Curriculum News

English

Reading and Viewing

In Reading, students will be exposed to the Fontas and Pinnell reading comprehension wheel. The students will be continuing to broaden their understanding of comprehension strategies through the Beanie Bear Program. These include making predictions and connections with the text. The students will be expanding their knowledge of blending and segmenting, while building upon their knowledge of the high frequency words. This term we will be revising the Jolly Phonics program.

Writing

In Writing, we will be using our SMART Foundation Spelling program to introduce onset and rhyme, syllables and sentence structure. Students will be building upon their knowledge of digraphs and learning about our vowel letters and simple spelling patterns. Students will be continuing to experiment with writing features such as spaces between words, capital letters and fullstops. Students will explore the genre and purpose of writing- writing to inform and writing to perform a functional task. The students will also participate in formal handwriting lessons during the term and learn about upper and lower case letters. 

Speaking and Listening

The students will complete activities that focus on listening and speaking during Literacy activities. From week 3, students will also share in Language Experience. Please see the end of this newsletter for a roster of Language Experience topics for the term.

Maths

Number and Algebra 

Foundation students will continue to develop their skills in counting, identifying and ordering numbers. Students will also build on their practical strategies to solve simple addition and subtraction problems. We will begin to learn about simple repeated patterns and explore the use of money through play-based scenarios. 

Measurement and Geometry

In Measurement and Geometry, Foundation students will sort, describe and name 3D shapes. Students will also compare and order the duration of events using the everyday language of time. They will also learn about the simple features of analogue and digital clocks. 

Inquiry/RE

In Inquiry, students will be investigating Earth and Space Sciences. In our unit ‘The World Around Me’ students will be exploring the observable changes that occur in the sky and landscape. They will also be investigating the ways in which daily and seasonal changes affect everyday life. In Religion, students will explore the significance of being made in the image and likeness of God. They will celebrate the uniqueness of each individual person, and learn that God has infinite love for all of us. They will examine the principles of Morality and Justice, and question what happens when others are not treated fairly. Students will also be exploring the Indigenous perspective of seasons and caring for our common home. 

Wellbeing

In our Social and Emotional Learning sessions this term, students will gain positive coping skills to solve and manage everyday problems.