Prep News

Learning Centre Three

We are in the final weeks of our last term together as Prep students. Our Preps continue to impress us with just how far they’ve come since the beginning of the year and the last few weeks will not slow down our students' learning and growth. We are very lucky this term to be able to participate in many different incursions, and the last two weeks were no exception. As we approach the final weeks of our Prep journey, we’re cherishing each moment — and looking forward to the wonderful experiences still to come!

Incursions: 

• Lifecycles incursion In week 7, we had Paige from Hands on Science come to us and transformed the hall into our own little science labs. We made predictions about living and non living items, created a green house with seeds for each class, talked through the life cycle of a plant and a frog and even pretended to be bees, as we collected nectar and transferred it to different flowers.

 “I enjoyed looking at different bugs in the glass, I really liked looking at the cricket.” - Nazareth, Prep White

• Wildlife incursion In week 8, we met Vince, from Aussie Wildlife Display. We were so lucky to meet many different animals. They ranged from snakes to lizards, a wombat to a crocodile. We learnt many new facts about each animal. We learnt that a wombat's pouch faces backwards, so that when they dig they won't get dirt inside of it. We also learnt that the Blue Tongue Lizard has a blue tongue to help scare predators away with its bright colour. How fascinating that a crocodile has roughly 66 teeth and no matter how many times it loses its teeth, it will always grow new ones back. 

“I really liked meeting the possum because it was eating seeds and it was so cute and fluffy.” - Olivia, Prep Orange 

Phonics

We have continued to learn different graphemes, in particular when we see the letters t, c and h together – we say the sound /ch/, three letters, one sound. 

We have also been exposed to new Heart Words, good, came, fall, dollar, what, toy.

Please continue to read with your child each night and record this in their Reading Journal. Ask your child some questions before, during, and after a story to encourage them to think a bit deeper about the story. 

Some questions you might use could include:

• What do you think will happen in this story?
• Who was your favorite character? Why?
• How did the character feel in the story?
• Did you like the way the story ended? Why/why not?

Literacy

Students have continued learning how to write procedures. Students recorded the ingredients and equipment they would use as well as the steps that they needed to follow. At the end of the week, they used their procedures to make some amazing things. All Prep classes have now had a turn at following their procedures to make fairy bread, chocolate crackles and a raincloud in a jar.

Maths

This fortnight, we have looked at how we can count forwards and backwards, sometimes by 1s, 5s or 10s. We really practiced counting by 10s by learning how to ‘bundle’ items into groups of 10 and use these to count on.

Religion

As the end of the year draws closer, students have begun to learn about the season of Advent. Advent is a special time in the Church year that helps us get ready for Christmas. It begins four Sundays before Christmas Day and is a time for reflection, hope, and joyful preparation as we wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus. During Advent, we often use an Advent wreath with four candles — one lit each week — to remind us of the growing light and hope that Jesus brings into the world. For the remainder of the term, students will learn about the symbols of Advent and the events of the Christmas story.

Discovery Play

We did not have buddies this fortnight because our Grade 5 buddies were at camp but we did have an extra session of Discovery Play. It is a fun time to interact with other students from other classes and participate in different activities relating to topics in other areas of the curriculum.

Inquiry

Based on our incursions about animals our students have been learning about what animals need to survive, this includes what is in their individual habitats. We used this knowledge to start creating a habitat for an animal of our choice. These are coming along really nicely and we look forward to finishing these off before we bring them home to show you. 

Upcoming Events

There are still a couple of incursions coming up to support the learning that is happening.

Week 9: 

On Monday, we will have a visit from a friendly dog and their carer who will guide students in how to live safely with dogs and how to approach them with caution and care. 

On Tuesday, we will also bring learning to life with a Minibeasts incursion! Students will transform into grasshoppers, ladybirds, dragonflies, butterflies, worms, spiders, caterpillars and slaters, using drama to explore living and non-living things.

Week 10: 

On Monday, December 8th, students will spend time in their 2026 learning groups with their new teacher and peers for Step Up Day.

On Friday, December 12th, families are invited to the final school assembly at 9am and Colour Run at 2pm. 

Lost Property

There are a number of unnamed items in our Lost Property Tub. A reminder to please make sure that all jumpers, hats, drink bottles, etc. are clearly labelled so that we are able to return them if they happen to go missing.

Thank you for your continued support.

Prep Team: Dasanthi, Emma, Gillian, Jamie, Natasha, Rachael, Sarena, Teagan and Tina