Foundation Cluster News

Home Inquiry

Jolly Sounds

Check out our YouTube channel. Every week a new set of sounds will be put up to share with your children at home or even show you how we teach them the sound and action. In their purple pouch is the sound and action sheet to practice. You can get them to write it any way you like for example with a water sprayer, playdough, shaving cream, write it in flour. Just as long as they are starting from the correct position and forming the sound correctly. Handwriting hero app is great to use to ensure formation is correct.

Heart Words

Students were sent home the next sheet of heart (snap) words. Please check our YouTube channel to show you how to practice the heart words.

Jolly Words

These are words that can be sounded out and blended. The children say each sound in the words and then blend them together to read the word. We encourage them to chop the sounds on their hand and then blend them together to read the word. They are to keep the card until they are comfortable with the words and blending accurately and then in the mornings they can swap for a new card. Once they have ticked off all the colour dots in that colour card section, we will test them and move them up to the next colour card if they are successful. Please keep these in their Jolly (purple) pouch always. See our YouTube channel for the video showing how to do them.

YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLnfvRwv4dyqmDKu0nLh2Vw

Learning program:

Readers Workshop – Strategies that help us read

Word Study – We are now splitting into small groups.

Blue and orange – sentence writing

Purple and green –Rhyming words/ CVC words/ Sentences/ Letter Formation

Bookmaking – Spotlight session: Expert Books (Non- Fiction) Inquiry into Maths

Number: Measurement

How The World Works Central idea: Through exploration and observation, we learn how to identify, classify, plants and understand how they grow.

Line of inquiry 1: Plants have different features

Line of inquiry 2: Living things can be sorted and categorised

Line of inquiry 3: Plants change as they grow

Learner profile: Caring, Inquirers

Key concepts: Change, Connection

 Christian Studies:

Christian Living

Key Idea 1: Christians believe that God creates people to live in relationship with him and with each other

Kimochis at home: We have 2 very special Kimochis that are going to come for a visit on the weekend. Brave bug and Curious Cat. Students have designated weekends where they will bring home a small bug or cat and a book with instructions of what they will need to do. They will take the Kimochi home on a Friday and bring them back on the Monday. Please make sure they are taken care of and don’t get drawn on or eaten by any family pets. If you do not have a printer at home, we are happy to print for you.

Week	Bug	Cat	Bug
5	Amani	Miles	Jack
6	Kat	Emily	Prayash
7	Weston	Jinuki	Lillian
8	Evan R	Charlie	Rhea
9	Jaiveer	Jaideep	Amani

You Tube channel: Please use this link to watch the videos each week. We often put up very valuable information that will help your child at home with their sounds, reading and heart words. Please make this a part of your routine to watch frequently.

As a reminder: here is the link to our YouTube channel, please subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbAyQloLFifan6LR4xfIFFA

Library books: Please make sure you pack your child’s library books to change on a Wednesday. There are students that continue to forget so your help is appreciated. Week 6 will be the last week to borrow.

Home reading: We now have decodables and free choice books that go home on Fridays. These are for you to practice reading with your child at home. They are changed over on Fridays. Please make sure your child has their clear folder with their books every week.

Jolly words/Heart words: Please encourage your child to change their jolly words frequently before school. They must bring their blue take home folders daily. Heart words should also be practiced most nights to help support them in the classroom.

Volunteers in the classroom: We love having parent volunteers in the classroom to help with sound and heart word practice. If you would like to volunteer, you will need to have all relevant checks completed through the school front office. Volunteers are welcome on Monday-Thursday from 8:30am-9:00am during our morning activity time before our learning day starts. Please let us know if you would like to help! 

Hats: A reminder that students need a school hat in Term 4. Please make sure it is labelled and kept in their school bag.

Christmas Donations: As the Christmas season approaches, both the Foundation and Mid-Year Foundation classes will be collecting long-life pantry staples, new and unopened gifts for children, and colouring books and pencils to include in Christmas Hampers for Lutheran Care.

If your family is able, we would greatly appreciate any donations of Christmas decorations to help make our learning spaces bright and joyful.

Thank you for your support!

Pevan and Sarah Concert:

We are so excited to share that we will be seeing Pevan and Sarah in concert on Thursday 13th November 2025 (Week 5). Our Foundation’s will be travelling to STARplex Hewiston Theatre on the Golden Grove Lutheran Primary School busses. We will also stop at Carisbrooke Park in Salisbury for lunch and a play (pending weather is kind).

Students will need to be at school at our normal time of 8:45am, we will be departing at 9:30am and will return by 2:30pm.

