Prep Wonga Weekly

INFORMATION

🗓️ Upcoming Dates:

Thursday 31st October: Grandparents Day 

Grandparents Day

🍎 Transition 2025

This coming Wednesday (23rd October) we have our second Prep 2025 Transition session. Like last time, students need to go straight to the BER with their school bag, where they will be met by the Grade 6 teachers. They will work with their buddies and return to their classroom after recess.

We were amazed by resilience that our Preps showed at the first session!

🗞️ News Groups:Using my five senses at home (a planning document will be provided)

*Please note: Prep A News Groups will be on Friday this term

CURRICULUM

📚 Phonemic awareness: reading and phonics

Students will complete two UFLI sessions this week (4 lessons and an assessment).

Students will learn to read and spell compound words and closed syllables. They will read decodable words, phrases and texts. They will also review the following heart words: been, into, friend

And learn the heart words: two, does, many, any

What can you do at home?

-Assist your child to read their 'take home' book each night 

-Help your child learn to read and spell their Heart Words 

-Explore the Reading Eggs library and Fast Phonics to read decodable texts

-Continue to revise sounds on the sound/letter ring

Optional UFLI Home Practice page 

Monday & Tuesday learning: compound words

Wednesday & Thursday learning: closed syllables 

📝 Literature: reading responses and writing 

The mentor text is A Year on our Farm. Students will use this text to form the basis of their literary responses, such as listening to the story and recording an event that occurs in each season (according to the book). 

Students will be introduced to 'dotted thirds' writing paper. Dotted thirds is the paper that students will write on in Grade 1. At this stage, it is just an introduction to the concept and learning where the letters sit in the lines.

What can you do at home?

-Reinforce correct entry and exit points for letters if your child writes at home

-Provide authentic opportunities for your child to write at home eg. writing birthday cards, shopping lists and keeping score in games.

🔢  Maths 

Students will explore the number concept of money. They will talk about the features of Australian coins and order them according to their value. They will make connections to addition by using a simple catalogue to 'buy' items for a lunch order.

Mathematical vocabulary used: coins, notes, value, same as, total, dollars, cents, features, cost, change, shopping, 

What can you do at home? 

-If you have coins around your house, look at them and talk about their features (eg. Gold or silver? Is it round or not? What is the animal?) 

-Play this online recognition game (it will need some parent assistance!)

https://aplusteacherclub.com.au/collection/australian-coins-interactive-game

-Practise writing numbers at home, ensuring that numbers are not reversed! 

🌏 CBL - Curiosity

We will continue working in our  'Curious Scientist' rotations to explore biological, chemical and earth / space sciences. Students will work in mixed groups* to explore all of these areas each week. 

In each rotation, students will explore the following concepts this week:

Biological Science: Turtle life cycles

Chemical Science: Predicting and observing the change of states of matter in jelly

Earth / Space Science: Exploring weather and rain

*We would like to address the concern regarding CBL groups. These mixed groups are made up of students from Prep A, B and C. We have done this so that students can re-connect with kinder friends, make new connections and get a taste of what it might feel like to be with a different group of people next year. Students have not been placed in grade groups for these sessions. CBL groups will be changed every few weeks to allow for different social opportunities. 

We assure you that these groups are fluid and changing, and they are not Grade 1 classes.