Prep Community News

Hello Prep Families,

We’ve had a wonderful time in Prep recently, filled with learning, growth and lots of exciting activities—we’re so pleased to share some of the highlights with you!

English:

In our InitiaLit program, we have learnt some new sounds to read and write with. We have learned the digraphs ‘ng’ and ‘ay’. 

Here are some visual prompts, ask your child to recall and record these sounds at home.

After introducing a new sound and linking it to its letters, we give students plenty of chances to practise using it in both reading and writing. They work with CVC and CVCC words made up of the sounds they've already learned. You can support your child at home by encouraging them to break words into individual sounds (segmenting) and then have a go at writing them. See some example words below:

clang, wing, bang, long, swing, play, day, May, lay, clay

We’ve been learning some new tricky words—these are words that don’t follow regular sound patterns and can’t be sounded out using the phonics we’ve covered so far. Instead, students learn to recognise and remember them by sight. To help your child at home, you can practise reading and spelling these words together. Our latest tricky words are:

come, some, down, out 

Click here to practice all the trick words we have learned so far!  

Story Book:

Our new story this fortnight is Jeremy, written by Chris Faille and illustrated by Danny Snell. Our focus words from this text are spiky, exhausted, and healthy.

During our storybook sessions, students develop key reading skills like making predictions, summarising what they've read and responding to questions about the text. We also explore how the stories connect to their own experiences and the world around them. To help build your child’s vocabulary at home, try asking them what our words means or encourage them to use them in a sentence!

Writing:

In our writing lessons, we’ve started exploring the differences between imaginative and informative texts. Imaginative texts are made-up stories created to entertain, while informative texts share facts to help us learn about a topic. Lately, students have been learning about different animals and writing simple sentences about their appearance, habitat and behaviour. At home, you can support your child by using sentence starters and encouraging them to complete the sentence. 

For example: 

Frogs are green and slimy. 

Frogs live in the rainforest. 

Frogs can jump and hide. 

Maths:

In Maths, our prep students have been learning to make, say and write teen numbers, helping them understand that teen numbers are made up of ten and some more. We’ve also been exploring patterns—looking closely at colours, shapes and objects to create and continue repeating patterns. These activities build strong number sense and early problem-solving skills in a fun and hands-on way! You can also create simple patterns together using toys, buttons or coloured paper—take turns making a pattern and ask your child to continue it!                    

Health:

In Health, our prep students have been learning how to stay safe outdoors and care for the natural environment. We've explored ways to be safe in our neighbourhoods—like using footpaths, crossing roads safely and being aware of our surroundings. We're so proud of how they're becoming responsible and thoughtful members of the community!

Reminders:

Hats:

As the weather warms up, please remember that students are required to wear hats during Term 4. This is part of our SunSmart policy to ensure all students are protected and safe while outdoors.

Please also ensure that hats are clearly labelled with your child’s name and class, so they can be returned if misplaced.

Swimming (check compass for dates): 

Consent and Payment ($25) due on compass. In Term 4, Prep students will participate in a 5-day school Swimming Program, delivered by Saltwater Swim School. When attending, students will be required to independently change their clothes. Between now and then, it would be a great idea to support your child to independently practise skills such as undressing, drying their body, dressing, putting socks/shoes on so that they are ready to swim in the pool! 

Take Home Reading:

At Tarneit Rise, we encourage reading every night. Each child has an assigned day to change their reading books. Please bring their reading satchel on this day so classroom teachers can check reading journals and assist your child in getting new books.

We’re so proud of how much our Preps have grown, learned, and laughed. Thank you for all your ongoing support!

PLC Prep