YEAR ONE

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School provides a range of holistic learning experiences to enable students to:

• Participate in the life and mission of the school.
• Deepen their knowledge and engagement with the Catholic faith and tradition.
• Build the capacity to continuously reason, reflectively, logically and critically.
• Embrace interdependence of human existence as global citizens, who are responsible to and for themselves and others.
• Engage in learning in a multitude of ways, through personalised and self-paced learning.

Religious Education

Our Religious Education units for Term 4 include: 

1.6 Love One Another: This unit focuses on the concept of relationships. It begins with the children’s friendship experiences and broadens to the Christian way of relating to others. It then focuses on forgiveness and gratitude in relationships.  

1.8 Advent and Christmas: This unit focuses on the seasons of Advent and Christmas. The children are told two Advent stories: ‘The  Annunciation’ and ‘The Visitation.’ Throughout these stories, the themes of hope and joyful expectation are presented. Matthew’s infancy narrative is the source of the Christmas stories told: ‘The Wise Men’ and ‘The Holy Family’s Flight into Egypt.’ Children can ponder the mystery of this wondrous birth and the plight of the Holy Family.

English

The English Literature Focus for this Term is focused on 'Character', 'Representation' and 'Imagery, Symbol and Connotation'. The following books will be our mentor texts:

• Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees
• Your Birthday Was The Best! by Maggie Hutchings, illustrated by Felicita Sala
• Chinese New Year Colours by Rich Lo

The students will continue to engage in modelled, shared and guided reading experiences to develop their decoding, fluency and comprehension skills. Students will continue fluency pairs daily to build their reading stamina. 

Writing: Year 1 students will explore different types of poems, including acrostic poems, rhyming verses, haikus, and shape poems, as they learn to express creativity through words and form.

Handwriting: Using the text ‘Writing Time 1’ the students will continue to work on their pencil grip, correct formation of letters (including starting point and direction), and correct sizing of letters. They will continue to improve writing within lines and develop a fluent handwriting style.

Phonics and Spelling: Students engage in phonics and spelling daily. Students are explicitly taught different letter/sound correspondences from the extended code. The focus of this term is on long vowels - a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e, u_e, a, e ,y, i, y, o. 

Mathematics

The students will be explicitly taught concepts from the NSW Mathematics K-10 Syllabus with a focus on using mathematical language, reasoning and understanding. Activities are differentiated to cater for all student needs and abilities. Mathematics lessons occur daily for 60 minutes including a daily review, mental arithmetic, explicit teaching and consolidation. 

The topics taught this term are:  

• Data (Week 1)
• 2D and 3D spatial structure (Weeks 2 -3)
• Geometric measure - position (Week 4)
• Combining and separating quantities (Weeks 5-6)
• Forming groups (Week 7)
• Nonspatial measure - time (Week 8)
• Representing whole number (Weeks 9-10)

Science and Technology

This term students will be investigating the topic, ‘Living World’ with a focus on the unit ‘Watch it Grow!’ Living World focuses on the features of living things, their environment and how they change and reproduce. This strand develops students’ understanding of how living things and their environment play a central role in the support for and survival of humans. Students specifically focus on the lifecycle and features of plants. Towards the end of the term, students will complete a design and make activity where they apply their knowledge of the needs of living things. 

History

This term, the students will continue to develop their understanding of ‘Present and Past Family Life.’ They focus on present and past family life within the context of their world. Students learn similarities and differences in family life by comparing the present with the past. They begin to explore the links and the changes that occur over time and are introduced to the use of historical sources. 

Personal Development, Health and Physical Education

Gymnastics

This term K-2 Students will participate in a 6 week gymnastics program. The program is led by Fit Futures. Students will develop essential skills, enjoy expert instruction, and engage in activities designed to boost confidence and fitness. This program aligns with the PDHPE K-10 syllabus outcomes. The program is designed to enhance student's physical skills and overall fitness such as;

• Skill Development: They will have the chance to learn and practice fundamental gymnastics skills, including balance, flexibility, strength, and coordination.
• Expert Instruction: FitFutures’ experienced and certified coaches will lead the sessions, ensuring that all activities are both safe and enjoyable.
• Engaging Activities: The program will feature a variety of activities tailored to different skill levels, from basic gymnastic movements to more advanced techniques.
• Confidence Building: Through fun and supportive exercises, students will gain confidence in their abilities, enhance their body awareness, and improve their overall fitness.

