Ulysses Community Report

Hello Ulysses Community, it is nearing the end of the year! The transition that you all have made from Remote Learning to back at school has been good to see! We are so proud of the growth that you all have made this year! 

Literacy 

In Literacy, students have been focussing on how to plan, draft, edit and publish an explanation piece. The explanation piece is linked to our inquiry unit of "What makes things move?" In their explanation piece students have to identify the cause and effect of their marble run and write an explanation explaining how it all works. The 2 questions students have been asked to answer on their explanation task are: "What causes the marble to speed up and slow down?" and "How does the marble change direction in the run?" Students need to design the marble run and be able to reflect and write about how it works and what adaptations they would need to make to ensure they follow the rules set in the marble run. Here are some examples from the planning stage of their explanation pieces.

Maths

In Numeracy, the Ulysses community have been focusing on implementing Essential Assessment. Our focus has been using Essential Assessment as an online E-learning platform. After completing a pre-test on Essential Assessment teachers gain a better understanding of their students learning needs. My Numeracy informs teachers of where to next on an individual learning plan for each student. My Numeracy is a differentiated, personalise online curriculum and learning tool. It is a whole school online model that is interactive and aligned to the Victorian and Australian curriculum. 

Here are some examples of My Numeracy:

Our unit of inquiry was units of measurement that is aligned with the Victorian Curriculum VCMMG140. As you can see above after the student has logged into Essential Assessment and after teaching and learning, it clear that students have a made an improvement in understanding their knowledge of units of measurement at 75%. 

An excellent tool for both students and teachers moving forward in 2022. 

Inquiry

This Term in Inquiry we have been working on Push and Pull in Inquiry. In order to create a project, we have been researching, designing, planning and building a marble run. The aim of the marble run is to complete a series of turns, loops and obstacles with only one push from the start.

I have loved the marble run and where it is going so far. In my group I have my friends and it has been really fun so far. We have started to build our marble run. It has been the best thing that me and my friends are making. I hope we can do more projects like this in the future. – Anushka 3/4C

We are doing a marble run. The entire community of Ulysses is doing it, most people are excited. But some people are not. Students had to supply their own supplies of boxes and other materials. Some people only brought a few things but that is alright because we can work together. Everyone plays their own part. – Udham 3/4C

SEL

Aitken Hill Primary School has a new acknowledgement ticket system for all year levels. The system focuses on the 4 school care values. These are: Care for yourself Care for others Care for your learning Care for your school In Term 4 there are two upcoming days where students can trade in their care tickets. In week 8 on Friday the 3rd of December there is an Icy Pole Trade In Day and in week 11 there is a raffle. Students need 5 or more tickets to partake in the trade in days. This has been a great incentive for students to display the school values and be rewarded for doing the right thing. 

Every few weeks during SEL we will be discussing a different AHPS care value and unpacking the correct behaviours we want to see, and the incorrect behaviours we don’t want to see. Ulysses students have been focusing on 'Care for your school' by talking about the ways we can help our school be a cleaner place. Students were working together to keep our community a clean learning environment. 

Thank you all for your ongoing support and we hope to finish the year off strong,

King Regards,

3/4 Ulysses Team,

Declan, Rebecca, Linda, Kellee and Dina.