Foundation News

Dear Foundation Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to Week 6 of Term 1! It's been a busy few weeks in Foundation, with students settling into their routines and familiarising themselves with classroom expectations. A big thank you to the parents for your continued support in dropping your child off at the door and giving them the space to independently organise themselves for the day. This practice is key to helping your child develop important life skills and fosters their independence.

Learning Focuses

Below is what we have been focusing on with our learning the past six weeks. 

English 

In English, students have been getting familiar with the routine of the English block. We’ve been practising handwriting with lowercase letters and learning the sounds /s/, /a/, /t/, /p/, /i/, /n/, /m/, and /d/. Using these sounds, students have been forming words like "sat," "pat," and "mad." They’ve been practicing saying the sounds in the words and blending them together to create the full word. 

Knowledge 

In Knowledge, we’ve been learning about "My History." Students have been discovering family trees, cultural celebrations, traditional clothing, and the various ways people celebrate around the world. It’s been wonderful to see the photos of students in their cultural attire, which has sparked rich and engaging discussions.

Maths 

Students have been exploring numbers up to 5. In this unit, they have been practicing one-to-one correspondence to count objects accurately. They’ve also worked on writing numerals and matching them to the correct quantity.

CATS:  

Over the next few weeks, your child will be completing Common Assessment Tasks (CATS).  These are tasks that give you a snapshot of how your child is going in their learning across all subject areas.  You will be able to access these and any other important information via Compass. You will receive notifications when CATS are available to you.

Reminders

Home Readers: 

Your child's teacher will send home their take-home readers. Each child will receive two books for the week, which you can help them read at home. A diary will also be provided for you to record your child’s daily reading. The reader bag should go home every day and be returned to class each day. The teacher will check the diary daily, and we will celebrate key reading milestones, such as 25 nights of reading, in the classroom. Reading every day will help your child reinforce what they’ve learned in school. Encourage your child to segment and blend the sounds in the words they are decoding (e.g., s/i/t, sit). Don’t forget to record their reading in the diary!

Fruit snack: 

A part of our daily routine involves placing fruit snacks on our tables. These snacks serve as a brain break, providing students with an energy boost to support their learning. We kindly request that fruit snacks be stored in a separate container from their lunch boxes. Lunch boxes are often large and bulky, taking up valuable desk space. Using a smaller container for the fruit snack helps free up space, which in turn contributes to a more focused learning environment. 

School Hats 

Students are required to wear hats while playing outside, in accordance with the education department's regulations to promote sun safety. Please make sure your child has a hat with their name clearly labelled on it.

Permission forms:

As the term progresses, we kindly request that you confirm with the office whether all necessary school-based forms have been completed. These forms include photo approval, technology agreement, head lice check, and local walking excursion consent. Without parental permission, students will be unable to participate in technology-related activities, and your child’s classroom teacher will require confirmation regarding the permission to take photos of your child. We appreciate your support in ensuring these forms are submitted.

Important dates:

10th March - Labour Day public holiday 

4th April - Term 1 ends 

Home Learning Ideas

Recently your child's classroom teacher has sent home a login for Little Learners Love Literacy. These logins can be found in your reading diary. Encourage your child to log in and read the vast amount of decodable books available online.  It provides extra reading material each week extra to  your child’s take home readers.  It has some great games and provides your child with comprehension questions.

Some other ideas of things you can work on at home this week:

• Practise writing words with the letters we have learnt in the classroom. (see above)
• Have your child practise writing their name, lowercase letters and using scissors correctly.
• Ask your child questions about the text they have just read e.g. who is the character? What was the setting?
• Practise counting and writing  numerals to 10 and beyond.

Thank you again for your continued support, if you have any questions, please ask your classroom teacher.

From the Foundation team.