Foundation

Foundation Newsletter

Literacy

In Literacy we are continuing to learn our sounds and associate these sounds by identifying initial sounds in words. Initial sounds are the beginning/first sound in each word. For example, if the word is cat then the initial sound is /c/. Below is a picture of all the sounds we have learnt so far. Please take some time to reflect at home with your child as this can assist with their consolidation of learning. 

Please continue to help and assist your child with our Stage 1 and 2 Heart Words.  Students are encouraged to find these words in texts or anywhere they may be that involves print (such as the supermarket). 

Also part of our Literacy block students are engaged with the Story Champs program that supports building their confidence and comprehension skills. Through Story Champs, students are not only listening to stories, but also actively participating by identifying key story elements such as characters, problems, feelings, actions, and endings and orally retelling these in their own words. This process not only enhances their storytelling abilities but also strengthens their grasp of narrative structure and fosters a deeper connection to the stories they encounter. 

Knowledge

During Knowledge students are learning about how we take care of our Earth and why it is important to reuse, reduce and recycle as well as composting. We already have seen and heard our students make conscious efforts about which bin to use when throwing away their rubbish. Everyone is becoming aware of the impacts and effects that can take place if we do not look after the Earth.

Numeracy

In Numeracy, we are learning to count, write and represent numbers to 10. Students are using various concrete materials to represent numbers to 10 as well as counting with 1 to 1 correspondence. Counting with 1 to 1 correspondence is having the ability to count while pointing to one object at a time. Furthermore we are comparing numbers and identifying which numbers are more, less or the same so students have an understanding of these when comparing two numbers. Comparing numbers becomes useful in our everyday life. We compare the temperature of weather, cost of items as well as how heavy or light objects can weigh. 

SEL & AUSLAN

In our Social and Emotional Learning sessions we have introduced The Resilience Project! We explored what Gratitude means and discussed what we are thankful for. Students drew pictures of things that make them happy, what makes them smile and who they are grateful for in their Student Journal. Foundation students have also been discussing who they can go to for help, problem solving when issues arise and being able to identify the size of our problems. We refer to some problems we might encounter as 'ant or elephant problems'. Identifying whether a problem is small like an 'ant' or large like an 'elephant' develops student’s ability to recognise when they can independently tackle the issue with resilience, and when it's necessary to seek adult assistance in problem solving.

Foundation students have embarked on an exciting journey of learning Auslan, the Australian Sign Language. We have learnt how to sign and recognise different colours, places and people at school and everyday signs. We are so proud to see our students display such zest and enthusiasm as they embrace this language and expand their communication skills.