Prep
First Day and Positive Start
The Prep teachers were thrilled to welcome our newest members to the school community as our Prep students began their first day of school with excitement and curiosity. The day was filled with smiles, new friendships, and a shared excitement for the journey ahead. As the students stepped through the school gates—wide-eyed and eager—they began settling naturally into their new learning environments for 2026. Throughout the day, students became familiar with their new teachers, connected with their classmates, and explored the many learning and play spaces around the school. We are incredibly proud of our Prep students for the bravery and enthusiasm they demonstrated as they begin this exciting journey of learning and growth. Here’s to many wonderful adventures ahead!
To commence the year, Prep students have been settling into school life through Grayling’s annual Positive Start program. In Prep, we place a strong emphasis on establishing routines, social norms, and shared values early in the year—key foundations for creating a positive and productive classroom environment. By setting clear expectations from the outset, students feel secure, confident, and supported in understanding how to behave and interact with others.
Over the past fortnight, students have been explicitly taught and given opportunities to practise:
- establishing expectations, social norms, and routines across all school space.
- identifying the school’s values and understanding what they look like in action
- building a positive and inclusive classroom community
recognising themselves as learners and exploring how they learn best
We are looking forward to a year filled with growth, collaboration, and positive learning experiences.
During our very first week of school, the Prep students also enjoyed a fun and memorable learning experience inspired by the story Where Is the Green Sheep? After reading the book, students navigated their way around the school in search of the missing Green Sheep, following clues that led them to important locations such as the toilets, sick bay, playground, Gymnasium, STEAM building, and basketball courts. The students were delighted when they finally discovered the Green Sheep making an unexpected visit to our Principal, Luke Abdallah’s office—where it was found guarding his desk! This engaging adventure allowed students to explore the school while learning important expectations, including walking safely together as a class, using quiet voices inside buildings, and understanding designated play areas. It was a wonderful way to combine learning, fun, and a sense of belonging in our school community.
Reading
We have had a fantastic start to our reading lessons this year, beginning in Week 2, as students started developing an understanding of what words are and why we use them. Together, we explored how words carry meaning and allow us to share our thoughts, ideas, and stories with others. Students enjoyed listening to spoken words, identifying them within simple sentences, and learning that words are made up of sounds that we can hear, say, and eventually read and write.
We have also begun exploring rhyming words, which has been a big highlight for students. They listened carefully to words that sound the same at the end and practised repeating and matching rhyming pairs through songs, games, and oral activities. These early experiences with rhyme provide an important foundation for reading, helping children tune into the sounds in words and build phonological awareness in a fun and engaging way.
Maths
In Maths this week, Prep students have begun learning about patterns. We have been exploring two-part movement patterns and two-part object patterns. Students have enjoyed copying patterns and practising how to continue them. We are looking forward to seeing our students’ maths brains continue to grow!
