From the Year Prep Classroom

As we begin Term 2, we are introducing a new Foundation goal to help build student independence and resilience. We’re encouraging families to support this by keeping morning drop-offs quick and positive. Where possible, we’d love to see children coming into school on their own now, unpacking their bags, and completing their morning jobs independently. A short and cheerful goodbye helps set the tone for a successful day. Recently, we’ve noticed some children becoming teary at drop-off and finding it difficult to separate which is having a domino effect on others. This is a gentle reminder of the importance of establishing a consistent and calming routine. Doing so can facilitate a smoother transition and foster your child's confidence and resilience. We really appreciate your support in this matter as we continue to work together to build your child’s confidence and independence.

We’ve have also noticed that some students are bringing large amounts of money to school and purchasing multiple items from the canteen, for example students have brought $5 and purchased three jelly cups in one day. We kindly ask parents to monitor how much money children bring to school ($1 - $2 is more than enough for a treat).

What’s happening in Religion?

We’ve started exploring our church and will be learning about how it’s a warm and caring and welcoming place in our community that comes together to celebrate. We’ll talk about how we belong to our family, our school, and our church, and look at the symbols and objects that represent our catholic church.

Just a friendly reminder about our special Mother’s Day Liturgy this Friday 9th at 10am— we’d love for you to join us! While it might look a little different from previous years, it promises to be a lovely day celebrating our amazing ‘mothers’.

Mrs. McInness is kindly requesting that all our Prep families send in a photo of you (mum) and your child/children for this special liturgy. You can send it directly to her mmcinness001@shyarrawonga.catholic.edu.au before 6pm Wednesday.

 Thanks so much and we hope all our mothers have a lovely Mother’s Day on Sunday

And in Literacy? 

We're so excited about how much progress everyone is already making with reading! After a fantastic first term focused on getting to know letters and sounds, and practicing blending them to form words—plus some tricky ones like ‘the,’ ‘a,’ and ‘my’—we hope you've enjoyed seeing your child bring home books to read last week. We also hope you found the information in their reading satchel helpful as well as the QR Code so you could watch the little video made by Mrs. Seal and Marlee, which offers some helpful tips for listening to your child read at home. Just to clarify, we've decided to send home 2 decodable books each week to help strengthen their reading skills. They can also record their library book in their diary, or if you have other books at home, you'd like them to read, that's perfectly fine too. 

Every FRIDAY, please have your child bring their blue reading satchel so we can see how they're progressing and help them choose 2 new decodables for the week ahead. Ifyou have any questions or need anything else, please feel free to reach out! Thanks somuch for your support and understanding as we become more familiar with this newprogram together.

And in Maths?

After our Professional development sessions in week one of term with Jared Cooney Horvath a neuroscientist, an expert in human learning, memory and brain stimulation we learnt how important it is to review what we’ve taught. We’ve started using an activeretrieval grid during our daily tuning-in time, which is a quick way to ask your child foursimple questions related to what they’ve previously learnt whether it was last week, lastmonth or last term. It’s a great way for us to see what they’ve retained and identify any areas we might need to revisit. This week our students are enjoying learning about friends of 10. Eg 7 and 3 make 10 or 6 and 4 make 10 and vice versa. 

Friendly Reminders: 

Hats: Compulsory wearing of hats will still be implemented during Term 2 and 3, after two consecutive days of the UV levels reaching 3 or above.

Baby News- Big congratulations to the Doyle family on welcoming their adorable baby boy, Edward, at the end of last term! Ellie in Prep S is absolutely thrilled. And a huge welcome to the Lawless family, who added a sweet little brother, Lachlan, over the holidays. Daisy in Prep G is all smiles with her brand-new baby brother to love and cuddle.