Our Learning this Term
Religious Education
Religious Education is integrated into the daily conversations and learning experiences that we have and plan for with all of our students. Students at this level participate in parish masses, school masses, meditation, classroom liturgies and focus lessons.
This term we are learning about ‘We are part of God’s Family’. We are learning about Jesus, Mary and Joseph as the holy family and how we are all a part of God’s family.
Students will also start to learn about different types of prayer in our morning prayer sessions. It would be great if you could help them learn the sign of the cross and the school prayer at home. The students will also learn about some of the symbols used in prayer and expectations during this reverent time, when we talk to God.
Inquiry
As the Prep students are beginning their school journey, we aim to investigate the following question.
How can we be kind like Jesus in our learning community?.
The Preps will be immersed in many opportunities to find out and sort out information, to extend and challenge their thinking and reflect on their learning and then share their gained understanding with others.
We will work through the following understandings:
- Jesus was kind, helpful and included everyone
- There are many people in our school community with different roles
- Jesus is an important part of our community and we can all live like Him.
Literacy
All students at Holy Family School have a structured two hour block of literacy education on a daily basis. This incorporates Reading, Writing, Smart Spelling and Speaking and Listening.
During Term One all students in Prep to 2 participate in Early Years Literacy Testing and teachers collect and analyse student achievement and data information. They use this to set goals for improvement, refocus teaching and learning, direct resources and report on each learners' progress.
This term in Prep, we start learning to read with a focus on concepts about print, the difference between letters and words, rhyming words and oral language structures. Through the use of big books and picture books, the students will begin to practise asking questions, making predictions and sharing their understanding of the events in a text.
We explore concepts about print including book orientation, title, text direction and punctuation. We track words from left to right and match pictures with words. We learn to generate rhymes such as cat and mat / dog and log. We also introduce the students to the 100 most commonly used words (common sight words).
In Writing, the students use personal experiences to begin writing recounts through illustration and role play. They begin to understand that writing conveys a message. We encourage students to ‘have a go’ and develop their confidence to attempt writing tasks. The students will learn about letter/sound relationships when recording their ideas.
In Handwriting we focus on sitting position, pencil grip, starting position and correct letter formation. We concentrate on fine motor skills such as threading beads, lacing activities and cutting to improve pencil grip and scissor control.
Oral language activities are based on many opportunities to speak with and listen to others.
The Preps will learn about:
· ‘What does a good speaker do?’ We focus on making eye contact, volume, body language, pace and sharing a variety of ideas.
· ‘What does a good listener do?’ We focus on making eye contact, not talking, body language and asking related questions.
· We also teach the students about following instructions, asking questions and constructing grammatically correct sentences.
Maths
This year the students will develop a fundamental understanding of Number, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. We teach through rich Maths tasks, investigations and open ended activities. These are related to real life which assist the children making sense of new learning.
In Number and Algebra, the students will explore the numbers 1-10 through one to one matching of objects, counting, writing and recognition of the numerals' names. Students will also learn numbers beyond 10. They will learn to count forwards and backwards from a given number and explore the idea of what comes before and after a certain number. Students will use ‘hands on’ materials to create, copy and continue patterns.
In Measurement and Geometry, the students will be learning about naming, sorting and describing the features of 2D shapes such as triangles, squares, rectangles and circles. They will also be comparing the length of familiar objects using appropriate language e.g. taller, shorter and longer. Students will also learn the days of the week and familiar events during the day.