Literacy – Initial Lit Program

This fortnight, our class has continued working through the Initial Lit program—a structured, evidence-based literacy approach designed to build strong foundational reading and writing skills. This program supports students in learning to decode (read) and encode (spell) words systematically, by introducing sounds and spelling patterns in a carefully sequenced order.

Recently, we’ve been focusing on the “ir” digraph, exploring how it can represent different sounds such as ir in bird, er in her, and ur in fur. Students have been developing their phonemic awareness by listening to, identifying, and using these sounds in reading and writing. We’ve also been studying the “er” digraph, and applying it in context by reading words like fern and herd, and writing our own sentences using these words.

In addition to sounds, we have explored adding the suffix “-er” to base words (e.g., teach → teacher, run → runner). This helps students understand how words change meaning and function, and how to apply spelling rules when adding suffixes.

Another key concept we’ve introduced is the “bossy e” (also known as the magic 'e'), which changes short vowel sounds into long ones—like cap becoming cape. Understanding this rule helps children tackle more complex words as they read and spell.

To support comprehension skills, we read and discussed the picture book “The Pencil”, a wonderfully creative narrative that prompted rich discussions around imagination, character traits, and problem-solving. Students practised answering literal and inferential questions, building their ability to think deeply about texts and explain their ideas clearly.

Parents can support this learning at home by:

Reading with your child each night and talking about the sounds in words.
Pointing out digraphs and bossy ‘e’ words in everyday reading.
Encouraging your child to write short stories, signs, or notes using their new spelling rules.

Mathematics – In Math, we’ve been revisiting and building on our understanding of place value—an essential concept for all areas of number and operations. Students have been working with both 2-digit and 3-digit numbers, learning to identify the value of each digit depending on its place (hundreds, tens, and ones).

We’ve practised partitioning numbers, which means breaking them apart to understand their structure and make mental calculations easier. For example, students learn to see the number 254 as 200 + 50 + 4. This strategy lays a strong foundation for addition, subtraction, and even multiplication and division later on.

We also conducted a multiplication pre-test to see what students already know about times tables and repeated addition. This helps guide our teaching so we can differentiate our lessons to suit the needs of each learner.

Some helpful maths strategies we are teaching include:

Using concrete materials such as Uniix blocks and place value charts to physically represent numbers.
Drawing number lines and grouping models to show thinking.
Skip counting to develop fluency in multiplication (e.g., counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s).
Explaining their reasoning, encouraging students to talk through how they solved a problem and why their answer makes sense.

Parents can support this at home by:

Practising number partitioning during daily routines (e.g., breaking down numbers on letterboxes, prices at the shop, or car number plates).
Playing card games or board games involving counting and strategy.
Encouraging your child to explain how they reached an answer, not just what it is.

Investigation Time – Hands-On Learning During Investigation Time, students have had the opportunity to engage in open-ended, creative play and exploration:

Initial Lit Readers have been used for independent and partner reading, allowing students to revisit sounds and tricky words in a supportive context.
In Unifix Creations, students plan, sketch, and build structures using Unifix blocks—combining creativity, planning and spatial reasoning.
Magnet Creations and Lego building have focused on constructing infrastructures, encouraging teamwork, problem-solving, and engineering thinking.
Through Design Time, students have used templates to design their own shoes or clothing items, expressing their creativity while learning about pattern, symmetry and visual detail.
Free Writing has given students the chance to write independently in a genre of their choice—be it persuasive, imaginative, or informative. It’s been wonderful to see their unique voices shine through their writing!

Bendigo Primary School Newsletter

Respect, Responsibility and Kindness

Term 3 Week 2 · 01 Aug 2025

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