Dear Parents,
Welcome to Term 2. We hope you had a lovely Easter and relaxing holiday. The children are encouraged to be as independent as possible and should be carrying their own bags to and from school. Children are required to wear sports uniform on Mondays and Tuesdays only for PE.
Parent helpers are still welcome and needed especially in our reading time. Timetable on the Prep noticeboard.
Please return the Portfolios as soon as possible to prepare them for their next instalment.
INTEGRATED STUDIES - RELIGIOUS EDUCATION & SCIENCE
Our topic this term is ‘Me and my World’. The children will learn about how they are different and how their differences make a difference in our world. The children will explore the following understandings:
· Some special people supported Jesus through his suffering and death.
· Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.
· The cross is a special symbol for Jesus’ followers.
· After Jesus rose he showed himself to his disciples.
· Jesus returned to the Father in heaven.
· After Jesus returned to the Father the Holy Spirit came to be with the disciples.
· The Mass is a special celebration when the Church remembers and relives the words and actions of Jesus.
· Jesus is with us when the Mass is celebrated.
· Daily and seasonal changes in our environment, including the weather, affect everyday life
· There are different types of weather.
· There are four seasons.
· Different weather conditions influence our choice of clothing
· Different weather conditions influence our choice of outdoor activity.
· We can observe and describe different weather conditions.
We will be attending Liturgies throughout the year, please check the newsletter for dates, you are very welcome to attend.
BOOK POUCH
The Book Pouch is our daily correspondence between school and home. Children are required to bring it to school each day. It will contain their Reading Folder, class work and any notes, i.e. school newsletter, notes from home to teacher, etc. The Book Pouch needs to be checked each night and returned to the child’s bag ready for the next day.
LITERACY
This term we will continue to introduce a letter a week. Thank you for helping your child complete their Alphabet book work as this consolidates their learning from class. Please ensure that your child’s Alphabet Book is completed and returned to school by Monday so that it can be prepared for the next week. As well as the Alphabet Book we will continue to teach the children their Hot Words. You can assist your child learning these words by practising them every night, practising writing them and typing them on the computer, finding them in books, making them into cards to play games like Snap and Memory.
Please reinforce correct pencil grip with your child. As the children are still learning many new sounds and words, it would be useful to have paper, pens, textas, pencils, etc. available for them to practice writing notes, cards, letters and stories at home.
HOME READING
This term we are continuing to encourage the children to read at home every night. Please remember to fill in the yellow reading diary as this is a record of daily reading. Reading may include their take home book Hot Words or a different book i.e. from library or home. Please record any of these in their yellow reading diary.
NUMERACY
In Numeracy this term, we will be exploring: counting with one to one correspondence, matching
numerals to number words’ counting on and counting back, partitions of 10, two and three dimensional shapes, ordinal number, position, chance and graphing. Please practise counting with your children e.g. Forwards and backwards from different starting numbers, numbers that come before/after other numbers etc.
YOU CAN DO IT
In You Can Do It we will be learning about Confidence through Connie Confidence, who makes herself big and tall, looking at people when she is talking to them, using a big voice. She likes to try new things, even if they are hard. She knows it’s ok to make a mistake because she is learning to do things by herself.
ASSEMBLY
Every alternate Friday at 2:30pm the classes attend School Assembly. Classes perform an item at this Assembly. You are more than welcome to attend these Class Assemblies. You will be informed when it is your child’s Class Assembly. Please check the newsletter.
CAKE RAFFLE
At each Assembly there is a Cake Raffle (and mystery prize). Tickets can be purchased from your classroom teacher on Fridays for 20 cents each or 3 from 50 cents.
SPECIALIST CLASSES
Our specialist timetable operates on a fortnightly basis. All children will need to wear their Sport Uniform on Mondays and Tuesdays. If the children do not have PE (Physical Education) that day, they will do Sport with their own class.
Monday – PE and Library (odd weeks) – wear Sport Uniform
Tuesday – PE and Performing Arts (even weeks) – wear Sport Uniform
Wednesday – Japanese and Art
PHYSICAL EDUCATION (Rebecca Young)
In Physical Education this term, the program continues to engage students in regular, moderate to vigorous physical activity. Basic fundamental movement skills will be the key element in developing control over movement in personal and general space. The focus will be on orientation and familiarisation with equipment including ball handling skills – the over and underarm throw, catch and kick.
LIBRARY (Helena Graham)
Library Classes are now on a Monday once every 2 weeks.
Prep students will continue to learn correct procedures for borrowing and returning books. Students will practice appropriate library behaviours such as care of books, how to carefully turn a page, correct placement of books on shelves and how to select a book to borrow. Students will participate in listening activities for a range of picture books related to their class Inquiry Unit, ANZAC Day and Mother’s Day. They will explore how the combination of print and images create meaning. Prep students will also participate in a presentation from Patrick Guest, author of “That’s What Wings Are For” and “The Ricker Racker Club”
ART (Lisa O’Sullivan)
During Term 2, students in Foundation will learn to manipulate materials in different ways to create three dimensional sculptures and collages. Students will understand that there are a range of ways to cut and fold paper to create different effects, and that paper can be used to create three dimensional sculptures and collages. Students will know when cutting we need to turn the paper not the scissors, how to make basic folds and curls with paper and apply appropriate amounts of glue. Students will be asked questions on words they can use to describe what they see and feel about art. Students will reflect on their own work and respond using specific vocabulary such as ‘Sculptures’ to respond to art they view.
PERFORMING ARTS (Stephanie Daniel)
This term, Foundation students will be creating body percussion while exploring the seasons and weather. They will learn how to create sounds with their bodies and voices that specifically relate to naturalistic sounds. The students will establish an understanding between loud/soft and fast/slow. They will explore role-play through the use of “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” by Bob Dylan and “Below Deck on the Sunken Wreck” by Mandy Foot.
JAPANESE (Yumiko Aiki)
In Term 2, the Prep class will be introduced to the Japanese writing system called Hiragana, which is a Japanese phonetic script based on Chinese ideographs, or symbols. Students will practice Hiragana through various fun activities such as games, songs and stories to introduce the language and the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The focus topic will be “weather and temperature”; using videos and story books, students will explore how the weather changes and how temperature varies with the seasons.
Students will be age appropriately assessed on their skills over the course of the term.
Each year a Japanese celebration day is recognised to give children opportunities to experience the Japanese language andculture through a variety of activities. In Term 2 students will learn about, and be age appropriately involved in, Children’s Day (“Kodomo no hi”). Children’s Day is celebrated every year in Japan on May 5, when children are especially respected and honoured for their individual personalities.
A Children’s Day traditionis the flying of streamers (Koinobori) on poles outside houses and other buildings. to bring luck andgood fortune to the children inside. The steamers are in the shape of Koifish, or Carp,which are seen to be strong and spirited in their determination to swim upstream in the rivers. The Koinoborisymbolize the desire for children to become brave and strong individuals in our community.
Vanessa Crowhurst, Terry Hobley and Brenda Wightman.