Foundation News
Dear Foundation Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to Week 4 of Term 4!
We have already had an exciting start to the term with the foundation students first excursion to Animal Land!
Students had an unforgettable day at the farm, filled with hands-on experiences and plenty of fun! They began by meeting some friendly bunnies, guinea pigs, and baby chicks before taking a ride on Snowflake the pony. A tractor ride followed, with stops along the way to feed the goats, llamas, and sheep. Students then rolled up their sleeves to help the farmers clean up the horse paddock.
Next, they met Amber the dairy cow and learned how to milk her, discovering the fascinating process of turning fresh milk into butter. They also had the chance to plant some crops, getting a taste of what it’s like to be a real farmer. The day ended in the chicken coop, where they watched hens nesting carefully on their eggs, a perfect ending to a fun-filled and educational farm adventure!
Term 4 has plenty more exciting events to look forward to, including the Fun Run, Step Up Day and end of year celebrations.
Learning Focuses
English
Students are continuing to revise all letter sounds and names and are developing strong phonemic awareness, confidently identifying individual sounds and blending them to read complete words. We have begun to learn the ‘complex code’ this week, learning the sounds /ay/, /ee/ and /igh/. We have also continued to focus on high‑frequency words such as the, all, we, you, and are, helping students to build fluency by recognising and reading the words they encounter most often in text. Students have started using the Sky Grass Dirt handwriting book to practice the formation of both uppercase and lowercase letters.
Students are continuing the program called ‘Talk for Writing’. This term students are learning to retell a story called ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and innovate different aspects to create their own story.
Knowledge
This term, the Foundation classes have been learning how to take care of the Earth. We have learnt that the world is made up of air, water and land. We have been exploring where the rubbish we make goes and learning about how we can reduce, reuse and recycle to make our planet safer!
The Foundation students had a visit from Western Water. They got to learn about the water cycle and re-enact the process.
Literature
This Term, the foundation students looked at the story “The Very Cranky Bear” by Nick Bland. During this unit students will be exposed to Alliteration and how to form sentences using it. Alliteration is when two or more words that start with the same sound are used repeatedly in a phrase or sentence. For example, The marvellous moose is mad.
Maths
In Maths, students have been learning about addition and subtraction within 0-10. They have engaged in a range of hands-on activities where they have explored problems and demonstrated their understanding using part-part-whole, number lines and manipulatives such as connecting cubes.
Reminders
Fun Run: Friday 31st October
Student Free Day: Monday 3rd November
Melbourne Cup Public Holiday: Tuesday 4th November
Student Free Day: Wednesday 10th December
Last day of Term 4: Friday 19th December
Hats
This is a quick reminder that sun smart hats are now compulsory for all students. Please ensure your child has a suitable hat (no caps) to wear during outdoor activities.
Students without a hat will be required to play undercover for safety reasons, as part of our sun protection policy.
Thank you for your support in keeping our students safe!