Prep Report

Joy through Play

Our whole school inquiry focus this term is 'Play'. In prep, we have been looking at toys throughout history. Beginning with old favourites such as marbles, slinkies, dominoes and cards. Taking a journey through time to our plethora of present-day toys, including racing cars, dress-ups, Lego and imaginative play through animals and food. We have developed our turn-taking and collaboration skills to work and play together. 

Literacy

This month in literacy, the Prep students have been learning how to write an autobiography. They know that an autobiography is a text that 

provides information about themselves. To share their facts, students continue to expand their ability to transfer their letter and sound knowledge onto paper. They are working hard on their writing and will be ready to present their autobiography to their peers in the coming weeks. 

We have introduced fluid MSL groups in the Prep Learning Community, where students are engaged in sound, letter and word knowledge specific to their learning needs. These groups run similarly to our math groups, where their learning experiences can be with different teachers and peers. We continue to use sight, hearing, movement and touch to engage students in their learning.  

Students have continued exploring various text styles in their daily reading routine, including some digital texts. This has allowed students to engage in 21st Century literacy practices and access texts of interest. The students have been introduced to a learning platform called ‘ActiveLearn’. ActiveLearn provides students with the opportunity to participate in home reading and read texts that relate to their interests or passions. They should log into their ActiveLearn account by following the instructions sent home. 

Mathematics

Our Preps have been eagerly learning about measurement in maths, specifically exploring informal measurement. Measurement in maths is often a fun concept to engage in and yet so important in our day-to-day lives. The Preps commenced the term by exploring data collection and representation. They were keen to count, compare and graph a range of data deemed important to them, such as favourite colours. 

Preps have extended their math learning by comparing objects as we investigated informal measurement. Students shared great joy as they measured a range of objects and even distances using body parts such as hands, fingers and feet, and this led to us investigating medieval informal measurement tools such as rods made by measuring the left foot of each class member. We learnt that informal measurement like this is not a very accurate measure! Preps have furthered their exploration of informal measurement using tools such as icy pole sticks, counters and paper clips. We look forward to continuing our learning by using formal measurement instruments. 

Routines

This term, in Prep, we are working towards streamlining our morning routine by using a consistent visual prompt and our BBBB chant. These letters stand for ‘Bag, Box (lunch box), Bottle and Book Bag and help us to remember what needs to be unpacked at the start of the day. This ensures we are starting our day earlier so that we can continue to grow our thinking brains.

We have also introduced ‘Floor Friends’ in our homerooms to help expand social connections and ensure we work with many different people. In our homerooms and specialist classes, we sit next to our floor friends on the mat and engage in open discussions to help hear different perspectives, learn new things and build our shared understanding of the different things we are learning about.

100 Days of Learning - Kids' Voice

This month we celebrated our 100th day of learning. One hundred days of learning, 100 days of friendships, 100 days of Brilliance, Kindness, Curiosity and Joy. One hundred days of living our motto ‘Aspirations without Limitations’. We are so proud of all our Preps and what they achieve daily. We celebrated this momentous occasion with a parade, morning tea and various fun activities throughout the week. Here are some student's thoughts on our celebrations:

What was your favourite part of our 100 days of learning celebrations?

• "Seeing all the balloons!" - Liam G (Prep E)
• "Eating sweets." - Sidak S (Prep D)
• "Going to the new gym." - Bayar E (Prep E)
• "Eating cake!" - Ali A (Prep B)
• "Dressing up." - Prayan C (Prep C)
• "The party!" - Mikhaila V (Prep A)
• "Making biscuits." - Zayn B (Prep A)
• "Dressing like a Grandpa!" - Zavier P (Prep D)
• "The parade." - Shenaya A (Prep B)
• "Making hats." - Sayana S (Prep C)

4 August    Isaac F turned 6(Prep E)

8 August    Aria O turned 6 (Prep E)

14 August    Jordan C turned 6 (Prep A)

26 August    Bayar E turned 6 (Prep E)

30 August    Maryam A is turning 6 (Prep D)

31 August    Sukaina K is turning 6 (Prep B)