Prep

Welcome back to Term 3! The Preps are 6 days away from 100 Days of Prep and it has been wonderful to countdown the days each morning. We are all looking forward to the celebration day on Friday 29th of July. The students have settled into the classroom routine again and are engaged in all their learning activities. There are so many wonderful learning activities planned for the students this term. 

Kaboom Kids Sport was the highlight of our week. Despite the cold frosty morning, the sunshine set the stage for the morning. The Preps did a fantastic job participating in all the different sports activities. There were lots of smiles and personal bests for each student. 

Literacy

The students have been celebrating and reflecting on NAIDOC week in literacy. We have been reading and responding to the storybooks 'Ceremony' and 'Somebody's Land' by Adam Goodes and Ellie Liang. It was wonderful to see the students embracing the Aboriginal language in the book Ceremony and making deeper connections to the importance of celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. 

We have learnt a new sound this week /k/ or letter c. Cody Camel is the letter character. Students manipulated letter tiles of known letters and sounds to create words. They have also used pop its to say and count the sounds in words. Tricky words are a favourite each morning. Our current tricky words are the, I and my, the Preps are learning to say, recognise and write these words. 

The Prep's response to the books Ceremony and Somebody's Land and the connection to the NAIDOC Week slogan 'Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!; 

Anissa - "it's not our land, it is the Aboriginal's land". 

Charlie S - "Australia belongs to the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people". 

Patricia - "Aboriginal people have connection to the land". 

Aaron - " It's not nobody's land, it is Aboriginal land". 

William - "Aboriginal people have the smoking ceremony to bless themselves". 

Anissa - "Aboriginal people celebrate their culture". 

Charlie T - "They use sticks and leaves to make fire". 

Pip -"They call everyone to their ceremony". 

Alexander - "Aboriginal people are aware of God's creation". 

Mia - "decorate themselves with ochre". 

Charlie S - "They were here first, we need to respect their culture always". 

Joshua - "They came here before us". 

Harlan - "We mustn't ruin their environment and God's creation".

Thomas - "They rub sticks to make fire". 

Pip - "They only take what they need". 

William - "They only use parts of nature they need". 

Maths 

In our first week back at school, the students have engaged in opportunities to learn the names and properties of 2D shapes. We created different shapes using geosticks, and explored the artwork of Piet Mondrian; he created artwork using geometric shapes and primary colours. The Preps also sorted and classified shapes according to their similarities and properties. The highlight each day was playing Celebrity Shape Heads!

This week we are starting subtraction, we reread the familiar story 'Ten Red Apples' by Pat Hutchins and launched the concept of taking away a quantity from a known collection such as apples. Ten apples are hanging on the tree, and a horse eats one apple, how many apples are left on the tree? The Prep used the same concep: teddy bears on a school bus. Ten teddy bears are travelling on the school bus, and one teddy bear gets off the bus. How many teddy bears are on the school bus. 

Inquiry 

During Inquiry, the Preps will investigate the social justice topic of fairness and friendship this term. This week the Preps shared their ideas of 'ways to be fair' to others. We also considered times when we have been unfair towards others, and the students reflected on their situation and shared ideas to show fairness to others.