Foundation-1 Team

F/1 Notice Board

NAIDOC Week

Last Friday, July 15th, the entire school participated in a whole day of NAIDOC celebrations. They explored First Nations culture through stories, music, art and dance. We began the day witha a smoking cermony, led by Uncle Trevor. 

They were introduce to the Newlands' new acknowledgement of country, decorating their own copies with Koori symbols to take home, display and practice. We were lucky enough to have so many First Nations people come in to share their culture, stories and traditions. They investigated the concept of 'Country' and created a pastel artwork of what they like to do on country with the lovely, Alinta. Sonya shared stories of her culture and family, including beautiful artifacts and heirlooms, like a possum skin ball, musical instruments and a boomerang. The day culminated in the Koori Youth Will Shake Spears dance group performing traditional dances that represent their culture and have been passed down over many generations.

F1 Inquiry Launch: 'We are one but we are many.'

During our Inquiry, 'We are one but we are many', our students have begun to engage with the concept of culture and identity. They are exploring their similarities and differences, such as what food they eat, what they wear, and what they celebrate. By the end of the term, all students will have created their own personal identity bag, including a factual description of themselves and their families. Throughout the term, we hope students come home from school wondering about their own place in their families rich cultural heritage.

Literacy

In Spanish, the students have been working on creating their own personal description. They are focusing on practising everyday greetings, talking about their age, their birthday and a physical description of themselves. We are very excited to show our learning in Week 5 through a video project which will be uploaded to each students Seesaw folder. 

In English, students have been exploring generating ideas for writing from a "seed idea". They have been looking at how one seed can be used to write for different purposes, including recounts and persusaive texts. They will continue to investigate these two genres, exploring their purporse and features. In the Code, students been learning about nouns and adjectives, including describing a silly moster! In Reading, we have been learning about retelling, by recalling information and sequencing important events from the First Nations Dreaming stories, 'Tidalik' and 'How the Birds Got Their Colours'. In Reading Builders, they have been applying their learning of sounds-letter relationships and retelling.

Mathematics 

In Spanish, the students have been focusing on counting and place value to further deepen their number sense. Through this students are learning to be creative with numbers and the process they take when solving problems. Our Collective and Builder activities have been a lot fun and the students have especially enjoyed exploring larger numbers. This term we have introduced Workshops to allow time for students to work closely with the teacher. The students have responded positively to this. 

In English, students are focusing on additon by exploring a range of strategies, such as counting all and counting on.  They are applying these strategies through addition stories, and developing their fluency of addition facts, such as tens facts, doubles and near doubles. In Workshops, students will be extending their understanding of addition strategies, with teacher guidance. 

Important Dates: 

• Today, Friday 22nd: Parent helper survey closes today. Please check Sentral for parent notifications with a link for your class to complete the survey with your preferences. A timetable will go out next week. 
• Week 3, Friday 29th: Whole-School Athletics Day - Foundation Students will join the rest of the school, departing around 11am
• Week 4, Tuesday or Thursday: Contact your child's classroom teacher if you would like to come in and share about a special cultural tradition with an accompanying craft activity. We are exploring the question: How are other family traditions similar and different to my own?
• Week 4, Friday: 100 Days of Prep Celebration will be on Friday, 5th of August. More information will be sent out soon!

Home Reading Reminders: 

• Students are bringing home 1 English and 1 Spanish book each night 
  (Excluding Wednesday Specialist days. This is an opportunity to use some of the online reading apps.) 
• We encourage students to read for 10-15 minutes each night
• Families and students to write down the name of books read in the yellow log book
• In your child's reader bag, there is a 'Heart Words List' to support reading and spelling

Heart Words List

The word lists sent home in your child's reader bag link to their current stage of reading. Teachers have been updating word lists throughout the term to ensure that words taken home are an appropriate level for your child.  These word lists are an extra resource to be used each night to support your child's reading and spelling. 

• We recommend that students choose 5-10 words from the list to practice each night
• We use 'sound buttons' to identify sounds and help us spell new words in the classroom. You may like to ask your child to show you, using the template below as a guide
• Here are some ideas to make spelling fun at home: 

Reading Apps

• Raz Kids for Spanish Reading 
• Nessy for English Phonics