What's Happening in the Junior School

Prep

What’s Happening in Prep in Weeks 3 & 4

The Prep teachers have been very impressed with how well everyone has settled back in after the holidays! Over the next few weeks, we are lucky to have visits from several community helpers who help keep us healthy and safe. These include members of the local fire brigade, paramedics, police, and even the “tooth fairy” (the dentist!). Please keep an eye on Compass for information about an upcoming incursion from the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Over the next two weeks, we will be learning about...

Wellbeing

How do we keep our bodies healthy and safe?

Literacy

Identifying the suffix - ing
Identifying open and closed syllable words
Spelling compound words with two closed syllables
Reading and spelling words with two closed syllables
Writing features of a narrative

Maths

Sorting objects with one difference
Sorting collections into two groups
Answering questions about data sets with two groups
Collecting data for questions with two outcomes
Answering yes/no questions
Answering questions about data for yes/no questions
Collecting data for yes/no questions
Representing data with two outcomes
Describing position
Moving a given number of squares on a grid
Using verbal directions to move an object
Solving problems using verbal directions

Knowledge Unit

Big Question: How are families the same and different around the world?

Throughout Term 4, students will be exploring the following lines of inquiry:

Who is in my family?
What people can be in other families?
What do families do together each day?
How are family routines (like meals or bedtime) the same or different?
Where do families live and how might homes look different around the world?

Homework

Students take home 3 decodable readers in their reading pouch each week as well as their green Decoding Detective book and Sound Pack. Please continue to read these with your child, the Preps love showing you how they can recognise and recall all learnt letters and sounds. Reading pouches are returned on Mondays to be changed over and checked by their teacher. Mathletics login codes are placed inside the front cover of students reading journals. This is an optional task that students may wish to complete at home.

Reminders

Tooth Fairy Visit - Wednesday 22nd October
Fire Education Session 2 – Thursday 23rd October
Paramedic Visit - Thursday 30th October
Police Visit - Friday 31st October
Open Afternoon Friday 31st October 3pm in classrooms
Prep Concert - Tuesday 25th November (new date)
Prep and Year 6 Buddy Tea Towels are able to be ordered on Qkr! Orders close 3rd November.
The 2025 BPS Yearbook is able to be ordered on Qkr! Orders close 7th November.

Year 1

What’s Happening in Year 1 in Weeks 3 & 4

Over the next two weeks, we will be learning about...

Literacy

Students will be working on:

Phonics:
Learning how to read and spell ie /ī/, igh /ī/, u /oo/, oo /oo/ and oo /ū/.
Reading Fluency: reading with accuracy and at an appropriate rate
Handwriting: Correctly forming the letter M and N, both uppercase and lowercase
We are going to continue exploring the narrative story structure. We will look at what happens in the beginning, middle and end of stories
From here we will also start planning and writing our own narratives

Maths

Students will be working on:

Sharing collections of objects into equal groups
Introduce the concept of remainders
Collect and organise data using different methods such as objects, images, drawings, lists, tally marks, and symbols
Represent and compare data using one-to-one displays and discuss findings

Wellbeing

During Weeks 3 and 4 in Wellbeing, students will continue to identify and celebrate their individual strengths and understand the combination of all of their qualities what makes each of them unique people. We will be visiting MoPA in Week 3 to support our learning.

Knowledge Unit

In Geography, students will build on their map knowledge skills they completed in Weeks 1 and 2, with a focus on local geography. Students will explore maps of the school neighbourhood, understand map keys and explore using maps.

Library

Students will be attending the library on Thursday each week as a cohort. Please ensure that students have their blue library satchel in their bag to keep their borrowed book protected when transporting to and from school. This will help keep these books separate from their ‘Classroom Library’ picture story book that they take home on a Monday.

Take Home Readers

Each week, your child will take three decodables home. We strongly encourage students to reread these texts multiple times across the week as this is an important way novice readers develop automaticity and reading fluency. In addition, students are bringing home one quality text from their classroom library each week. As novice readers, they will not necessarily be able to read these books independently. However, they will benefit a great deal from hearing these texts read out loud by an expert (you!).

Mathletics

Your child has their Mathletics code pasted into their Reading Diaries. Activities have been set by the classroom teachers and students can work through assigned task at their own pace. Completing these tasks is optional. We have been really excited to see students completing Mathletics tasks at home. These help to consolidate their understandings from the classroom.

Reminders

We have our walking excursion to Beaumaris Reserve and Library happening on Thursday 30th October. If you are able to volunteer to join us, please sign up via this link.
The 2025 BPS Yearbook is able to be ordered on Qkr! Orders close 7th November.
Open Afternoon Friday 31st October 3pm in classrooms
Fruit and veggie break snack: Please ensure that students are bringing their fruit and veggie snack in a container separate to their lunch box. This supports students in transitioning during fruit and veggie break time in the classroom.
Students are to bring in their reading pouch every Monday to swap their take home readers and classroom library book. It is really important students are completing their 20 minutes of nightly reading to support their reading progress. New readers are only sent home until the previous week’s books have been returned.
Students have multiple opportunities across the week to spend time with students in other classes, these include Wellbeing, FMS, Library and eating recess and lunch together.

Year 2

What’s Happening in Year 2 in Weeks 3 & 4

What a fun fortnight the Year 2’s have had receiving their pen pal letters and beginning our new learning on Ancient Egypt. The students have also been working hard to write their own narrative story based on our mentor text ‘The Truck Cat’. We have been blown away by their creativity and determination!

Over the next fortnight, the Year 2 students will be learning:

Wellbeing

Understand and describe how working together helped the team succeed in activities.
Recognise examples of cooperative behaviour during group tasks.
Identify ways that cooperation supports problem-solving in different situations.
Practice using cooperative skills to overcome challenges and work effectively with others.

Phonics

We are learning to read and write words with final spellings:

-sion, -tion
-ture
-er, -or, -ist
-ish

Literacy

We are learning to:

edit and revise our narrative
answer comprehension questions about a text
identify the parts and map different narratives
generate ideas for the problem and match appropriate resolutions.

Maths

We are learning to:

divide lengths into halves and quarters
identify halves and quarters of shapes
identify eighths of lengths and shapes
identify different fractions that are equal in value
identify halves and quarters of time, mass and capacity.

Knowledge Unit

This term, the Year 2 students will be exploring History. We will be learning about:

The History of Ancient Egypt – Pyramids, Pharaohs, and the Past

Over the next fortnight, students will be exploring the following lines of inquiry:

Identify the pharaohs and understand powerful they were (Tutankhamen and Hatshepsut).
Identify the everyday jobs ancient Egyptians did.

Homework

Please continue to read the take home reading books each week, aiming for 15 – 20 minutes each evening. Changing readers will continue to occur on a Friday.
Please enjoy sharing a new Classroom Library text each Friday. This book is for enjoyment and can be read by parents/carers.
Optional: Mathletics logins have been placed in the front cover of reading diaries. Students may work through these tasks at their own pace, if desired.

Reminders:

Pen Pal Meet Up – Wednesday 5th November: Please consent and pay on Compass, at your earliest convenience.
Virtual Reality Incursion: Ancient Egypt – Friday 14th November: Please consent and pay on Compass, at your earliest convenience.
Open Afternoon Friday 31st October 3pm in classrooms
The 2025 BPS Yearbook is able to be ordered on Qkr! Orders close 7th November.