PRIMARY CLASSROOM NEWS
FOUNDATION
Term one in Foundation has been very busy! It feels like just yesterday that we were welcoming our wonderful students into their new classrooms. We are so proud of each and every one of them for trying their best every day, despite how tiring it can be learning an abundance of new things.
In English, the students have continued to learn the letters of the alphabet; specifically focusing on the most common sound these letters make, as well as words that begin with each sound.
| Mm | Maisie, mountain, mountain. | Pp | Down the plait and over the pirate’s face |
| Aa | Around the apple, down the leaf. | Gg | Round her face, down her hair and give her a curl |
| Ss | Slither down the snake | Oo | All around the orange |
| Dd | Around the dinosaur’s back, up his neck and down to his feet | Cc | Curl around the caterpillar |
| Tt | Down the tower, across the tower | Kk | Down the kangaroo’s body, tail and leg |
| Ii | Down the insect’s body, dot for the head, | Uu | Down and under, up to the top and draw the puddle |
| Nn | Down Nobby, over his net. | Bb | Down the laces to the heel, round the toe. |
Students’ have been experimenting with blending familiar sounds together to create simple words such as “cat”, “sad” etc. We are now using these words to form short sentences such as “The cat is on the mat.”
Well done to all students who have been engaging in assigned Reading Eggspress tasks and enjoying moving along their Reading Eggs map! Students are more than welcome to continue moving along their map throughout the break; 10-15 minutes per day is more than enough.
Mathematics during our first term has been all about numbers to ten. The students have written numerals, counted objects, continued number lines, subitised (recognised amounts without counting), compared groups and learned about ordinal numbers.
At home, Maths skills can be supported with board games. When rolling dice with dots your child is practising subitising. Try using one dice at first, if this is easy, you could use two or even three dice. Can your child begin to recognise how many dots are on the die without counting?
Some students find writing numerals correctly difficult. If you notice your child writing a numeral back to front, draw their attention to the mistake and help them write the number correctly.
Ordinal numbers have been quite difficult this term as the assessment required the children to begin to write ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th) and also to begin to recognise the words for ordinal numbers. At home encourage your child to notice the similarities between ordinal numbers written with numerals and ordinal numbers written with words. For example, 1st and first both have ‘st’ at the end.
Well done to all the students who have completed their Mathletics tasks each week for homework. Do not forget to look at the ‘Play’ section as well. It is accessed via a green tab at the top of your screen. It contains many math related games and activities that you child can use at home.
In History, we have been looking at the people in our family and where our family originates from. Students have learned different types of celebrations (Birthdays, Ramadan etc.) and explored how some celebrations differ from family to family. Finally, students have been learning about how people grow and change over time. Students shared their experiences of how they changed over time through class discussions and their “All About Me” homework booklet.
In class, we have been reading the text ‘Night Noises’ by Mem Fox, where we identified the different things the main character (Lillie Laceby) had experienced over her long lifetime. Students have enjoyed learning more about their family and where they came from!
In addition, our students thoroughly enjoyed their first incursion experience this term. The “H Team” paid Sirius College a visit to teach students about healthy habits and having a positive mindset.
Students also enjoyed Harmony day and celebrating the many cultures that exist within our school community. Everyone looked fantastic!
We wish our students and their families a much-deserved break.
We look forward to welcoming everyone back for an exciting Term 2!
The Foundation Team