Foundation 

Welcome back to school and the first newsletter of Term 2! We hope you all had a lovely and relaxing holidays. We have a very fun, busy and exciting term coming up. 

Important Dates

Tuesday 9th May - Mother’s Day Stall

Wednesday 10th May and 17th May - Firefighters Visit

Wednesday 31st May - Royal Flying Doctors Incursion

Friday June 9th – Professional Practice Day (no students at school)

Monday June 12th – King’s Birthday Public Holiday (no students at school)

Term 2 - Inquiry Topic

Our Inquiry topic for this term, ‘What’s My Story?’, is based on personal history. 

In this unit of work, we explore our personal and family history to look at what we all have in common and what makes us unique. 

One of the whole class activities early in the term uses family photos. By the end of next week, please send us (either via email or via a USB which we will return) the following photos:

1 Baby photo

1 Family Photo

1 Celebration (eg. birthday, Christmas, Diwali, Chinese New Year etc)

1 Personal choice (this may be of extended family, with pets, on holidays etc.) 

We will be using these photos in our lessons over the coming weeks.

Mother's Day Stall

On Tuesday 9th of May, all Foundation classes will be going to the Mother’s Day stall. Students will have the opportunity to buy gifts for their mums/grandmas/aunties/special someone if you would like. If students are bringing in money, please put it in a small named zip lock bag. Please do not send in more than $15. We also encourage students to bring a bag to place their gifts into to take home. 

Library

Unfortunately next week (Monday 1st May) we will be missing out on library. The library is being used for the Mother’s Day stall and we can’t go in to borrow or return books. We will be back in library the week after!

Games and Pokémon Cards

In Foundation, students are not allowed toys or Pokémon cards at school. These items should only be brought in if it is for their Show and Tell. They stay in their bags until this time and once they have shared, go back into the bags. Toys that are taken outside are often lost. If it is a special item, we encourage students not to bring it to school at all! Many older students also bring Pokémon cards to school and we cannot stop the cards from being lost outside, mixed up with others or taken if they are left or dropped in the playground. The Foundation teachers cannot spend our time looking for these toys, especially items that are not named. 

Basketballs and other balls are fine to be brought to school – as long as they are named! 

Royal Flying Doctors Incursion

On Wednesday 31st May, we are so excited to welcome the Royal Flying Doctors and their plane into our school! This incursion is part of Foundation students learning about our Community Helpers and also occupations. We will email you when the notice/payment is available on QKR for you to complete. 

Photos and Videos

At pickup time, please be careful if you are taking photos. We have a number of grown ups also filming when students are being dismissed. This is not allowed. If you are taking a photo, please ensure it is only of your child. If you have any family helping with pick ups, please let them know. 

What's On in the Classroom?

Students have now started their Reading and Maths groups. These groups are mixed ability groups across the Foundation level. Students may move classrooms for the session and be taught by another Foundation teacher

Maths

We are:

- practicing subitising (recognising the amount in a small group quickly)

- counting forwards and backwards from different starting points

- improving our number formation

- introducing addition strategies such as Count All, Count On, Friends of 10

- comparing the mass of objects using balance scales

- creating simple picture graphs

- using location words to describe where an object is

Literacy

- revising and learning new sounds

- learning common words

- using our sounds to read simple sentences

- reading Little Red Riding Hood and writing our own sentences to retell the start, middle and end of the story

We have been learning lots about tricky to read words. These words can be called Common Words, Red Words or even Heart Words. These words (eg. the, she, you, come, said) have sounds in the word that are unusual or that we have not learnt yet. Students need to remember these words in their hearts as we say we can’t Fred a Red. In the current take home books, these words are coloured red to let students know. Please do not have students sound these words out – tell them the word instead if they cannot remember it. 

Show and Tell

Lately we have had a few emails with photos to share for Show and Tell. Please avoid emailing photos for S+T where possible. We are not always the teacher in the classroom while Show and Tell is running or we are doing assessments with students during this period and cannot always have our computer available. 

Thank you,

2023 Foundation Team

Nikki Lewis, Bec Mealings, Courtney Williams, Damon Webb, Nic Walsh & Fiona Hedstrom