Foundation

Dear Parents,

We have had some very busy weeks and it’s about to get busier! 

We held our Foundation Family Picnic last Friday evening, which was very well attended. It was lovely to see so many families meet old friends and make new friends, just as your amazing children have done. We enjoyed talking with you all and getting to know your family. Thank you to our Principals, Jess, Joy and Jacci for their excellent BBQ skills!

Starting from Monday 4th March, we will be coming to school every Wednesday from now on. Your children will be tired and we have found that they are exhausted by Thursday afternoons. Little ant sized problems may become elephant sized problems! If you can avoid any extra after school activities over the next few weeks, it may help your child (and family!) adjust to being at school full time. 

We will also attend our first Assembly on Monday 4th March (in the Stadium at 9am) where parents are very welcome to attend.  Students who have been nominated for Junior School Council student roles will be receiving their badges at this Assembly. Classroom Teachers will notify you if your child is receiving their badge. 

Week 6

Monday 4th March - First Foundation Assembly (9am in the Stadium)

Tuesday 5th March -  Bring Library Books and bags to school.

Wednesday 6th March - Students are to attend school on Wednesdays from this week onwards. 

Week 7

Monday 11th March – Labour Day Public Holiday. 

No students at school (No Out of School Hours Program is available). 

Tuesday 12th March - Bring Library Books and bags to school.

Week 8

Tuesday 19th March - Bring Library Books and bags to school.

Friday 22nd March - VPS Colour Run

Week 9

Tuesday 26th March - Harmony Day

Arrival at School

Our school day starts at 8.57am when the children come inside, unpack their bags and are ready to start learning at 9am. We find that children are the most settled at school when they are in the line up and ready to come in with the rest of their class. 

If your child arrives after 9am, please sign them in at the Office before walking them into our corridor. 

The information below was included in the Kindergarten section of the last Newsletter and we thought it was worth including here if you haven't already seen it, as it still applies to Foundation children:

Separating from parents/carers can be challenging for our little people, and sometimes for us adults too. If we bring it all back to brain development and what is best for our children, a quick Goodbye, can be the best thing for them. Even though it can be hard for the adults. 

As long as you are still with them, their amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for anxiety) will have hope that the separation won’t happen, and it will keep the fight or flight response going. Once you leave, the amygdala registers futility. Only then can your young one’s brain and body rest. The neurochemical surge that is driving the physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms of anxiety will start to neutralise and their anxiety will start to ease. The sooner this happens, the sooner your child can settle and get on with the day.

There might be big tears when you leave, and that’s okay. These tears are a sign that the brain has registered futility, and is moving to adaption, which lies at the heart of resilience. It’s never easy watching someone you love in so much distress, but remind yourself that they are safe, that the tears will pass quickly, and that you are providing the experience that will build resilience and courage, and show them they can do hard things.

Library Bags

Library bags – bring each Tuesday WITH the book inside.  Your child will be unable to borrow a new book if they are missing either their old library book to return, or the library bag to take the new book home. Please encourage your child to keep the book and the bag together and place them in their school bag when you are finished reading it. 

Blue Folders and Reader Covers

You will begin to see new Sound Blending books in your child's reader cover from Week 7. We are practising decoding new words by saying the sounds and blending them together. When you read with your child, ask them to:

1. Point to each letter and say the sound ('Fred' talking)
2. Sweep their finger underneath the word, from the first sound through to the last, to blend the sounds together. 
3. Say the word.

The focus is on practising this reading strategy, rather than memorising the words. Please sign the highlighted part on the sheet inside the reader cover to show that your child has read this book and put the reader cover and book in the blue folder and bring it to school each day. Our books are slowly going missing as some students leave them at home and don’t bring them back. If you have any reader storybooks at home, please return them to school in the blue folder as soon as you can. 

Parents with English as an Additional Language (PEAL)

Each year at Vermont Primary School we offer a program called Parents and Literacy (PAL). It involves two sessions: a Reading session and a Writing session. There is an opportunity to attend a third session for parents with English as an additional language (PEAL).   It will be held on Tuesday 5th March.   Areas that will be covered include:

• What you can do to help your children develop their understanding of English,
• The importance of communication with the school i.e. whole school newsletter, emails, school office, meetings with teachers etc.,
• Opportunities to get involved in school life, e.g. Community Network,
• Opportunities for questions to clarify events, terminology or programs at VPS.

This is open to all our families and will be held in the Vermont Primary School Learning Centre on Tuesday 5th March 2024 from 6:30pm until 8:00pm. 

To gauge numbers, please fill in the digital form below. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=N7Ns2Ycaz0S2mzzsM0pMH6LALu7qwDtOoIth3C4RCERUQ1ZRQzlTTkpWRFMzSlpDRTFaQ0JUQzJKVS4u 

If you have any queries, please contact Dianna Fuller, John Hoskin and Jacci Strachan at Vermont Primary School. 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Harmony Day

School Uniform

Hats should be the proper school hats (with the logo) that cover the children’s faces and ears. School hats are mandatory for all outside activities in Term 1 and 4 as a part of our SunSmart Policy. Please ensure that your child’s hat is clearly named and in their school bag every day.  

Children without hats will now need to stay in the shade and will be unable to play on the equipment without a hat. Involve your child in packing their school bag each day so they know where to find their hat in their bag. 

Classroom Assistance

In Foundation, we have many events which require parental support at school and on excursions. If you are considering helping at any stage during the year (eg. Digitech, excursions or classroom reading), please apply for a Working With Children Card this term so we are able to include you on our lists for these events from Term 2 onwards. The forms are available online.

Absence Notes

If your child is away for any reason, please update this in Compass. We require this notification for legal purposes.

English

Over the next two weeks we introduce the lower case sounds ‘e, l, h, sh, r, j, v’. We have covered the sounds for m, a, s, d, t, i, n, p, g, o, c, k, u, b and f’. It is very important that children attend school every day as we introduce new sounds daily to help them begin to read independently. We are very impressed by how many sounds they know so far!

If you are interested in the way we teach these sounds, here are some links to some sounds on the Read Write Inc website. 

u - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/gYgqEkrh/67vlWBjk

b - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/dERwPv9M/CHZSC7Cc

f - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/VG5BM1id/EUpFleHz

Maths

• Counting rhymes. 
• Written formation of numerals. 
• Introduction to numbers.

We have been exploring numbers over the last few weeks. This week it was number 7's turn. This is what we found out about the number 7:

Named Belongings

Please ensure that all clothing, lunch boxes and drink bottles are clearly named. This will ensure that if they are misplaced, they will be returned to their owner as soon as possible. Please understand that it may take a few days for your child’s lost item to be returned to their classroom. If you buy a new item of clothing (eg hat, jacket or jumper), please write your child’s name on it before they wear it to school. 

If you have them, stickers are best used for drink bottles and iron on labels for hats and jackets. Unfortunately stickers fall off hat labels or the insides of hats and jackets, so even writing their name on the label is better. 

Show and Tell Timetable

Each week there will be different letters to base our Show and Tell on. These letters will have been taught in the previous week and will provide further opportunities for revision. 

Although it is not mandatory to complete Show and Tell every week we highly encourage children to bring it as regularly as possible as it is a vital component in the Speaking and Listening strand of the curriculum. Show and Tell is a great way for students to gain confidence speaking in front of their peers, as well as a chance for them to practise listening respectfully to others. 

Please feel free to be creative with the letter themes each week. As a guide, each child should bring in one item and aim to speak for 1-2 minutes (depending on how confident they are in front of an audience). For example in Week 4, after we have learned the letters m, a, s, d, students could bring in a photo or their favourite toy!