Prep

Dear Prep families,

Our amazing prep students have completed three weeks of school and continue to exceed our expectations. They have settled into school routines as we finish up our final week of 'The First 20 Days' program. Students are now more aware of classroom and teacher expectations. As teachers, we have really enjoyed getting to know our prep students and have been so proud of all their efforts and positive attitudes towards school. We are looking forward to building on their enthusiasm for learning as the year progresses. 

Reading 

In Reading, students have consolidated their understanding of 'Concepts of Print' through modelled and shared reading in the classroom.

Students have continued developing their knowledge of 'Good Reader Strategies' with a focus on using the skip and stretch strategies, to help pay attention to letter sounds when decoding unfamiliar words.

 We have also begun exploring the concepts of rhyme vs rime. ‘Rhyme’ is a repetition of similar sounds in the final stressed syllables e.g. cheese and please. ‘Rime’ refers to the ending sounds of words that sound alike e.g. hat and cat. Students have enjoyed participating in rhyming activities and coming up with their own sentences with rime. They have enthusiastically built their word sound knowledge by identifying similar sounds in words that look different, as well as similar. 

To further help support your child's reading at home, encourage them to make predictions before reading, as well during reading. Discuss what clues they can use to make predictions in order to better comprehend what they are reading. Ask them if they noticed any words that rhymed or had a rime. Give them an ending pattern such as 'an', 'at' or 'in' and allow them to come up with the onset to create a word bank of riming words. Then ask them to put these words in a sentence. Remember it could even be a silly sentence. Finally, they may want to draw a picture to match. The important thing is to have fun exploring patterns in words. 

Writing

In Writing, students have continued practising writing in their Special Writing Books , with a focus on the high frequency words of the week 'in' and 'it'. Students have been risk takers when attempting to independently  write full sentences using their knowledge of letters and sounds. 

As part of the handwriting program run in classes, teacher have explicitly modelled good letter formation practices as warm ups prior to writing. This includes stretching our finger muscles, ensuring pencil grip is correct and letter sound identification is pronounced whilst recording words.

Students are being taught about language conventions with a current focus on beginning a sentence with a capital letter and ending using the correct punctuation. Students have continued developing their thinking skills through the use of the Think, Draw, Write, Share model. They  have been learning the importance of labelling their pictures to help them write a sentence that matches their drawing. Students are encouraged to re-read their sentences to check if they makes sense. We are proud to say that they are not only gaining increasing  confidence to write, but are enthusiastically seeking opportunities to share their work with their peers.  

Math

In Mathematics, students have been exploring the different ways numbers can be represented. This week we have focussed on representing numbers using concrete materials  and  tally marks. They have been encouraged to share their thinking of how they chose to represent a number using mathematical vocabulary.

Students have also been learning about the Days of the Week and participated in activities that required them to demonstrate their knowledge of day to day events and their correlation to a particular day of the week. For example , students are beginning to understand that events such as having a specialist class only occurs on a particular day of the week. They have enjoyed exploring the concept of calendars and the importance of knowing what is the day of the week, as they eagerly look forward to special events in their lives. 

We encourage families to continue to have conversations with your child about upcoming special occasions or events, with reference to a calendar. This will enable students to form personal connections and further consolidate their learning.

Ipads 

We will keep you posted about when we require students to commence bringing their iPads to school for learning. Teachers will also provide a copy of the required learning 'apps'. We can see that students are all settled into their routines and have gained increasing independence and confidence in themselves as learners. 

Special Acknowledgments:

What a week it has been...

We would like to congratulate Prep J who  received the secret teacher award at assembly (for being principled during the proceedings) and also Prep J again who received the attendance award for the highest attendance in the school. We know that 'missed days at school means missed learning'! 

Principal Awards  

Congratulations to Azaan Ahmed from Prep I for receiving the principal award this week. He has now become a risk taker with his learning and school routines. At the start of the year Azaan was very hesitant to have a go at classroom tasks and was very reserved. His confidence has grown in such a short time that he now confidently joins in all classroom discussions, contributing his thoughts and ideas. Azaan has a go at all classroom tasks without hesitation and to the best of his ability.

Well done Azaan, keep up the great learning.

Congratulations also to Mackenzie on achieving the Principal’s Award this week. You have shown that you are an amazing friend and member of the Saltwater Community, by always making sure others are cared for and looked after through being a Principled and Caring learner. Well done Mackenzie!

Reminders:

• Students are expected to bring their satchel to school EVERY DAY. Along with their two take home readers and key ring words. If your child has not received these resources, please speak to your classroom teacher.
• Hats are to be worn when outside for the whole of Term One. Please apply sunscreen on your child before arriving at school.
• Please ensure all of your child’s belongings are clearly labelled with their first and last names.
• Please pack a change of underwear and shorts/pants in case your child has a toileting accident. These items should be stored in your child's bag and clearly labelled.
• Please check that your child is wearing the proper school uniform, especially closed toed shoes. If they are out of uniform for a given reason, please provide this in writing to the classroom teacher. 
• Attendance continues to play in integral role in your child's learning achievement. If your child is unwell, please ensure the reason for absence has been communicated with the school. 

           Warm regards, 

            The Prep Teaching Team.