Foundation 

Dear Parents,

Thank you for getting your children ready for our photos this morning! We think you will be pleased with how they look when we receive them later in the year. 

We hope that the children are coping at home with the extra school day in their week. They have done very well at school and have settled into the routine quickly. They did a great job participating in Clean Up Australia Day last Friday and helped to make our school environment a great place to be. 

It was wonderful to see Foundation parents at the ySafe Cybersafety Night last Thursday. Kelly presented background information on a few of the main apps that may be unsafe for children online and some helpful tips for parents.  She also shared a link to our Parent Hub for more information - vermont.onlinesafetyhub.com.au.

Upcoming Events for your Diary

Week 8

Monday 13th March – Labour Day Public Holiday. 

No students at school (No Out of School Hours Program is available). 

Week 9

Monday 20th March – Assembly 9.10am

Tuesday 21st March - Parent Teacher Interviews start this week. 

Friday 24th March - Ride2School Day (See the Important Dates and Special Events Page for More Information.)

Week 10

Monday 27th March – Cultural Diversity Assembly and Dress up day (see below for more information)

Thursday 30th March – Curriculum Day (No students at school)

Friday 31st March - Colour Run! (See the Important Dates and Special Events page for more information.) 

Week 11

Thursday 6th April  – Last day of Term 1. 2:30pm Dismissal. 

Parent Teacher Interviews

To book you will need to access Sentral. This process will be open from Wednesday 8th March at 9:00am through to Friday 24th March at 5pm. The purpose of holding the meetings towards the end of term, rather than the beginning is to provide you with a more consistent timeline of feedback throughout the year to keep you informed of your child’s progress. 

At these interviews, you will have the opportunity to discuss how your child is progressing academically, socially and behaviourally. You will also have the opportunity to update the teacher on any changes or explain aspects that were outlined on the Getting to Know You Form from the beginning of the year. 

When booking, please remember to allow time to move from one classroom to the next when meeting with multiple teachers (if meeting in person). You do have the ability to change the time if you choose to do so at a later date. 

If meeting online, you will also need to email your child’s classroom teacher with the date and time that you have booked on Sentral and they will email you the zoom link to access when the booking window closes. 

Please be aware, that both ‘online’ and ‘in person’ meetings are limited to 15 minutes only, if you any pressing issues that require longer than 15 minutes, please contact your child’s teacher prior to the meeting to make alternate arrangements.

Please do not press the 'Request an Interview' button as this only sends us notifications that you would like an interview. It doesn't book in a time for you. The principals sent out an email on Wednesday 8th March with step by step instructions on booking your own preferred time. 

If you need any assistance with this, please contact your child's teacher. 

Library Bags

Library bags – bring each Monday with the book inside.  Your child will be unable to borrow a new book if there are missing either their old library book to return, or the library bag to take the new book home. 

Arrival at School

Our school day starts at 8.57am when the children come inside, unpack their bags and are ready to start learning at 9am. We find that children are the most settled at school when they are in the line up and ready to come in with the rest of their class. 

If your child arrives after 9am, please sign them in at the Office before walking them into our corridor. 

Cultural Diversity Celebrations

On Monday March 27th we are having our Cultural Diversity Day celebrations. We encourage students to dress in a way that represents their cultural identity or wear orange to represent harmony. We will have a special parade in the stadium where we will see the amazing range of cultures represented at our school.

We have sent home a flag template for your child to complete to help decorate the stadium for our parade. Please have a chat with your child about your family’s cultural heritage and draw or colour the flag to represent your culture. 

Your child could colour it in like the flag of that country or draw something that the country is known for such as landmarks or foods. Return it to school once completed and we will display them in the stadium for our parade!