What to bring:

On the day your child needs to come in school uniform. They will also need a labelled small backpack or school bag that contains the following:

Drink bottle
Fruit/vegetable snack
Recess
Lunch
School hat

Year 5/6 Business Unit: Year 5/6 students are doing their business unit and are preparing to trade in the courtyard in Week 6 at lunch time and after school.

There will be a range of items for sale from fidgets to milkshakes and everything in between. The prices will range from $1 to $4. If students wish to purchase during that week, they can bring some coins. Please discuss this with them at home.

We would encourage you to support your child by purchasing from the stalls AFTER SCHOOL to avoid mishaps with coins at school.

Keep smiling,

Amy and Brianna

Amy Hughes: hughes.amy@goldengrove.sa.edu.au

Brianna Stanley:

stanley.brianna@goldengrove.sa.edu.au

Welcome to week 5.

Our practicing putting things away after we have used it, is a work in progress, thank you for supporting us at home as well. We are getting busier as the term progresses with MOT breakfast and swimming in week 8 and then that fabulous time of the year Christmas so there may be some days where we wobble, if you feel like a rest day is needed it is always an option.

Year 5/6 Business Unit: There was a flyer in the take home bag during week 4. The Year 5/6 students are doing their business unit and are preparing to trade in the courtyard in Week 6 at lunch time and after school.

There will be a range of items for sale from fidgets to milkshakes and everything in between. The prices will range from $1 to $4. If students wish to purchase during that week, they can bring some coins. Please discuss this with them at home.

We would encourage you to support your child by purchasing from the stalls AFTER SCHOOL to avoid mishaps with coins at school.

Learning program: Week 5

Readers Workshop – We are reading stories about plants and animals to support our Unit of Inquiry. Reading stamina, stretching our reading muscle.

Word Study – Letter names and sounds. During our Word Study learning time, students are introduced to a letter, the sound the letter makes and its Jolly Phonics action. We practice letter formation, SA print style, with an emphasis on letters being form from top to bottom. We look at 3 letters per week and by the end of Term 3 we should have covered all 26 letters of the alphabet. As your children learn more sounds, they will begin to sound out and write simple cvc words (consonant-vowel-consonant) e.g. sat, pin, hut. Bookmaking – We are looking at different types of texts as inspiration for writing our own story.

Inquiry into Maths

Number 1-20, Shape, Sorting

Unit of Inquiry

How The World Works Central idea: Through exploration and observation, we learn how to identify, classify, plants and understand how they grow.

Line of inquiry 1: Plants have different features

Line of inquiry 2: Living things can be sorted and categorised

Line of inquiry 3: Plants change as they grow

Learner profile: Caring, Inquirers

Key concepts: Change, Connection, Form

Some Regular Reminders:

Rest Day

Now that we attend school for the full 5 days, please remember some of our children may be very tired and or emotional by the end of the day and certainly the end of the week and will probably need a few more hugs and early nights, so please make the call if you think they need a rest day.

Chapel/assembly

Our Foundations now attend weekly assembly and chapel with the whole school. A reminder that assembly is Monday afternoon and chapel is Friday morning, as soon as the first school bell goes, we line up and head off to the worship centre.

Toddle

We post important information reminders, student learning, photos/videos and assessments on this platform.

Blue Take Home Folder

All students have been given a blue take home folder. They are to come to school every day. Students will need these for notes to be sent home; take home craft they make during the day.

Library

We are doing a great job remembering our library books and borrowing new ones, thank you to our grown-ups that are supporting us. Our Library Day is Tuesday every week, Foundation children can borrow 2 books, take them home to read and bring them back the following Monday so that we can do it all again on Tuesday.

Christmas Donations:

As the Christmas season approaches, both the Foundation and Mid-Year Foundation classes will be collecting long-life pantry staples, new and unopened gifts for children, and colouring books and pencils to include in Christmas Hampers for Lutheran Care.

If your family is able, we would greatly appreciate any donations of Christmas decorations to help make our learning spaces bright and joyful.

Thank you for your support!

Volunteers in the classroom:

We would love to have parent volunteers in the classroom to help with sound and heart word practice and reading. If you would like to volunteer, you will need to have all relevant checks completed through the school front office. Volunteers are welcome on Monday-Thursday from 8:30am-9:00am during our morning activity time before our learning day starts. Please let us know if you would like to help! 

Keep smiling,

Tania Tenten

tenten.tania@goldengrove.sa.edu.au

Hats: A reminder that students need a school hat in Term 4. Please make sure it is labelled and kept in their school bag.

School Calendar

https://www.goldengrove.sa.edu.au/calendar/

Sport

Basketball