Grade 1

Grayling Values:

Over the past two weeks of Positive Start, we’ve been revisiting our school values through fun stories and hands on activities. We explored each of the values, Respect, Performance, United, Open-Minded, and Daring with some great books like The Rainbow Fish, The Most Magnificent Thing, The Day You Begin, It’s Great to Work Together, and Giraffes Can’t Dance.

After reading each story we had some rich discussions and followed through with some learning in action activities. We made a Respect scale for our own class Rainbow Fish, thinking about how kindness and fairness help us build friendships. Our Performance animal superheroes reminded us to always try our best, whether we’re learning or playing. The United chain making contest showed us how powerful teamwork and communication can be, and our Open-minded goal writing helped us think about how to be open to learning new things and from others this year. Lastly, we created Daring encouragement petals to cheer on our friends and motivate them to take risks with their learning.

It’s been amazing to see how our Grade 1 students are bringing these values to life every day and showing their understanding through other classroom learning experiences. Ask your child which value has been their favourite and how they’ve been showing it at school!

Morning Circle: 

As part of our daily routine, we began each morning with Morning Circle, helping students settle in, build connections, and start their day with focus. This structured routine included an Acknowledgement of Country, greetings using a talking stick, a quick feelings check-in, and a teacher-led discussion topic.

Seeing our Grade 1 students embracing Morning Circle as a meaningful part of their day has been incredible. They actively listened, shared their thoughts, and built strong connections with classmates. This daily practice fostered active listening, respect, and teamwork, reinforcing our PROUD values while creating a safe and inclusive classroom environment. It provided students with a space to develop confidence in speaking, respect different perspectives, practice empathy, and contribute positively to the classroom community.

Morning Circle sets a positive tone for the day, ensuring students feel heard, valued, and ready to engage in learning. Ask your child what they enjoyed most about Morning Circle and how it helped them start their day!

All about me display

To help us get to know our classmates, each student created a poster about themselves. The posters featured a drawing of the student as well as a family portrait. Students also included information about their favorite things, such as colours, games, and foods. Grade 1 students demonstrated our PROUD value of performance by putting in their best effort. These posters are now displayed around the classroom, allowing us to learn more about each other and celebrate how we are all part of the same team.

Routines:

During our first two weeks at school, we have been focusing on building strong routines to help students feel confident and successful in their learning environment. One of our key focuses has been transitioning around the classroom and learning spaces in a quick, quiet, and safe way. Year 1 students have been practicing moving carefully between activities and responding to Grayling’s Focus 1, Focus 2 rally call, which helps them stop, listen, and be ready for instructions. We have also introduced clear lining-up expectations to help us move around the school respectfully, calmly and safely. In assemblies, we have been learning to show our PROUD values, demonstrating respect, active listening, and pride in our school community. The students have been doing a fantastic job following these routines, setting a great foundation for the year ahead!

Library

During Positive Start, students have been reintroduced to the library space and reminded of our expectations when we are visiting. These reminders include, speaking with a quiet voice, handling the books with respect and leaving the library as we found it. We have also introduced the use of a ‘library tag’, which students have been able to decorate in the week, have them laminated and returned back to them. They will be used each library session for students to put in the space of a book they have taken off the shelf, enabling them to easily find where they originally grabbed a book from. We are excited to start normal library sessions in Week 3, and students will be able to borrow reader books if they have brought their reader bags to school.

Respectful Relationships

During Positive Start, students in Grade 1 were invited to participate in lessons aimed at developing their emotional literacy. They discussed different emotions and how they can affect our behaviour and looked at how people around them can be affected in the same way. We discussed ways we can help our peers at school and encouraged children to perform acts of kindness to their friends throughout the day. Students will continue this work and move into developing personal resilience.