Welcome to Term 1

Welcome to our Term 1 Newsletter!

What a wonderful start to the 2022 school Year with the Prep learners settling into their classes beautifully. We hope that you find the information within this quarterly newsletter helpful and of course your classroom teacher is happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the information below.

Morning Bell 

Every morning, the music plays at 8.50am to signal that children may enter the classroom and begin their day. To ensure teachers can provide for optimal learning, we ask that you allow the teachers time prior to 8.50 to organise for the day. We understand that sometimes a meeting is required, for this we recommend organising a time with your teacher. It is important that you remain outside the ELC (weather permitting) to supervise your child in the playground until the yard duty teacher arrives at 8.45am. Please be aware that each prep class has their own designated entrance and exit to comply with current covid safe guidelines. If you are unsure of the location, please speak to your child’s teacher.

Hats and Water Bottles from home 

As we are a SunSmart school, learners have been reminded to bring their hats labelled with their name, to school every day in Term One and Term Four to protect them from the sun when outside. We also recommend that you apply sunscreen with your child before they come to school in these terms. If you haven’t done so already, please provide a refillable water bottle, labelled with your child’s name to be stored in the classroom. 

Eating Times 

Learners are provided with several eating times throughout the day within the classroom under supervision of the teacher. Once they have finished or had enough to eat, they may be permitted to play. Currently our first half of play is inside and our second half outside due to covid safe guidelines. 

• 10am- Brain Food (10 minutes approx. ‘Brain Food’ is fresh fruit or vegetables) 
• 10.45-11.00 Snack (prior to recess play) 
• 1.15-1.40 Lunch (As of Monday 28th February) 

Library

Once a week, every Prep Class has an allocated session to spend in the Library, which may vary term to term. Your child may choose a book of interest during this time and will use a bag already provided to carry their chosen book to class. Please take note of your child’s Library day and ensure that any borrowed books are returned the next week so that they may borrow that day.

Important Term 1 Dates for Preps:

• Swimming Program - Monday 21st, 22nd and 23rd of February and the 7th, 8th and 9th of March

• Full day for Prep - Monday 28th February
• Labour Day Public Holiday - Monday 14th March
• Curriculum Day - Tuesday 15th March
• Prep BBQ - Thursday March 17th 5 – 7.00pm 
• Last day of Term - Friday 8th April school dismissal 2.30pm

Take-Home Reader Book Bags and Home Learning 

Every day learners are asked to bring their Take Home Reader Bag to and from school. The Reader bag should contain, a levelled book to read overnight, a GWPS diary (to record books read and messages to the teacher) and Magic 100 Words.  You may also find included on occasions notes from the office, school nurse and Home Learning workbook (Fridays). It is helpful that you check the Take Home Reader bag daily and that take-home books are kept in the Reader bag to prevent damage or loss. If you haven't already, you can purchase one for your child through the school’s uniform shop. This assists with learners being successful with their daily routines.

How to read a book with your child: Click here to view video - How to read a book with emergent readers

Reading

During Term One, students will commence the Whole School Approach to reading using the C.A.F.E. Reading Program to build reading skills. This term, students will focus on using the pictures to help them comprehend a text, summarising texts by sequencing the main events, investigating the beginning, middle and ending sounds of words, as well as stretching and blending letter sounds. Students will also be using the online Reading Eggs program at home by logging in using their login and password details distributed by their class teacher. In addition, students will engage in one to one reading conferences with their teacher to provide guidance and support with their personalised reading goals.

What you can do at home: 

• Support your child by reading their take home book daily. 
• Revise the letter sounds learnt at school. 
• Practice reading Magic Words daily.
• Ask your child to tell you what happened in the story after reading.

Writing 

In Writing, Prep learners will be introduced to our whole school approach of VOICES. This term, students will be looking at dominant sounds in words when writing their own texts. During explicit mini lessons, they will look at letters and identify the different sounds they make to produce words. Students will be learning to write Victorian Modern Cursive script at school. Various learning tasks can support the development of fine motor control for handwriting, such as play-dough, threading and tracing.

What you can do at home: 

• Practice writing using correct pencil grip.
• Focus on correct letter formation.
• Support your child to read their writing out loud or describe their pictures. 

Mathematics  

In Mathematics, Preps will be exploring numbers using hands on materials, also known as concrete materials. We are learning to write, sequence and recognise numbers in our environment and connect quantities to each value.  Many learners will have already engaged in teacher and student one-on-one conferences, where we have further identified an individual Mathematics learning goal. Learner’s goals align with the whole school approach, utilising the SURF Proficiency Framework (Problem Solving, Understanding, Reasoning and Fluency) to build on their developing skills.   

What you can do at home: 

• Talk to your child about the numbers they see around them (signs, clocks, phone numbers, calendars). This helps them read numbers and connect their purpose of learning at school to the real world. 
• Practise counting objects- anything you have around the home or out and about. Ask ‘How many?’ and ‘How many are there if I have one less?’ 
• Discuss with your child the positions of objects using language such as, above, beside, below, on and so on. 

Inquiry 

This term learners will explore the topic ‘Who am I as a learner at GWPS?’, through the Global Goal lens of Health and Well-Being. Prep learners are making positive connections with their peers and forming friendships, exploring their classroom and surroundings and making connections to their wellbeing through their actions. They will develop an understanding of The Learning Pit and develop the use of positive self-talk to overcome challenges and lead them towards success, belonging to a school community and the importance of being a respectful learner. 

Tips for home: 

• Have a conversation about the friendships your child has made at school. 
• Talk about the strategies they have learnt at school to cooperate and get along. 
• Model positive self-talk when faced with challenges or when making mistakes to mirror the GWPS Learning Norm ‘Mistakes are valuable’.

Social and emotional Learning

During Term One, Prep students will explore the school values, with emphasis on ‘Respect’ through interaction with their classmates, making new friends and understanding and applying positive choices at school. This is the beginning of your child’s self-regulation journey at Glen Waverley Primary School. In Prep, we define self-regulation as students displaying self-awareness, understanding their emotions and applying strategies to make positive choices.

Tips for home:

• Encourage your child to pack and unpack his/her bag independently.
• Ask your child “What went well today?” at the end of the school day.