Prep News

Important

School Nurse

Please see below some important information about our upcoming School Nurse visit. You will have received information about these visits last week in your child's reading satchel. We are very lucky to have a School Nurse visit so early in the year and would very much appreciate you filling out the documentation ASAP. 

Often the School Nurse picks up things that have been unnoticed such as the need for glasses or hearing difficulties. If these things are picked up quickly, children will have much more success in the classroom. This is a FREE service. 

So far, we have had 19 consent forms submitted out of 54. Please fill in the online consent form ASAP. If you do not consent, please mark that you do not consent on the online form. If you would like a paper version of the consent form, please come to see us.

Prep Reading Information Night

Thank you to the parents who were able to join us at the Reading Information Night on Tuesday. We hope you found the evening valuable and are excited to support your child's reading throughout the year! Attached is a copy of the presentation for your reference. 

Naming Jumpers

We have had a few cooler mornings recently and students have begun wearing their jumpers. Please make sure your childs jumper is named, we already have unnamed jumpers in our classrooms. 

What we've been up to…

We have had lots of fun building our fine motor skills, learning the letters m, s, f, and a and all about the numbers 1, 2, and 3.

Start Up Performance

Thank you to all parents and families who were able to make it to our whole school start up performance. We had so much fun learning our 'I like it loud!' dance with our buddies. If you couldn't make it to the performance, please find below some photos of our superstars!

Reminders

Wednesdays in February

A reminder that our last Wednesday rest day is the 26th of February. 

Teddy Bear Picnic

To celebrate our first Wednesday at school (March 5th), we will be holding a teddy bear picnic. Prep students are invited to bring their favourite teddy bear to school for the day. Please ensure it is clearly named. These will stay inside the classrooms at play times. 

We will also be decorating teddy bear biscuits. Please let your classroom teacher aware of any dietary requirements ASAP.

No peanuts at school for Prep to Grade 2

Please read the Compass News Feed post published by Brett Parkes on February 4th, if you haven't already.

Notes home

Wellbeing Dog and Swimming forms are due back to your child's Prep teacher ASAP.

Fine Motor Development

At this stage of Prep, we put a big focus on building our fine motor skills as we begin to use pencils, scissors and glue more regularly. During our transitions session last year, we sent home a small tub of playdough that can be used to complete these activities. Anything you can do at home in regards to this will be beneficial!

Below is some information that explains the importance of fine motor skills:

What are fine motor skills?

Fine motor movements are the actions performed with the small muscles in the hands, fingers and wrist. Whether your child is holding a pencil, holding a pair of scissors or putting clothes on their doll, they will require precise movements of the small muscles to accomplish the task satisfactorily. Fine motor skills are a child's ability to control their fine motor muscles.

How do they develop?

Fine motor skills, as with gross motor skills, develop only through practise and more practise. And as small muscles repeat motions over and over and over again, those muscles remember the movement (called "muscle memory") and the movements become automatic.

What is the importance of developing fine motor skills?

Fine motor skills directly impact on a child’s ability to learn how to properly hold and use a pencil and write. Using scissors correctly is another lifelong skill that is reliant on fine motor skills. Your child will need well-developed muscles in his thumb, index finger, middle finger and wrist to open and close the blades of the scissors.

Upcoming Fortnight 

During Literacy in week 5, we will learn to say the most common sound for and to write 'p, c, t and i'. Then in week 6, we will revise the sounds we have learnt over the last fortnight and begin to use these sounds to write and make three letter words. 

Please find below a link to some information on building your child's literacy skills:

https://www.vic.gov.au/how-build-your-childs-literacy-skills-birth-grade-2

In Mathematics, we will be learning about the numbers 4-8. We will also learn about counting a collection of objects, bigger and smaller numbers, number order and subitising. 

In Topic, we will look at respecting others and looking after our things. We will also look at the magic of making mistakes.

In Respectful Relationships, we will discuss what our emotions sound like and we will continue to talk about what causes these emotions.

Through SWPBS, we will continue learning about our School Values, Respect, Resilience, and Responsibility.