From the Year 1 Classroom

Hello Grade One Families! 

We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful long weekend with your families. As we reach the halfway point of the term at the end of this week, the excitement is starting to build for all the special end-of-year events and celebrations ahead. There is so much to look forward to in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more updates! 

Excursion Two weeks ago, we travelled to Albury to participate in the Risky Kids program, and what a fantastic day it was! The children took part in two sessions led by the Risky Kids staff, one at their centre and another at the Albury Skate Park. We were incredibly proud of all the students for their willingness to get involved, participate enthusiastically in every activity, and embrace new challenges with confidence and determination. 

The feedback from the Risky Kids staff was glowing. They shared that "they were genuinely one of the best school groups they've ever had the pleasure of working with and were an absolute joy to coach." The smiles on the children's faces throughout the day certainly reflected this and said it all! 😊

Morning Routine Thank you to all families and students for the wonderful job you are doing with our new morning routine of waiting until 8:30am before entering the school grounds. We greatly appreciate your support and cooperation as we continue to establish this routine. 

Hats & Sunscreen As the weather continues to warm up, please ensure your child brings their school hat, clearly labelled with their name, each day. Sunscreen is available at school for students to reapply; however, if your child requires a specific brand or type of sunscreen, please provide this in their school bag. 

Readers Please remember to return home readers each Friday so that books can be exchanged and new reading materials can be sent home. Thank you for your ongoing support with your child's reading journey. 

📝Literacy - We have been very proud of the children for writing engaging and detailed sentences that include multiple parts, such as who, where, when, why and how, to enhance their ideas. 

⭐Digraphs/Trigraphs and other sounds we are learning: 

'_dge' as in bridge 

'_ge' as in cage 

'_tch' as in catch 

'_ch' as in lunch 

⭐ Tricky Words we are learning:  

*Please help your child read and spell these words frequently at home! 

➕➖Maths-  

We have had lots of fun exploring o'clock times, while also learning about the days of the week, months of the year, and the number of days in each month. Students have been introduced to the terms hours and minutes and have enjoyed developing their understanding of time. This is a practical Maths concept that can be easily reinforced at home through everyday conversations and activities. 

This week, we will begin our addition and subtraction unit, focusing on counting on and counting back, writing number sentences, and solving simple addition and subtraction problems. We look forward to building students' confidence and fluency with these important number skills. 

💙Religion- The Good News! 

This week marks the conclusion of our Religious Education unit, The Good News. The children have enjoyed learning about the Old and New Testaments, the four Gospels, and the Good News stories Jesus shared through parables such as The Lost Sheep. Through these stories, they have been exploring important messages about love, kindness, forgiveness and faith. 

Next week, we will begin our final unit for the year as we learn about the true meaning of Christmas and prepare for the Advent season. 

 🌍 Inquiry- Celebrations Around the World  

We are continuing our journey around the globe as we learn about different celebrations and traditions from countries around the world. We were fortunate to have Maisie Cope spend an afternoon with us, sharing stories from her exciting Belgium exchange adventure and answering the many questions our curious Grade 1 students had. We wish Maisi a wonderful trip and can't wait to see photos of her adventures, especially any celebrations of National Waffle Day! 

A Special Farewell to Indi We would also like to thank Indi Leary for the time she has spent with us each Wednesday during her work experience placement. Indi has been a fantastic addition to our classroom, building positive relationships with the students and supporting a range of learning activities. We wish her all the very best for her upcoming adventure to Mexico and look forward to hearing about her travels. We know she has a very exciting experience ahead and can't wait to hear all about it! 😊 

📆 Important dates-  

• Whole School Transition Day – 8th December 
• End of School Mass – 10th December 
• Students Last Day – 15th December 

Take care and kind regards, 

 Kristy, Sarah, Kayte, Nikki, Kellie & Lily 😊 

Kristy - khargreaves@shyarrawonga.catholic.edu.au

Sarah - swollington@shyarrawonga.catholic.edu.au

Kayte - krunnalls@shyarrawonga.catholic.edu.au

Nikki - nconnell001@shyarrawonga.catholic.edu.au