Teaching & Learning Page

Literacy - Spelling Spotlight

Each fortnight we’ll be sharing a simple spelling rule or strategy to help families better understand how we teach spelling at Surfside. These tips will support your child’s learning and give you ideas for how to reinforce spelling at home in a fun and meaningful way. Keep an eye out for our Spelling Spotlight in each newsletter!

CHANGING Y TO I RULE

This week, we’re learning what happens when a word ends in <y> and we add a vowel suffix such as <-ed>, <-es>, <-er>, or <-est>.The Rule: When a word ends in <y> and the letter before the y is a consonant, change the <y> to <i> before adding the vowel suffix. Note: When the letter before the <y> is a vowel, the <y> stays the same.

How you can help at home:

When your child is writing, prompt them to stop and check: “Does my word end in a y?” “What letter comes before the <y>—a vowel or a consonant?” “If it’s a consonant, the <y> changes to <i>!”

Numeracy - Building Strong Mathematical Foundations through Fact Fluency

At Surfside Primary, we recognise that fact fluency — the ability to recall basic number facts quickly and accurately — is a vital part of every child’s mathematical development. When students can confidently recall their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts, they free up their working memory to focus on more complex problem-solving and reasoning tasks. This reduces cognitive load, allowing students to think more deeply and flexibly about mathematics.

To support the development of fact fluency across all year levels, Surfside Primary uses two engaging online programs: Times Table Rock Stars and NumBots.

• NumBots focuses on building a strong foundation in number sense, addition and subtraction facts. It’s ideal for our younger learners or those consolidating their understanding of number relationships.
• Times Table Rock Stars supports students in mastering multiplication and division facts through fun, competitive and adaptive challenges that build both speed and accuracy.

We recommend that students engage with these programs for just 5–10 minutes each day. Consistent, short bursts of practice have a powerful cumulative effect — boosting confidence, recall speed and accuracy over time.

Students can log in to NumBots or Times Table Rock Stars on any internet-connected device — at school or at home. Login details can be obtained from your child’s classroom teacher if needed.

For Years 3 - 6, one of the exciting features of Times Table Rock Stars is the Heatmap, which visually tracks student progress by showing which facts have become fluent and which still need practice. We encourage students to share their Heatmaps with families to celebrate improvements and set new learning goals. It’s a fantastic way for students to see their growth, reflect on their effort, and stay motivated as they build fluency over time.

By making fact fluency practice part of your child’s daily routine — and celebrating their progress along the way — you’re helping them strengthen the essential building blocks that underpin all areas of mathematics.