Dear Parents,
Welcome to Term 3. We hope you enjoyed our Family Conferences and that you found the reporting process informative and the portfolios to be a talking point with your child. Please make sure that you return the portfolio and goal setting sheet to the teacher.
Please remember that any incidents or problems that occur at school should be dealt with at school. Please tell your child’s teacher about any of these incidents so that they may be resolved at school and in a timely nature.
We look forward to another busy term in Prep. The children are encouraged to be as independent as possible and should be carrying their own bags to and from school and unpacking their book pouches.
INTEGRATED STUDIES - RELIGIOUS EDUCATION & HUMANITIES
Our topic this term is ‘We Serve Others’. The children will learn about how we serve one another. The children will explore the following understandings:
Miriam, Moses’ mother and Pharaoh’s daughter were chosen to save and protect Moses. Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelites to freedom. David was chosen by God to be a leader of his people. David had faith in God’s protection and faithfulness. Through God’s strength and protection the people were saved. All families have a story about their history. The story of God’s people is told in the Bible. God’s people have a story that begins with Abraham and Sarah. Abraham and Sarah were chosen by God to lead God’s people. Mary and Joseph were chosen by God to be Jesus’ family. John the Baptist was chosen as a special messenger from God who helped people get ready for Jesus. Our local community provides a variety of services.(Visits from the Fire, Police, Ambulance & Medical services, excursion to the Concourse Shops) We have a responsibility to be of service to others. Friends are people who serve one another. (Bullying, sharing friends) People move in different ways. Different things move in different ways. LITERACY
During this term we will be looking at a variety of strategies to help reading such as using pictures, segmenting words and sounding out. The focus for writing this term will be the text types of recount, transactional writing and letter writing. We will write letters to a variety of audiences. Children will be encouraged to stretch out the words and listen carefully for all the sounds in the words and use their knowledge of the 44 speech sounds to be able to spell the words. Children will continue to articulate the formation of letters while writing and to write the letters on lines.
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. This may be the take home book, Hot Words, or a different book, please record any of these. We will continue to teach the children 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.
NUMERACY
During this term we will continue to focus on the Mathematical Dimensions of Space, Number, Measurement/ Chance and Data. Activities will include addition and subtraction, using strategies such as doubling, counting on and counting back. We will also revise work on being able to recognise 2D and 3D shapes, different situations in which use measurement and collecting data.
YOU CAN DO IT
This term our You Can Do It focus is on Resilience. Children learn about Resilience through the character Ricky Resilience, who knows how to calm down when he is upset and has learnt what to do when he is feeling sad or angry about something. He knows he does his best when he is resilient.
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
ART (Lisa O'Sullivan) During Term 3, students will revisit the routines of the art studio and the behaviours of a good artist, to select and present their art works for the Art Exhibition, 12th September. Students in Foundation will be exploring The Mentor artist, Picasso and his artistic style. Through this investigation they will develop art- appropriate language to describe the style of Picasso’s artworks. Students will learn that artists can get ideas from other artists and how this can reflect in their own work. Students will create their own monoprint using paint (warm and cool) colours and various collage techniques. At the end of the unit students will have created a finished artwork based on Picasso’s “The Old Guitarist”.
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 the kick, small group games to encourage teamwork and cooperation as well as an introduction to skipping and gymnastics.
JAPANESE (Yumiko Aiki)
The introduction of hiragana, the Japanese phonetic script based on Chinese symbols, will continue in the Prep class in term 3. The class will also be introduced to kanji, the set of symbols used in the Japanese writing system to represent spoken syllables. Students will practice hiragana and kanji through the focus topic of “Communities and spatial directions”. The learning of associated words, such as “police station”, will be reinforced with various fun activities including games, chanting, songs and stories to develop the children’s skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Early in the term students will celebrate Tanabata, an annual “Star Festival” celebrated in Japan on 7 July each year. Students will decorate colourful strips of paper called “tanzaku” with Japanese characters, which will then be used to decorate the classroom, before being taken home to show their parents.
Students will be age appropriately assessed on their Japanese skills over the course of the term.
LIBRARY (Helena Graham)
During term 3 the main focus for students will be to prepare for and experience the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Week. The theme for 2017 is “Escape to Everywhere”. The emphasis will be on literature appreciation with students being exposed to the short listed books in the Early Childhood and Picture Story Book categories. Students will be introduced to how the features of books: language and vocabulary and illustrations and images combine to create a meaningful text. Students will be encouraged to form personal opinions about the books they read.
PERFORMING ARTS (Stephanie Daniel)
This term, Foundation students will be exploring body movements and facial expression through teacher led drama. They will learn to differentiate between character types through the use of stories, music, and images. Students will be encouraged to respond to observations and provide positive feedback to their peers.
We are looking forward to another fantastic term of working together,
Vanessa Crowhurst, Terry Hobley and Brenda Wightman.