Foundation

Foundation Cluster News

Teachers Away (31/08/2026) 

Both Brianna and Tania will be absent due to Professional Development off campus on Monday 31st August.  

TRTs: 

FS Jo Ruediger 

FT Sarah Kemp 

Kimochis

On Monday August 31 our F-2 students will be involved in the Kimochis seminar talking about anger and how to deal with it.

The session is titled 'Cranky Cat and the Redo'.

Join Cat and our Kimochis team as they tell the story of the time Cat felt really cranky, and what she did to help with this hard-to-have feeling.     

Cat learns to Name, Shrink, and Share her feelings; the importance of saying sorry when you make a mistake; how good it is when someone accepts an apology; and the power of a redo.

Pupil Free Day 

There will be a pupil free day on Friday 4th of September.  

Great Book Swap 

Monday 31st August – Thursday 3rd August (Week 7): Book Swap – bring a book and a gold coin donation to school and take a book home. Money goes to Indigenous literacy. 

Bring a pre-loved book. Swap it for another. Make a donation to help gift culturally relevant books, including books in First Languages, to children in remote Communities across Australia. Every $10 raised helps put one book into a child’s hands. 

Sports Day  

Sports Day will be held on Friday 11th September (Week 8). Parents and families are most welcome to attend. It is a new and exciting event for our Foundations, which also means a change to their routine with the school much busier than usual, and with lots of new activities - your support is valued. Foundation Sports Day events will finish at 11:45pm and you can collect your child from the classroom at 12pm. An early pick up at the end of the Sports Day activities is encouraged, as it is a physically demanding day and can be tiring for the children. On Sports Day, your child can wear a coloured T-shirt of their house team. 

Tri Skills/ Perceptual Movement Program 

Throughout this term, students will be participating in both Tri Skills and Perceptual Movement Program. 

Kimochis at Home 

We have 4 very special Kimochis that are going to come for a visit on the weekend - Brave Bug, Curious Cat, Kind Lovey Dove and Active Hugs. Students have designated weekends where they will bring home a small Bug, Cat, Lovey Dove or Hugs and a book with instructions of what they will need to do. They will take the Kimochi home on a Thursday/ Friday and bring it back on the Monday. Please make sure they are taken care of and don’t get drawn on or eaten by any family pets. If you do not have a printer at home, we are happy to print for you. Thank you. 

Week 6 Learning Program:   Reader’s Workshop – Building our bigger reading muscles  

  Word Study – Sounds: Digraphs (pairs of letters that represent a single sound, such as sh, ch, and th) 

CVC (simple three-letter words that follow a consonant, short vowel, and consonant pattern, such as cat, dog, and sun) 

CVCC words (four-letter words that follow a consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant pattern, such as tent, milk, and lamp) 

Bookmaking – Spotlight session: We make our books look stupendous. All about me book (Unit of Inquiry)   

Inquiry into Maths   

Addition: simple adding numbers to 10 and above 

Subtraction: simple subtracting numbers 

Unit of Inquiry 

Who We Are Central idea: Our identity helps us to understand our and others’ similarities, differences and emotions. 

Line of inquiry 1: What makes me ‘me’ and how I am the same as, and different to others.  

Line of inquiry 2: Emotions affect our behaviour, interactions, and relationships.  

Line of inquiry 3: We can show understanding and respect in our relationships.  

Key concepts: Causation & Responsibility 

Learner profile: Communicators, Open-minded, Caring, Principled 

Christian Studies:  

Christian Living  

Key Idea 1: Religious beliefs and ideas shape people's thinking and actions. 

Library: 

Please look after our books so they are not damaged so that others can borrow them. It is important to note that no borrowing occurs if library books are not returned.  

Please return books and the library bag to class on Tuesday ready for Wednesday library day.  

Thank you all for your support and being avid readers with your children. 

Take Home Folders:   

Take Home folders need to come to school every day. Students will need these to take home notes and any craft they make during the day. New sounds and heart words will also be placed in this folder.   

Take Home Book Bags:   

Your child will bring home 2-4 books that have been their books for Readers Workshop in class to share with you at home. The take home book bag with the 4 books is to remain in the child’s take home folder so books can be updated/ changed when needed. 

Jolly Pouch (purple pouch): Please keep the pouch in your child’s take home folder!  

Your child will receive new sounds/actions in their Jolly Pouch; it is up to you whether you keep the paper in the pouch or find a safe place at home. We hope these resources are valuable for you to practice what we learn in class. When a new sound is introduced, a video will be posted on Toddle to support your child at home. 

