Hello,

DET school nursing program

Thank you very much to the parents who have returned the DET school nursing program forms. If you have yet to return it could you please do so ASAP. There is the option to indicate that 'no' you do not wish your child to participate. It is helpful to the nurse to have all the forms back whether you wish to participate or not. Please return them by Tuesday 4th May. Thank you.

W2R

In term 2, our Prep students have been continuing to learn letters/sounds. So far this term we have focused on Ll, Kk, Rr and Uu. The letter U makes three sounds, an 'u' sound e.g. when we say up, a 'u' sound (its name) e.g. when we say music and an 'oo' sound e.g. when we say put.

Next week we will be focusing on the letter Yy. Students will learn that it makes the ‘y’ sound when at the beginning of words and the two 'i' sounds at the end of a word. For example, ‘y’ as in yes, the 'i' sound as in baby and the 'i' sound as in my.

Reading

Students have been learning about the difference between fiction and non-fiction texts. We have been looking at both non-fiction and fiction texts about community helpers and discussing the similarities and differences. We have also been sorting books in our classroom libraries into these categories.

Writing

We will continue focusing on both the uppercase/capital and lowercase letter formation for the codes learnt. We have begun writing short decodable sentences. This includes a focus on consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. For example, 'cat' and 'dog'. A decodable sentence is one where they have learnt all the sounds so can spell the words accurately. For example, 'I had fun in the sun'.

The Preps are learning the difference between a sentence and a fragment of a sentence. A sentence contains a complete idea, starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. A fragment is a group of words that does not contain a complete idea. For example, 'on the cat'.

Numeracy

In Maths we have been learning about money. The students have identified the features of Australian coins as well as understanding their different values. They have been exposed to many real life scenarios where they would have to use money through our supermarket and café that is set up in the inquiry hall. Next week we will continue learning about money with a focus on why we need money and the choices we can make with money (e.g. spend, save or donate).

The Preps have been working with the language of position (prepositions) and linking this knowledge to simple mapping exercises. The vocabulary they have been using has included 'next to', 'behind', 'between' and 'in front of'. They enjoyed using maps of the school and finding different places. Google Earth has also been a big hit.

In the coming weeks, the Preps will be focusing on Mass. They will be using words like 'heavy' and 'light' to describe the mass of objects. They will also be comparing objects using 'heavier than' and 'lighter than'. We will be working towards being able to order three or more items according to their mass.

Unit of Inquiry

This term we have begun our inquiry into 'How We Organise Ourselves'. We are inquiring into the different roles people have to support the community. Last week we were unpacking the language of community and roles. We looked at the roles we have within the classroom and how what we do as individuals impacts others. This week we have been considering the people that are part of our school community and how they support our school. Our inquiry hall is set up to allow the children to role play different community helpers. We have a post office where the students love writing letters and posting them in our post box. If you have any envelopes at home, that do not have an address on them, we would love to have them for our post office. It is much more exciting posting a letter that is in an envelope!

On Wednesday this week we were lucky enough to have a visit from Jack Lane’s dad. Sam was a clearance diver in the Navy and came to share some slides and talk to the children about the ways he supported the community in this role. The video of firing practice from a warship was a big hit! If there are any other parents who would like to share their profession and the ways they help the community, we would love to hear from you.

During this unit we talk about the support we get from police, fire fighters and ambulance during an emergency. This is a great opportunity to encourage children to learn their full name, address and a parent’s phone number. In class we will be asking students to answer the roll using these details to help them memorise them. We will begin with surname, then address and finally a parent’s contact number. We will use Compass to access this information so it may be a good time to check that your information is current.

The Prep team

0A - Kathryn Morrison

kathryn.morrison@education.vic.gov.au

0B - Isabella Maresca

isabella.maresca@education.vic.gov.au

0C - Deb Barden

deborah.barden@education.vic.gov.au

0D - Danielle Palombi

danielle.palombi@education.vic.gov.au

0E - Julie Daniel

julie.daniel@education.vic.gov.au

ToD (Teacher of the Deaf) - Krystle Horadam

krystle.horadam@education.vic.gov.au

Prep Fortnightly Snapshot

Issue 5 · 02 May 2021

In this issue