UPA

UPA has had a fantastic start to the year. Term 1 has been busy and active. We have been building classroom connections and learning our daily routines. Students have enjoyed participating in various activities about our body in our Discovery unit.

We loved having a few Special persons to come talk to us about their ‘younger’ years and sparked lots of discussion what it will be like when we grow up.

UPA has participated in activities that have challenged our bodies and mind in various ways such as learning new skills at YMCA, making chocolate as a kind gift for a staff member, taking part in activities like relaxation, drawing, yoga and sensory play for our wellbeing and understanding how being active and making healthy choices help our body to grow.

Lots of our class discussions and writing were formed from our experiences each week. Students used our photos to help develop their language for their sentences. Students continue to practice their letter sound knowledge when spelling and reading unknown words. We have also been working on our sentence building by using our alien talk who, what doing, what and what like to add more detail to our sentence.

This term we have been understanding Time and duration of time. We had lots of fun looking at various ways to measure time, using sand timers, visual timers and counting out loud to measure how long it takes us to complete an activity. We compared our findings to see if it mattered which timer we used. Students have also been using a daily calendar each morning to keep track of our day of the week, date and our daily schedule.

Students were given the task to find out what time they woke up each morning, and it was amazing to see the discussion and comparison in our morning chat to see who got up the earliest and the latest before school started. It was clear I was up the earliest at 5:30am and the latest we had was 7:30am.

With Julia our OT we have been learning about introception and how our body reacts to our feelings. We have been exploring different body parts and participating in experiments such as placing an ice cube on our hands and describing how it feels. With Adrianna we continue to practise expanding our sentences and using location language.

It has been a fabulous term 1 getting to know all the students.

UPB

It has been a busy and productive first term in UPB. As many students are new to Upper Primary or the school, we have spent time learning about the timetables, play areas and routines. We also talked about the school’s expectations and how we show them through our daily activities. It has been awesome to see students’ big smiles every day and their friendships grow day by day. As we explored the topic of our body, we have done lots of fun and meaningful activities from chatting with our family members, doing gymnastics at the YMCA to trying out healthy food. We also explored a variety of sensory play and reflect on how our body feels about them.

To help students understand body cues, we started explicitly learning about different parts of our body and the feelings we might experience.

All those wonderful activities provide rich opportunities for us to talk and write about. Students have worked very hard using their letter sounds to read and write words. We looked at different elements in the sentence so that we can deliver a complete message.

In Maths, we have learned about time and practised our number skills. On top of knowing the numbers, we have worked on connecting numbers with quantities.

Thanks everyone for a great start and look forward to more adventures next term!

UPC

It has been an adventurous first term in UPC, as all of the students are new to Upper Primary we have learnt a lot about the different timetables, classes, play areas and expectations. There have also been lots of new friendships being made as well as old ones maintained.

We started the term by participating in a variety of ‘get to know you’ activities as well as understanding the Student Expectations at Concord. We enjoyed making slime and playdough for the class as well as creating posters to decorate. Our Language Experiences have seen us engage in authentic learning opportunities. We loved having our special visitors who answered questions and taught us about life in different times. We made chocolates to give to others, as an act of kindness and explored how love is shown in different countries and cultures. There is no doubt that our favourite experience was doing gymnastics at the YMCA where we learnt some new tricks and got out of our comfort zones.

In Maths, we have been learning about time and practicing our number skills. Next term we will explore a range of areas within number and place value.

During Social Competencies we have learnt about Student Expectations, personal organisational skills and feelings. This will continue in Term 2.

We have also enjoyed participating in the Electives program and are looking forward to trying new electives next term.

UPC are off to a great start to the year!

UPD

It has been a busy and productive first term in UPD, full of learning opportunities and authentic experiences. The students have thoroughly enjoyed many of the language experiences that have provided a context for oral language and writing.

