Foundation

Literacy

In Literacy we have started to explore digraphs. We have completed a range of learning experiences with our students to support their understand of digraphs (two letters making one sound e.g. the digraph /ck/ in the word duck). Students have enjoyed learning about the 'rules' when to use certain digraphs and where they are placed in a word. Whilst learning about the /sh/ digraph Prep A enjoyed writing their very own versions of 'Where is the Green Sheep' and reading these to their friends in Grade 3/4. Prep B strengthened their understanding of the /sh/ digraph by participating in rotations. Students were bale to read, write, match and make /sh/ words.

Within our writing sessions, students have enjoyed writing the solution to problems found in different narratives. When learning about the 'ck' digraph students read the story 'Alexander's Outing' which is about a duck who got stuck in the drain. Students were creative in their story endings on how they would save the duck. 

In Prep B, students looked at the picture prompt below of a shop, we talked about the different types of shops - Some that provide a service e.g. petrol station etc, and some that you can buy things from e.g. supermarket, clothing store etc. The students thought about what things were in the shop like the front counter, cash register and how they would purchase items e.g. using cash or cards.

Numeracy

In Numeracy, we finalised our unit on Subtraction. We now know how to use a range of strategies (e.g. count back, cross out, number line) and manipulatives to solve subtraction problems to 10. The students in Prep B have particularly enjoyed using the count back strategy when solving how many students are in our class each day e.g. We have 20 students in our class, 3 people are not at school today. Put 20 in your head and 3 on your fingers and count back  - 20, 19, 18, 17! 

We have started to explore measurement with a particular focus on length. We have talked about formal units used to measure items including rulers and measuring tape and explore measuring using informal units including counters and ice-cream sticks. Students have enjoyed comparing the size of different objects found inside and outside and have been challenged when they have to find items longer or shorter than something else.  

Social Emotional Learning/Inquiry

Our Inquiry topic for this term is Development of Resilience (Recognising problems or challenges). This week our focus was on Cooperation. Students worked in small teams to achieve a goal. The students had to take turns, communicate effectively and  and strategies to solve problems as a group.

• School begins at 8:35am. Please ensure your child is at school on time as they will miss out on crucial social and learning opportunities. Children who come after the 8:50am bell must go to the front office to be marked as a late arrival.
• School finishes at 3pm sharp. Please ensure there is a parent or guardian present at pick up at the correct door (Prep A - front door, Prep B - Go through the breeze way to the playground side door) as some students are waiting for extended periods of time.
• Homework goes home on Mondays and comes back to school on Fridays.
• Families are welcome to come to our cohort and school assemblies on Fridays at 2:30. Cohort assemblies are held in the large Grade 1/2 space (through the blue door), and the school assemblies will be held outside under the COLA (unless otherwise advised).
• As the weather is becoming cooler, students are encouraged to bring/wear warm coats/jackets, mittens/gloves, beanies or earmuffs outside. Please ensure all clothing items are labelled.
• Personal toys to play with at school are discouraged. This is to ensure that any items that may be special to your child are not broken or lost during play. On occasion there have been times where toys have been misplaced or damaged. We do not with for this to happen to your child's precious items.
• Please ensure your child has a piece of fruit, a snack, and lunch as well as a water bottle.
• Lunch orders - Please ensure all lunch orders are placed in the lunch order basket at the beginning of the day. Occasionally, students have forgotten to place lunch orders in the basket and have had an emergency lunch provided.
• Keep up the positive after-school routines (homework, dinner conversations, bedtime).
• Don't forget - School begins at 8:35am daily. Students that attend after 8:50am will need to sign in at the office.

Things you can work on at home:

• Letter and sound recognition (recognising upper and lowercase letters and their most common sound) for all letters of the alphabet.
• Heart word recognition (recognising explicitly taught words) - My, my, The, the, I, Me, me, like, can, to, so, go, was, we, she, he, do, of, are, too, for, her, see, say, day, into, you.
• Reading a shared book every night focusing on concepts of print (identifying the front cover, a word, a letter, 1:1 finger pointing, talking about the story and using specific vocabulary)
• Fine motor activities – using playdoh, cutting, threading – to strengthen hand muscles
• Build and write taught CV (consonant vowel) no, go, do, to, VC (vowel consonant), is, am on, up, and CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words, cat, met, top, pit, nut etc
• Having nightly dinner conversations with the family (talk about the day)
• Have your child help out in the kitchen by measuring ingredients when you are making meals, and counting items that are going in the basket at the shops. This will assist in developing counting skills
• Look at some of the information provided under the Literacy, Numeracy and SEL/Inquiry headings and review these tasks to reinforce learning.