From the Year Prep Classroom
A Big Thank You to Our Students!
We want to give a huge shout-out to all our students for the wonderful way they come in each morning—calmly, independently completing their morning routines, and heading out for a play before the school day begins.
It's been fantastic to see such confidence and independence developing in each of you. You're building resilience and setting yourselves up for a great start to the day—keep up the fabulous work!
Church Visit and Upcoming Mass
Last week, our students enjoyed a lovely walk down to our local Catholic church, where they had the opportunity to explore and take a short tour of the church. It was a meaningful visit that helped deepen their understanding of our parish community. The kids also enjoy Mrs McInness weekly visit where she shared some rosary beads and explained how we use them when we pray. It was a meaningful way to help the children connect more deeply with the traditions of our Church. This Friday, we are looking forward to joining the parishioners for Mass at 10:00am. Parents are warmly invited to join us if they wish.
Literacy – We’re Kicking Goals!
It’s been fantastic to see the enthusiasm among our students over the past two weeks, especially with taking home readers—what a great way to build a love of reading!
We’ve been working hard on recognising letters and their sounds, and learning how to blend these sounds together to read words. We’ve also begun exploring some tricky words—those words that don’t follow the usual rules. The children are learning why they’re tricky and that sometimes we just need to remember them off by heart.
This week, we’re excited to put all this knowledge into action and begin writing. Bring it on—we’re ready for it!
We Love Maths!
Maths time has been full of excitement and enthusiasm! We love working with numbers—writing them, reading them, and adding them together.
The students now have a strong understanding of Friends of 10, and we’re building on that by learning how to partition numbers to 10 into two parts. Using concrete materials, the children are exploring number combinations—for example, discovering that 4 + 3 = 7.
It’s wonderful to see their confidence and number sense growing every day!
Just a friendly reminder:
* Please remember to record what your child is reading each night in their Reading Diary and return it every Friday. This allows us to send home new books for them to enjoy. We are changing books once a week to give children the time to practice, develop their understanding of what they’ve read, and build fluency. The questions at the back of the Australian Decodable books are a great way to check your child’s understanding and ensure they are comprehending what they have read. Thank you for your support!
* We're Here to Support You –A little reminder our newsletter is one way we communicate between home and school but if you need to see us, please feel free to pop in for a chat, or alternatively, send us an email. We are always more than happy to provide ongoing support to you and your child—we’re in this together!
* With the colder months approaching, please make sure all jumpers, jackets, and SHPS beanies (available for purchase at Judd’s) are clearly labelled with your child’s name. We already have an unlabelled jacket in our space—and as you know, these items aren’t cheap. Labelling helps ensure lost items can be quickly returned to their rightful owners. Thank you for your help in keeping track of everyone’s belongings!