Foundation

Arriving on Time

A gentle reminder to our lovely families to please ensure that your children arrive to school by 8:30 AM so that they can be admitted into the classroom by the start time of 8:35.

Our Foundation cohort engages in Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) time for the first 20 minutes of the morning. This is a time for them to engage in cooperative social play and settle into the classroom to both prepare for a busy day of learning ahead. 

Arriving to school on time allows for children to have smoother transitions into the school day, and minimises interruptions or disruptions during learning. 

By 8:55 AM, children are expected to pack up their morning activities and come to sit on the mat for our morning circle, where we take the roll and explain the day's schedule.

Children are encouraged to remain at home if unwell, but it is extremely important for their cognitive and emotional development to attend school regularly, as their first year of formal schooling is a strong indicator for their future academic success. 

If your child is experiencing difficulty transitioning into the classroom in the morning, we will be there to support and encourage them. With consistency, they will become increasingly more resilient.

Reading

In prep, we are focusing on blending familiar letter sounds and using our knowledge to sound out words. The children have been working hard on improving their blending and segmenting skills to identify individual letter sounds and read words out loud. We have been challenging the children by encouraging them to form their own sentences using familiar words, and blending letters to sound out words that are new to them.

We are learning how to write simple sentences using the Who and What Doing prompts, which help children identify the subject and the action. 

We are moving on to reading information books, where children learn facts and use them to make connections to their own everyday experiences. We have been talking about our homes and our local communities, discussing the familiar places we visit regularly with our families. 

Writing

We have been working on letter formation and making sure we are writing neatly and carefully with guidance. We have been practicing on letter formation work-sheets and using our mini whiteboards to practice how letters are formed.

We have also been working on scribing our ideas and illustrating them with pictures. We are helping the children to use their knowledge of letter sounds and blending to write sentences that match an image.

Numeracy

In Prep we have been exploring the beginning stages of addition, where children are learning to understand what "one more" means. To support this knowledge, we are using a variety of activities where children can show and write their learning. Interactive group maths games support children with turn-taking, critical thinking, and using logic to solve problems.

Reptile Incursion

The Foundation children had a wonderful time exploring the different kinds of reptiles and other creatures during our incursion. They showed tremendous interest and came out wanting to talk about all of the different critters they saw and got to hold. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to see real Australian reptiles up close - even a baby crocodile!

Housekeeping/Reminders

Please make sure your children return their blue book bags by Friday, so that they can be provided with new books for the next week.

In addition to this, please be mindful that your child will return home with decodable reader texts that they have been working on that week. As part of their home learning, please do encourage your child to read these books with you, and practice their letter sounds and blending to comprehend the text.

Prep has had a large number of jackets, jumpers and other clothing items turn up missing. Please remember to label all of your children's uniform items, as this will help us to identify and locate the owner should they go missing.

We are celebrating Pyjama Day this Friday, to celebrate Books in Homes during our school assembly. Please do ensure that if your child arrives wearing pyjamas that they adequately cover the whole body (no shorts or sleeveless tops).