Foundation News 

Reading

In Reading, students applied their understanding of punctuation by reading sentences with the correct expression and pauses. They learned how full stops, question marks, and exclamation marks change the meaning and tone of a sentence and practised using them while reading aloud. Students also began exploring poetry through rhymes, chants, and songs. They learned what poetry is and how to identify rhyming words. Students also revisited familiar rhymes such as Humpty Dumpty and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, using them to strengthen their understanding of rhyme patterns. To put their learning into practise, they made their own lists of rhyming words.

“There is like ‘There is a boy’, and their is like ‘This is their bunny’” - Japman FA

“Question marks are for asking questions.” - Elyas FB

“We need to stop when there is a full stop at the end of the sentence” - Julia FC

Writing

During Writing, Foundation students continued developing their skills in sentence writing and creating descriptive sentences with correct punctuation. They used pictures as prompts to think about what was happening and then wrote sentences to describe the scene. Students also used Colourful Semantics to help them explain who the character is, what they are doing, what they are using, and where they are.

“My favourite part is when the dog got adopted. I can write about why I like it” - Archie FA

“Joy is sad because she fell off from the cloud.” - Royan FB

“I can build a sentence using 'Who are the characters?' and 'What are they doing?” - Isaac FC 

Maths 

This fortnight in Maths, Foundation students have been focusing on skip counting by 2s. They learned many different strategies to support them in identifying the next number by using the hundreds charts and number lines. The Foundation cohort practised skip counting by playing a game of ‘Pass the Teddy’ as they stated the numbers while skip counting by 2s. Students also expanded their counting skills as they named and ordered numbers beyond 20. They engaged in digital games to find the missing numbers between 20 and 30 and checked that the number sequences were in order from least to greatest. 

“2,4, 6, 8, 10!” - Zakariya FA

“I can skip count by 2s all the way to 100!” - Zade FB

“I can do skip counting backwards by 10s” - Ryan FC

Inquiry

Over the past two weeks in Inquiry, students explored what it means to make safe choices and how these can be applied in their everyday lives. They learned about personal safety and the importance of understanding personal boundaries. In addition, students discussed healthy choices, focusing on how exercise and movement support their health and growth. They also identified different ways to stay active both at school and at home.

“I stay active by playing basketball with my dad” - Brooklyn FA

“Not pushing people off the playground is being safe.” - Maria FB

“ When someone is upset, we need to give them safe” - Selim FC

Social and Emotional Learning

In Social and Emotional Learning, students learned about the importance of playing in a friendly and fair way. They discussed what these words mean and shared examples from their own experiences. Students also explored what playing rough looks like and how it can be hurtful to themselves and others. In addition, they discussed using good manners and why showing respect and kindness is important when interacting with others.

“If someone is not being kind, we can tell them we don’t like it” - Annabelle FA

“Everyone needs to have a turn.” - Hiro FB

“ We need to wait for our turn in the playground and no pushing” - Affan FC

Auslan

In Auslan, Foundation students learned how to sign zoo animals. Students followed and mirrored signs while sharing how some of the signs remind them of the animals. Many students enjoyed signing ‘elephant’ as they pointed to their nose and waved it down, signaling the trunk of an elephant. The Foundation cohort also learned how to sign ‘wh’ questions including what, when, where, who, and why.

“My favourite sign is the giraffe because it’s long like a giraffe” - Syed FA

“Lion is my favourite.” - Aydin FB

“Sign for the pig is my favourite because it is so funny” - Elliot FC

Special Event - Planting Snow Peas

This fortnight, Foundation students planted the snow peas at the school garden. The snow peas were initially planted in small paper pots from the Foundation Bundoora Farm excursion. Students have been working hard checking on the plants and watering them everyday. Foundation students gently carried the plants to the school garden and participated in discussions about how to take care of plants. 

“I hope the plants grow tall!” - Brooklyn FA

“The plants can get water when it rains” - Annabelle FA

“Can we eat them after they grow?” - Musa FB

“I can see my plant is growing tall” - Jem FC