Connect: Year 1

Hello family and friends,

We are all so impressed with how well our new Grade 1 students have settled into their classrooms. It has been wonderful to see new friendships forming and confidence growing each day. We have had so much fun getting to know one another and building the foundations for a positive year ahead.

IMPORTANT DATES

Here is what is coming up in the next fortnight of learning-

Literacy-

Heart words 

In Little Learners we are looking 'ee', 'ea' and '--y'. Students are learning to apply the correct spelling rules to the correct words. We are introducing and practising new heart words and identifying the tricky parts. 

In Writing, we have been continuing our learning about the continents, countries and oceans of the world. The students have particularly enjoyed sharing personal stories about family members and friends who live in other countries, making meaningful connections between our classroom learning and their own lives.

We have also been busy researching Australian animals, learning interesting facts and practising how to record our findings clearly. This learning has been building excitement for our upcoming excursion to the Moonlit Sanctuary, where we will have the wonderful opportunity to see many Australian animals up close and further enrich our understanding.

Numeracy-

In Numeracy, we have been practising our daily review using whiteboards and are very impressed with how well the students are following our daily Maths routines. The consistency and enthusiasm they are showing is helping them to build confidence with each new concept.

We have been focusing on counting forwards and backwards from 0–120 and using concrete materials to bundle ones into groups of ten. Students have been making and recording two-digit numbers on a place value chart, which is helping them to understand the value of each digit and strengthen their foundational number sense.

Wellbeing-

We have been sharing stories about different acts of kindness and discussing how these positive choices help to build strong, respectful friendships. Through class conversations and shared examples, students are learning that even small acts of kindness can make a big difference in someone else’s day.

We have also been exploring how our actions can affect others and thinking carefully about the choices we make. Students are developing their understanding of empathy, learning how to recognise when someone might need help, and practising ways they can offer support, encouragement and inclusion within our classroom community.

Library- 

 It was very exciting to see one of our Grade 1 students receive an award at assembly for achieving the highest amount of books read last year. Well done Zara Crawford from 1A!

Library is such a great opportunity to promote the love of reading. Please make sure your child has a borrowing bag/satchel so they can borrow 2 books every week. 

Homework-

Next week, we will be sending home individual QR codes for each student to access Little Learners Love Literacy online. This will allow your child to enjoy familiar texts at home and continue building confidence with their reading skills.

We will be sending home at level Heart Words to support learning and practise at home. While we warmly encourage nightly reading to help build fluency and enjoyment, this will not be formally monitored. Our hope is that reading at home remains a positive, relaxed and enjoyable experience for your child.

This year students will be using iPads for their learning so please check in with your child's teacher to make sure they have a pair of headphones for their classroom.

As always, we are here to help if you have any questions.

The Grade 1 team, Julieanne Brooks 1A, Monique Evans 1B, Cyarni Klimek 1C, Fiona Torrington 1D, Michelle Hammill 1E