Foundation Term 4 Newsletter

Teaching Team

FA - Amy Gridley (PLC Leader)

FB - Renee King (Mon-Thurs) Samantha Waugh (Friday & Acting Assistant Principal) 

FC - Sam Collins

Welcome to Term 4

The children have made a wonderful start to their final term in Foundation! We are so proud of how much they have grown throughout the year and the positive attitudes they continue to bring to school each day. It has been lovely to see them demonstrating our school values of respect, responsibility, cooperation and kindness as they work and play together.

The children have returned happy, settled and eager to learn. It is wonderful to see the many friendships they have developed this year and how confidently they interact with one another in the classroom and playground.

This term, we are looking forward to some exciting experiences, including our 70th Year Carnival Celebration, our swimming program and our excursion to Myuna Farm later in the term. We look forward to supporting your child as they continue to build their confidence, celebrate their achievements and make the most of their final term in Foundation as they prepare for Year 1!

 Specialist Timetable

Important Dates

15/10: Italian Day

16/10: F-2 assembly

30/10: Whole school assembly

2/11: Curriculum Day

3/11: Melbourne Cup Day

6/11: F-2 assembly

12/11: CEPS 70th Anniversary Carnival

16/11- 20/11: Swimming Program

19/11: Special Food Day

20/11: F-2 assembly

04/12: F-2 assembly

14/12: Curriculum Day

15/12: Myuna Farm Excursion

18/12: Final day 1:30pm dismissal. Whole school assembly 1.00pm 

Attendance

Our roles are legal documents; therefore we must be accountable for any absences. Please assist with this by informing the school through Compass, email or phone call to record the absence. Late students need to be signed in at the office by a parent/caregiver and collect an orange Late Pass to present to their teacher on arrival at their classroom. 

Teaching and Learning 

English

Our Foundation students are continuing to develop their skills as confident readers and writers through an evidence-based, structured approach that supports strong foundational literacy skills.

Phonemic Awareness and Phonics

This term, students will continue to:

• Hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in words by adding or taking away letters
• Blend and segment sounds to read and spell unfamiliar words
• Practise reading and spelling high-frequency words 

These ongoing activities support automatic word recognition and fluency, helping students become more confident, independent readers.

Comprehension

This term we will be comparing fiction and non-fiction texts. Students will:

• Understand and respond to a narrative picture book
• Build knowledge about a topic by exploring and responding to a non-fiction text
• Perform a retell of a narrative and sequencing events in order
• Explore creative language features that make a story engaging and fun to listen to
• Understand and use interesting and useful words that appear in our featured texts.

Through these activities, students will learn to talk about the features of different text types and deepen their understanding of how authors inform, entertain, and engage readers.

Writing

This term, our writing program will focus on expanding sentence and text-level skills. Students will learn to:

• Form sentences using a variety of conjunctions (e.g. and, but, because)
• Write information reports, descriptive texts, and narratives
• Write statement, question, and exclamation sentences
• Use capital letters for proper nouns
• Expand sentences by adding who/what, when, and where details

Students will continue to plan, draft, and share their writing, developing confidence and independence as young authors.

Oral Language and Vocabulary

Oral language remains an essential part of our literacy learning. Through structured conversations, storytelling, and vocabulary games, students continue to build the language they need for both reading and writing.

 Show and Tell sessions will continue to provide opportunities for students to:

• Practise speaking in full sentences
• Share ideas clearly and confidently
• Respond to questions from their peers

These sessions help strengthen listening skills, confidence, and vocabulary in a fun and supportive environment.

Mathematics

Our Term 4 maths lessons will focus on deepening students’ understanding of key number and measurement concepts through engaging learning experiences. Lessons are designed to build confidence and fluency, with a balance of teacher-led instruction, guided practice, and independent application. Students will be encouraged to explain their thinking, use mathematical language, and make connections between concepts to strengthen their problem-solving skills.

This term, we will focus on:

• Data
• Location
• Consolidating counting and place value

• Measurement with an introduction to time

   

Humanities

This term in Humanities, students will be exploring the big question: “How can living things be used to meet our needs?”

