Foundation News

Welcome Back to Term 3 and Online Learning!

We have our chins up and are rearing to go! It was great to see the children's happy faces as they slipped back into Phase 2 of online learning on Monday. Patience and adaptability are  qualities we are all trying to demonstrate. Irrespective as to how students will be learning, our focus is on developing Numeracy and Literacy skills across the school this term. You have probably already noted, we have already made a few changes to online learning of the past. As weeks go by, we will keep trying to improve the way we teach online, to ensure lessons are explicit and each student's needs are being met. We look forward to working with families during this challenging time and encourage you to get in touch with us should you have any problems or concerns. 

Differentiated Online Learning 

This term, the routine of students meeting twice a week for Guided Reading Clinics will continue online. Specific texts will be selected for students to read with their teacher, during their Guided Reading Session. Teachers have, and will continue to identify teaching foci for each clinic, and goals for each student, that relate to texts. Goals are formed based on assessment data, related to each student's reading. The main goal of Guided Reading is to help students use a combination of reading strategies to read words, gain meaning from texts and build fluency and comprehension. It is extremely important for all students to be on time and present at each of their scheduled Guided Reading Clinics. 

You will note in our Google Classroom daily planners, children are expected to continue the routine of home reading. They are also expected to record a comment in their Reading Diary each day. We encourage parents to continue to read to their children on a daily basis, so children get to hear what good readers sound like, and their love for reading continues to grow.

Handwriting

This term, students will be learning to write correctly formed upper and lowercase letters on lined paper. Each Tuesday, students will participate in an explicit Zoom session, where they will learn how to write a particular letter of the alphabet correctly. This week, students will learn to write the letter 'Ll' which belongs to the downward stroke family. A video such as the one below, will be posted in our Daily schedule each week, to support students with their letter writing. 

We urge parents to make sure students do not race ahead and complete subsequent pages in the handwriting book before explicit teaching lessons. 

Also, once a letter is taught, we expect students to write it correctly as part of their daily writing.

Maths 

In the next two weeks, students will be consolidating their understandings of numbers between 20-99 and they will be learning about making, recognising and writing teen numbers. Students will be introduced to the concept of 'bundling' and they will be guided to use a place value chart to structure the placing of tens and ones. At this stage, we want Foundation students to build their knowledge of numbers rather than just learn them off by heart. 

Personal Passion Project (PPP)

We are thrilled to introduce a new whole school initiative, Personal Passion Project (PPP). What this will look like for each student will be different. We encourage students to ask questions, pursue, explore, investigate and create something to showcase new knowledge about a particular interest or passion. Students will work to their own timeline and parents are welcome to guide, support and pose questions to students when needed. As with Investigations, students will drive their own learning by exploring what interests them, remembering that it is the process that is important, not the end product. Teachers will chat to each student about their project during their Weekly Focus Group Session. We are super excited to see what the students develop, create and imagine! Watch this space…..

Week 2 & 3 Timetable

Open the attachment to find out what is happening in the next 2 weeks.

Week 2 & 3 Learning Intentions

Open the attachment to find out what students will be learning in the next 2 weeks.

Important Dates

Friday 24th July-Whole School Zoom Assembly

Staff Contacts

Lorraine Uzunovski   uzul@srprestonwest.catholic.edu.au

Jackie Moloney          jmoloney@srprestonwest.catholic.edu.au

Melanie Pizzonia       mpizzonia@srprestonwest.catholic.edu.au

Please note, we will respond to emails Monday to Friday, between the hours of 8am- 5pm.