Prep News 

Our Learning & Celebrations 

Literacy - Text Study 

Reading and Understanding a Story 

This week in our Text Study, the Prep students continued developing their comprehension and communication skills through shared reading and discussion activities. Our focus was on building fluency, making meaning, analysing and interpreting texts, and creating short written responses. 

During the lesson, students listened to the remainder of our class story and participated in both partner and whole-class discussions to deepen their understanding of the text. We practised important comprehension strategies such as predicting, visualising, connecting, summarising, and questioning to help students think carefully about what was happening in the story. 

Students also explored new vocabulary words: 

• Essentials – things that are very important or necessary 

• Guide – someone or something that helps show you what to do 

• Wild – something energetic or silly, or animals that live in nature 

   

As part of our learning, students discussed tips for starting school and shared their own ideas and experiences. They then created a special page for a collaborative class book by writing and illustrating their own “top tip” for students starting school. 

Our learning goal was:

We are learning to read and understand a story. 

Students demonstrated success by: 

• answering and discussing questions about the story 

• sharing and explaining their ideas 

• creating their own helpful school-starting 

• tip 

You can support your child at home by reading together and asking questions such as: 

• What happened in the story? 

• How do you think the character felt? 

• What do you think might happen next? 

• What advice would you give someone starting school? 

   

We are very proud of the thoughtful ideas and enthusiastic discussions students shared throughout this lesson! 

Unit of inquiry - Five Senses Walk 

Our Prep students have been busy exploring the wonderful world of the five senses - sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell! Throughout the week, the children participated in a range of fun and hands-on learning experiences to help them better understand how we use our senses every day. 

Prep A

As part of our learning, we went on a sensory walk around the school. The students carefully observed the environment around them, listening to different sounds, noticing interesting sights, feeling a variety of textures, and discussing the smells and tastes they experience in everyday life. The children loved sharing their discoveries with their classmates and then completed a poster using descriptive language to explain what they noticed. 

Prep B

To capture our learning journey, we also took photos during our walk. The children were excited to photograph things that connected to each of the five senses, helping them see how learning can happen everywhere around us. 

Prep C

It was wonderful to see the children so engaged, curious, and enthusiastic as they explored the world through their senses! A special highlight of our sensory walk was visiting the canteen, where the children enjoyed smelling a variety of delicious foods and ingredients. They were especially excited to see two of our lovely Prep mums helping out, making the experience even more special and meaningful for the children. 

Maths - Measurement  

In Mathematics, Prep students explored the concept of long and short through engaging hands-on learning experiences where they compared, ordered and described objects based on their length. Using mathematical language such as longer, shorter and same length, students developed their understanding of measurement attributes while identifying similarities and differences between objects. 

To extend their learning, the children used putty to create and manipulate objects of varying lengths. This tactile activity provided a fun and meaningful way for students to showcase their understanding of long and short while building confidence in using mathematical vocabulary through play-based learning experiences. 

What We Are Learning Next  

Literacy - Phonics Plus 

• Introduce the sound representations for letters ‘y’, ‘z’. 

• Students apply knowledge of grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs) to read, spell and handwrite the words ‘fez’, ‘zip’, ‘yet’, ‘yak’. 

• Students practise handwriting lower-case letters ‘y’, ‘z’ and revise formation of previously taught GPCs in a dictated sentence. 

• Students read decodable text to practise GPCs and high-frequency words, apply emerging grammar knowledge, build fluency and make meaning. 

Maths - EMP 

For the remainder of Term 2, Prep students will continue developing their early maths skills. We will focus on addition strategies such as counting on and adding “plus 1”, while also strengthening number knowledge by counting in 10s using bundling sticks.  

Students will explore measurement concepts including length and capacity and continue learning about 2D shapes and their features. We will also revisit and consolidate key concepts taught throughout the term as students complete a range of assessment and revision activities.