Welcome back and info for Term 2

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to Term 2.  It has been great seeing all the children again with all the wonderful smiles on their faces. The children have slid straight back into the routines of Year One, more often than not, reminding me of what to do!

I hope you all had a restful break and didn't work too hard. If some of you have been in our class this week, you might have seen at the back table that we will be learning about minibeasts through our Science unit. The children also participated in some ANZAC day activities over the last few days and have read and seen some wonderful videos explaining ANZAC day at a child's level.

Below is some important information about homework and some of the programs and events that we will be running in class.

Think Mentals Mental maths book

The children are very excited to be starting their Think Mentals Math book this week which was purchased at the beginning of the year.

Mental maths such as addition and subtraction, counting on, sequencing of numbers and number recognition are some of the concepts that we have covered in class. These will be reinforced in our Think Mentals book that will help your child gain confidence and apply mathematical concepts in a fun and supportive way.

In supporting our Math program in class, we would like for your child to complete one unit over a fortnightly period. When completing questions with your child, we would ask that you support them by reading questions if necessary and marking the questions to give your child instant feedback on how they went and writing their score at the bottom of the page.

An example of one unit

We encourage you to use a combination of visual and manipulative tools such as number lines, hundreds charts or counters to help your child complete these tasks.

Please do not spend more than 10 minutes at a time completing these activities and make it a part of your child's reading and sight word routine.

At the end of the fortnight, the books will be collected by myself and checked to make sure your child understands the concepts covered. We ask that your child does not complete more than one unit a fortnight as to ensure we can review these concepts in class if necessary.

Unit Two will be due at the end of week 3 (Friday 12th May) as we have completed Unit One in class. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me.


UR STRONG Friendology 101 JR

This is the wonderful program that we will be continuing (as we started the first lesson last term) to support the children in helping them make better friends and strengthen and foster healthy relationships. Within the program the children are required to bring in a small stuffed toy for role play opportunities. This will be happening in either week 3 or 4 but I will be posting a blog post to let you know when this will be.

Camp Fun Run

This will be held on Week 2, Wednesday 3rd of May from 1.30-2.45. Children are encouraged to raise funds for our Year 5 and 6 camps by asking for donations from family, friends and the wider communities. Please bring in all donations in an envelope with your child's name on it with the Fun Run form as soon as possible.

If you have any questions please email me.

Enjoy the three day weekend!

Miss Prowse

Reading Files and Sight words

Dear Parents,

I have collected up all the children's reading books at the request of the librarian Ms. Kemp so there will be no reading books coming home tonight. Please take this opportunity to spend some time with you children and enjoy the last night before school holidays :)

Every child has been tested on their sight words this week and a lot have passed and moved up to the next set which is such as great achievement! I love how motivated they are to compete their sight words and I can see it coming through in their writing too, which is wonderful!

I have handed out the majority of the holiday packs to parents this morning but if you missed out, please email me and I can organise one for you tomorrow. Children are more than welcome to also use their Reading Eggs and Mathletics passwords during the holidays and we would really appreciate if you do go on these programs, to allow your child to practise logging in independently so when it comes to class time, they won't need as much assistance.

Thank you for all your support this term, it has been a great start to the year!

Many thanks

Miss Prowse

Stations of the Cross photos

A big thank you to all the parents who helped get aLo the wonderful costumes together for the stations of the cross. The children did an outstanding job of acting out the first three stations. Here are a few pictures from the performance.

History reminder

Just a quick reminder for the children to bring in their last important thing for their history unit. This week's focus is things in the future that I want to become eg. A football player, an actor, a painter etc. if they can bring in something that represents this, that would be wonderful.

Many thanks

Miss Prowse

Holiday Writing Packs

As the holidays draw near, I can feel your little ones bursting to get out and about and enjoy their break! I definitely encourage children to have a rest from school and enjoy their holidays but if you would like to do some writing about what you’re doing in the holidays, I am going to make up some little writing packs so your children can write about their adventures!.

In this pack, I’ll include:

- A finger space buddy

- Some dotted thirds pages

- A guide of how the letters should sit on the line

- Some stimulus pictures that children can choose to write about if they feel so inclined

- A list of story starters

- Sequencing pictures that the children can cut out and write about

Let me please make it clear that THIS IS NOT COMPULSORY. This is just a way to encourage your little one to be more confident in their writing and letter formation when beginning term 2.

Some ways you can support your child with their writing at home....

- Read your child’s writing or have them read it back to you and comment on the positive aspects. For example “I really love the way you have used a capital letter at the start of your senetnce”.

- Praise your child for having a go at writing words that are new to them.

- To develop word and spelling concepts it’s always fun to play games such as scrabble, boggle and even I spy eg. I spy something beginning with the ‘ch’ sound.

- Write notes, letters or stories together. Your child will love creating something with you!

- Keep a holiday journal where you might write down two sentences of what you did that day and how you might have felt after.

- Ask your child to label some of the things around the house with scrap paper - encourage them to sound out all the words and to have a go even if they are not sure.

- Ask your child to write to someone else in the class over the holidays - this can include your child telling them what they have been doing and even asking questions of what they might be up to.

- Use fun and funky coloured writing implements...kids go crazy for gel pens, textas and coloured pencils or crayons!

- To practise letter formation, the best thing I have found is for children to use a thick paint brush and a bucket of water and let them go crazy with it on the wall...they will be able to see their writing, with no mess for you! Another alternative is to use chalk or foam on the ground or wall which will wash off with water.

- Display their writing at home...children love seeing their work up and the fact they did it at home is even more special.

I will have some of these packs available on Friday for the children to take home, but please remember this is not compulsory.

Both Amy and I have had an absolutely wonderful first term with your children and we are looking forward to the fantastic year ahead!

Have a restful last couple of days before holidays!

Miss Prowse