Prep News
Important Reminders!
All important dates and events are on our Compass Calendar, please check the calendar regularly to stay up to date!
- Students are required to bring their take-home bags to school daily. This will be used to send home notices, student work and take-home books.
- Please name all of your child's items. Students often misplace them and if there are no names, your child's items cannot be returned. We are also trying to develop your child's independence. We have had discussions with the children about picking up hats when they fall off and placing school jumpers back in bags. If your child loses one of their items, please check lost property, which is located opposite the first aid room.
- Preps will be attending school assembly from Friday 16th February at 2.45pm in the school gym.
- Today (Friday) each child will be coming home with an A3 colour piece of paper and a print off of their name. Each child is asked to create an ‘All About Me Placemat’. Can you please help your child by collecting photographs and images that show information ‘about them’. This could include family, sports, hobbies, their home, holidays, pets, personal likes etc. Please make sure your ‘All About Me’ collage does NOT include three-dimensional objects as your child’s teacher will laminate it (see example picture below). Please return the completed ‘All About Me Placemat’ in two weeks’ on Friday the 8th of March.
Learning in Action
What a great fortnight of learning we have had! Last week we finished up with our Headstart program and this week, we commenced our first full week of curriculum learning.
Literacy: This week students have been introduced to Nursery Rhymes. Students have sung the songs, whilst reading the words from left to right. Students have answered questions about the songs to develop their oral language skills by sharing their thoughts with a partner. The songs we looked at included, ‘Rain, Rain, Go Away’, ‘It’s Raining, it’s Pouring’, ‘Jack and Jill’ and ‘Little Miss Muffet’.
Through Word Work sessions, students have learnt the letter names and sounds for ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, ‘p’, ‘i’, ‘n’ and 'm'. Students met the characters, identified items that started with each sound and practised forming the letters on whiteboards.
In Writing, we have been working on drawing clear pictures, ensuring we are using realistic colours and adding details so that other people can understand our drawings. We have been working on Peggy Lego patterns, which are pre-writing patterns to assist students to write letters and numbers accurately. We have covered ‘tall man’, ‘short man’, ‘half moon’ and ‘ sideways-sideways’. We have also been exposed to the difference between letters, words and sentences. Students sorted them with a partner.
Preview - Students will explore two new nursery rhymes and revise the ‘satpin’ letters. Students will work on applying their sound knowledge to sound out words.
We will also continue settling into school routines with a growing focus on literacy and numeracy.
Maths: During the first few weeks of school, the students played collaborative number games to start learning about numbers 1-10, such as race to ten, buzz, cover that number and making patterns. This week students were introduced to the number 1 and learnt about the different ways to represent the number. Students enjoyed representing the number in tally marks, on a die, five frame, as a word and noticing where we see this number in the real world, for example we have 1 nose, 1 sun.
Students also learnt strategies to help us count collections accurately and practised recognising numerals to 10. Students were also exposed to 2D shapes, learning the names and describing features of a circle, triangle, square and rectangle.
Preview- We will continue learning about the numbers 1 to 10 and start learning about the numbers before/after, more/less.
Inquiry:We explored our "Learner Profile Superlearning Powers" to ignite a passion for learning and master the skills of a ‘good’ learner (as outlined in the school's learner profiles).
Last week, we unleashed our "Accepting Challenges" power by coming together as a whole class to conquer a colossal puzzle. With teamwork and determination, our students triumphed! It was inspiring to witness them try something new and learn from their mistakes.
Preview - Next week we will continue to learn about the learner profiles and unlock our superpowers.
Wellbeing:We have been learning to recognise and name commonly experienced emotions. Students identified what the emotions look like through facial expressions and body language. We discussed that knowing the names of emotions can help us understand and articulate how we are feeling, but also tell how other people are feeling.
Preview- Students will identify what sorts of sounds are associated with different emotions
Curious Corner:Over the past fortnight, the Prep students have loved visiting our new ‘Curious Corner’ play based learning space. Students have engaged in various activities, including building, marketstall, puppet show, puzzles/games, doll house and the calm corner. The Preps have loved it and look forward to visiting this space each week.
Student Awards
We would like to congratulate the following award winners on their achievements
Please note, you will be notified before your child receives their first award.
Prep B
Isabella J
Ashton S
Prep R
Evie C
Riley R
Prep S
Tate B
Cosima G-F
Value Award - Acceptance
Henry Smith (PR)
Class Timetables
REMINDER: Research project in your child’s classroom – seeking your consent
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Our Prep - year 2 teachers will be engaged in professional learning over the next two years with Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) and the La Trobe University’s Science of Language and Reading Lab (SOLAR Lab). The focus is on professional learning for our early years (Prep – Year 2) teachers. To assess the effectiveness of this professional learning, we will monitor student progress in literacy and would like to share this data for analysis with the research team. If you consent for us to share your child’s de-identified reading assessment data with AERO and the La Trobe University’s Science of Language and Reading Lab (SOLAR Lab), please complete the consent form link here: https://edresearch.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_428DHXC2BpQAIGW. Please note, you can consent for multiple children on the same form.
If you have already consented for your child/children and in the future you decide to withdraw, then complete the withdrawal form link here: https://edresearch.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7aeUoRln50TuSKq
Kind regards
Kristine Roose
Meet The Teacher
Birthdays
We would like to wish the following students a very Happy Birthday!
Prep B
Cruize 13th Feb
Prep R
Prep S
Danielle Sandeman, Amanda Remington and Jess Bouloukis
Prep Teachers