Foundation

The Foundation students have an air of seasoned professionals as they go about their school days now. They are certain of the expectations and know the routines. They are confident walking into the classroom in the mornings- often needing reminders to say goodbye to their parents before rushing out to play. What a change from the start of the year! The days have fallen into a steady pattern, with lots of learning happening both inside and outside the classroom.

Literacy

We have started official handwriting lessons, with the focus letter explicitly modelled and taught every day. Students enjoy any chance to use the whiteboards, and we also have a handwriting book for further practice. Handwriting can be very tricky at the start, especially if I am asking students to form letters differently to how they have been doing so up to now. Handwriting lessons are an exercise in patience for all involved!

We continue to add new letter characters and actions to our repertoire, having met Maggie Mouse, Sammy Seal, Andy Ant and Tommy Tiger so far. I have started to send readers home and am hoping Princess Polly and Fifi Flamingo show themselves very soon to enable this an easier task for all involved. The students will have the same book for a week. The inside front cover with all the sounds used in the story needs to be constantly revised, as well as the story read each day. By the end of the week students should be very confident with the text. Lisa and I will hear students read every morning as well, which will give students plenty of opportunities to refine their developing skills. I cannot stress enough how important it is to hear your child read on a regular basis and establish a home reading routine that will continue for many years to come.

If you have any questions or queries about the home reading program, please feel free to contact me.

Our shared storybook has been "Grandpa and Thomas", by Pamela Allen. A lovely story about an outing to a beach, and a story which seemed to naturally encourage sandcastle building one morning. 

Numeracy

Numbers to 10, with the occasional adventure up to 20, are filling our Numeracy times. We have been counting forwards and backwards from any given point, working out missing numbers, and using clues to guess mystery numbers. We have learned four new games to start our Maths lessons- "Barrier Games", Number Snakes", "1,2,3,4- win them all!" and the old classic "Paddocks". The idea that there are many different ways to find an answer is being constantly explored by students through sharing their thinking processes with the group. And we are continually recognising that making mistakes is a chance to learn. Everyone makes mistakes.

Buddy afternoon

On Wednesday 18th March the Foundation students visited the Yr 6 classroom (we all LOVE that room! So much space!) to spend some time with their Buddies. Students worked together to create a poster about each other. The posters are on display in the corridor outside our classroom and look wonderful, and the chatter, laughter and fun shared between the students was delightful to see. It was a great afternoon organised by Yr 6 teacher Jake Tunks.

St. Patrick's Day

It was a chance for another shared time with our Buddies when we celebrated St Patrick's Day in style on Tuesday 17th March. Students played games on the courts, made posters about St Patrick and created shamrock headbands in honour of Ireland's most famous saint. It was heaps of fun and lovely to see the close relationships developing between the buddies.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Palm Sunday has been the start of our investigation into Holy Week, and the events that occurred during this most holy of times in the Church's year. Students have been very interested in these events, and we will continue to explore this more over the coming weeks. Our Caritas money box is almost too heavy to move. Thank you to all who have contributed.

On the last day of Term One the Yr 6 students lead the school in "The Stations of the Cross" in the Mercy Centre. It is a lovely way to end the Term, and a really lovely way to begin the celebration of Easter. All are invited and details will be in the newsletter when confirmed.

Morning Routine

We have started a morning routine to help get ourselves ready for learning. Students are now responsible for putting their bag in their locker, putting their chair down, placing a whiteboard, rubber and texta on their table and then heading out to play. This has been very successful. We are now adding reading to a teacher to the morning expectations. Reading to a teacher BEFORE going out to play is usually where the novelty wears off- however, at the moment the readers are a novelty and also don't take too long to read. So it is currently a win/win for all involved. 

ON-GOING REMINDERS

1. St John's is a "No Hat, No Play" school, which means everyone is wearing their hats every day. High ponytails and hair buns can cause difficulty for some students in trying to get their hat to actually sit on their head properly. Just something to ponder when creating hairstyles in the morning.
2. Everything needs to be labelled. And this mantra will be repeated on a regular basis throughout the year. You will get sick of hearing it, we will get sick of saying it, but please make sure your child's belongings can be easily returned to them should they accidentally be misplaced.
3. Zooper Doopers are $1, Cake Raffle tickets are 50c. Both momentous events happen each Friday. 
4.  Lunch Orders are every Wednesday.
5. Library visits take place on a Friday. If last week's borrowed book is not returned, a new one cannot be borrowed. 

6. Birthday invitations- Foundation is traditionally the year of Birthday Parties. We are happy to hand out invitations at school if everyone is invited, but if you choose to only invite some friends to your child's party (and we completely understand this approach) we would prefer that the invitations were shared another way. Whilst life does have the occasional disappointment, not being invited to a party is a pretty big one when you are 5 or 6 years old and we would rather the school not be the place of the upset.  

If you have any questions or queries about anything, please contact us. We have Staff Meetings after school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so these times are unavailable, but can make any other time work.

sredfern@sjeuroa.catholic.edu.au

phone: 57952937

Thank you,

Sally and Lisa