Foundation Newsletter: Term 2 Week 4

Foundation Newsletter: Term 2 Week 4

Connecting with the Preps

 

Congratulations to the Foundation students on their efforts and achievements during the swimming program. Whilst understanding that the children were rather tired by the end of the program, the benefits were tangible both in the pool and beyond. Those children who were rather unsure at the beginning became so much more confident and happy in the water, while those with swimming skills, whether from lessons or family swimming opportunities, benefited from guidance and encouragement to hone their skills further. Out of the pool, not only did the children come to realise the relationship between drying themselves thoroughly and the ease of dressing but they also learnt to manage their belongings - goggles, towels, shoes, socks and even the spare pair of undies. There are two pairs of goggles and a towel above the Foundation bags area if you are missing anything.

The children have been thinking and talking about Mothers this past week as they made, with love, their own special cards. They were delighted to choose their 'special, just right gift' for their Mums at the Mother's Day stall! The children tried hard to figure out their 'high finances' as they worked out just how many coins they needed for their purchases.

As mentioned in our last newsletter, this term we would love to invite parents or grandparents (Working With Children Check necessary) to assist the children with their learning. We would like to thank those parents who have already helped us during literacy and maths sessions, and encourage other parents to pop their names down on the timetable too.

Language

During the last swimming week, children continued to write simple sentences usually about their own experiences or observations. They used Penny Punctuation to help them remember the structure of a sentence but those pesky spaces can be so annoying!! The children were also encouraged to think about their own personal writing goals which, during teacher conferencing, are revisited throughout the week.
 

Last week saw the children spend time thinking about why they love their Mums and all the wonderful things Mums do - from "making me yummy snacks" to "loving me". The children were then introduced to the letter writing genre and asked to/guided in writing a Happy Mother's Day card. Made with love.

Guided Reading continued with some time taken out to enable Reading Records and other testing to be undertaken. The Reading Records ensure that the children are reading books at the appropriate level. Some children are currently taking home 2 books - the easier one is to help their confidence and fluency, and the other is to further develop and apply their strategies for decoding and making sense of a text. As some children are taking home increasingly challenging books, it continues to be so important to spend time reading to, reading with and listening to your children read their books. Discussion before and after reading the books is also vitally important.

This week kits were sent home to all children to practise writing and ensure they are starting each letter in the correct place,  tracking in the correct direction, locating it appropriately on the darker line and forming the letter correctly. The Magic 100 Words and the alphabet kit will be sent home next week.

Maths

During our Warm ups we continue to focus on counting forwards and backwards, subitising and learning our doubles and Friends of 10. I wonder if your child can tell you some doubles or Friends of 10 facts that they've learnt. We are now in our second week of Subtraction. The children have been using counters, dice and tens frames while telling subtraction stories e.g. There were 12 bananas in the tree, 5 fell down, how many are left? They are learning to work out the problems using hands on materials and drawing while some are even using their knowledge of numbers facts to work out the answers. We will finish Subtraction tomorrow and revisit Addition next week.

Wellbeing

A sign of the times. Over the last 2 weeks we have been watching Hector’s World which features high quality 2-D animation with fun and engaging characters. Children can observe the characters as they learn how to stay safe online. The experiences of Hector and his friends, along with teacher support, offer guidance on managing risks and reinforce the importance of responsible online behaviour. Our focus has been on protecting private information.

Buddies

Tomorrow we will return to our Buddies program after a two week break while the children were a part of the swimming program. Half of the group will be working on the ipads doing Mathletics while the other half will be playing fun board games. Don't forget the children can all access Mathletics at home and use their own logins on the front of their Reading Journal.

Reminders

• Family photos for our Inquiry topic were due on the 23rd of April. Please send in or email (struthers.jo-ann.j@edumail.vic.gov.au) Please include the names your child calls each family member.
• Please send in Template A as soon as possible for our Inquiry Unit. Thank you to those who have already sent in a photo and/or Template A.
• Could we please ask that for birthdays just a small treat for each student be brought in e.g. freddo frog, cup cake, or lolly pop. Thank you.
• It has been great to see some of our students gain more independence by bringing in their school bag and unpacking it themselves. As we are now in Term 2 it would be great to see more students doing this. You may have a discussion prior to school about what they need to do when they walk in e.g. put bag away, get out drink bottle, put fruit break in their tub and put black pocket in the tub.

Important dates & notices

Monday 21st May - National Simultaneous Storytime (Hickory Dickory Dash)

Tuesday 22nd May: Italian Day
Tuesday 29th May: Grandparent/Special Friend Afternoon
Monday 11th June: Queen's Birthday Public Holiday
Thursday 21st June: Open Afternoon - Celebration of Work
Friday 29th June: End of Term 2

Contacting your child's teacher

Please download the FlexiBuzz app and sign in to your child's class to ensure that you are receiving all relevant updates. Using the chat function on the app is a great way to connect with the teacher but if the matter is urgent, please phone the office as we are not always able to receive or act on messages during the day.

ITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/flexibuzz/id558791155?mt=8

ANDROID: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.au.elicere.tiqbiz&hl=en

Working with Children Check

All parents/guardians, visitors & volunteers to the school MUST sign in & out of the school and display their WWCC in a lanyard, which is available at the school office. The Department of Education requires any person involved in an activity where children may be present to have a current WWCC or have supplied proof that they have applied for a WWCC with the Department of Justice. All schools are required to comply with the Working with Children Act 2005. Volunteers are expected to carry the WWCC card with them at all times when working or volunteering at the school or during school related activities. There is no fee for this check. Apply now by visiting: www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au  The Junior School encourage and appreciate parent helpers. Please see your child's teacher if you are able to assist.

                                         More wonderful swimming pictures