Grade 1 News

Welcome back to Term 3! We hope you all had a well rested break surrounded by family and friends. We are so excited to dive into another term with the students with lots to look forward to!

Important Dates & Reminders

All important dates and events are available on our Compass Calendar. Please check the calendar regularly to stay up to date.

Upcoming dates

Every Thursday for weeks 1-5 - Swimming at Paul Sadler Swimland (10:30am-12pm) Grade 1s in the pool from 11am until 11:30am.

17th August - LPS Science Day - information to come

25th August - 26th August - Parent/Teacher Interviews - information to come

1st September - Melbourne Zoo Excursion - information to come

18th September - Footy Dress Up Day and last day of Term 3 (2:30pm dismissal)

Key Information

• Students are to bring their take-home bags to school daily (optional) to swap books for home.
• Icy Poles will be sold outside the senior school Monday & Tuesday lunchtimes

Timetables for Term 3

Please find the updated timetables for Term 3 attached. As students will be participating in swimming during the first five weeks of the term, their specialist classes will take place on different days. Please refer to the appropriate timetable for your child's specialist schedule throughout this period.

STEM NEWS:

STEM Room Donations Needed

We are currently collecting recycled materials for our exciting Term 3 Science Projects in the STEM room. We would greatly appreciate donations of clean items such as plastic water bottles or soft drink bottles, shoe boxes, plastic lids, and cardboard tubing or paper rolls (please no toilet rolls).

Donations can be dropped off at the STEM room at any time. Thank you for your continued support in helping provide valuable hands-on learning opportunities for our students.

Learning Reflection

                                           ➗Maths

This term, students will begin by exploring Measurement – Units of Length, where they will learn to measure and compare the length of objects using informal units such as paperclips, blocks, and Unifix cubes. This helps develop their understanding of measurement before they are introduced to formal units in later years.

Students will then move on to Patterns and Skip Counting, where they will identify, extend, and create repeating, growing, and shrinking patterns while developing their confidence in skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.

Later in the term, students will apply these skills in Sharing and Grouping. They will learn to make equal groups, share collections fairly, find halves, and use skip counting to determine totals. These important concepts lay the foundation for future learning in multiplication and division.

📖 Literacy 

Word Work: 

This term in Word Work, we will introduce new digraphs and trigraphs, including aw, au, or, er, ir, ur, wor, ear, air, oo, ew, ui, ow and ou.  Students will also revise spelling rules and practise decoding and spelling words using these sound patterns. We will begin this term by continuing to look at the digraph ar and where it can be found within a word. For example, ‘art’, ‘park’ and ‘far’

Handwriting

This term, students will continue following our handwriting routine by reviewing and practising correct letter formation. As they are becoming more confident, the focus will shift from practising individual letters to writing sight words that align with their Sparkle level. This will help students develop accurate letter formation, spacing and confidence when writing words correctly on the line. 

Literature: 

This term, students will explore a range of engaging narrative and information texts through four literature units based on The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name, Jetty Jumping, Migaloo the White Whale and Dingo. As they develop their reading, comprehension and writing skills, students will investigate story features such as characters, settings and plot, identify how authors use words and illustrations to convey meaning, and build their vocabulary through the explicit teaching of Tier 2 words. Students will also strengthen their sentence writing by using conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs and expanded sentences before applying these skills to write their own narratives and information reports inspired by the texts they have explored. The first text will be a focus on, The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name , exploring the structure of a narrative. 

                                                                         Knowledge Rich:

This term, our Grade 1 students are exploring two exciting Knowledge Rich units: First Nations Australians and Animals and Habitats.

In our First Nations Australians unit, students will develop an understanding of the rich and diverse cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, the First Peoples of Australia. They will learn about the many different First Nations groups, their unique Countries, languages and traditions, and explore the significance of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. Students will also discover the importance of sacred sites, storytelling through art, music and dance, the role of songlines, and the ways First Nations cultures continue to be celebrated today, including through NAIDOC Week.

In our Animals and Habitats unit, students will investigate the fascinating relationships between living things and their environments. They will learn about different habitats, the plants and animals that live within them, and how living things have adapted to survive in various environments. Students will also explore food chains and begin classifying animals based on the foods they eat, helping them develop an appreciation of the interconnectedness of the natural world. 

                                             Wellbeing😊

Over the coming weeks, our Grade 1 students will be participating in a series of age-appropriate Body Safety lessons as part of our Wellbeing program.

These lessons are designed to help students develop the knowledge and confidence to recognise and respond to situations where they may feel unsafe. Throughout the program, students will learn about:

• recognising their body's early warning signs and identifying safe and unsafe feelings
• identifying trusted adults and creating a personal safety network
• understanding personal boundaries and respecting the boundaries of others
• the difference between safe and unsafe secrets
• identifying private body parts using correct anatomical language and understanding body safety rules.

The lessons are presented in a sensitive, age-appropriate manner through stories, discussions and interactive activities. The focus is on empowering students with practical strategies to help them feel safe and know who they can talk to if they are ever worried or uncomfortable.

If you have any questions about the program or would like to discuss the content further, please don't hesitate to contact your child's teacher.

This term in RRRR (Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships), students will explore their personal strengths, learn what respect looks and sounds like in everyday situations, and discover ways to value and celebrate diversity. Through stories, role-play and collaborative activities, students will build empathy, strengthen positive relationships, and develop an appreciation that everyone is unique and deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. 

                                         Curious Corner

This term, our Curious Corner has been transformed to support our Animals and Habitats Knowledge Rich unit through engaging play-based learning experiences. Students can explore an exciting veterinary clinic, investigate insects in the bug lab, complete animal-themed craft activities, and participate in a range of hands-on experiences designed to spark curiosity and deepen their understanding of the natural world. We can't wait to see the creativity, collaboration and learning that unfolds throughout the term!       

                                          Homework

Optional Homework for Grade 1 

For homework in Grade 1, the expectation is that students will read their take-home book to an adult each day. Every student will choose a new book from their classroom on a daily basis (optional). Students will need to return their previous book before receiving a new book. Here is a link to a folder to access Sparkle at home activities if you wish: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/126BRm52aR9NyaCdEgnCljLC3X0MWqupj 

If you are not sure which level your child is on, please ask your child’s teacher.

For those students who are off Sparkle, please encourage them to read any book of their choice at home. 

Thank you for reading our newsletter. Please remember, if you have any questions, feel free to contact your child’s teacher. 

Grade 1 Teachers, 

Catia Anson, Bella Albanese and Jess Kitteringham.