Hats: Students generally won’t need to wear a hat in Term 2 and Term 3 unless the UV index is 3 or above. These can be kept in the front pouch of their school bag, so they don’t get lost during this time. 

Gumboots: During the colder months as the weather gets wetter and muddier students must wear gumboots in the nature play at break times. If your child enjoys playing in nature play, please send gumboots labelled with their name to school. These are kept in plastic bags on the children’s bag hooks by our classroom or on the shoe racks if muddy.    

Volunteers: We love having volunteers in the classroom. If you are interested in volunteering, there are a few tasks you will need to be able to help in the classroom.  

• Current Working With Children Check (WWCC)  
• Responding to Abuse, Harm and Neglect training (RRHAN-EC)  
• Valuing Safe Communities (VSC) training; and  

You can find the information here on the school website:  https://www.goldengrove.sa.edu.au/parents-community/employment-opportunities/  

School Calendar  

https://www.goldengrove.sa.edu.au/school-life/school-calendar/  

Please note: During teaching hours, we are unable to check emails.  

Blessings,   

Brianna and Tania 

Brianna Stanley:  stanley.brianna@goldengrove.sa.edu.au 

Tania Tenten:

 tenten.tania@goldengrove.sa.edu.au 

While our scheduled Wednesday rest days have now finished, we encourage you to consider how your child is feeling and still give them a rest day if needed. Please let me know if you are unsure. 

We have been reading lots of picture books together as part of our school day. If your child has a favourite book, let me know so that we can read it in class. 

Family photo for classroom 

Please continue to send in your family photos for our classroom display. Send it through to my email address and I will print it off. If your child is between homes, you are more than welcome to send in two for display. 

The Great Book Swap Mon 31st Aug-Thurs 3rd Sep 

During Week 7, our Sunnybrook library will be hosting ‘The Great Book Swap’. Students are invited to bring in a book to exchange with another book for a gold coin donation. All money raised will go towards the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Please see the flyer sent home or the office for guidelines on what books to bring in. 

Late pick up 

If ever you are running late to pick your child up, I will walk them to the ‘Kiss and Drop’ area (outside the front gates) after school. Leadership supervise this area. 

Hats 

Please ensure your child has a school hat in their bag as they will need to wear them at recess and lunchtime if the UV is above 3. They can be purchased from the uniform shop. 

Toddle 

If you are still having trouble connecting, please contact the front office. We post important reminders, student learning, photos/videos and assessments on this platform. 

Library 

Students have been given a white Library bag. We visit the library weekly on Tuesdays. Foundation children can borrow two books and keep them for two weeks. I encourage you to read these books with your child weekly so that they can bring them back and have two new books every week to read. 

Assembly and Chapel 

We will not be attending assembly and chapel for the first few weeks to give your children time to become comfortable with being at school first. I will let you know when our first time attending will be in the coming weeks. 

Blue Take Home Folder 

All students have now been given a blue take home folder. They are to come to school every day. In these folders you will find notes sent home, craft students have made, and later in the term, sounds we have been learning that you can practise with them. 

Nature Play 

We are lucky to have a wonderful nature play area at our school. As it can be wet and muddy during Winter, we ask that if your children are wanting to play in this area at recess and lunchtime that they come to school with gumboots. 

Weekly timetable 

Learning program:  Week 7 

We continue to consolidate our routines, with a focus on A and B choices and following instructions when asked. We will explore how we work together to pack up, creating our own ‘tidy teams’. 

We will learn the letter sounds a and t. In bookmaking, students are beginning to learn about the features of a book.  

In Maths, we are beginning to use ten frames to help us count and subitise. 

For Christian Studies, we will be creating a prayer space in the classroom to use during our devotions. 

Kimochis

On Monday August 31 our F-2 students will be involved in the Kimochis seminar talking about anger and how to deal with it.

The session is titled 'Cranky Cat and the Redo'.

Join Cat and our Kimochis team as they tell the story of the time Cat felt really cranky, and what she did to help with this hard-to-have feeling.     

Cat learns to Name, Shrink, and Share her feelings; the importance of saying sorry when you make a mistake; how good it is when someone accepts an apology; and the power of a redo.

Mindfulness 

Every week, we will be learning a strategy we can use to keep our body calm. I encourage you to practise these strategies every week with your child at home. It has been wonderful to see the children use these strategies themselves without prompting from me. During Week 6 we have been practising our snake breathing.  

Snake breathing 

Take a big breath in through your nose. 

Hold it for 3 seconds. 

As you breathe out, make a hissing sound like a snake. 

Blessings for a wonderful week, 

Ellen Zimmer 

zimmer.ellen@goldengrove.sa.edu.au