Prep
Welcome to week 6 of our Prep newsletter!
Weeks 5 and 6 were filled with meaningful learning experiences. Students continued to settle confidently into classroom routines and demonstrated growing independence across all learning areas. It has been wonderful to see their confidence building as they take on new challenges and show pride in their work.
Reading
In Reading, students focused on developing their understanding of print concepts and letter recognition. Through shared reading of Teddy Bears’ Picnic (song, lyrics and book versions), students practised tracking text from left to right, identifying capital letters and full stops, and recognising letters within a familiar text.
Students revised and introduced specific focus letters (m, r, s, f, n, l), identifying their names, sounds and features. They participated in hands-on activities such as matching upper and lowercase letters, letter hunts in texts, magnetic letter work, playdough letter formation and “find and colour” tasks. These activities strengthened confidence in recognising and naming letters.
Writing
In Writing, students continued learning how to form clear sentences. We reinforced that sentences begin with a capital letter, include finger spaces between words and end with a full stop. Students practised correct pencil grip and letter formation using whiteboards before applying their skills in their own books.
Using our Teddy Bear Picnic experience, students wrote simple recount sentences such as, “Today we had a teddy bear picnic.” They ordered sentence strips including, “This is my teddy” and “Yesterday we had a picnic.” Students also worked on writing their names correctly, ensuring a capital letter at the beginning.
At the end of the week, students reflected on their learning, discussing what they enjoyed and what they found challenging, and how they could improve.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, students explored collecting and interpreting data. They learned that data is information we collect by asking the same question to everyone. Students conducted class surveys with questions such as whether they have a brother or sister, whether they speak another language at home, and whether they prefer drawing or colouring, or Art or PE. They recorded their responses, compared results using terms such as more, less and same, and discussed their findings as a class. Students also collected data about birthday months by standing behind their birth month and comparing which months had the most and least birthdays. They created pages for a class Birthday Book and practised writing their birth month. We also continued revising positional language and times of the day through short warm-up activities.
Unit of Inquiry – Who We Are
Within our Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are, students continued exploring the central idea that understanding ourselves and others helps us learn and grow. Discussions focused on what makes us unique, how we are similar and different, and how our choices impact our learning and relationships. We introduced and reflected on the Learner Profile attributes Thinker, Risk Taker and Knowledgeable, encouraging students to solve problems, try new things even when unsure, and grow their understanding through learning.
Our Teddy Bear Picnic provided a meaningful opportunity to build friendships across Prep classes and practise social skills in a shared setting. Students also began sharing their “Me Bags,” confidently explaining why their chosen items are important to them, which helped classmates learn more about one another and strengthened their sense of belonging.
Wellbeing
In Wellbeing sessions, students strengthened their understanding of letters by identifying the first letter in their names, matching uppercase and lowercase letters, and contributing to organising our classroom word wall. These activities supported both literacy development and growing independence.
We also explored emotions and what it means to be Knowledgeable, discussing how learning new information helps our brains grow. After reading a non-fiction text about bears, students shared facts they had learned and created bear crafts to demonstrate their understanding. Through class discussions and drawing activities, students identified how different experiences can cause feelings such as happy, sad, angry, proud, frustrated, excited and nervous, further developing their emotional awareness and vocabulary.
REMINDERS:
Full Time School! Starting Monday, March 2, our Preps began school full-time.
Students are expected to bring their satchel to school EVERY DAY – from week 5.
Please provide a set of spare clothing for those little unforeseen accidents.
Please ensure all of your child’s belongings are clearly labelled with their first and last names.
Hats are to be worn when outside for the whole of Term One. Please ensure to put sunscreen on your child before arriving at school.
Snack and lunch times are 20 minutes long. Please encourage your child to eat snack/lunch within 20 minutes as this will help them to follow the school routine.
Kind Regards
The Prep Team