Foundation

MOTHERS' DAY PAMPERING

We try hard to gather a number of times a year as a school community, and on Friday we have the Annual Mothers' Day Pampering event. Beginning at 1pm in the Mercy Centre, mothers, grandmothers, aunties, neighbours, close friends are all invited to an afternoon of socialising, prayer and pampering on a scale that you have probably never experienced before! And of course Dads can also attend- if they are game...

Manicures, hand massages and photo shoots are just some of the activities on offer. We look forward to seeing you on Friday.

Literacy

Term Two sees a continuation and refinement of all the strategies we developed during Term One. Our Reading hour is looking very streamlined, and sounding much quieter than it was at the beginning of the year. Students are working well in groups, focussing on different areas of need. We have some groups that need to continue to develop their letter-sound knowledge, other groups are working on small words and other groups are working with simple sentences.

Every week all students have a session on their iPads, using the Sunshine Online app and decodable texts. This is clearly the 'favourite' activity for most students, making a mockery of the hours I spend planning the other tasks...

It is all about 'sounding out' in the Writing hour, with students encouraged to record the most obvious sounds in words. This phonetic approach means that often a student's work is difficult to read unless they are sitting with the reader to help interpret their work. But with every passing day, confidence is growing and it won't be too long before the students' writing attempts are much easier to decipher. 

Grumpy Bear lived in a cave. He had sharp claws.

Oh No! Sonny had no water. His Mum had to get a plumber.

We have a drum concert tomorrow. We are going to bang.

We are going to run laps. I like to run.

In each of the above examples, students were given a sentence 'starter' and asked to write one more sentence on their own, recording the sounds they could hear and making sure both sentences were on the same topic. Not everyone is at this stage of writing development, but this is the direction we are heading towards.

The 10 minutes of "Heggerty" each morning is also paying dividends, with rhyme, syllables and identifying initial, middle and final sounds in words becoming much easier for the majority of students. 

Numeracy

We have started the Term looking at "Friends of 10", the number combinations that when added equal 10. There is a catchy little number on the Pevan and Sarah website which is helping students to remember the combinations, and is also helping me lose my mind! Like most songs the students enjoy, it is repetitive and very hard to get out of your mind once it is in there, no matter how hard you try... We have made different combinations using classroom objects, and used the iPads to photograph our efforts. 

Later this Term we will investigate Pattern and Shape, and a Measurement unit as well, but will continually revise the foundational number concepts that will help students build the understandings they will use throughout their lives.

Religion

The first few weeks of Term Two have been looking at the Easter Story, and what happened once Jesus rose from the dead. Students have discussed "The Road to Emmaus" story at length, when Jesus joined two men on the road to Emmaus and it was only at the breaking of the bread and sharing of wine that they recognised him. Students have used their iPads and the Poplet app to retell the story, have sequenced the events and completed some craft activities designed to reinforce the concepts. As a class, they are very confident in retelling the story.

Next we move onto Pentecost, my favourite RE unit to teach. And as luck would have it, we are in charge of Assembly in Week 5, which should tie in beautifully with the timing of Pentecost. We are learning a song, some people will be reading USING THE MICROPHONE, and there will be some work for us to share. It promises to be a full-on 

extravaganza of Foundation talent and work, as well as a prayerful experience.

ANZAC DAY

We have a lovely day on Wednesday 24th April with the Year One and Two students, completing a number of activities designed to raise students' awareness about ANZAC Day. Following a whole school liturgy, students were divided into groups and rotated around to different classrooms and teachers. Whilst the activities were definitely fun, it was also a great opportunity for the Foundation students to work with older students, and have different teachers. The ability to adapt and manage when routines change is a life skill, and one that all students coped with beautifully on the day.

CROSS COUNTRY

Without a doubt, the highlight of the week was the annual Cross Country run. Students have prepared for many weeks in order to be comfortable with both the activity and the expectations. Saving the best class until last, the Foundation students wowed the sizeable crowd with their fitness and smiles. Thumbs up to Mrs Watson who prepares the students, and the day, with meticulous precision. In the classroom, the ongoing theme was "there will only be one winner", and we discussed what losing graciously looks like. We watched Steven Bradbury's Olympic gold race, just to see what can happen if you never give up. We listened to "Eye of the Tiger" as we completed work, and then, as a final measure, stickers were offered to anyone who completed the race with a smile on their face, and didn't cry if they didn't win. I am happy to report EVERYONE got a sticker!

Timetable 

Monday

Tuesday         Art 

                         School newsletter online(odd weeks) 

Wednesday 

Thursday       Specialist subjects (students to wear sports uniform and runners)

Friday             Library, Bluearth- wear sports uniform (even weeks)  Assembly (odd weeks)

Don't forget, any questions, problems or queries, please contact me. If it is during school hours, just leave a message and I will return it as soon as possible, or send me an email.

sredfern@sjeuroa.catholic.edu.au

Enjoy your week,

Sally, Damien and Grace