Term 1

Term 1 Week 2&3

LITERACY

Our Prep students have had a wonderful start to the year! In Literacy, students have been busy creating their Letter Name Craft, identifying the letters in their names and practising correct formation. They have also been tracing their names to build confidence with letter recognition and fine motor skills. Students proudly set up their book boxes with all their learning resources, showing responsibility and care as they organised their materials and prepared for independent reading and phonics tasks.

NUMERACY

This week in our Foundation classrooms, students explored two-part patterns, also referred to as AB patterns. For example, patterns such as red, blue, red, blue were discussed. Students learned that a pattern consists of a sequence of objects, actions or numbers that repeat or follow a specific rule.

To extend their understanding of patterns, students participated in a craft activity where they created rockets using paper shapes. They decorated the rocket bodies by applying a repeating AB colour pattern e.g. red, blue, red, blue. Once completed, students cut out their rockets and glued them onto black paper to create a space-themed background. Students were very excited to see their finished rockets and proudly shared them with the class.

PERSONAL & SOCIAL

This fortnight, students have been building their understanding of emotions and feelings. We have been exploring the Zones of Regulation and have introduced the Red, Green, Yellow and Blue Zones. It has been fantastic to see students confidently using this language during class discussions and throughout the day.

We have also focused on the feeling of happiness, discussing the different things that make each of us feel happy. Students are learning that everyone is unique, with their own likes and dislikes, and that our feelings may not always be the same as others.

We continue to practise using kind and gentle words, sharing with our friends and helping one another. When we make these positive choices, our bodies feel calm, our minds are ready to learn and our hearts feel happy at school.

In addition, we have been focusing on developing important social skills such as taking turns, sharing resources, showing respect to everyone and caring for the environment around us. It has been wonderful to see students growing in confidence as they practise these skills each day.

directed discovery

During Directed Discovery, students have been learning how to take turns. They are practicing waiting so that everyone has a chance to participate. With support, students are learning that taking turns helps make play fair for everyone.

Students explored a variety of activities based on their interests. Some chose to construct with LEGO and blocks, others enjoyed crafting with beads and many used their imaginations while playing with animals. These activities provided opportunities to practice turn-taking skills.

Students are learning how to ask for a turn by using the words, “Can I have a turn?” They are also learning what to do while they wait, such as watching a friend or sitting. We are proud of the progress they are making.

Term 1 Week 4&5

LITERACY

In Literacy we have been engaging in language experiences during our reading sessions as we introduced our recount unit. Students explored the playground, playpod, games, a school walk and playdough building. Then, they practised orally retelling what they did by answering who and what doing. This supports students to describe actions clearly, talk about events in order and strengthen comprehension by connecting real experiences to reading.

In writing, students drew pictures of their experiences and explained their ideas while teachers annotated their words, supporting the important step from oral language to early writing. In phonics, students have been introduced to the letters and sounds s, a, t and p. They are learning to recognise the letter name and sound, hear these sounds in words and begin blending sounds orally, helping them understand that letters represent sounds and that drawing, talking and writing are all ways to communicate their ideas.

NUMERACY

In Numeracy, students have been learning about patterns. This fortnight, they explored 3-part patterns. Students extended their learning using various manipulatives such as attribute blocks, cubes, and engaged in hands-on learning experiences involving both two-part and three-part movement patterns (e.g., clap, wave, clap, wave) as a whole class.

Another hands-on activity students participated in was threading coloured beads onto pipe cleaners in a specific pattern order to create “ pattern worms.”

Through these interactive experiences, students practised identifying, continuing and creating their own patterns.

Furthermore, students are also working on numbers 0–10, practising rote counting both forwards and backwards and developing correct number formation by writing the numbers on their whiteboards.

Personal & Social

This fortnight, students extended their understanding of the Zones of Regulation and our school values: Respect, Responsibility, Teamwork, and Achievement.

Students drew pictures of themselves demonstrating the school values in action. Each class then created a special class book using their fantastic illustrations. These books are now available in classroom libraries for students to revisit and enjoy.

Students also explored feelings connected to the Zones by creating matching “voices,” such as laughing for happy and crying for sad. This helped strengthen their understanding of emotions and how we express them.

It has been wonderful to see students confidently sharing their ideas and expressing their feelings in positive ways.

Directed disocvery

Over the past couple weeks, students have been focusing on the skill of setting up and packing up materials independently. Each day, they set up their materials and pack their materials when they are finished. The students are working towards:

Returning materials to their correct places
Keeping the class tidy and organised
Storing their creations so they can continue building and improving them the next day

Students are strengthening their confidence as they practice the routines, take turns, share and extend their creations.

