From the Year Prep Classroom
Sacred Heart Primary School Yarrawonga
We hope you all had a wonderful LONG weekend and perhaps even backed a winner in the Melbourne Cup! We are almost halfway through the term, and there is still so much excitement happening in our space, with plenty more to look forward to between now and the end of the year.
A Little Chicken Update!
Wow! In case you haven't heard, we have six adorable little chickens in our space! We are all absolutely over the moon and have loved watching and learning about the life cycle of a chicken. No doubt your child has come home with lots of new information and some interesting chicken facts to share! Unfortunately, we know that not all of our little chicks made it, but this has also provided us with an opportunity to learn about the realities of the life cycle and that this is a natural part of growing and learning about living things. It has certainly been an exciting and memorable experience for us all!
Daniel Morcombe Day - Last Friday, our school was filled with plenty of RED as we acknowledged Daniel Morcombe Day and revisited the important safety messages that Daniel's story has helped teach children across Australia.
We kept our discussions very age-appropriate and focused on four important messages:
- We all have the right to feel safe.
- We can ask a trusted adult for help whenever we need it.
- Enthusiastic consent means making sure everyone feels happy and comfortable with what is happening and listening to and respecting each other's choices.
- We should listen to our bodies and speak up if something doesn't feel right.
We watched a short ABC clip designed especially for young children and finished by recording some of our key safety messages. These are important conversations to revisit regularly, helping our little learners build confidence in recognising and communicating when they need help.
Tricky Words & Plurals
Guess what? We are almost at the finish line with our tricky word lists! Last Friday, we sent home Set 11, which means we only have ONE more set to go! Please keep practising those tricky words at home. If your child is up for an extra challenge, encourage them to have a go at spelling them too. Knowing these words by heart and being able to recall them quickly makes such a difference when reading and writing with greater speed and accuracy. Keep up the fantastic work!
We have also been exploring plurals, such as boy/boys and ball/balls. See if your child can explain what a plural is and perhaps come up with a few examples of their own!
RE – I Am Special
We are almost finished our RE unit, I Am Special. Throughout this unit, we have been exploring what makes each of us unique and special, recognising our individual gifts, qualities and the wonderful things that make us who we are. It has been lovely seeing the children reflect on themselves and appreciate the special qualities in others.
Maths – Data & Positional Language
We have just wrapped up our unit on Data, and the boys and girls absolutely loved heading out the front of the school to collect our very own data about the cars driving past! It was amazing to see just how many cars travelled past our school in just 10 minutes. We then sorted and compared our findings, discovering that WHITE was the most popular car colour and BLACK was the least popular. Who knew we had so many little data detectives in our space! We have now moved on to exploring positional language, using words such as under, over, in front, behind, next to and between. Why not see if your child can use some of these words at home when describing where things are?
School Nurse Visit
Last week, we welcomed our school nurse, who spent some time with each of our students as part of their school health check. The nurse will be sending home a report for families and may also follow up with a phone call if there is anything that needs further discussion. Please keep an eye out for this information.
Prep Transition Has Begun!
Last week, we officially kicked off our Prep Transition program, welcoming 67 new little learners who will be joining us in 2027. How exciting! While we are busy getting to know our newest Preps, it is also a wonderful reminder that our current Preps are getting ready for YEAR ONE! How exciting is that? Days like these really make you stop and appreciate just how far our little learners have come. Their growing independence, confidence and resilience are wonderful to see. As we begin the reporting process over the coming weeks, it is a lovely opportunity for us to reflect on their growth, celebrate their achievements and recognise just how much they have developed since the beginning of the year.
We certainly have lots to celebrate!
Have a wonderful week, everyone!
Prep Team – Jen, Jo, Patrice & Michelle
Patrice - pgoldman@shyarrawonga.catholic.edu.au
Jo - jseal@shyarrawonga.catholic.edu.au