Prep

Dear Prep Students and Families,

The Prep Teaching Team are incredibly proud of our courageous students for embracing their first term of schooling. We are excited to share with you the wonderful learning that has taken place in Week Nine and Week Ten of Term One.

Reading

Students have continued to develop their understanding of rhyming words whilst utilising finger play, which helps children develop attention skills, imagination skills as well as improve their motor skills and memory. This also strengthens their early phonological awareness. They have also further explored letter names and sounds, focusing on making connections between letters and the sounds they represent. In addition, students have been continuing to learn important concepts of print, such as how books work, where to begin reading, and how text moves from left to right. Students have also been practising independent reading by choosing books from their book boxes.

Writing

In Writing, students have been continuing to build their understanding of how sentences are structured. We have been practising forming letters and exploring what makes a complete sentence. Students are encouraged to have a go at writing their own sentences by listening for beginning sounds and the sounds they can hear, and recording these in their writing.

In Week nine, students wrote simple sentences about themselves, including their name, favourite animal, and favourite colour. In Week 10, the focus shifted to writing sentences about shared experiences. We are very proud of the effort each student has shown this term.

Mathematics

In Mathematics, students have been developing their understanding of “trusting the count,” which involves naming, representing, and counting numbers, and recognising that the last number counted tells how many are in a collection. We have been using hands-on materials such as counters and unifix cubes to support learning. Students are building confidence in their counting, understanding that they do not need to recount if they have counted carefully and accurately. These activities help to strengthen early number sense through engaging and interactive experiences.

Unit of Inquiry – Who We Are

Within our Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are, students continued exploring the central idea that understanding ourselves and others helps us learn and grow. Discussions focused on what makes us unique, as well as how we are similar and different, and how our choices can impact our learning and relationships.

We celebrated Harmony Day, where students were invited to wear their cultural clothing to school. It was wonderful to see students proudly sharing their cultures, and everyone had a fantastic time.

We also enjoyed an early celebration of Easter, where students came together for a fun and energetic dance party.

Wellbeing

In Week nine of Wellbeing, we continued to focus on being brave, kind and respectful. Through a range of discussions and activities, students enjoyed creating their own caring, kind and respectful superheroes and proudly shared their creations with their peers.

Celebrations

We recently celebrated Harmony Day, where students enjoyed wearing orange and sharing what belonging means to them. It was a wonderful opportunity for our Prep students to recognise and celebrate diversity within our school community.

To finish the term, we also held an early Easter celebration. Students took part in a range of Easter craft activities and were very excited by a special visit from the Easter Bunny. The entire Prep cohort then came together for a fun dance party to celebrate the end of the term.

REMINDERS:

Term break is from the 3rd April to the 19th April. Students return to school on Monday 20th April.
Prep students will begin using iPads in Term Two. Your child’s iPad will need to be configured by our IT team to enable them to use them at school.
Students are expected to bring their satchel to school EVERY DAY.
Please provide a set of spare clothing for those little unforeseen accidents.
Please ensure all of your child’s belongings are clearly labelled with their first and last name.
Snack and lunch times are 20 minutes long. Please encourage your child to eat snack/lunch within 20 minutes as this will help them to follow the school routine.

Kind Regards

The Prep Team