Foundation 

Welcome to Cheltenham Primary School Foundation families and students. We are so excited for your learning journey at CPS to begin!

In Term 1, the Foundation students are focusing on their wellbeing and settling into school. This involves learning the routine of the day, navigating their new environment, following multi step instructions and building relationships with their teachers, peers and Year 6 buddies.

We will also be introducing the Zones of Regulation to support the students to identify their feelings and to develop strategies to calm themselves when they may feel frustrated or upset. These skills will be helpful when they face challenges in the classroom or in social situations. 

Literacy

We have been beginning our mornings with fine motor activities. This is a pre-writing activity. The students engage in experiences such as using tongs, pegging, cutting, building with small blocks and colouring in. Not only is this a calming way to start the morning, but it is similar to the developmental play that they were used to in their early childhood setting.

During our morning Literacy Blocks throughout the term, we will also be focusing on:

• Recognising rhyming words and continuing a rhyme
• Identifying the number of syllables in words
• Letter names and sounds for S A T P I N M D
• Sounding out and blending 2 and 3 letter words
• Distinguishing between a letter, a word and a sentence
• Sequencing events
• Holding a pencil with correct pencil grip
• Cutting along the lines with scissors
• Name writing
• Copying sentences under a model

Mathematics

In Foundation, our main focus is 'Trusting the count' for numbers to 10. 'Trusting the count' refers to having a deep understanding of what each number means. For instance, when students read, write or hear ‘seven’, they can imagine what that collection might look like and how it relates to other numbers. 

To develop 'Trusting the count' in Term 1, we will be:

• Subitising (instantly recognising the amount in a collection without counting)
• Rote counting forwards and backwards 
• Saying the numbers that come before and after
• Recognising, ordering and writing numerals to 10
• Exploring different ways numbers can be represented, including words, fingers, tens frames or with blocks

Other concepts that we will be exploring in Mathematics include Location, Pattern and Time. In our unit on Time, the students will be ordering events and comparing their duration. 

STEAM

Each term, the students will be engaging with a new STEAM topic. In Term 1, our topic is 'All About Me'. This is a great way for the students to learn about each other and respect each other's differences. Some of the concepts we will be covering each week are:

• Likes and dislikes
• Creating self portraits 
• Different family structures
• Countries that our families originated from

The students will also complete a 'Me in a Nutshell' Presentation where they will bring in 5 objects that are important to them to share with the class. 

Important Dates

Thursday 22nd Feb: 

Curriculum Information Session

Time: 5:00pm

Location: In your child's Foundation classroom

Wednesday 14th, 21st, 28th Feb & 6th March: 

Optional Wednesdays

No new learning will take place on this day

Monday 11th March: 

Labour Day Public Holiday 

No more Optional Wednesdays past this date

Thursday 14th March:

Free Vision Assessments for Foundation - Onsite at school

Wednesday 27th March:

Happy Being Me Incursion - A performance by Carp Productions

Thursday 28th March: 

Last day of Term 1