Foundation Unit

We have had a very successful start to the year and are really enjoying getting to know your children and seeing them learn new things each day.

Over the first few weeks the Prep students have been learning all about school routines and expectations. We have discussed the 5L’s, our morning routines and how to look after our school books. 

In Phonics, we have been learning the sounds and cued articulation for S,A,T,P,I,N. We have been learning the correct letter formation for these letters and have been writing and reading words that we can make with these sounds. 

In Reading, we have been learning to complete picture walks to understand what might be happening in a text. We have also been practicing one to one correspondence and having a go at identifying the first sounds of words. We have also received our book boxes and have begun independent reading in class.

In Writing, we have been drawing lots of pictures about ourselves and what we like. We have even had a go at recording the first sound we hear in the word. 

In Maths, we have been investigating a different number each day. The students made that number as many different ways as they could using different materials such as blocks, dice and counters and recorded their findings neatly in their maths books. 

FAQ

Reader bags need to come to school with your child every day. Inside, there should be the reading diary, your child’s Magic Word book, and a levelled text. A new levelled text will be swapped out each day. We will ask students to take home two levelled texts on Friday to read over the weekend.

If a levelled text gets misplaced or damaged, please let your child’s teacher know. Your child’s teacher will monitor the reading diaries. We love reading what the students think about the text, so thank you to those who have added reading comments for their children, and it has been great to see students locating some of the Golden Words in the books they are reading at home. 

The Magic Words booklets - are for sight word practice only. At this stage, we don’t expect students to be able to write out the words. Students will learn to read these words by sight recognition before moving onto the next set of words. Your child’s teacher will assess each student on a regular basis and glue the next set of words into their books when students are ready. If you want to write anything out while practising magic words with your child, please do so on a separate piece of paper, as we will eventually fill the book up with Magic Words.  

Sounds and decoding practise - In order to support your child with learning their letters and sounds, teachers will be sending home worksheets in your child’s reader bag revising the letters and sounds we have already covered in class. 

If your child brought their red library bag to school on Monday, they will have borrowed out 1-2 library books. Students are able to swap their books each week. These books are borrowed out under your child’s name and become flagged as overdue after 2 weeks if they have not been returned. Please ensure that the book/s stay in your child’s library bag so students can borrow a new book/s each week. 

If you have any questions in relation to any of the above, please do not hesitate in contacting your child’s teacher.

Foundation Teachers

Libby Cannon (PLC), Bree Smith (PBS)