Foundation
We are edging closer and closer to a well-deserved break, with holidays looming close on the horizon. It has been a Term full of solid growth and progress for all students, with concepts taught during daily teaching times becoming more and more evident in student work. It is the time of the year when we start to be continually amazed by what the students can do independently, and the students themselves become so proud of their ability to learn.
It is a really fun time to be in the Foundation Room!
JUNIOR EXCURSION
ON Friday 20th June the Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 classes travelled "en masse" to Shepparton for a day out. With the highlight of the day undoubtably the live performance of "Imagine", the students were also very happy to run off some energy and bond at Kids Town. It was a great day, and everyone should have slept soundly that night.
Literacy
We are still working our way through the Initialit sounds, meeting a new character every few days and remembering the action that goes with them. It is surprising just how helpful the actions are to students who are trying to remember a sound. Teachers need only start the action and 9 times out of 10 the student will remember the sound. Whilst the program is fairly fast paced, our regular collection of data indicates that the majority of students are keeping up with ease. Those students who may be missing a few sounds will be targeted through daily intervention groups which are designed solely to help these students 'catch up'. The goal is to have every student in Foundation comfortable with every sound taught
this year before they make the big move into Year One.
We have already sent out the list of Initialit characters in a previous email but will also attach it on here. You can never have too many access points for such a valuable resource!! And if they haven't started already, very soon your child will probably want to
write at home, and the Initialit character sheet is going to become your very best friend!
MATHS
Numbers to 20 have kept us busy for much of the past month. The idea that 'teen' numbers comprise of a group of ten and additional ones has been one that we have been continually revising (eg: 17= 1 ten and 7 ones) We have counted forwards and backwards from any given point, making groups of specific quantities and spent a lot of time practising number formation on our whiteboards. Number reversals are still very common for a lot of students at this stage of the year and the regular explicit teaching of how these numerals are formed is one way we can address the issue. Mr Saxon is also working his magic with small groups of children some afternoons as we try to rectify letter and number errors.
Our new game is called "Swap" and we have added it to our repertoire of quick, easy games that we can sometimes use before we start the formal Maths session. The games are used to consolidate knowledge and also provide an element of fun for the students.
"Swap" instructions, and a helpful video, can be found on the www.lovemaths.me website.
We have also covered a unit of work on shapes. Rectangles, circles, triangles and squares have been investigated in depth. With most students already familiar with the names of the shapes we were able to look at the attributes each shape holds.
The fundamental understandings within the Foundation Maths curriculum are ones that students will need for the rest of their lives- it is very important that everyone is completely confident with the concepts covered through the units of work. And just like Literacy, those students who do not grasp the learning receive almost daily intervention assistance to try and bridge the gap.
Religion
"Our Catholic Church" is our current unit of work, with the main idea that people gather together to celebrate, and the Church is one place these celebrations can take place. We have brainstormed and discussed all the different celebrations we have been to, ranging from weddings to the Violet Town Pool Party. We have looked at a very basic history of St. John's Church and sometime before the holidays we are hoping to go over the Church to discover all the interesting objects and symbols inside. We just need to make sure it is a time when the Church will be empty so we can have a discussion and wander without disturbing others.
Foundation students explored the importance of noticing and naming emotions as they experience them. Through video and hands-on activities, students practised identifying and naming emotions and suggested ways to manage the feelings.
By the end of the lessons, students could...
- name and identify different emotions.
- understand that there are lots of different emotions.
- act out different emotions.
- notice how their body, heart and mind feel.
- say how they feel.
We have a Resilience Project lesson once a week and the students really look forward to it- and it is even better if there is a video to watch with founders Martin and Hugh.
INQUIRY
In Foundation we have been exploring how plants and animals provide us with resources for the production of clothing and shelter. We have identified a variety of plants and animals and the products they provide. Students complete a simple flow chart to identify the needs of the plant or animal, how the product is harvested and how it is used. They identify items in their own environment and the resources that were used to provide them.
BOOK WEEK
Next term we have a week full of book week activities and the chance to be part of the parade.
ON-GOING REMINDERS
- St John's is a "No Hat, No Play" school, which means everyone is wearing their hats every day. High ponytails and hair buns can cause difficulty for some students in trying to get their hat to actually sit on their head properly. Just something to ponder when creating hairstyles in the morning.
- Everything needs to be labelled. And this mantra will be repeated on a regular basis throughout the year. You will get sick of hearing it, we will get sick of saying it, but please make sure your child's belongings can be easily returned to them should they accidentally be misplaced.
- Zooper Doopers are $1, Cake Raffle tickets are 50c. Both momentous events happen each Friday.
- Lunch Orders are every Wednesday.
- Library visits take place on a Friday. If last week's borrowed book is not returned, a new one cannot be borrowed.
6. Birthday invitations- Foundation is traditionally the year of Birthday Parties. We are happy to hand out invitations at school if everyone is invited (just classroom cohort, not necessarily all of Foundation) But if you choose to only invite some friends to your child's party (and we completely understand this approach) we would prefer that the invitations were shared another way. Whilst life does have the occasional disappointment, not being invited to a party is a pretty big one when you are 5 or 6 years old and we would rather the school not be the place of the upset.
If you have any questions or queries about anything, please contact us. We have Staff Meetings after school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so these times are unavailable, but can make any other time work.
sredfern@sjeuroa.catholic.edu.au
tramsden@sjeuroa.catholic.edu.au
phone: 57952937
Thank you,
Sally, Thom and Damien