Year One
Dear Year One Community,
It has been lovely to see the Year One students smoothly transition back to school for 2025. This has been their first time returning after the extended Christmas break and students have begun to settle in well, reestablishing their understanding of school expectations. In classes, students have continued participating in the First 20 Days Program which consists of building relationships, learning how to be a learner, establishing core routines and developing self-management, collaboration and problem solving skills.
Reading
In Reading, students have had the opportunity to make their own bookmark in order to keep track of their reading throughout the week. They also had the opportunity to learn how to choose appropriate 'just right' books to help improve their reading skills. In Prep students were introduced to the Good Reader Strategies to give them the skills to decode and understand what they are reading. The students have been revising these strategies and practising them during independent reading. Classes loved exploring Readers Theatre which aims to support students fluency and expression whilst reading.
Writing
In Writing, students had their first handwriting lesson using the sky, grass and dirt method. They explored spelling rules and practised recognising onset and rime in words to improve their spelling. Students were introduced to the word wall as a tool to support them during writing. They practised using the word wall to write about a picture prompt. The Writer’s Notebook was also introduced to Year One students. It is a book where students are encouraged to collect writing seeds, show their thinking through drawing and plan creatively.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, we have continued our focus on patterns. Students have developed their ability to recognise, create and continue patterns using colours, shapes and materials, and have further developed their understanding of how to label patterns. For example: AB, ABA or ABCD. To extend students knowledge, we have begun delving into number patterns through a skip counting focus. Students are working towards counting by 2s, 5s and 10s and solving missing numbers in increasing or decreasing sequences. We encourage all students to practise their skip counting at home to support them in developing their understanding and confidence.
Wellbeing
In recent Wellbeing lessons, students have explored how to identify the size of a problem and how we can respond appropriately. Classes introduced the catastrophe scale (glitch, little problem, medium problem, big problem and catastrophe) to determine the severity of a range of issues. Students engaged in sorting activities and were able to contribute situations they or others have experienced, using the catastrophe scale to determine each problem's severity level. Students were also given an opportunity to create a 'Ready to Learn' plan. This plan consists of strategies each individual can use to support their emotional regulation when they are not in the green/ready to learn zone. Throughout the week students have continued to develop their understanding of the attributes of a learner profile with a focus on being caring, a thinker and reflective.
Reminders
Please login to XUNO and attend to the following: ICT User Agreement, Photo Permission and Local Excursions .
Students are expected to bring their satchel to school every day filled with their take-home reading books, reading journal and homework book.
Students are also expected to bring their iPad to every day fully charged, as well as a water bottle.
We are a sunsmart school so students need to wear there hats in Term One and Four
If you have not brought in your stationary pack, please do so at your earliest convenience.
Doors open at 8:20am and classes start at 8:30am. Any students arriving after 8:40am will require a late pass from the office. Dismissal is at 2:50pm.
If your child is absent, please ensure the reason is entered onto XUNO.
Kind regards,
The Year One Team