Foundation 

Communicating with the Foundation Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2022, and welcome your input: 

Holly Peters  Holly.Peters@education.vic.gov.au

Lisa Dam  Lisa.Dam@education.vic.gov.au

TERM 3 INQUIRY: 

HISTORY-ME AND MY PLACE

Our topic for Inquiry in Term 3 is History with a focus on Ancestry. Students will explore and communicate their own history and that of their families with their fellow students. They will identify who the people in their family are, where they were born and raised, how they are related to each other and how their stories are communicated and shared. Students will explore the differences and similarities between students' daily lives and perspectives of life during their parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods, including family traditions and leisure time. They also identify and discuss cultural diversity in the school and/or community. Last week the students created indigenous bark paintings to tie in with our community history and to learn about cultural differences within the community. 

This week the students were read the story ‘Just The Way We Are’ by Jessica Shirvington and Claire Robertson which celebrates families of every kind. They then drew a picture of their own families to compare the differences and similarities in everyone's family structures. The students also bought in baby photos from home and we looked at how we have grown and changed over time, and how unique we all are! 

This week the students were provided with a questionnaire to interview a relative or special person from their family. They will use this information to produce a poster about this special person.  

COMO HOUSE ECURSION!

The Foundation students will also be participating in their very first excursion, a curriculum based excursion to Como House and Gardens! This will provide the opportunity for students to compare the life of 19th Century children and families to their own experiences. Como House and Gardens run an exciting program led by professional facilitators and involves a variety of engaging ‘Then and Now’ activities. This excursion will cover the following parts of the curriculum: 

• Identify perspectives about changes to daily life from people in the past or present
• Identify examples of continuity and change in family life and in the local area by comparing past and present
• Compares objects from the past and present.

 The excursion will take place on Wednesday 31st August (week 8) and students will travel by bus from Upwey South Primary School to Como House, departing from school at 9:15. They will then return to school by 3:30pm. Students are required to bring a small back pack/bag containing plenty of snacks, lunch, brain food and a water bottle. Some activities on the excursion will be outdoors so the students will need to dress appropriately for outdoor activities. We will require some parent helpers to come along and assist us on the day. Details of the excursion will be available on Compass in the coming weeks.

100 DAYS OF SCHOOL CELEBRATION!

Throughout Term Three, our units of study will focus around building our understanding of ancestry and family histories. As part of our learning, we will also be celebrating the historic “100 days of school” for our Foundation students on Friday 2nd September (this date has been delayed due to our school production). The students are very excited about celebrating our 100th day of school and have been eagerly counting down the days. The day involves a variety of activities all based around the number 100.

To help celebrate the occasion, we encourage all students to come to school in “100” themed attire. We encourage you to be creative with your dress-up. Some ideas to prompt your thinking are:

-          dressing as a 100 year-old person

-          dressing as a cricket player who has scored a century, or similar

-          dressing as a student, occupation or person from 100 years ago

-          dressing up to represent something which may come in hundreds

-          wearing the number 100 on you, such as a t-shirt with tally marks or similar

-          searching ideas online for “100 days of school dress-ups”.

A themed dress-up is encouraged, but not compulsory. Students who would prefer to wear their school uniform will also be provided with the option of wearing a prop or similar, if they choose to during the celebrations.

A detailed notice regarding the days activities will be posted on Compass and is attached below. 

SHOW AND TELL

Term 3 Show and Tell will commence in week 3. Please see the schedule for the weekly focus below. 

SPECIALIST TIMETABLE TERM THREE

Please see below for information regarding the days each grade has their Specialist classes.

*Please note - these times are subject to change during school-wide events (eg. swimming timetables)