School News and Information

KINDERGARTEN KOALAS NEWS

This term we have been very excited to have Miss Ava Stahl with us completing her four-week professional experience placement with us. The students have loved getting to know her and really enjoyed her support and enthusiasm in our class. We wish Ava all the very best with her future teaching career.

At the beginning of this term we have been learning about road safety. Road safety is a significant health issue for young children. The leading cause of accidental death and injury for children is road-related crashes. Road safety education is embedded within the outcomes and content of the Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) K-10 syllabus. This learning area is mandatory for all students from Kindergarten to Year 10.

Kindergarten students are vulnerable road users. They are still developing the road safety skills, behaviours and attitudes that, as adults, we take for granted. Developmentally, students in Early Stage 1 are still learning to:

• judge speed and distance

• cope with sudden traffic changes

• identify safe places to cross

• focus on multiple tasks• act consistently in the traffic environment

• understand complex concepts such as road safety

• accurately predict the origin of sounds.

Their size makes it difficult for them to be easily seen and their behaviour can sometimes be unpredictable. This is why active adult supervision for children in the road environment is essential for students up to the age of 10 years old.

Teaching students about road safety is a partnership between home and school. We ask that families can reinforce the same messages that students learn about at school.

We love reading a new book each week in our English units. We have read some fabulous books this term including Wombat Stew. The students learned some new vocabulary and also learned about the special features of Australian animals that help them survive in their homes. In one of our lessons, we used some craft materials to make "creepy crawlies" for our own wombat stew. We had some amazing creatures to add to the stew!

Each day that we have a Mathematics lesson we always watch some amazing little learners in action. Please see the photos below which show how much we love Maths in Kindergarten!