Prep Community News
Dear Prep Families,
It’s the end of Term 1, and we are so proud of the growth our Prep students have made so far! Our students have done an amazing job at settling into school routines and showing increasing confidence and independence in the classroom. It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm for learning as they participate in our lessons and activities. Below is a snapshot of what we have been learning these past couple of weeks.
Reading
In our reading lessons, we have been learning the /a/, /p/, and /i/ sounds and practicing identifying words that begin with these sounds. We have also been practicing oral blending, where students listen to individual sounds and blend them together to make a word (for example: /c/ /a/ /t/ → cat). These skills help to build your child’s ability to read and write.
You can support your child at home by practicing the /a/ , /p/, and /i/ sounds and thinking of words that begin with this sound, such as apple, ant, or ambulance, pirate, panda or pig, igloo, insect, or itchy. You can also practice oral blending by slowly saying the sounds in a word and asking your child to blend them together.
Click this link to practice all of the sounds we have learned so far in prep (beginning to 1minute 10 seconds)
Writing
In our writing lessons, we have continued learning about sentence structure. We have been practicing identifying the ‘who’ (the subject), the ‘do’ (the action), and the ‘where’ in a sentence. We are building these skills orally to help students understand how sentences work before writing them independently. Students have now learned the word noun, and understand that a noun is a person, place, animal, or thing in a sentence.
You can practice this skill at home when reading together by asking:
- Who is in the story?
- What are they doing?
- Where are they?
- Is the character a person, thing, or animal?
We have also continued to work on our Story Champs stories to support students’ understanding of the character, problem, character’s feeling, action, and solution. It has been great to see the confidence the students are gaining in their storytelling and their ability to sequence the events from the story.
Maths
In Maths, we have been learning how to write the numerals 7, 8, and 9. Students have been practicing tracing and writing these numbers independently using our number formation strategies. You can support your child at home by practicing counting small collections of objects and writing the numbers 7, 8, and 9.
We are also practicing using Ten Frames to help us count and recognize collections of objects. We can use tens frames to help us subitize (recognizing how many without counting) collections of up to 10 objects.
Here is a helpful guide for supporting your child with their number formation and recognition.
Harmony Day
Two weeks ago, our prep students participated in the school-wide Harmony Day. The students had a wonderful time celebrating their own cultures and learning about other cultures around our community. We loved seeing students and teachers in their special dress, and getting to watch so many amazing cultural performances. Harmony Day reminds us that everyone belongs and should feel safe, respected, and valued. 🌏🧡
Thank you for your support!
Take Home Reading
At Tarneit Rise, we encourage students to read every night to practice their reading skills and develop a lifelong love of books.
Regular reading at home helps build confidence, fluency, and comprehension.
Each child has been allocated a specific reading satchel day, which is displayed on the door of your child’s classroom. On this day, please ensure your child brings their reading satchel or red bag so they can change their books and safely transport library books between home and school.
General Reminders
• Please make sure that all items your child brings to school are clearly labeled with their name and class (e.g., PA). This includes hats, jumpers, drink bottles, lunch boxes, and uniform items. Labeling helps us return lost items quickly.
• The first bell rings at 8:45 am, which is when students begin entering the classroom to get ready for the day. Learning begins promptly at 8:55 am, and the school day finishes at 3:10 pm.
• Recently, students have been doing a wonderful job walking into the pod independently in the mornings and building their confidence and independence. We kindly ask families to continue supporting this by allowing students to walk into the pod and classroom on their own each morning.
• Students who attend Big Childcare after school will be collected from their classroom and taken to the gym by staff.
We hope you have a wonderful break and look forward to seeing all of our Prep students on the 20th of April, ready to start Term 2 and continue a wonderful year of learning!
If you have any further questions, please contact your child’s class teacher for support.
Kind regards,
PLC Prep