Prep
Dear Prep families,
Our prep students are nearing the halfway point of their journey in Prep. Hard to believe, but the evidence is in their knowledge and the growth we see every day in our classrooms. It is impressive!
Reading
Our Preps continue to work in guided reading groups to build their skills to decode, achieve individual reading goals and discuss the text to develop literal and inferential thinking.
Students are enjoying literacy rotation activities to further support their reading skills. Independent reading is an important element of our daily routine where students have an opportunity to read for enjoyment and practise their reading strategies.
In Reading, our Prep students practised making predictions while reading. They were encouraged to think about what might happen next in a story by using the pictures, the title, and what they already know about the topic. Making predictions helps young readers stay engaged and actively think about the text.
Our Prep students are also learning how to make text-to-self connections. This means they are thinking about how stories relate to their own lives, feelings, or experiences. Making these connections helps deepen their understanding of what they read and builds their engagement with books. You can support this at home by asking questions like, “Have you ever felt like that character?” or “Does this story remind you of something you’ve done?”
We also continued to practise using a range of decoding strategies to help read unfamiliar words. These include looking at the first sound, stretching out the word, looking at the picture for clues, and re-reading to make sense of the sentence. Encourage your child to use these strategies at home during reading time, and ask them to make a prediction about the story before you turn the page!
Writing
In Writing the last few weeks, our Prep students have been working on recount writing, where they practise writing about familiar experiences in their own lives. This helps them build confidence in structuring their ideas and using time words like first, then, and last.
We also explored retelling stories, where students respond to texts by sharing their thoughts and feelings about the events and characters. This encourages comprehension and helps students connect more deeply with the stories they read and hear.
Our sight words were love, out, come, and some. We practised reading, writing, and using them in sentences. You can support this learning at home by looking for these words in books or encouraging your child to use them in their own writing.
Literacy Focus: Phonics and Spelling
In Literacy the last few week, our Prep students have been continuing to strengthen their understanding of grapheme-phoneme correspondences – the relationships between letters and sounds – to support both reading and spelling.
We introduced sounds: x and qu, and revisited key vowel sounds as part of our phonics revision. A big focus this week was on understanding how the letter 'q' is always followed by 'u' in English words (for example, queen, quick, quiet).
We also explicitly taught that when students hear the /kw/ sound in a word, it is usually spelled with qu.
Students participated in various games, word-building tasks, and guided spelling activities to reinforce these patterns. You can support this learning at home by looking for qu and x words in books or during conversations and encouraging your child to sound them out.
Maths
The last few weeks in Maths, our Prep students have been exploring numbers up to 10 through hands-on, engaging activities. Preps have been displaying their knowledge of numbers and the order of numbers, by counting forwards and backwards. They have been ordering groups of numbers, identifying those that come before and after, and created mental objects of numbers in different ways.
They have been learning how to partition and combine collections using the part-part-whole concept. This means they are beginning to understand how numbers can be broken into parts and put back together again in different ways (for example, 5 can be made from 2 and 3).
We’ve also been practising subitising, the ability to instantly recognise how many items are in a small group without counting, and using this skill to identify and make different number combinations. Through games, manipulatives, and small group activities, students have been building a strong foundation in early number sense and developing confidence in working with numbers to 10.
Wellbeing and Inquiry Learning
During Wellbeing and Inquiry Learning, our Prep students have been learning to practise expressing their emotions by describing how they feel in different familiar situations. Through class discussions, stories, and role-play, students explored a range of feelings such as happiness, sadness, frustration, and excitement.
They were encouraged to use words to describe their emotions and talk about what might cause them, helping to build emotional awareness and vocabulary. This learning supports their ability to recognise and regulate their own feelings and understand the feelings of others.
You can continue these conversations at home by asking your child how they felt during different parts of their day and why.
100 Days of Prep Celebration – Tuesday 29 July
We are excited to announce that our Prep students will be celebrating 100 Days of School on Tuesday 29 July, 2025, NEXT TERM! This special milestone marks 100 days of learning, growing, and having fun together in Prep.
To mark the occasion, students are invited to come dressed in something related to the number 100. This could be a shirt with 100 items, a costume made of 100 things, or any creative idea that celebrates the number 100! Parents, please note that we are notifying you in advance so that you are able to prepare for this.
Throughout the school day, we’ll be enjoying fun counting activities, games, and classroom celebrations, to honour this exciting achievement.
We look forward to making it a joyful and memorable day for our wonderful Preps
End of Term 2 – Important Dates
Term 2 will conclude on Friday, 4 July, with an early finish at 2:30pm for all students from Prep to Year 9. We will then take a two-week break, and we hope all our families enjoy a safe, restful, and enjoyable break.
On behalf of all the Prep staff at Saltwater College, we thank you for your continued support this term and look forward to welcoming students back for Term 3 on Monday, 21 July 2025. Please note that Term 3 is a 9-week term and will finish on Friday, 19 September 2025.
Reminders
Students are expected to bring their satchel to school EVERY DAY.
Prep students have begun using iPads. Your child’s iPad will need to be configured by our IT team to enable them to use them at school.
Snack and lunch times are 20 minutes long. Please encourage your child to eat their snack/lunch within a 20 minute period, as this will help them to follow school routine.
Please remember to pack a spare change of clothes for your child. Sometimes, little children can have toileting accidents and spills at school.
If you would like your child to practise our school song, this is the Youtube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua5RnSttwyY
Lastly, a reminder about bringing in headphones if you have not already done so. We will be using them with iPads.
Warm regards,
The Prep Team