Grade 1

Reading 

Over the past two weeks in Literacy, students have been busy exploring new sounds, spelling patterns and word endings. In Week 7, we focused on the grapheme _ey (as in key), practised adding the suffix ‘y’ to adjectives (sleepy, dusty, angry), and revised sounds such as ow, ou, au, aw. We also introduced the /oi/ and /oy/ digraphs, learning the rule that oi is usually found in the middle of a word (coin, boil) and oy at the end (boy, toy). Students practised recognising, reading, and writing these sounds through games, partner activities, and reading texts. Alongside this, we revised our tricky words, including kind, find, and thought, with lots of opportunities to use them in sentences.

In Week 8, our learning built on this foundation as students continued working with oi/oy words while also beginning to explore adverbs with the suffix ‘ly’ (quickly). We investigated how adding ‘ly’ changes adjectives into adverbs and practised creating sentences to show how these words add detail about how an action is done. Tricky words this week included only, great, and their, which students practised spelling and using in context. 

Across both weeks, students have shown growing confidence in identifying sounds, applying spelling rules, and using tricky words in both their reading and writing.

Maths

Over the last two weeks, students have continued learning about grouping, sharing and skip counting. They have been making groups of 2, 5, and 10 and using skip counting to find the total number in each collection. Students explored how grouping can help solve problems and began to see the connections between grouping, repeated addition, and multiplication. Through hands-on activities with blocks and counters, students were able to build, count, and explain their groups, making their learning both visual and practical.

Writing 

The Year 1s have been busy storytellers over the past two weeks! We imagined walking through a spooky forest, thinking about what we might see, hear and feel, then turned those ideas into our own stories. The kids have been practising making their sentences more interesting by adding details and using exciting new words.

We’ve also been looking closely at characters and using clues from the pictures and text to talk about what they might be thinking or feeling. This week we started learning the difference between stories and information texts, using Dingo by Claire Saxby. The children had a great time on a “Story vs Fact” scavenger hunt and loved building sentences with strong adjectives.

Additional Subjects

In Week 7, students celebrated Father’s Day, a special time to thank and appreciate their dads or special people. We explored the different ways people show love—through kind words, spending time together, or making something special. Students created their own decorated photo frames to share with their dads or special people, reflecting on the unique ways families celebrate special occasions.

In Geography, students completed a mapping project of our school grounds. They revised the differences between natural, managed, and constructed places, used a map key to add symbols, and practised giving directions with positional words, such as "next to," "across from," "left," and "right."

In Let’s Talk, students explored how to notice when someone is worried, listen carefully, and respond kindly by acknowledging their concerns. They also discussed what it means to be brave, how to show their true selves, and how to ask for help clearly from trusted people. Activities such as role play, Think-Pair-Share, and Helping Hands helped build empathy, confidence, and resilience.

In the library, students listened to stories from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors. Through “My Deadly Boots by Carl Merrison”, they learned that in Aboriginal English “deadly” means good or cool and discussed similarities and differences between their own lives and the character’s. The following week, they enjoyed “Where is Galah? by Sally Morgan, noticing the bright colours, dots, and patterns in the artwork and how these connect to Country, animals, and culture.

This fortnight, in Week 8, we celebrated RUOK? Day on Thursday, 11th September. Students learned what it means to be a good friend by noticing when someone might be worried, asking “Are you OK?” in a kind way, and listening carefully to their response. We explored the ALEC model (Ask, Listen, Encourage, Check-in), talked about what makes a good friend, and created a class display to show our ideas. To finish, students designed their own RUOK? Badges as a reminder that even small conversations can make a big difference.