Foundation News

Dear Foundation Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to Week 6  of Term 2!

A big thank you to the parents for your continued support in dropping your child off at the door and giving them the space to independently organise themselves for the day. This practice is key to helping your child develop important life skills and fosters their independence.

Learning Focuses

Below is what we have been focusing on with our learning this term. 

English 

Students have been growing more confident with the routines of our English block. We’ve been revisiting previously learned sounds and practising handwriting with lowercase letters. Recently, we introduced the sounds /h/, /b/, /f/, /l/, /ff/, /ll/ and /ss/. Using these, students have been forming words such as hip, bin, frog, lap and huff. They’ve been working on identifying the individual sounds in words and blending them to read the whole word. In addition, students have been learning to recognise and use the high-frequency words the, is, a and no.

Literature/ National Stimulus Storytime

Foundation students enthusiastically joined in on the National Simultaneous Storytime, a special event that promotes a love of reading and storytelling across the country. With bright eyes and eager smiles, the young learners gathered together to listen to this year’s chosen picture book The Truck Cat written by Deborah Frenkel, enjoying the rhythm, characters, and colorful illustrations as the story came to life. The shared experience helped foster a sense of community, excitement, and early literacy, giving students a chance to engage with storytelling in a fun and meaningful way. 

Knowledge

This term, our students completed an engaging unit on the five senses. Through a variety of hands-on learning activities, they explored how each sense plays an important role in helping us navigate and understand the world around us. A highlight of the unit was an exciting incursion presented by Mad About Science, which provided students with an interactive and enriching experience to deepen their understanding of the five senses. The program sparked curiosity and reinforced key concepts in a fun and memorable way.

Maths 

Over the past few weeks, students have been practising one-to-one correspondence to count objects accurately. In addition, they have been learning how whole numbers can be broken into two parts. More recently, we have started a new unit - Subtraction. In this unit, students are using hands-on materials to demonstrate their understanding of breaking apart the whole to make their number smaller. We also have begun our unit on Ordinal Numbers, where students will understand the position or order of objects, using vocabulary such as first, second, and third. 

CATS:  Throughout the term, your child has/ will complete a Common Assessment Task (CAT). This task will give you a snapshot of your child’s progress in their learning journey. You will be able to access this, along with other important information, via Compass. A notification will be sent once they are available for you to view. 

Reminders

Home Readers: 

Your child's teacher will send home their take-home readers. Each child will receive two books for the week, which you can help them read at home. A diary will also be provided for you to record your child’s daily reading. The reader bag should go home every day and be returned to class each day. The teacher will check the diary daily, and we will celebrate key reading milestones, such as 25 nights of reading, in the classroom. Reading every day will help your child reinforce what they’ve learned in school. Encourage your child to segment and blend the sounds in the words they are decoding (e.g., s/i/t, sit). Don’t forget to record their reading in the diary!

Library 

Students are now able to borrow books from the library once a week during their scheduled library time. To do so, they must bring their satchel on their library day. Each student may borrow one book and must return it the following week before they can borrow another. The borrowed book can also be recorded in their diary and used for their nightly reading.

Pick up and Drop off: We kindly ask that you allow your child to enter the classroom independently with all their belongings. This helps to build their independence and supports the development of important life skills, such as responsibility. If someone other than you or your child’s listed guardians will be picking up your child, please ensure they are added as an approved emergency contact. Our friendly administration team can assist you with this at the school office. This process helps ensure your child’s safety and supports clear communication between teachers, parents, and carers. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

School Hats 

During Term 2 and 3, it is not a requirement for students to wear hats while playing outside. However, if you would prefer your child to continue wearing their hat, they are welcome to do so.

Permission forms:

A friendly reminder to check with the office whether all necessary school-based forms have been completed. These forms include photo approval, technology agreement, head lice check, and local walking excursion consent. Without parental permission, students will be unable to participate in technology-related activities, and your child’s classroom teacher will require confirmation regarding the permission to take photos of your child. We appreciate your support in ensuring these forms are submitted.

Important dates:

5th of June - Curriculum Day

6th of June - Curriculum Day

9th of June - King's Birthday Public Holiday

Home Learning Ideas

Your child's classroom teacher has sent home a login for Little Learners Love Literacy. These logins can be found in your reading diary. Encourage your child to log in and read the vast amount of decodable books available online.  It provides extra reading material each week extra to  your child’s take home readers.  It has some great games and provides your child with comprehension questions.

Some other ideas of things you can work on at home:

• Practise writing words with the letters we have learnt in the classroom. (see above)
• Have your child practise writing their name, lowercase letters and using scissors correctly.
• Ask your child questions about the text they have just read e.g. who is the character? What was the setting?
• Practise counting and writing numerals to and from 10.

Thank you again for your continued support, if you have any questions, please ask your classroom teacher.

From the Foundation team.