Prep - Year 2

Assistant Principal's Report

Hello parents, and welcome to the start of the school year.  It's been a busy, yet exciting time at the Springs.  Students have settled in extremely well and are making stronger connections to teachers and peers each day.

In Prep, students have been getting to know their new classmates and their teachers. They have been taken around the school to identify key locations and have started learning some of the procedures - such as moving around safely.  Prep students have started to show responsibility by learning to organise themselves through successfully entering the classroom and unpacking belongings.  The letter 'm' and 's' have been a focus in reading and Preps have also been learning to identify, write and count numbers using number lines, tens frames, dice, teddies, counters and unifix. 

Our Prep students have also started completing initial assessments on Wednesdays, which has been a great opportunity for students and teachers to get to know each other in a one on one setting.  Teachers are using these sessions to find out student entry-level skills in Literacy and Mathematics as well as finding out more about their personalities and how to cater to their individual needs. 

In Year 1, students have begun The Resilience Project and have started the year considering the things that they are grateful for. They have also begun to look at our school's values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience and described what an awesome learner and teacher looks like in the classroom.  In Reading, Year 1's have been blending two different consonant sounds to assist in decoding whilst also learning to make text to self connections in comprehension.  Writing sessions have focussed on setting up the Writer's Workshop model and in Mathematics, students have been practising counting skills and creating simple graphs. 

In Year 2, classes have been working on setting up strong classroom cultures by creating Classroom Mission Statements and ensuring that our school values are embedded in everything that we do.  Students have enjoyed learning about the Reader's Workshop model including organising their reading tubs, using their class libraries and considering their own needs as a reader.  In Writing, students have reflected on the texts they have created over the years to set goals for the future. They are learning the stages of the writing process and learning and sharing what to do in situations like getting 'stuck' or finishing their drafts.  In Mathematics our Year 2's have been recognising place value parts and reading 3 digit numbers.  They have enjoyed skip counting games as tune in's to the lessons before using cards and manipulatives to create and explore. 

All of this has happened in less than a week and we certainly look forward to what the year will bring. 

Regards

Scott McKinnon

Assistant Principal (Junior School)