Grade 1 Community News
Hello Grade 1 families!
What a fantastic way to finish Term 1! It’s amazing to see how far the children have come in just 10 weeks. We are incredibly proud of the way they have settled into Grade 1 and embraced their learning. Below we have captured what we have been exploring over the past fortnight, along with some simple ways you can continue to support your child at home over the holiday break.
First off, congratulations to the following students on receiving their awards 🎉
InitiaLit
In InitiaLit, students have been building on their early reading and spelling skills by learning important new letter patterns. We have been focusing on the vowel teams ai and ay, as well as exploring compound words and identifying verbs.
Our new Tricky Words are: saw, friend, school, your, again, and home. These are words that don’t always follow the usual spelling rules, so lots of repetition really helps.
Students have been doing well using their InitiaLit workbooks to practice letters, sounds, and words, as well as their handwriting books to develop neat letter formation.
How you can help at home:
- Read for a few minutes each night and ask your child to spot words with double letters or digraphs.
- Practice tricky words by writing them on paper, saying them aloud, or using them in a sentence.
- Encourage your child to ‘teach’ you a new sound they have learned - this builds confidence and understanding.
- Ask your child to sing the songs and teach you the actions that support our new learning!
Maths
In Maths, students have been developing their fluency by practicing how to “grab” the larger number and count on to find the total. They have been doing a fantastic job using this strategy to solve addition problems with confidence. Students have also been working on writing the whole in number bonds after identifying the parts, then writing the whole equation.
In addition, we have been learning to read and interpret calendars, including identifying the number of days in each month. You can support this learning at home by practicing the rhyme:
“30 days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31, except February alone, which has 28 days clear, and 29 in each leap year.”
We have also been learning about direction and how to navigate objects to reach an endpoint using hands-on materials. Students have been practicing using positional and directional language such as forward, backward, turn left, turn right, and steps.
You can support this learning at home by playing board games that involve movement and direction, or by drawing a simple 4x4 grid and giving directions to help move a character (e.g., a boy) to a target (e.g., a star).
Humanities
In Humanities, students have been learning about how First Nations peoples observe, understand, and care for their Country, including land, water, sky, and all living things. They explored how changes in nature, such as seasons, animals, and plants, are noticed and responded to using traditional knowledge passed down through stories, language, art, and ceremony. Students also learned how these communities care for the environment through sustainable practices.
Key vocabulary: respect, connection, observe, season, change, environment, care, story, transition, community.
Storybook and Vocabulary
As part of our vocabulary learning, students read the text Edwina the Emu and were introduced to three new words: announce, perfect, and require. Students explored these words through activities such as retelling, acting out, and group research to deepen their understanding.
You can support this learning at home by encouraging your child to use these new words in everyday conversation or by acting them out together while discussing their meanings.
Writing
In Writing, students have been learning to ask questions, complete research to find answers, and write “super sentences” to share their findings. They are practicing using clear ideas, descriptive words, and correct sentence structure to make their writing interesting and informative.
Calendar
April 20th is the first day of Term 2
June 8th Public Holiday - King's Birthday
Reminders:
Term 2: see you all back for term 2 on April 20th, 2026
We wish all our students and families a safe and happy holiday! We look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready to learn more in Term 2.