Prep Team News

Hello Prep families,

Welcome to Term 1 of Prep 2024. The Prep teachers this year are Andrea Duxson (Prep D), Caitlin Sullivan (Prep S) and Hayley Thibou (Prep T). We have been so pleased by the positive and enthusiastic attitude to learning that our Prep students have shown over the last two weeks. We have begun developing our classroom routines and our students are displaying wonderful responsibility in their new school environment. Thank you for your support in ensuring your child arrives at school prepared and ready to learn! We are still currently collecting art smocks and Permission forms. 

Blue Book Bags

Last week the Preps received a Blue Book Bag. These Blue Book Bags will need to be brought to school each morning and will be sent home in the afternoon each day. In your child’s Book Bag you will find a ‘Starting School Book’. We encourage families to read the ‘Starting School Book’ each night with their child to reinforce positive reading behaviours. It also provides a fantastic conversation starter as the new sentence is often about something we have done that day in class. 

Next week your child will come home with a ‘Home Learning Book’ in their blue book bag.  Each week there will be a new activity in this book for you to complete at home with your child. These activities are designed to build on the learning we have been doing at school, as well as strengthening the connection between the school environment and the home environment. The Home Learning Books will be collected each Friday and returned to you on Monday with a new weekly activity.

We also ask that parents regularly check their child’s Blue Book Bag as teachers will put notes that need to go home into them instead of their regular bag. If you are returning any notes to the school you can also place them in their Blue Book Bag. If you have placed a note in there, please remind your child to take it out and give it to their classroom teacher in the morning.

Term One Specialists

This Term, all Preps will attend Specialist classes. These include Visual Art, Music, Kitchen Garden and Physical Education. Please see the weekly timetable below.

Parents, could you please support your child to return their library books on their given day. Please also ensure your child is dressed in their P.E. uniform and is wearing runners on the day that they have P.E. Students remain in their P.E. uniform for the entire day. 

Lunches

As a school we are making an effort to reduce the amount of waste that we produce. In doing so, we hope to maintain our clean and safe indoor and outdoor environments. To support this goal, we encourage our students to bring a ‘nude food’ lunchbox. This means that there is no rubbish or wrappers.Examples of items to include in a nude food lunchbox are:

• Snacks in reusable containers
• Drinks in reusable bottles
• Reusable utensils when needed
• A reusable lunchbox or backpack

As part of our whole school effort to reduce waste, all wrappers or food scraps (e.g. banana peels) that are brought to school in your child’s lunchbox will stay in your child’s lunchbox to be disposed of at home.  Thank you for your support.

 Contacting your Child’s Teacher

At times, you may need to contact your child’s teacher for reasons such as informing them of important information or students’ needing to leave early. As you are saying goodbye to your child at the gate, it is likely that you will not be able to catch the classroom teacher in the morning to relay this information. As best practice, we kindly ask that you contact teachers via email.

• Andrea Duxson (Prep D) - andrea.duxson@education.vic.gov.au
• Caitlin Sullivan (Prep S) - caitlin.sullivan2@education.vic.gov.au
• Hayley Thibou (Prep T) - hayley.thibou@education.vic.gov.au

All staff members will endeavour to respond to your email within 48 hours.  If you have an urgent message (e.g. change in the adult picking up your child after school) please contact the school office, as classroom teachers cannot guarantee they will be able to check their email throughout the school day.

Curriculum Focus: Weeks 1 - 2

Reading - Students will learn about appropriate reading behaviours, for example direction of print and caring for books. They will also discuss book features such as the front cover, pictures and text. As part of our Little Learner’s program, students begin the year learning single letter sounds, with our current focus being the /m/ sound.

Writing - Students are learning to write their name, correctly form letters, trace over a modelled piece of writing and copy it underneath. This week we are focusing on forming the letter ‘m’.

Numeracy - Students are learning to graph information about themselves, their classmates and their school. They are also finding different ways to represent a number by starting our count to 100 Days of School.

Inquiry - Students are investigating how Willy Kids can be successful and engaged learners.

Homework - Each Monday, students will be given an activity to complete at home that relates to our weekly sound focus. The activity in their ‘Home Learning Book’ will be collected each Friday. Homework in Prep should take no longer than 15 minutes.  

Prep: Key Dates Term One

We hope the Preps and their families have a restful weekend after such a fabulous first two weeks of school. Enjoy your weekend. 

Warm regards,

The Prep Team–Caitlin Sullivan (Prep S), Hayley Thibou (Prep T) & Andrea Duxson (Prep D)