Foundation

Sarah Battle (Team Leader), Nic Walsh, Zara Abrahams and Astrid May

Welcome back to school and the first newsletter of Term 2! We hope that you all had a wonderful and relaxing holiday. We have a very fun, busy and exciting term coming up.

Important Dates

Tuesday 6th May: Mother’s Day Stall (ALL Foundation classes will go on this day)

Thursday 8th May: AFL Clinic

Friday 9th May: Mother’s Day Picnic

Monday 12th May: F-2 Assembly

(Foundation students can wear a t-shirt in their house colour on this day.)

Friday 16th May: F-2 Indigenous Incursion

Monday 26th May: Whole School Assembly

Wednesday 4th June: Royal Flying Doctors (RDF) Incursion

Monday 9th June: King's Birthday Public Holiday (no students at school)

Wednesday 11th June: Paramedic Visit

Monday 16th June: F-2 Assembly

Wednesday 18th June: Police Visit

Tuesday 24th June: Fire Brigade Visit 1

Monday 30th June: Whole School Assembly

Wednesday 2nd July: Fire Brigade Visit 2

Term 2 Inquiry Topic: What’s My Story?

Our Inquiry topic for this term, ‘What’s My Story’, is based on personal history. In this unit of work, we explore our personal and family history to look at what we all have in common and what makes us unique.

One of the whole class activities early in the term uses family photos. By the end of next week, please send us (either via email or via a USB which we will return) the following photos:

1 Baby photo

1 Family photo

1 Celebration (eg. Birthday, Christmas, Diwali, Chinese New Year etc)

1 Personal choice (this may be of extended family, with pets, on holidays etc)

We will be using these photos in our lessons over the coming weeks.

Mother’s Day Stall

On Tuesday 6th May, all Foundation classes will be going to the Mother’s Day stall. Students will have the opportunity to buy gifts for their mums/grandmas/aunties/special someone if you would like. If students are bringing in money, please put it in a small named zip lock bag. Please do not send in more than $20. We also encourage students to bring a bag to place their gifts in to take home.

As the Mother’s Day Stall will be held in the library, Foundation students will NOT go to library next week.

Royal Flying Doctors Incursion

On Wednesday 4th June, we are excited to welcome the Royal Flying Doctors and their plane into our school! This incursion is part of Foundation students learning about our Community Helpers and also occupations. We will advise you when the notice/payment is available on Compass for you to complete.

Home Reading

Students will now be receiving readers that are ability-based and aligned with their new literacy groups. As a result, each child will be bringing home readers tailored to their individual learning needs. These books are full of sound friendly words students can sound out and blend together. They may also include some tricky common words – many of these books have these in red. These tricky words are for students to remember and not sound out.

We also encourage you to ask the comprehension questions at the back of the book (if applicable) to help students understand what they are reading and practice important skills. Some groups may receive a sound sheet in place of a reader; this will be located in the front cover of their reader folder.

Please note the following:

· Home readers will be changed over on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The first night is to read through the book and the second night to re-read the book to build fluency.

· Sound sheets will be updated weekly.

· Reading logs must be completed and signed by a parent or guardian in order for the reader to be changed.

Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher.

What’s on in the Classroom?

Students started their Literacy Groups this week. These groups are mixed groups across the Foundation level. Students may move classrooms for the session and be taught by another Foundation teacher.

In week 3, students will commence participating in The Perceptual Motor Program (PMP), in line with the Victorian Curriculum. This program provides opportunities for students to:

Develop a range of fundamental movement skills, providing the foundation for a range of physical activities including locomotor and non-locomotor skills, such as crawling, balancing and hopping.
Practise hand-eye coordination skills, locomotion skills, eye-tracking skills, balancing skills and fitness skills.
Build a PMP vocabulary and practise language such as forwards, backwards and along, showing these movements using equipment.

Maths

*Measurement (Mass)

*Partitioning numbers up to 10

*Number sequencing

*Counting collections

Here are some photos of us completing activities to help us learn to partition numbers.