sports Museum at the MCG where we explored memorabilia and listened to Jenny Donnet, an Olympic diver. We continued our research into countries by investigating American culture, in particular American Baseball culture. We made a class video about Baseball and set up our classroom as a Hollywood movie theatre with a red curtain and popcorn.
UPF enjoyed dressing up for Book Week and celebrating literature. Students were engaged in the author visit from Vicky Connelly. In the classroom we have continued to participate in the Little Learners Love Literacy Program, Hartley Handwriting and our writing process. In maths we have been learning about money, understanding the concept of money, recognising coins and notes, counting money and representing amounts in different ways.
We would like to thank Ethan for being an incredible Class Captain for Term 3 and Tarran for her continued work in representing our class as our Student Council representative for Semester 2. We wish everyone a restful break and look forward to Term 4.
UPG
It has been a wonderful term of learning in UPG for Term 3! It’s been jam-packed full of fun activities that have facilitated student learning and engagement. We have welcomed two new students, Wareesha and Thomas, into UPG; it’s been wonderful to have them join our class.
Our Discovery Unit this term has been “What makes a Country?”. We kicked this off by exploring a family’s road trip around Australia, and learning about key features of significant places around Australia. With the Olympics on in Paris, we turned our focus to Australia’s sporting history, with a tour of the Australian Sports Museum at the MCG and meeting Jenny Donnet, an Olympic diver. We had great fun participating in the Upper Primary Mini-Olympics, representing New Zealand and learning more about our adopted nation over the following weeks. A highlight of this was our showcase event, “UPG’s New Zealand experience” and performing a haka, Te Rakau (a traditional stick game) and a poi dance. Doing a “world-tour”, complete with Passports, of the rest of Upper Primary was a super interactive way to share our learning our peers and gain insight into other countries and cultures.
Book Week was a highlight as always, with students looking fantastic in their costumes, celebrating their love of literacy! We have been looking at all things money in Maths - developing our understanding and recognition of Australian coins and notes, their features, values and comparing the value of our money with the cost of items.
A special thanks to Max for doing a wonderful job of being Class Captain for Term 3, and Charlie for being an excellent Student Council representative for Semester 2.
We look forward to seeing everyone refreshed after Spring break, ready for an action-packed Term 4!
UPH
Term 3 has been Fran’s first full term in UPH and it’s been a busy one! First we welcomed new student Jack just in time for our exciting excursion to the MCG, where we learnt all about Melbourne’s history of sport and even met a real life Olympian. We continued to learn more about the Olympics and its symbols, the rings and the torch. We loved making our own torches in preparation for the opening ceremony of Upper Primary’s Mini Olympics. UPH represented China, wearing red and waving our flag. We tried our best in every event and ended up winning the silver medal!
Once the Olympics were over, we did a deep dive into the country of China and learnt about its history, culture and landmarks. We made dragon kites and Chinese New Year lanterns to decorate our classroom. We filmed a taste test video of some Chinese snack foods with some big, dramatic reactions to unfamiliar flavours and textures. We now have our own special pair of chopsticks to practise eating with. We were proud to share our learning and work with other classes at the Travel Expo, in addition to learning all about the countries they’d researched.
In Maths we’ve been working with money, honey! We know all the Australian coins and notes, what they’re worth and how to use them to buy things. Just like in the Olympics, gold is worth more than silver, so dollars are more valuable than cents.
Everyone has been trying hard with their reading and writing skills, making progress every day. We know our pure sounds and can almost do the Chitter Chatter Chant with our eyes closed.
Congratulations to Ezekiel, our Class Captain, and Baylee, our SRC representative for this term. Thank you for repping UPH!
Kirsten Telford
Leading Teacher
Wellbeing and Engagement
ALLIED HEALTH
