Prep Curriculum News

Term 4, 2024

Prep Term 4 Curriculum Update

Welcome to Term 4! It’s hard to believe that we’re already in the final term of Prep—this year has truly flown by. The Prep teachers are so proud of the progress that the students have made throughout the year. It has been a pleasure to see their confidence and skills grow since they first started school.

Term 4 is going to be action-packed with exciting learning experiences! We can’t wait to continue this journey together as we make the most of the final term.

The Prep Swimming Program is just around the corner, and the students are eagerly looking forward to it! There’s already excitement in the air about boarding the bus with friends, even for the short trip to the pool. We’re also excited to see them practice their organisational skills, from taking care of their swimming bags to independently drying off and getting dressed after their lessons. It promises to be a fun and rewarding experience for everyone.

The Prep students are also very excited about their first ever school excursion, to the Melbourne Aquarium, which is later this term. In class, they have been very enthusiastic when learning about different sea creatures and the ways that humans can impact on their habitats.

Other events to look forward to this term include the Drama Toolbox Incursion where students will get to dress up and pretend to be sea creatures and the whole school music evening where the Prep children will perform an item. 

Later in the term, the Prep students will have the opportunity to visit the Year 1 classrooms and meet the teachers. This will help ease their transition to Year 1 in 2025 and give them a glimpse of what to expect in the year ahead. It’s an exciting step as they prepare for the next stage of their school journey!

Unit of Inquiry

Sharing the planet

People’s use of the sea impacts upon the creatures that call it their home

Lines of Inquiry

• Human use of the Ocean
• Impact on creatures and their habitats
• Our responsibility to the environment

Literacy

During Term 4 the Preps will continue to expand their reading and spelling knowledge through our SMART Spelling approach. Our weekly words have become longer with multiple sounds in each word. Words such as 'teacher' and 'feather' each have 4 sounds and include multiple digraphs, which is when two letters work together to make one sound. 

We are so proud of how much the Preps have learnt this year and how far they have come with their spelling!

In Prep, we start each morning with ‘Heggerty,’ a program designed to strengthen the children’s phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness helps children isolate, blend, segment, and manipulate sounds in spoken words. The students have been enjoying these quick, engaging word games, which make learning fun while building essential reading skills.

The Prep students will also be exposed to a variety of text types and activities to further consolidate their reading skills. They will continue to develop their appreciation of literature through big book activities, which will develop their comprehension skills and encourage them to practise fluency and expression when reading aloud. 

This term we will be reading a variety of non-fiction texts and watching some engaging documentaries to learn more about different sea creatures.  Students will be using this knowledge to write facts about the sea animals and label diagrams of their body parts. 

The students will continue to learn to write on the dotted third lines this term and further practise correct letter formation. The children have been very excited to begin a new writing book with dotted thirds on each page in preparation for Year 1.

Speaking & Listening

This term the Prep students will continue to communicate through the use of Circle Time and Show and Tell sessions.  Students are asked to bring in items of interest related to our unit of inquiry to share with their grade.

In class, the students will use their speaking skills to present a short oral presentation about a sea creature that they have researched with the help of their Year 5 buddy.  Students will be encouraged to speak with a clear, confident voice and make eye contact with their audience.

They will also continue to learn the different attributes of the Learner Profile, what it means to be an effective ‘Communicator’ and to be a ‘Principled’ listener.

Numeracy

This term the Prep students will build on their knowledge of counting patterns and will practise counting and recording number patterns by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. They will continue to focus on writing numerals correctly. Real life stories and concrete materials will be used to solve addition and subtraction problems. 

The Prep students will also explore collecting data, making and interpreting simple picture and bar graphs. We will conduct class surveys and use the information to construct a variety of pictographs. They will also represent practical situations to model sharing. 

We will continue to use Mathseeds during class iPad sessions to revise and consolidate the students’ knowledge in a variety of Maths topics.

Whole-school Focus on PYP Learner Profile Attributes

October –- Inquirers

We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life.

November -Principled

We are fair, acting with integrity and honesty

We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences

 December- Knowledgeable

We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance.

Inclusive Approaches

The Resilience Project 

In Term 4 Prep students will continue working on the activities in their Resilience Project workbooks. These activities offer practical strategies to build resilience and happiness. 

We promote the values of Gratitude, Empathy & Mindfulness (GEM) in all class activities. 

Cyber Safety Project.

This term the students will be continuing with the ‘Cyber Safety Project’. The focus for the Cyber Safety Project is to provide a whole community approach focused on developing future skills, lifelong habits and self-regulation when using digital technologies for work and play. During this program the students will learn how to participate safety and responsibly in a digitally engaged world.

Special Events- Dates

Prep Swimming Program

Monday 21– Thursday 31 October

Melbourne Cup Day

Tuesday 5 November

Remembrance Day Ceremony

Monday 11 November

Curriculum/ Pupil Free Days

Tuesday 19 & Wednesday 20 November

Aquarium Excursion

Friday 22 November

Whole School Concert Evening

Thursday 28 November

Drama Toolbox Incursion

Wednesday 11 December

Last Day of Term 4

Friday 20 December Early Finish 1.30pm