Term 1 Week 6&7

Literacy

In phonics, students learned the sounds i and n and practised recognising them in words, while also beginning to blend simple VC words. In the following week, they reviewed the Level 1 SATPIN sounds and continued practising reading and recognising the heart words “on” and “and.”

During reading sessions, students explored the stories Jabari Jumps and Saturday and made text-to-self connections by linking events and emotions from the stories to their own experiences. They discussed feelings, built their Tier 2 vocabulary and practised identifying who was in the story and what they were doing.

In writing, students used pictures and simple sentence prompts to share their ideas and connections to the text. They drew and explained times they felt emotions similar to the character, as well as moments when they were brave or excited. Students were encouraged to explain their thinking using sentence stems such as “I felt ___ when ___.” They also learned to identify nouns (person, animal, place, thing) and discussed coping strategies they could use when they felt nervous or upset. These activities helped students strengthen their oral language, comprehension and early writing skills while building confidence in sharing their ideas.

Numeracy

This fortnight, students explored 2D shapes, including circles, triangles, rectangles and squares. They learnt to identify, name and create these shapes using pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks. Through hands-on experiences and by observing shapes in their environment, students also developed an understanding of each shape’s sides and corners.

As students progressed in identifying and naming shapes, they were able to sort them according to their names and features using shape sorting mat. This helped students with provide their reasoning as to why placed these shapes in particular groups.

Personal & social

Over the past few weeks, we have been learning how to play well with our friends. We learned to take turns, share toys and use kind words when we talk to each other. We practised listening to our friends’ ideas and working together during play and learning time. When a problem happened, we tried to talk about it and find a fair solution. These strengths help us be good friends and make our classroom a happy and safe place for everyone.

Directed Discovery

During Directed Discovery, students have been continuing to practise setting up and packing away their materials independently.

Additionally, students have been working towards using positive self-talk during their group work. For example, instead of saying "I give up," students are encouraged to say "I will try again." Therefore, students are learning to approach challenges with a positive mindset.

When we encourage students to keep trying, they learn that mistakes are part of the learning process and that being persistent helps them to improve.

Term 1 Week 8&9

Literacy

In phonics, students reviewed their Level 1 sounds and began blending sounds to make simple CVC words.

In reading, they built comprehension skills by making connections to themselves and other texts, learning new vocabulary and retelling stories using “who” and “what doing.” They worked with partners, compared texts and used pictures to explain events and characters.

In writing, students used drawings to share ideas, made personal connections to texts, and illustrated and sequenced events like their weekend or a trip to the cinema. They also explored the five senses through a fun popcorn activity, describing how it looks, sounds, smells, feels and tastes.

These activities helped students develop descriptive language, organise their ideas, and prepare for their Week 10 personal recount.

numeracy

In numeracy, students continued learning to recognise numerals. They learned that a numeral is a symbol used to represent a number when we count and record how many there are.

Students explored the difference between numerals and other symbols through a cutting and sorting activity, then showed their understanding on a worksheet.

They also compared numbers up to 10 using ten frames and counters with a partner, helping them understand which numbers are bigger or smaller.

In another partner activity, students counted different collections (such as dots, fingers, and lines) and matched them to the correct numeral. This supported their understanding of number order.

Students also practised number sequencing and formation on whiteboards, learning that numbers start small on the left and get bigger as we move to the right.

personal & social

This fortnight, our students have been engaged in learning about kindness, recognising safe adults and understanding our school values.

Students shared thoughtful ideas about what kindness looks like and explored how they can show kindness to their friends and family members. To bring all their ideas together, we created a Kindness Tree. Each student contributed their own drawing. They love revisiting the tree, talking about their work and celebrating the kind choices they make every day.

As part of recognising safe adults at school, students were given pictures of their teachers and ES staff and asked to choose five people they feel safe with. It was wonderful to see every student select adults they trust and feel comfortable approaching.

We have also been learning about our school values. It has been amazing to hear students share how they can demonstrate these values in their everyday school life. We are so proud of the empathy, confidence and understanding our students are showing as they continue to grow as respectful and caring members of our community.

directed discovery

Our students have been busy building their communication skills during Directed Discovery time.

We have been learning how to use a "core board" to help us share our ideas, needs and feelings with others. The students have been introduced to visuals such as finish, help, feel, your turn, say/talk and want. These visuals give students ways to express themselves when working in groups.

It has been wonderful to see the students take turns, ask for help and share their ideas more confidently.

Page updated

Report abuse