Foundation News

Welcome Back!

It has been wonderful to see our families and our Foundation students return to school this term. We say hello to the sunshine, an extra hour of daylight and outdoor play.

This term our big Inquiry question is: "How Do We Keep Safe Under the Hot Australian Sun?" Within this unit, the children will look at the weather associated with Summer and will find out the meaning of 'slip, slop, slap, slide & seek' in the context of this season.

A big component of this unit is Road Safety. Students will learn about safe behaviours as a passenger, driver/rider and a pedestrian.

Maths

This term, students in Foundation have started to learn about subtraction. Just like addition, a sequence for developing the subtraction concepts is followed. Here is a snapshot of the steps:

1. Subtraction is introduced through verbal action stories that involve takeaway. e.g.There were 6 birds in the cage. When the door was opened, 2 flew out. How many birds are in the cage now?     
2. The children are guided in using materials to show the initial number, then remove or cover the amount that is taken away. Objects are set out vertically and the subtraction process using takeaway is verbalised.
3. Gradually, we introduce symbols to represent this process, matching - to the takeaway process through careful development such as:

    4. We ensure the children can match 

   5. Emphasis is placed on the part/part/whole aspect of subtraction.

                                                               whole

                                                               - part

                                                                 part 

  6.  The initial subtraction concept is extended to include missing part . 

e.g. Jasmine has 7 apples to make a tart.                 12

How many more apples does she need?              -    7 

                                                                                                    5

7. The initial subtraction concept is also extended to include comparison. , as well as alternative expressions that mean or imply subtract.

e.g. James has 5 apples.                                                                       14              

Jasmine has 14 apples                                                                       -    5 

How many more apples does Jasmine have than James?          9

It is at this stage alternative expressions that mean or imply 'subtract' are used. 

Children need to be led to analyse these situations to identify the whole and the parts and then use subtraction to find what is needed. When these skills are consolidated, children can then start to learn number facts.

Reading 

This term, our new focus author is Margaret Wild. 

In 2020 Margaret Wild received the Australia Council Award For Lifetime Achievement In Literature. 

Margaret Wild is one of Australia’s most highly respected picture-book creators. She has published over seventy books for young people which have been translated, read and loved across the world.

Her work explores themes such as identity, death, homelessness, friendship and bullying - through nuanced characters and captivating stories. 

Last week, Foundation students read "The Very Best of Friends" written by Margaret Wild. The book uses country life as a metaphor and as a setting for playing out fundamental human experiences and dilemmas." Revisiting the qualities of being a good friend was a great segue to Term 4. 

Writing

This term, Foundation students will be focussing on narrative writing (Purpose-to tell a story). They will be given opportunities to compose innovations on very familiar texts by changing the ending, the series of events, characters, or the setting. They will also be given opportunities to write their own stories that include an engaging beginning and a satisfying ending, some descriptive details and dialogue. The children have begun to use a story map to help them organise their ideas before launching into narrative writing.

Religion

This term, students in Foundation have started to learn about our Patron Saint,  St Raphael.  They used adjectives to describe this archangel and learnt about symbols associated with this arch angel.

Recently the children put their faith and trust in each other to draw a picture whilst blindfolded. They had to rely on being guided by a peer, just as St Raphael guided Tobias.

Week 3 & 4 Timetables

Week 3 & 4 Learning Intentions

Important Dates

*Grandparents' Day (Activities/ Welcome into learning spaces) Friday 28th October

*St Raphael Feast Day Mass & Celebration 10.30 am - 2pm, Sunday 23rd October

*Whole School Assembly- Friday 29th October

Staff Contacts

Michelle Slattery (FM)       mslattery@srprestonwest.catholic.edu.au 

Lorraine Uzunovski (FL)    uzul@srprestonwest.catholic.edu.au

Please note, we will respond to emails Monday to Friday, between the hours of 8am- 5pm.