Grade 1

Reading

We’ve had a busy and productive fortnight in Literacy! 

Over the past two weeks, students have been exploring suffixes, split digraphs, and new vowel sounds through engaging whole class and independent activities.

In Week 3, our focus was on recognising and spelling words with the suffix ‘ed’ to show past tense, as well as revising the split digraphs a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e, and u_e (bossy ‘e’). Students played games like Act it Out - ed, searched for focus words in decodable texts, and practised reading and writing tricky words from Sets 1-9, including about, ask, and our.

In Week 4, we continued our split digraph review and introduced the /aw/ sound (as in claw). Students identified and recorded /aw/ words in the decodable text Shaun’s Awful Night, built bossy ‘e’ flipbooks, and completed spelling activities to consolidate their learning. Our tricky word review also continued with fun, hands-on activities such as banana bingo, chalk writing, and playdough words. 

It’s been fantastic to see students applying these patterns in their reading and writing with growing confidence!

Writing

In the last 2 weeks, students have been exploring the concept of prepositions and adverbs in our writing to make it more interesting! We have started delving into a new story of “Jetty Jumping” which takes us through the events of a girl called Milla who was too scared to jump off the jetty along with her friends. Also this week we have been focusing on how to use the conjunction ‘and’ in our sentence to connect two actions to one subject. 

Such as: Milla jumps. Milla swims. Can be joined together by saying Milla jumps and swims. 

Next week we will be learning how we can adapt a story into our versions of events by changing the characters, setting, problem, actions or the solution!

Maths

Over the last two weeks, students have been exploring the concept of patterns. They have been learning to label and continue three-part repeating patterns, as well as patterns that use only two items. Students created their own repeating patterns using a variety of materials and practised identifying patterns by matching them to their rules. They also worked on recognising and continuing skip counting patterns in 2s, 5s, and 10s, using number charts and number lines to support their learning. This helped students make connections between counting patterns and number sequences, strengthening their problem-solving and logical thinking skills.

Additional Subjects

Something exciting has been happening in our learning this fortnight! Students have been engaged in a variety of rich learning experiences through Geography, Respectful Relationships, Library, and Culture. These sessions have sparked curiosity, strengthened connections, and encouraged creative thinking across the curriculum.

In Geography, students have been exploring how maps represent places and how symbols are used to show features in both built and natural environments. They examined familiar areas of the school—such as the library, playground, and classroom—and created their “Map Keys” using simple symbols. Students also engaged with the story of “The Rainbow Serpent” to deepen their understanding of how First Nations Australians use symbols to represent land, water, and journeys.

In our Respectful Relationships sessions this fortnight, students have been learning to recognise when they need help, identify trusted people they can turn to when they feel worried, sad, or unsure and consider ways they can support others. Through the “Helping Hands” activity, students named both the trusted people they can go to for help—such as parents, teachers, or friends — and shared acts of kindness they could offer, like sharing, helping a friend, or giving a hug. These thoughtful handprints are now proudly displayed as a “Wall of Helping Hands” in the classroom, celebrating the importance of support, kindness, and connection.

In the Library this fortnight, students explored how Indigenous Australians share their connection to land and nature through Dreaming stories. Using books like “Tiddalick – The Frog Who Caused a Flood” and “When the Snake Bites the Sun”, they discussed how language and images work together to tell meaningful stories and deepen understanding of First Nations perspectives.

This week we celebrated National Science Week, Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology. As part of our learning, students explored what happens when we carry out a science experiment by conducting the colourful “Rainbow Skittles” activity. Using scientific language, we observed how the colours from the Skittles began to dissolve and spread into the water, creating a beautiful rainbow effect. This fun and hands-on experiment encouraged curiosity and helped students gain an understanding of scientific concepts. 

It’s been a fantastic fortnight of creativity, connection, and discovery.