Prep

Reading 

This week in Literacy, students have been building their reading and spelling skills by working with CVCC and CCVC words, as well as exploring tricky words using visual prompts and beginning sounds. We have been practising how to spell sounds and digraphs, identify vowel sounds, and use the ‘ngk’ sound when reading and writing. Students have also been learning how to add the ‘s’ suffix to make plurals and read words that end with this suffix. These skills have supported them to read and spell words using learnt sounds and to recognise tricky words both aloud and in print.

Students have been applying their knowledge by reading sentences that include CVCC, CCVC, and tricky words, and by writing their own sentences using capital letters and full stops. They have also worked on identifying how many sounds are in each word and naming the sounds they can hear. Through guided practice and the use of reading prompts, students are becoming more confident in decoding new words, recognising tricky words, and applying their growing phonics knowledge to their independent reading and writing.

Maths

In Maths this fortnight, students have been exploring two-digit numbers in depth. They have been learning to compare and order numbers by looking closely at the tens and ones digits, noticing which numbers are larger or smaller and explaining how they know. We’ve also continued developing their problem-solving skills by working with single and double place-value problems. Students are practising using reasoning language such as “I know…” and “because…” to explain their thinking and show how the tens and ones help them arrive at an answer.

We have also been learning about time, focusing on identifying long and short durations in everyday events. Students have been comparing the length of different activities, using hands-on experiences such as timing actions or observing how long classroom routines take. They are becoming more confident using words like longer, shorter, took more time and took less time to describe and compare durations.

To bring this learning together, students have been solving simple problems using direct comparison of duration. They have been using what they observe—such as which event finishes first or which takes more time—to justify their answers. These experiences are helping them build strong foundations for understanding time and supporting their growing confidence when explaining their mathematical thinking.

Writing 

Our Prep students have continued to make wonderful progress in their writing this term. We have been extending our work with Colourful Semantics to help students build clear, detailed sentences. Using the who, what, what doing, what, and where prompts has supported students to confidently structure their ideas and add more information to their writing.

Students have been challenged with new picture scenes, encouraging them to look closely, think deeply, and describe what is happening in greater detail. They have enjoyed discussing the characters in the pictures, the actions taking place, and the different settings before turning these ideas into sentences.

We have also continued to build strong early writing foundations. Students are practising stretching out words, listening carefully for the sounds they can hear, and matching these to the correct letters. It has been fantastic to see many children independently attempting tricky words and taking pride in their growing skills.

Their confidence is shining through as they take risks, try new vocabulary, and celebrate their progress. We are so proud of their persistence, creativity, and the enthusiasm they bring to each writing session.

We look forward to seeing their writing continue to flourish as they develop richer ideas and stronger sentence structure throughout the rest of the year.

SEL and other 

This week in Integrated, our Prep students explored the different parts of a plant and why each part is important. We used an interactive PowerPoint to help us identify roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. Students also learned about edible and inedible plants, as well as the difference between native and introduced plants. During class discussions and partner activities, students shared their wonderings about plants and participated in a fun “Food Collector” game to sort foods into the correct plant parts.

In Respectful Relationships, our focus was on keeping our bodies safe and understanding what to do if someone touches us in a way that makes us feel uncomfortable. Using the character Sam the puppet, we explored the important strategy of No, Go, Tell—saying no, getting away, and telling a trusted adult. Students practised using strong, confident voices to say “No,” and identifying adults who help keep them safe. We finished with a cheerful, fun movement break to reset after this important learning.

This week we began exploring the Culture of South Korea. Students learned that culture includes our language, food, special celebrations, clothing, and traditions. We compared familiar aspects of our own culture with the unique features of Korean culture. Through videos and our South Korea PowerPoint, students learned about Hangul (the Korean alphabet), traditional hanbok clothing, Korean celebrations such as Lunar New Year and Chuseok, and delicious foods like rice, noodles, and kimchi. Students completed a culture worksheet and enjoyed colouring the South Korean flag and K-pop themed pages.