Students will investigate how plants and animals provide us with food, clothing, and shelter. They will explore a range of foods that come from both plants and animals, as well as foods from different cultures. Throughout the unit, students will also explore and investigate materials made from natural fibres, recognising how different fibres are suited to particular purposes. 

To support our learning, we will be going on an excursion to Myuna Farm, where students will experience first hand how plants and animals can be used to meet human needs. We are looking forward to a hands-on and engaging term full of exploration, discovery, and real-world learning! 

Wellbeing 

Our Term 4 School Value: Responsibility

This term, our Foundation students continue their journey with the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR). Students will learn skills to help them manage emotions, build resilience, seek support when needed, and develop positive relationships with others.

Foundation students will attend an Assembly fortnightly on Friday afternoon in the hall. During these assemblies, we’ll celebrate students who demonstrate personal growth aligned with our Term 4 school value: Responsibility. Families will be notified via Class Dojo if their child is receiving an award.

Students may also earn CEPS raffle tickets for displaying positive behaviours that reflect our school values. Raffle winners will be drawn and announced during the fortnightly assemblies.

Supporting learning from home  

As the school year draws to a close, Term 4 is a time for Foundation students to consolidate all they have learned and feel proud of their growth. At home, you can support this by keeping routines calm and consistent, allowing plenty of time for rest after busy school days. Encourage simple conversations about what they enjoyed at school and celebrate their successes, big or small.

Reading together each day continues to be one of the best ways to support your child’s learning. Sharing a story for 10 minutes daily, whether it’s a favourite picture book or their take-home reader, helps strengthen vocabulary, comprehension, and confidence. Try talking about the characters, setting, or what might happen next to build understanding.

Your child’s maroon reader bag and fluency book will continue to come home each day. Inside, you’ll find updated High-Frequency Words (HFWs) and fluency word lists or passages to practise. Revisiting these words regularly helps your child recognise them quickly in their reading and writing.

Thank you for all your support throughout the year. Your encouragement at home plays a big part in helping your child finish Foundation feeling confident and ready for their next learning adventure!

Weekly Routines

Monday - Friday

Before School

At 8:55 am, students will hear the music signalling it's time to line up. We kindly ask that children have their school bags ready and wait at their class' designated dot. A warm and cheerful goodbye helps your child feel confident as they head into class for the day. We understand mornings can be busy, but please do your best to ensure your child arrives on time, as learning begins promptly at 9.00am. If late, please collect a late pass from the office and sign your child in. Thank you for supporting your child's smooth transition into the school day! 

After School

At the end of the day, children will line up at the dots. Please meet your child at their dot, and let the teacher know when you've picked them up. For children attending after-school care, a Team Kids staff member will meet them in the Foundation area and escort them to their program. If you’re running late or unable to pick up your child by 3:30 pm, please call the office to let us know. 

Food

Please pack a recess snack, fruit break snack and lunch for your child each day. Fruit break must be a piece of fruit, vegetable, yoghurt or cheese/crackers.  Water bottles are kept in the classroom for easy access and to encourage your child to hydrate regularly. 

Please avoid including products with nuts in lunchboxes in support of those students with allergies.

Communication

You are welcome to contact your classroom teacher via email through Compass. Whilst families are navigating the transition to Compass, we are also still using Dojo for messages between parents and teachers at this stage. We are also still currently using Dojo to share learning updates from our classrooms.

With that said, you are always more than welcome to pop into the classroom before or after school if you have any queries or concerns. 

Whilst we endeavour to get back to you promptly, please understand that we are often unable to check these messages until after 3:30pm. If you need an important message to be passed on to your child, we ask that you communicate this via the office (e.g. to advise that your child will be collected early or by another family member). The office will then pass the message on to your child's classroom teacher.

Compass: Compass is the formal tool for communication regarding attendance, payments, excursions, camps, permission forms, school reports, etc.

Please use Compass to advise the school in a timely manner of all student absences.

Early Pick Up: If you need to pick up your child early, please collect them from the office area and be sure to sign them out. You will require an Early Leaver's Pass, provided by the office staff, before we are able to dismiss students. 

You can also keep up-to-date by using the school website and weekly newsletters:  http://www.cheltenhameast.vic.edu.au