At the beginning of the term we enjoyed reading the text “Kakadu Jack” together and making fruit kebabs. On Pancake Day it was fun to have a flip-a-thon and see how many pikelets we could flip in a one minute time frame. One of the most special experiences, was inviting grandparents to our classrooms to ask informative questions about life when they were younger. The students were enthralled by the answers and life how it used to be. The students even enjoyed dressing up as an older person.

Making chocolates to give to others as an act of kindness, also provided opportunities to discuss how love is expressed in different cultures around the world. The students were lucky enough to visit the Macleod YMCA in Week 7 to engage in a variety of physical activities that related to our text “Be Careful”. The students proved to be courageous and brave on all the gym equipment.

During our Discovery Unit the students have visited the Discovery Centre and taken advantage of all the sensory activities, such as playing in the sand, swinging on a hammock and listening to bird song.

In Maths, we have focused on telling the Time, as this is an important life skill.

During Social Competencies lessons we have discussed the Student Expectations and focused on personal organisational skills and following schedules and timetables.

Thank you to all the students for such a great start to the year!

UPE

What an unbelievably busy start to the school year 2023 has been. The students in UPE have shown a positive attitude towards their learning, across the curriculum areas. Each week they have enjoyed creating, discovering and exploring the different language experiences and used those experiences to further develop their vocabulary, speaking and listening and writing skills.

The students enjoyed using an age progression app to see what they might look like when they enter old age and they were excited to have grandparents /special persons visit the classroom to discuss the different life stages. Students demonstrated all Concord School Values and learnt valuable life lessons when they took part in learning outside the classroom on the class excursion, where they caught the train to and from the YMCA.

In Maths, students applied their knowledge to further develop their number and time skills.

It has been a pleasure seeing the students develop meaningful friendships, step out of their comfort zones, and striving to achieve their very best.

They should all be so proud of their achievements in Term 1.

UPF

While we have only been together as UPF for 10 weeks, we have learnt so much about each other. Our class is energetic, kind and eager to learn. Students have embraced every opportunity that comes their way. The Language Experiences have been the springboard for reading and writing and students looked forward to discovering what Mondays bring. Here are some of our class favourites:

"I liked making animal face toast". Cassie

"We went to the YMCA. I jumped on the trampoline." - Andreas

"I liked going on the train". - Simba

"Angel came".- Matilda

"Making chocolates was my favourite". - Lucas

"I loved yoga!" - Kale

Finally, thank you to our class leaders Isabella and Cassie for taking on the roles and responsibilities of Class Captain and SRC representative in Term 1.

Have a wonderful break and we can’t wait to see everyone in Term 2.

Michelle, Alex & Amber

UPG

The students in UPG have had a wonderful start to the Year 2023. They have absolutely loved our language experiences including a train trip to YMCA, hut building and making our own smoothies and animal fruit toast. The students have worked hard to improve their Literacy skills through our Little Learners program and have begun to create interesting sentences by including ‘What Like’ words. In Maths, the students continued to develop their understanding of time and are busy consolidating their place value knowledge. I look forward to working with the students in UPG next term!

UPH

We have had an amazing start to our year! We have focused on making new friends and taking on responsibilities within the classroom and section. We loved our Language Experience to the Macleod YMCA and explored our own fears and challenges. A highlight of our term was making chocolate freckles and cards to show love to our friends at school. We look forward to another great term! Well done UPH!

ALLIED HEALTH

Occupational Therapist: Julia Cassin

It has been an amazing start to the year for Upper Primary! We have been completing experiments to help us notice how our body is feeling and build our emotional regulation skills. Hartley the cat has also visited us while we work on our handwriting. Great work UP!

Speech Therapist: Adrianna Galioto

Well done to the students in Upper Primary for a great first term of learning! It has been wonderful to support students with their speaking and writing skills. They should be so proud of their complete sentences using a range of interesting words associated with our body and how we change and grow. Great job Upper Primary!

Rachel Morgan Kirsten Telford

Leading Teacher Leading Teacher

Teaching and Learning Wellbeing and Engagement

Upper Primary

Issue 1 · 05 Apr 2023

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