Junior School

PREP

Hello families,

I am beyond happy to be back in the Prep classroom after my time off. I have had the greatest time catching up with you all since I've gotten back and am extremely proud of the preps for all their progress they made while I was overseas. 

Literacy: 

This term we have officially moved to stage 7.1, in this stage students will begin to show an increased awareness of vowel graphemes (letters), this is the beginning of very complex alphabetic code and following Little Learners is important because we still introduce these graphemes using speed sounds and chants that are part of the students literacy routine. We focus on spelling words with these vowel graphemes to help them remember when the many varieties of vowel teams are used. 

During this term we will.... 

-Master the alphabetic code (43 phonemes represented in speed sound and chant cards) 

-decode unfamiliar words, including words with multi syllables

-segment words for spelling and apply phoneme (sounds) and grapheme (written letters) knowledge. 

-Read books from stages 7.1-7.5 with fluency and understanding. 

In Writing we are consolidating knowledge of sentence writing and structure, extending to writing sentences that answer who, what and where. 

Until the end of term, we will also be focusing on consolidating proper letter formation (Top to bottom, in one fluid line) to help students write faster and reduce their cognitive load when writing big sentences, this is a helpful tool to get them ready for Year One. 

Students have loved using colorful semantics to give us nouns, verbs and locations to write silly sentences and share them with classmates. 

Pictures for literacy these last few weeks will be put out as positive posts!

Numeracy: 

In Numeracy this term, we are continuing to focus on strong number skills before they move into Year One, specifically equal sharing between two and three groups. Students have loved creating number stories and using hands on materials to demonstrate their understanding of sharing (Building blocks for division) and are enjoying extending themselves into much higher numbers. 

Geography: 

In Geography this term, we are focusing on places in our community, what places are special to us and where do we frequent in our local space? 

This Term, we will also be going on a walk to explore our community and creating an A3 project map of our surroundings at Officer Primary School. 

The Junior School will be going to Chesterfield Farm this term as a part of this curriculum and we will have to learn how they look after animals, the nature and the farm and the managed buildings. 

Diwali festivities: 

A huge thank you to Mrs Kaur for educating the junior school on her favourite cultural celebration. We loved hearing about the foods, art and beautiful customs in the Indian culture.  

IMPORTANT DATES (WEEK 4- 7) 

31st October: Assembly 

3rd November: Adam Wallace Incursion 

4th November: Melbourne Cup Day 

7th November: Chesterfield Farm 

14th November: Assembly

10th-21st November: Swimming Program 

That is all from me for now, as always keep checking Compass and call if you have any questions at all. 

-Miss A and Jacqui.

1/2 BD and MK. 

Welcome back to Term 4! We look forward to a busy, fun and exciting term. We have had an amazing start to the term. Let's have a look at what's been happening...

MATHS

This term in Maths, students will continue to build their mathematical understanding through fun and hands-on learning experiences. We will begin by learning about capacity, where students will compare, order, and measure how much different containers can hold using informal units.

We’ll then move on to addition and subtraction strategies, including using doubles, near-doubles, part–part–whole, and making ten to solve number problems. Students will also explore how adding or subtracting zero affects a number and practise working with fact families to strengthen number fluency.

This term we will be learning:

• Length 
• Place value 
• Location 
• Direction 
• How to use calendars to identify days, weeks, and months as we count down to the end of the year

It’s going to be a busy and exciting term full of hands-on activities and opportunities to apply mathematical thinking to real-life situations.

READING

To prepare for our Chesterfield Farm excursion we have been exploring books about farm animals. Together we have been able to comprehend using our skills of literal and inferred meanings. The students have continued to work in reading groups and have come up with very imaginative group names such as golden cubs, purple gamer boys and red rubies. 

The students have continued to work on their decoding in our Little Learners Love Literacy program. It has been amazing for  us as teachers and the students to see their growth and it has been great to see students so excited to share their successes with their families. In term 4 we will be focusing on game based learning and group work to engage and refine letter sound knowledge for all students. We have enjoyed seeing the students work so well together and expanding their reading skills. 

This term we will be learning:

• Identifying purpose and opinion in a variety of books 
• How illustrations contribute to the meaning in texts
• Re-reading and editing for spelling, sentence structure and punctuation 
• Active listening and speaking skills 
• Retelling and summarising books that we read 
• Continuing to focus on expression whilst reading   

WRITING 

For the first 4 weeks in Term 4 students will be focusing on creating narratives based on the books Max and Queenie The Bantam by Bob Graham. Students will incorporate their own imagination through using the character Max, a boy with superpowers and the settings (City or Farm) from Queenie and Bantam. We are very excited to see how the Grade 1 and 2 students bring their creativity into creating these narratives!

Six Thinking Hats: 

We have been so lucky to have the wonderful Julie Smith (Julie 1) in over the last few weeks to teach us all about De Bono's Six Thinking Hats. These hats all have different colours and meanings to enable students to think deeper and more critically in all aspects of their learning! 

White Hat: Calls on facts and information

Yellow Hat: Symbolizes positive and good feelings about a situation 

Black Hat:  Symbolizes negative and bad feelings about a situation 

Red Hat: Calls on feelings 

Green Hat: Focuses on creativity

Blue Hat: "The Police Officer" - focuses on explaining what we are thinking

This term we will be learning:

• Information texts: we will be exploring and investigating places within our local area
• Poetry 
• Transactional lists: Look forward to getting a Christmas Wishlist!

HUMANITIES 

This term in Humanities, students will be exploring Geography, focusing on places in our local community, their features, and how we can care for them. We’ll begin by learning about places that are special to us, why they are important, and the natural and constructed features that make each place unique.

This term we will be learning:

Students will investigate how people can look after and protect places, and learn to ask geographical questions, collect information, and represent places using sketches, labels, and simple maps. This unit will help students build a stronger understanding of their local environment and how they can play a part in caring for it.

CRAZY HAIR DAY 

It was wonderful to see the creativity that went into crazy hair day. We loved to see students express their personality through coloured hair spray, crazy buns and ponytails and fun hair accessories! Thank you to the families for putting in the time and effort!

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES

It was a lovely opportunity for students to share their learning during student led conferences. The feedback from both students and their families have been very positive. Thank you for coming and engaging in this opportunity for students to celebrate their achievements. We enjoyed seeing the pride they all showed. 

IMPORTANT DATES (WEEK 4- 7) 

31st October: Assembly 

3rd November: Adam Wallace Incursion 

4th November: Melbourne Cup Day 

7th November: Chesterfield Farm 

14th November: Assembly

10th-21st November: Swimming Program 

CLASSROOM TIMETABLES:

1/ 2 BD: 

Monday: PE and STEAM 

Tuesday: Junior Sport 

Wednesday: Auslan 

Friday: STEAM and Music (fortnightly) 

1/2 MK:

Monday: PE and STEAM

Tuesday: Junior Sport 

Thursday: Auslan 

Friday: STEAM and Music (fortnightly)