Prep Celebration Newsletter

Reading 

In Reading, our phonemic awareness has strengthened through activities such as blending sounds and exploring onset and rimes. We also discovered the works of various authors, including Julia Donaldson, Eric Carle, and Pamela Allen. Their texts helped enrich our understanding by encouraging us to predict, analyse, and critique stories. We made text-to-text connections and developed a deeper understanding of the characteristics of both fiction and nonfiction texts.

Writing 

In Term 4, we focused on a variety of writing forms, including narratives, poems, and letters. This allowed us to explore different ways of expressing ideas and emotions through written language. In addition to developing our writing skills, we also deepened our understanding of phonics, reinforcing the connection between sounds and letters to improve our reading and spelling. We also revisited letter recognition to ensure a strong grasp of the alphabet and its corresponding sounds. 

Maths

In Term 4, Prep students developed a deeper understanding of Maths concepts. They explored capacity by comparing container sizes and practicing terms like "full" and "empty." They learned about sharing by dividing objects equally, fostering both math skills and cooperation. In place value, they consolidated their understanding of numbers up to 20, recognising tens and ones through hands-on activities with ten frames, number lines and bundling sticks. Lastly, they focused on time, learning to measure the duration of events and understanding familiar times of day. These concepts have helped build a strong foundation for their future learning in mathematics and social skills.

Inquiry 

This term in Inquiry, we delved into both chemical science and physical science. In Physical Science, we explored the concepts of push and pull, learning how forces affect the movement of objects. We discovered how these forces can either move objects towards us (pull) or away from us (push), and how they can change the direction and speed of an object’s motion. In Chemical Science, we focused on understanding different materials and how they react to various environmental factors, such as weather. We observed how changes in temperature, moisture, and other weather conditions can alter materials, affecting their strength, structure, and function. Additionally, we investigated the cause and effect of mixing different chemicals, noting how new substances are formed and how these reactions can have both predictable and surprising outcomes. This hands-on exploration helped us understand the dynamic ways the physical and chemical properties of materials interact with the world around us.

Wellbeing 

This term in wellbeing, we had a range of exciting experiences. We visited Collingwood Children’s Farm, where we explored different animals and learned about the environmental factors that affect them. The highlight of the term was the Colour Run, where the children had a blast running the course and celebrating with vibrant colors. We also enjoyed swimming sessions, focusing on water safety and learning how to be safe while swimming. In addition to these activities, we explored the importance of friendships and discussed how to build strong, positive relationships and get along with others. It’s been a fun and engaging term that has helped our students grow in many areas of their wellbeing!

PERFORMING ARTS

This term the Preps have been learning about Indigenous Song lines and how First Nations Peoples use sounds and symbols to tell stories. Students created their own Song lines for the story ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ and used percussion instruments to add sounds to their stories.  In the second half of the term, Prep students enjoyed rehearsing for the Kismet Christmas Carols and built their on-stage confidence when they shared their performance with the Kismet Community.  

VISUAL ARTS

This term, students had the opportunity to learn about the rich culture and traditions of the Aboriginal people of Australia. They discovered that stories about the land, animals, ancestors, and the Dreamtime are shared through spoken stories and shown in artwork.

Lessons focused on identifying subject matter in an artwork, recognising visual elements such lines and symbols and applying  new learning to their own artwork. Students explored a number of experiences - creating an Aboriginal flag using tissue paper collage, an observational drawing of a native quail (Djirikitj) in pencil and oil pastels,  tonal value painting - creating light and dark shades of a colour and telling their own story in symbols on a piece of traditional jewellery. 

JAPANESE

This term our Foundation students learned to introduce themselves in Japanese. They practised saying “Nice to meet you”, “may name is ~” and their age. Through tracing and copying activities, students were exposed to all three scripts (hiragana, katakana and kanji) to build on their foundational reading and writing skills in Japanese. They learned their names in katakana, their age in kanji, and simple words in hiragana. Students created a mini book to help them remember each greeting. They also sang songs and played games to support their learning of greetings and previously learned vocabulary. Students learned about the importance of culture and language, and made connections to our First Nation’s peoples by learning vocabulary in Woiwurrung and Japanese.

PE 

In Prep PE classes, students worked on developing fundamental movement skills through play-based activities such as running, jumping, kicking, throwing, and catching. They participated in simple games while also enhancing their social skills through teamwork and cooperation. It has been a great first year for our Preps and I look forward to seeing their future sporting growth and achievements.