Prep

Dear Prep parents,

In a blink of an eye the time has come for us to say goodbye to the academic year of 2025. It has been a marvellous year for our prep cohort in so many ways. Our students have worked so hard fostering friendships, growing in their language knowledge and mathematic skills. It has been a joy to witness their growth, both as active members in the Saltwater school community and as engaged learners.

The past three weeks have been jammed pack with learning, excitement and nerves about what the future holds, as the year kept rolling along. 

Mini Olympics

Over the past few weeks, the students have had the opportunity to participate in our Mini Olympics. This fantastic event is held annually as a fun and active session that helps prepare students for our Athletics Program in the future, giving them an opportunity to practise fundamental movement and sporting skills. The students engaged in the sack race, egg and spoon, hurdles, hula hoops, target practice, parachute and the 3-legged race. It was amazing to see the students all having a marvellous time full of smiles, joy and laughter. 

Christmas Carols Concert

We are extremely proud of our Prep students performing in their first ever Christmas Carols at Saltwater. They have worked with great dedication, effort and commitment when they practised their songs, ensuring their dance moves were amazing. It was great to see the students being risk takers and enjoying performing together. What a celebration! We all hope you were able to enjoy the carols as a family and that some lasting memories were made.

End of Year Celebrations

The students have enjoyed a range of Christmas-themed and end-of-year activities throughout the week. Our End of Year parties were a wonderful way to celebrate a fantastic year together in Prep. The children had a great time dancing to Christmas music, playing with friends, and sharing party food. Much fun was had by all!

Reading

In Reading, the students have continued looking at and exploring their Read Aloud books. They have enjoyed using the rhythm, rhyme and patterns to improve and consolidate their knowledge. This has allowed students to engage with literature and practise their reading skills while also exploring the characters and setting. Students have been looking at a variety of Christmas Stories and creating items based on these stories. They have been making connections and comparisons between the story and their own celebrations.

Writing

In our writing sessions, we have explored letter writing and creative writing. Students have explored the various features of a letter, recognising essential components like the heading, greeting, body, closing and signature. As a part of the process, students actively engaged in writing to next year’s teachers, their Year 6 buddies, Santa, an elf or a family member. They created cards and have shown creativity when they have crafted these for the ones they loved. They wrote their messages with emotion, conveying their thoughts and using this traditional form of communication to write for a purposeful reason.

Mathematics

Our students have engaged in fun and educational Christmas themed maths activities and a variety of non-Christmas activities during the last week. We used themed objects like candy canes, ornaments or jingle bells for counting, sorting and solving basic Maths problems. We explored patterns when creating our lights craft and when completing our tasks we explored a variety of ways to represent numbers to further strengthen our knowledge of subitising. Students had the oppourtunity to read Christmas stories and asked math-related questions such as, "If Santa visited 10 houses and ate a cookie at each house, how many cookies did he eat altogether?” What a fun way to immerse our students in everyday maths!

Wellbeing

Over the past few weeks, students have been engaging in activities designed to help the regulation of their emotions they may be facing moving into Year One. They learnt that sometimes we feel very angry or scared, which is when we’re in the 'Red Zone'. They further discussed how emotions in this zone are like travelling on a bumpy road, but with the right strategies, they can return to a calmer state. The Preps had the oppourtunity to participate in an incursion run by Brave hearts, assisting them to learn about recognising yes and no feelings, noticing their body signs, about privacy and private parts, it’s okay to say no, having people to trust and what to do when they feel unsafe. 

Transition Day

On the last day of the year students had the oppourtunity to meet their new teacher and classmates for 2026. They were full of excitement and nerves at the beginning of the day, then they came back full of joy and eagerness to begin their journey into Year One.

Farewell to Amelia Fantuz

On behalf of the Prep team, we say a fond farewell to Amelia Fantuz, who has been a valued member of the Saltwater P–9 College community since joining us in 2023. Over the past three years, Amelia has taught in Prep, where she has made a significant and lasting impact on her students, their families, and the wider Prep team.

Amelia is a kind, caring and dedicated educator who consistently places children at the centre of everything she does. Her calm, positive nature, combined with her friendly and fun approach, has helped many young learners feel safe, supported and confident as they took their first steps into school life. Families have greatly appreciated her warmth and genuine care for each child, and her colleagues have valued her collaboration and strong work ethic.

We thank Amelia for the wonderful contribution she has made to Saltwater and for the difference she has made in the lives of so many children. We wish her every success and happiness as she begins an exciting new chapter in her career at an independent school. Amelia will be greatly missed, and we wish her all the very best for the future.

Thank You From the 2025 PREP TEAM

As we conclude this wonderful year, we would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you for the support you have given your child/ren this year. Taking the time to read with them, having discussions about their learning and their day, encouraging and building their confidence, has all impacted the success they have made this year. 

It has been our pleasure working alongside you to see your children grow and learn. We wish you all a happy, safe holiday and all the best for 2026.

Thank you,

The 2025 Prep Team.