Prep
Dear Prep families,
We have had a wonderfully busy and productive fortnight in Prep, with students engaging in a range of rich learning experiences across Reading, Writing and Maths. We are so pleased with the enthusiasm and effort students continue to bring to their learning each day.
Reading
In Reading, the Preps have been continuing to strengthen their reading skills and comprehension through a range of engaging activities. This fortnight, students focused on using comprehension and decoding strategies to help them understand texts more deeply. They practised asking thoughtful questions before, during and after reading to support their comprehension.
Our focus on comprehension strategies has continued with students learning to use visualising, predicting, retelling, and questioning as they engaged with texts. We also explored the difference between facts and opinions during reading sessions.
In shared and independent reading, students continued to develop phonological awareness, vocabulary, and decoding strategies such as segmenting and blending. They engaged with familiar rhymes to identify rhyming patterns, syllables, word endings and shared their thinking during class discussions.
During Independent Reading, students continued building stamina and fluency using take-home books , our classroom library and revising high-frequency words taught.
Writing
In Writing, students have been developing their creative writing skills. They explored how descriptive language influences the way a reader visualises a character, focusing on using adjectives to add detail and interest. Students discussed prompts, generated their own imaginative ideas and practised forming clear sentences to express these ideas in writing. They also shared their work with a partner, building confidence in reading their writing aloud. Students engaged in a variety of purposeful tasks connected to our unit of inquiry. They explored creative writing, using their imagination to generate ideas and using adjectives to describe characters, settings, and events in detail. This helped students make their writing more vivid and engaging. They continued to work on their sentence structure and remembering to use correct punctuation, to convey meaning in their sentences.
Through ongoing onset–rime sessions, students practised spelling using the –in and –ed patterns, developing strategies to decode unfamiliar words with greater confidence. High-frequency words were reinforced using the LSNCWC method, supporting reading fluency and accuracy. Students had regular opportunities to share their work with a partner, discuss their language choices, and reflect on how descriptive words and sentence structures influence meaning, helping them build confidence and a deeper understanding of effective writing.
Math
In Maths, students continued building their part–part–whole knowledge through engaging, hands-on activities and games. They practised adding collections with number lines, counters and tens frames, and explored strategies such as counting all and counting on. Throughout these sessions, they used vocabulary including more, less, equals, altogether and how many.
These practical tasks encouraged students to articulate their mathematical thinking with confidence and increasing precision.
Wellbeing
In Wellbeing, students explored different emotions and talked about how they feel as they prepare to transition into Year One. They learned to recognise and describe feelings such as excited or nervous, and discussed what it means to treat others fairly and kindly, including understanding gender fairness. Through stories and role-play, students practised how to include others, show empathy, and respond in positive, respectful ways.
Reminders:
Hats - A reminder that hats need to be worn this term.
Students are expected to bring their satchels to school EVERY DAY.
Please remember to pack a spare change of clothes for your child. Sometimes, little children can have toileting accidents and spills at school.
Please approve your child's attendance on XUNO for the upcoming Braveheart incursion by Friday 5th December.
Students finish school on Thursday 18th December , at 2:30pm.
If you would like your child to practise our school song, this is the Youtube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua5RnSttwyY
Warm regards,
The Prep Team