Welcome Term 1

Welcome to Level One! We are excited for a fantastic year of learning ahead. First of all, we would like to welcome our students back to Glen Waverley Primary School and extend a warm welcome to all new families who have joined our learning community. The Level One team, looks forward to building positive and supportive relationships with you and your children. We’d also like to introduce Miss Marotta, 1A (Teaching and Learning Leader), and Miss Mao, 1D, to the team. We look forward to guiding your children to embrace and accomplish new learning challenges every day. Our passion is to deliver deep and valuable learning experiences throughout the year.

Furthermore, the learners have transitioned seamlessly into Level One and are excited to continue their learning journey.

Welcome 

1A – Clare Marotta - (Teaching and Learning Leader)

1B – Samantha Dell’Aquila - (Assistant Teaching and Learning Leader)

1C – Gordon Gerada

1D – Annie Mao

1E - Amanda Sierp 

TSL – Melinda James

Welcome Miss Marotta

Hi, my name is Clare Marotta, and I am teaching 1A this year. This is my 5th year teaching, but my first year at Glen Waverly Primary School. It has been a wonderful start to my year, and I already feel so excited about the year ahead in Year One. A little bit about me, I have two gorgeous dogs, called Mars and Izzy, and you can often find me talking about them. I also adore baking and will often make cookies each weekend. Feel free to come say hi and I look forward to meeting more of you as the year progresses.

Welcome Miss Mao 

Hi everyone, my name is Annie Mao and I will be teaching 1D this year. This is my first-year teaching, as well as my first year at Glen Waverley Primary School. I am very excited about the year ahead, and I look forward to celebrating all the little successes with every learner, as well as watching them grow as the year progresses. A little bit about me, I am an avid chef at home, I enjoy cooking various types of cuisines every weekend, which I also often eat with my beverage of choice, Darjeeling Tea. I am also extremely fond of Pokemon, which I’m sure will be the first of many conversation starters with 1D. Please feel free to come say hi and I look forward to meeting all of you soon!

Mathematics

In Term One, students will focus on the mathematics curriculum strand, Number and Algebra. Learning and teaching will be underpinned by our Whole School Approach to Mathematics, SURF, by developing a rich understanding of the four strands, Problem Solving, Understanding, Reasoning and Fluency. Students set individualised goals and continually build strong connections between concepts and effective strategies throughout the term to progress in their learning.

This term, teaching and learning will be centered around the mathematical ‘Big Idea’ of ‘Trust the Count’. This is an essential concept that enables students to develop a secure foundation to progress in their learning to develop mental computation and problem-solving skills.  Additionally, students will develop their understanding of ‘Place Value’ through’ exploring different ways to represent numbers. They will utilise concrete, pictorial and abstract strategies to develop flexibility and confidence with numbers.  Throughout the unit, students will explore how numbers can be represented and broken down into their parts. There will be a strong emphasis on the importance of explaining their thinking and justifying their chosen strategy.

To support your child in Mathematics, you may wish to implement these strategies at home:

• Explore flexible ways to make numbers from 1-10. E.g., 8 is ‘double 4’ and ‘four groups of 2.’ It can also be ‘3 + 5’ or ‘1 +7’. 
• Counting collections of common items, such as stationary, pieces of fruit in a bowl or books on a shelf. Asking, “How many are there? How do you know?”
• Discuss how numbers can be represent and partitioned into tens and ones. E.g., 17. There is 1 ten and 7 ones. 
• Choosing a number and identifying 1 more, 1 less, 10 more and 10 less. E.g., 1 less that 27 is 26, because I counted back, or I took one object away and there are 26 objects left’. 

Reading

Students will strengthen their understanding of a ‘mindful reader’ by developing classroom expectations and routines, which will set them up for success in their learning. They will explore the ‘Five Finger Rule’ strategy, which will enable them to select ‘Good Fit’ books independently. Students will engage in collaborative learning conferences to determine a personalised, CAFE Reading Goal and discuss a range of strategies to apply and achieve success through.

To support your child’s Reading and Viewing learning at home:

• Listen to your child read a book (their take home reader) for at least 20 minutes each night
• Utilise ‘Reading Eggs,’ which contains a variety of texts, lessons and learning tasks
• Strengthen your child’s Comprehension, by asking them to retell or summarise the book

Writing and Spelling

Students will be developing their understanding of ‘Sustained’ writing. They will also create a personalised Writing goal, by utilising our Whole School Approach of VOICES. We will be focusing on Recount writing through a lens of enriching vocabulary and understanding structure and features. Spelling will include the explicit teaching of spelling generalisations, regular Spelling Inquiry sessions, and personalised spelling lists for Home Learning. In classrooms, students will be exposed to a range of spelling rules and transfer new vocabulary into their writing pieces. Spelling Inquiry will focus on delving into the meaning of words, enriching students’ understanding of the English language.

To support your child’s Writing skills at home:

• Encourage your child to create and make regular entries in a reflection journal
• Involve your child in authentic writing opportunities, for example, creating a shopping list, writing emails or letters to family, etc.
• Celebrate and display your child’s writing pieces, to boost their confidence and passion

Speaking and Listening

Throughout the term, students will strengthen their communication by responding to questions and ideas during class discussions and applying turn-taking strategies during collaborative tasks. They will develop their ‘Whole Body Listening,’ as a strategy to respectfully engage with others during discussions. Students will also learn to apply strategies during learning tasks to develop their collaborative learning skills. 

Inquiry

This term we are exploring our Inquiry question, ‘How do our strengths influence others?’ Students will start their journey by identifying their own personal strength, then explore how their unique attributes can positively impact on collaborative groups. They will lastly reflect on the importance of collaboration and how their strengths can influence and positively impact those in the community around them. 

To support your child’s Inquiry learning, here are some suggested strategies to use at home:

• Have open discussions on how we can use our personal strength to help others
• Discuss with your child about how they can determine their strength and the reasoning behind it
• Involve your child in conversations in relation to problem solving around the home. Using prompting sentences such as: My strength is being brave, so I will show initiative by removing the bug in the kitchen.

YCDI

Our ‘YCDI Curriculum’ aligns to the Personal and Social Capability within the Victorian Curriculum. We design our learning task to improve social skills by facilitating a positive and safe environment, where learners can practice strategies for active problem solving. Our learning tasks are based on “Resilience, Organisation, Confidence, Persistence and Getting Along.” Our aim is to create personalised goals for each student, based on their individual social or emotional needs. Leaners will develop strategies such as, positive self-talk sentence prompts, in which they will apply to maintain focus within the classroom and resolve conflict situations with their peers.