Prep Team News
with Caitlin, Georgia & Claire
Hello Prep families,
We hope you all were able to relax over the long weekend and are staying out of the sometimes dreary weather. It has been a busy two weeks in Prep, filled with learning some new letters, practising our addition and subtraction, and conducting some fun (and delicious) Inquiry experiments! Winter is well and truly upon us, so a gentle reminder to please pack a jumper for your child and keep them home if they are unwell.
Reconciliation Week
On Tuesday the 26th of May, we observed National Sorry Day by listening to the story ‘Sorry Day’ being read by Trevor Jamieson. We discussed the importance of saying sorry and why the day is significant to many people across Australia. As part of our acknowledgment of Reconciliation Week (May 27th-June 3rd), we are working together with our 5/6 buddy classes to discuss the meaning of reconciliation, as well as this year’s theme ‘all in’. We encourage you to talk to the Preps about what you can do to be ‘all in’ for reconciliation. Some ideas they have come up with during our discussions include:
- Sharing with their families the First Nations stories they learn
- Listening to First Nations music
- Reading First Nations stories
- Looking at First Nations art
- Learning about First Nations Elders from the local communities
- Using traditional place names and local language
If you are looking for some resources, please check out the links below!
Geoffery Gurrumum Yunupingu song
Mad Magpie by Greg Dreise
Reconciliation Week Photos
Together with our buddy class, we have been learning about Reconciliation Week. We explored how symbols have been used in storytelling and art making for thousands of years. Drawing inspiration from different artworks, we created some of our own symbols. Using our symbols, we then created a drawing and a story to match. Here are some pictures.
Parent-teacher conferences
Please note that parent-teacher conferences are coming up on Tuesday the 23rd of June for Prep G and Prep D. Please keep an eye on Compass to book in time to see your child’s teachers. While you won’t be able to meet with Caitlin on this date, Prep S families are still welcome to book a time with the specialist teachers if you wish. We look forward to celebrating all their growth with you! Please note in the lower-primary section of our school, we ask that your children do not come in order to ensure you can ask all the questions you would like answered and we have sufficient time.
Curriculum Focus: Weeks 7 - 8
Reading - Students will continue learning about appropriate reading behaviours, including pointing to the words as we read. They will also discuss text features such as full stops and capital letters. As part of our Little Learner’s program, students begin the year learning single letter sounds, with our current focus being the /qu/, /z/, /j/ and /u/ sounds. To help us remember these sounds, we have met Queenie the quail, Zoe the zebra, Jack the jellyfish and Uncle Upton. There are songs about these characters available online, which you may like to listen to with your child at home or in the car:
Writing - Students are learning to correctly form letters and use our sound knowledge to write sentences. This fortnight we have been focusing on forming the letters ‘qu’, ‘z’, ‘j’ and ‘u’. We are also learning to read and write the heart words ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘we’, ‘to’, ‘do’ and ‘was’ this term.
Numeracy - Students are exploring addition and subtraction. We are using hands-on materials to solve problems, write these as a number sentence and apply them to problem solving activities.
Inquiry - This term, our inquiry topic is ‘What is changing around us?’ Continuing to build from the Wicked Weather incursion, we have begun conducting some experiments in the classroom and thinking about how other changes occur.
Homework - Each Monday, students will be given an activity to complete at home that relates to our weekly sound or maths focus. The activity in their ‘Home Learning Book’ will be collected each Friday. Homework in Prep should take no longer than 15 minutes.
Key dates
| Tuesday 23rd June | Parent-Teacher Conferences - 12:30pm dismissal |
Have a great weekend.
Warm regards,
The Prep Team–Caitlin Sullivan (Prep S), Claire Davies (Prep D) & Georgia Grainger (Prep G)