Blue Folders and Reader Covers

Now that we are at school 5 days a week and we have learnt many new sounds, the children will bring home a sound blending book each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

 The purpose is to practise the strategy of sounding out an unknown word, blending it together and saying the word. Even if your child can read the word, please practise the steps below:

1. Fred Talk each sound (sound out each letter) eg. f/a/n
2. Blend the sounds together eg.  fffffffaaaaaannnnnn
3. Say the word eg. fan

When you have finished reading the book, please put it back inside the reader cover. 

The reader cover and book need to be in the blue folder when it is returned to school each day. 

Each class is missing a few books as some students leave them at home and don’t bring them back. If you have any reader storybooks at home, please return them to school in the blue folder as soon as you can. 

Classroom Assistance

We are very happy to let you know that we will be introducing parent helpers into our classrooms in a few weeks. 

If you have a current Working With Children Card and have completed the Parents and Literacy Course held in the past few weeks, please email your child's teacher to let them know when you are available to read with your child's class. Reading times will run from 

9am - 9.20am each morning (except Assembly days every second Monday). 

 School Uniform

Hats must be proper school hats (with the logo) that cover the children’s faces and ears. School hats are mandatory for all outside activities in Term 1 and 4. Please ensure that your child’s hat is clearly named and in their school bag every day.  Children without hats will need to stay in the shade and will be unable to play on the equipment without a hat. Involve your child in packing their school bag each day so they know where to find their hat in their bag. 

Sunscreen

 Students will need to bring their own sunscreen to school and apply it to their own arms, legs, necks and faces. Due to allergies and child safety guidelines, teachers are unable to either supply sunscreen or put it on students. 

Snacks and Lunches

As the children are getting used to the snack and lunch routine, we are finding that some children are unwilling to eat what’s in their lunchboxes at times because they don’t like it. 

A great way of involving your child in preparing their lunchboxes starts in the supermarket, with them making a list and shopping with you to get healthy snacks and lunches they are willing to eat independently. This will give them enough energy to get through the day to learn and play. 

Absence Notes

If your child is away for any reason, please update this in Sentral. We require this notification for legal purposes.

English

Over the next two weeks we introduce the lower case sounds ‘v, y, w, th, z, ch, qu’. We have covered the sounds for m, a, s, d, t, I, n, p, g, o, c, k, u, b, f, e, l, h, sh, r, j’. It is very important that children attend school every day as we introduce new sounds daily to help them begin to read independently.

Maths

• Counting rhymes. 
• Written formation of numerals. 
• Numbers 10, 11 and 12. 

Your child’s log-in and password for Mathletics are also stuck in their reader folder ready for use. These tasks are optional and are best completed with your child as many of the questions require reading and interpretation. 

We understand that the children are at different levels of understanding with all aspects of Mathematics. We encourage children to work through all of the activities, even if they are easy. In this way, they are consolidating their learning and ensuring they are accurate with their answers. 

Your child is also practising using the mouse in Digitech and is encouraged to use it at home to answer the questions. Talk to them about being eSmart with log-ins and keeping passwords safe (by only sharing with your parents and teachers). 

Named Belongings

Please ensure that all clothing, lunch boxes and drink bottles are clearly named. This will ensure that if they are misplaced, they will be returned to their owner as soon as possible. Please understand that it may take a few days for your child’s lost item to be returned to their classroom. If you buy a new item of clothing (eg hat, jacket or jumper), please write your child’s name on it before they wear it to school. 

If you have them, stickers are best used for drink bottles and iron on labels for hats and jackets. Unfortunately stickers fall off hat labels or the insides of hats and jackets, so even writing their name on the label is better. 

We have a few jackets and hats with unclear names. Please contact your child’s teacher if you are missing a hat or jacket. 

Show and Tell Timetable

Although it is not mandatory to complete Show and Tell every week we highly encourage children to bring it as regularly as possible as it is a vital component in the Speaking and Listening strand of the curriculum. Show and Tell is a great way for students to gain confidence speaking in front of their peers, as well as a chance for them to practise listening respectfully to others. Please feel free to be creative with the letter themes each week.

Yours sincerely, 

The 2023 Foundation Team

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