Grade 1 News

Important Reminders

Swimming week is fast approaching! Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students will have their swimming lessons each day from Monday 20th October - Friday 24th October. Swimming lessons will be held at Paul Sadler Swimland, Rowville. 

Please see below for specific information regarding the swimming lessons for Grade 1 students.

• 1PA and 1KA will have their swimming lessons from 1:00-1:30.
• 1T and 1i will have their swimming lessons from 1:30-2:00.
• Students can wear their bathers to school if they want, however, we will make sure they have time to change into bathers at the pool if they prefer. 
• Please ensure your child/ren brings a small bag to school that has their towel, thongs/slides, goggles (if wearing), and bathers (if not already wearing).
• Students will leave their runners at school, wearing only their thongs/slides to the pool.
• Please ensure every item of your child’s clothing is clearly named in the event of items getting mixed up in the changing rooms.
• Grade 1 students will be encouraged to eat their lunch at snack time, then to keep their smaller snacks to eat at lunchtime.
• Given that there will be time back at school after swimming, it would be good if students could have an additional small snack or piece of fruit to eat then if they are hungry.
• There will be no lunch orders during swimming week.
• If you wish to attend your child’s swimming lesson, please be advised that parents are not permitted to enter changerooms. Teachers will be there to assist students in getting changed if required.
• If necessary, please practise with your child to ensure they are as independent as possible with getting changed out of their bathers and back into their school uniform.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

We look forward to a wonderful week!

As per our school's SunSmart policy, all students are required to wear hats until the end of April 2024.

Learning in Action

Literacy

Students have finished their narrative unit exploring the text ‘Zog’ by Julia Donaldson. They continued practising their skills of sequencing images, inferring character emotions and retelling the story using the Narrative Hill. Students captured their thinking by identifying the similarities and differences between ‘Zog’ and last week’s text ‘The Baddies’.

Students have relished the opportunity to finish writing their narratives about a fictional animal character. They turned these into books by creating a front and back cover matching the narrative’s theme. Furthermore, students applied their learnings from library sessions to create end pages as clues to their audience.

Library

Over the past few weeks we have continued our Inquiry focus in the Library. We have investigated the role of bees and other insects and animals in pollinating flowers so they fruit. It’s fabulous to see and hear students watching and talking about the pollinating they see happening in the garden during recess and lunch times. We read ‘Children of the World: Poverty and Hunger’ which led to deep and meaningful conversations about the reason why food is sometimes in short supply and the impact it can have. It’s heartwarming to listen to the students chat to each other about ways that they can try and make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. We will be actioning these ideas in the future, so stay tuned. 

Maths

In the last fortnights, students in grade 1, have been looking at Australian Money. They have identified the coins and learnt how to describe them in terms of colour, size and shape. Students have also started counting small collections of money, including cents and dollars. Students have also been looking at graphs. Students have helped their class by voting on their favourite Julia Donaldson book before graphing the data. The students have also analysed the graph and come up with statements based on the data. 

Inquiry

This fortnight students have been learning all about the resource of plastic. We have investigated where it comes from, why we need it, and what we can do to reduce plastic waste. We have had some fantastic discussions around what types of alternatives there are to single use plastic. We loved the ideas students had about ways to reduce the amount of plastic waste, such as

• Reuse plastic bags for lots of different purposes.
• Always choose to recycle.
• Don’t buy plastic water bottles that you throw away.
• Be a good role model to others in how you use plastic and look after the environment.

It was great to explore the many alternatives to single-use plastic that exist, such as reusable water bottles, reusable coffee cups, reusable cutlery, material shopping bags, glass jars etc. We hope these wonderful conversations and ideas carry through to home so that the Grade 1 students can help to make their households more sustainable!

Wellbeing

Over the past fortnight, our students have been revising the concepts taught throughout the Friendology program. We have continued to make our next page in our Friendology books, focusing on the 'Friend-o-Meter'. 

Melbourne Cup Eve at School 

On Monday, students learnt about the history of the Melbourne Cup, as well as played some fun maths games. The students also had some fun making fascinators and ties so they were ready for race day. 

Preview to Learning

Literacy

Next week, students will begin their unit on persuasive writing. They will learn how this differs from informative and narrative writing. They will also learn why writers use this style of writing and read real-life examples. 

Library

We will continue with our Inquiry-based focus. Grades 1KA and 1I have Library on Wednesdays and 1PA and 1T on Fridays. Please ensure library bags and books are returned on these days.

Maths

As we draw to the end of the year, students will be revisiting topics from throughout the year including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Students will also look at length, and time again to prepare them for grade 2. 

Inquiry

Next week we will begin the next phase of our Inquiry topic for Term 4 - our ‘call to action’. We look forward to seeing what ideas students have for how they can make sustainable choices to look after our environment.

Wellbeing

Next week, we will be continuing to revise the concepts throughout Friendology and preparing our Friendology book to bring home. 

Student of the Week

Congratulations to our Grade 1 award winners.