Our Swimming program is run by Neilson’s Swim School at Caringbah Leisure Centre. They provide qualified, experienced instructors who teach water safety and race readiness. The swimming program is part of the school curriculum and is compulsory for all children. The intensive swimming program will run for 5 days. Each lesson is 30 minutes. 

Week 5 (Monday 11 November - Friday 15 November)

1B: 11:00 am - 11:30 am

1G: 11:30 am - 12:00 am

1W: 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm

In sports lessons, Year 1 students will learn various modified sports, fostering a deeper understanding of teamwork and sportsmanship. Through drills, games, and friendly competitions, students will develop their skills while emphasising the values of respect and fair play. 

Peer Support will commence this term and run for five weeks. This year's Module is, “Strong Together”.

The module aims to enhance student safety and wellbeing by promoting positive relationships, positive behaviours and expectations. It leverages peer-led leadership, encouraging older students to guide their younger peers with engaging activities. The approach emphasises strengths-based strategies and calls for a whole-school commitment to ensure sustained effectiveness in creating a safe and supportive school environment that aligns beautifully with our SPBL and Mercy Values.

This mini module aims to develop leadership as well as:

• Students to know their strengths.
• Establish expectations of positive behaviour and what it looks like.
• Clarify how to take action to make things better.
• Develop resilience.

Open Parachute will then continue for the remainder of the Term. Open Parachute aims to provide practical support on mental health to students. The program aims to reduce stigma and generate authentic dialogue in classrooms about the real issues students face. The psychological skills-building exercises aim to increase empathy, self-compassion, self-awareness, mental health literacy, and self-efficacy in students.

Amadeus Music Program

Students will continue their participation in the Amadeus Music Education program. Students perform through music learning experiences, demonstrating a greater awareness of their capabilities in using their voice and various sound sources to make music. Students will perform using their voices and various sound sources to make music.  They will also begin to notate their ideas using shapes and symbols

Creative Arts

In Drama, students will work in small groups to create performances using mime and movement. They will develop their vocal expression and projection. Students will adapt scenes taken from Pamela Allen books and create dramatic scenes based on their knowledge and interpretation of the stories.

In Visual Arts, students will create artworks based on the Science, Religious Education and English programs. Students will work with various mediums including watercolours, oil pastels and paint. 

Mandarin

Our students continue to enjoy participating in the Chinese language program called the Meg Language Program. The Meg Curriculum is written by the co-author of the Australian Curriculum. All students and teachers will participate in the digital learning platform via Zoom weekly sessions with educators in China.

Homework 

Homework books are due each Friday.

Students are to complete: 

• Reading: Students are to be reading for 10 minutes each night. They can change their home reader each day if necessary. Reading Diaries are to be returned weekly.
• Spelling: Students complete their spelling words and sentences in their homework books. 
• Mathematics Homework: Students will receive a worksheet each week in their homework book which covers topics previously taught in class. This homework activity consolidates students' mathematical skills and knowledge. 
• Soundwaves Website Activities (optional)

We look forward to working with you and your child this term. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher via a note or by email through Compass.  

Miss Dominique Vuaran (1Blue)

Ms Chonteau Poot (1Gold)

Miss Holly Pooley (1White)

Important Dates for Year 1

Sport Day

Sport days for Year 1 are as follows

1Blue –   Monday and Friday

1Gold –   Monday and Friday

1White –  Monday and Friday

Library

Each week, students will have the opportunity to borrow books from our school library. Please ensure your child brings their Library Bag to school on their allocated day.   

1Blue –    Friday

1Gold –    Friday

1White –   Friday

2024 - School Term 4

Parent calendar available at this link