Grade 1 Community News

Dear Grade 1 Families,

We can hardly believe we’ve reached the end of our Grade 1 year! What a wonderful journey it has been. From all of us in the Grade 1 PLC, we want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our amazing families for your support, encouragement, and partnership throughout the year. It has been an absolute joy teaching your children, and we hope they’ve enjoyed their learning as much as we’ve enjoyed guiding them along the way!

InitiaLit

In our InitiaLit lessons in Week 9, students have been revising the huge amount of literacy learning they have built throughout the year. They have been proudly demonstrating how much they have grown by completing reading and writing tasks that extend their previous learning and help prepare them for Grade 2. Students have been putting their knowledge of spelling patterns into practice and using their Help-Me Spell charts with confidence to make accurate spelling choices based on their understanding of phonics and word rules. 

For further reinforcement at home, you can help your child revise their learning in real-world ways—ask them to read the instructions for family board games, enjoy reading together at bedtime, spell out tricky words they come across, and encourage them to write about their day or experiences using Super Sentences. You can also scan the QR code below to continue revising the Tricky Words learned this year. Remember—even a little daily practice goes a long way!

Vocabulary and Storybook

In our Vocabulary and Storybook Response lessons, students have continued to build their understanding using the mentor text How Frogmouth Found Her Home—a story about the very first day and how some Australian animals came to understand who they were and where they lived. 

In small groups, students researched, wrote about, and presented their findings on Australian animals, including the frogmouth owl, kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, and wombats. Students used their prior knowledge of informative texts to organise their ideas into short paragraphs and practised their speaking and listening skills to confidently share their learning with their peers. 

In Week 10, students will revisit some of their previous Grade 1 mentor texts to reflect on how their thinking has changed or developed, and will complete hands-on activities to demonstrate their understanding in engaging and meaningful ways.

Knowledge Building

Students have now completed their discussions and writing tasks using the text Looking After Country with Fire. Students have shown a great aptitude in using their developing understanding of looking after Country to write sentences to support their opinions about using cool burning and turning these into well-structured paragraphs. 

Over the week, students learned how to structure a paragraph using a simple Single Paragraph Outline (SPO) template. They developed a strong Topic/Statement Sentence (TS) to introduce their main idea, wrote at least three clear Supporting Details (SD) to support their opinion, and finished with a powerful Concluding Sentence (CS) that restated their main idea using strong words and even an exclamation mark! Students also worked on turning their ideas into full sentences using joining words (conjunctions) and proudly published their final paragraphs on publishing paper, complete with an accompanying illustration.

You can support your child at home by encouraging them to share their opinions about everyday situations and helping them explain at least three reasons for their thinking. They can even start to include high-modality words like must, should, and definitely to try to convince you of their point of view.

Maths

In Maths during Week 9, students focused on learning how to subtract two-digit numbers using regrouping, where there were not enough ones to subtract. Students learned to always check the ones first, and if there were not enough, they knew it was ‘regrouping time’ by borrowing from the tens to make subtraction possible. Students showed great skill in identifying when they needed to regroup and have been practising this strategy through hands-on learning activities. 

This week, students continued to learn to name Australian coins and notes, order their values from largest to smallest, and work out the value of a collection of coins. They will also extend their learning in mass by using a balance to find objects that have the same mass.

You can continue to help your child at home by practising their maths facts each night using their 2-Minute Facts on Fire worksheet. This regular practice helps strengthen their maths fluency, which will make it easier for them to tackle more challenging maths concepts as they continue to grow and learn.

Respectful Relationships 

In Respectful Relationships, students have been exploring the topic of positive gender relations. They have begun by discussing why it is important to treat everyone safely and fairly. Students have explored the idea that the opposite of violence is respect, and what it means to ask for, give, or refuse consent in everyday situations. These activities helped students develop a deeper understanding of how to interact kindly and respectfully with others, and the importance of listening to and valuing everyone’s choices.

Families can support this learning at home by encouraging open conversations about respect and fairness in everyday situations. Reinforcing the idea that everyone’s choices and feelings are important helps children practise positive, safe, and respectful interactions both at home and in their wider community.

Digital Technology

In Digital Technology, students have been learning about empathy and wellbeing online. Through our Cyber Safety Project, they explored the importance of considering the person behind the screen and showing kindness, even when someone is using an avatar or character as their profile picture. Students learned that these avatars often represent a person’s values, interests, or characteristics, and that our online actions can affect real people and their feelings. As part of their learning, students created a class set of collector cards, where each card represents a student’s avatar and the cyber safety values they uphold. This activity encouraged students to think beyond the screen and understand the real-life impact of their online behaviour.

Families can support this learning at home by talking with their child about being kind and respectful online. You can also set clear rules for screen time, monitor the apps and websites they use, and remind them to never share personal information such as their full name, address, or passwords. 

Reminders and News

Sunsmart Reminder

As we continue through Term 4, please remember that all students are required to wear a hat during outdoor play. This helps keep everyone safe and Sunsmart while enjoying time outside.

Take Home Readers

Please continue to encourage nightly reading with your child; however, as the year draws to an end, please ensure that you return all the students’ books to the classroom for next year’s students to enjoy.

End of Term

The last day of Term 4 is the 19th of December, and children will be dismissed at 1:30 pm. 

We would like to thank you for an incredible year with our Grade 1 students. We feel very lucky to have taught such a wonderful group of children, and we will truly miss them as they continue their learning journey next year.

From all of us in the Grade 1 team, we wish you a safe, happy, and restful holiday, and we look forward to seeing everyone back next year!

Happy Holidays!

PLC 1