Foundation

Dear Prep families --

Welcome back to Term 4!

We have hit the ground running with reviewing learning from last term, and are exploring a lot of new concepts in Term 4.

LITERACY

Our focus in phonics over the last few weeks has been in reviewing the letter sounds, and using our knowledge to blend and segment these sounds into words. 

We are currently working on introducingdigraphs, which are sounds produced by two letters. The digraphs we have introduced this fortnight are /ll/, /ff/ and /zz/. 

What words can you think of that end with these sounds? Ask your children, they will know some!

We also have time set aside each literacy block for the children to practice reading with their decodable texts. We strongly encourage that you continue to read these at home (they will be in your child's homework bag). 

In Reading, students have been learning about information books and all the different parts that make up non-fiction texts. We looked at how the photos or illustrations match the text and help us draw more information from it. We used information texts to learn new facts about the weather and the Seasons.

In Writing, we have been working on sentences using nouns, verbs and adjectives. The children are learning new words to name, describe, and show the actions of people and things.

We are also focusing on handwriting, ensuring that we are using finger spacing between words, and that we write neatly and legibly. 

NUMERACY

In maths, we have been exploring Multiplication by sharing a number of objects into equal groups.

We are learning about how some numbers fit into equal groups, and some do not. We are focusing on remembering that each group has to have the same number of objects in it for the equation to work.

INQUIRY

This term, our inquiry focus will be on Seasonal Changes and the Weather.

We have started to investigate what the children already know by offering a question as a provocation: What do we already know about the weather?

The children came up with a surprising variety of responses, from knowing that certain parts of the world are always cold (such as the North Pole), to knowing that lightning is made up of electricity. But we still have a lot of questions.

We have been learning about observing the daily weather, using words to describe it (sunny, cloudy etc.) and talking about the weather in the different seasons.

REMINDERS

• Please ensure that your child brings an appropriate SunSmart hat to school (either with a wide brim, or a legionnaire cap with the flap at the back). Baseball caps and beanies are not considered appropriate head wear for Term 4.
• School start at 8.35 am every day and finishes at 3 pm.Please ensure that your child arrives to school no later than 8:55 am to ensure that they do not miss on crucial learning opportunities. 
• Homework/Readers will be sent home each Monday and are due back on Friday.
• If your child is sick or absent, please notify the school as soon as possible on the day of absence by phone or via compass.
• Please remember to sign for consent and provide payment for the Melbourne Victory Soccer on Compass as soon as practicable.

Dates to Remember

Monday 3rd November: Pupil Free Day

Tuesday 4th November: Cup Day Public Holiday

Thursday 27th November: Pupil Free Day

Monday 8th December: F-2 showcase in the morning

Wednesday 10th December: School fete

Monday 15th December: Reports released to parents

Wednesday 17th December:  Step-Up Day

Friday 20th of December: Last day of Term 4

School Values Award Certificate

This week the recipients of the School Values Award are:

Prep A: Besma

Prep B: Hamzah