Prep Term 4 Curriculum News 2022
Grade Prep Term 4 Curriculum News
This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your child’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the new term. There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.
General
Welcome back to Term 4! It is hard to believe the school year is almost over; in only 8 weeks, our students will have completed their first year of school – what an exciting time! This term, we will have a strong focus on transitioning into Grade 1. This includes refining students’ understanding of expectations and routines that support them to be resilient and responsible learners and participating in transition activities to support their move to their new learning space. All students have worked so hard across the year to establish their independence and self-management skills, and to finish the year on a strong note we encourage you to support your child in this area by:
-helping them know how to tie their shoelaces if wearing lace up shoes
-assisting them to know how to open containers/packages (E.G ‘squeezy’ yoghurts, chip packets, snap-lock containers)
-having them take responsibility for their belongings, such as bringing their satchel, jumper and water bottle to school every day
We are looking forward to finishing the year on a high, and celebrating the skills, knowledge and understanding your child has gained during their first year of school.
KEY DATES:
Wednesday 19th of October – Geelong Cup Public Holiday (pupil free)
Tuesday 15th November – Grade Prep Zoo Excursion (payment and consent due by 10th November)
Friday 18th November - Junior School Tabloid Sports (payment and consent due by 14th November)
Monday 19th December – LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. Finish time TBC
Tuesday 20th December – Curriculum Day (pupil free)
Literacy
Our Preps are becoming expert readers, who use a range of different strategies from their “Reader’s Toolbelt” to help them solve unknown words. Students will continue to apply different strategies when reading and will focus on knowing what to do when their first attempt at solving a word does not work.
Comprehension – understanding what we read – will also be a focus, as Prep students know ‘reading is thinking’ and that we need to use our wonderful brains to help us understand what we read. Students will explore inferring, which is making a clever guess using the book and what they already know, as well as being able to answer literal questions about the text they read.
We will continue to build our reading stamina and positive reading behaviours at school each day, We encourage students to practice their reading stamina at home too, by reading for at least 10 minutes, 4 times a week.
When reading with your child at home, you can support their use of reading strategies and understanding the texts by asking questions such as:
“What is another strategy you can use to solve that word?”
“Have you read this word before?”
“Look at the characters face – how do you think they are feeling? Why?”
“What do you think will happen next? Why?”
“Can you tell me what happened at the start of the story? In the middle? At the end?”
“Does this book remind you of something that has happened to you?”
The writing our Preps are doing is going from strength to strength! This term we will celebrate the wonderful achievements students have made by bringing together all their skills to create many different pieces of writing. A key focus for us will be developing and extending ideas. Using our “Writer’s Notebook”, students will work on choosing a ‘big idea’, and then work to filter this down to the specifics, so that they can add as much detail as possible to their writing. Rereading their writing to check it makes sense and beginning to use capital letters and full stops correctly in sentences will also form a key focus of our learning. Students will also continue exploring the “Writer’s Cycle”, by selecting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing an idea, and we are looking forward to many books being published by our amazing authors!
Across both Reading and Writing, students will continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of the sounds letters make, both individually and in combinations, when written in words and their recognition of “common words”, so that they can draw on this skill as a strategy when reading and writing words.
Numeracy
Developing “Number Sense” is a key focus for Prep students throughout the year, as this forms the base of all other maths concepts. We will continue exploring this in Term 4 by practising our counting forwards and backwards to 20 from any starting point; fluently identifying numbers ‘before’ and ‘after’ a given number; comparing collections; ordering numbers; and understanding all the different ways to make a given number. Students will also revise their understanding of addition, subtraction and equal groups.
In the area of Measurement and Geometry, students will explore the skill of mass and capacity, learning how to accurately measure and compare different objects to determine how much they weigh and how much they hold.
In the area of Statistics and Probability, students will develop their own ‘Yes/No’ questions, collect data from their peers on this question, and then represent this in a suitable display. Students will also practise interpreting the data and making statements about it.
Inquiry
Our Term 4 Inquiry focus will be “Design for Living”, which centres around biological science. Students will learn the differences between living and non-living, and understand how animals are classified. Students will explore mammals, reptiles, fish and birds, and the features these animals have, including how their body coverings help them survive and move in their habitat. Students will then have the opportunity to design a habitat for a chosen animal, using their knowledge of what that animal needs to survive. To support this learning, Prep students will be going to the Melbourne Zoo on Tuesday 15th November. This excursion will support students to complete their diorama habitat project.
In addition to this, we will continue to focus on our Respectful Relationships and Play Is The Way social and emotional curriculum. This term, students will explore the topics of ‘Gender and Identity’ and ‘Positive Gender Relations’. These Respectful Relationships topics will be connected to our Play Is The Way life rafts, with students gaining a complete understanding of how they have a skillset of strategies that will help them ‘Be Their Own Boss’, show respect and ‘The Golden Rule’ to others, and make ‘Strong Choices’ so they have the ‘Strength To Be Sensible’ and have positive experiences with others.
Reminders
Home Reading: Students are expected to read for 10 minutes per night, 4 nights per week and record a short comment in their reading diary about the book they have read. Teachers will check reading diaries regularly. Students need to bring their satchel to school each day, so that they are able to swap their home readers each day.
Canteen and Food Sharing: We encourage Prep students to only bring a GOLD COIN to spend at the canteen for over the counter sales. Students are NOT permitted to buy food for other students, have other students purchase food for them, or share food of any kind.
Label Clothes and Belongings: Please ensure ALL items (jumpers, hats, lunch containers, water bottles, etc) are clearly labelled with your child’s name and grade. If these items are misplaced, they are easier to return if they are named. Any unnamed items will be taken to lost property.
Hats: Our SunSmart ‘No Hat, No Play’ policy is now in force and students will need to wear their hats outside when playing at recess and lunch. Your child’s hat stays safely in their classroom so they can play outside during the warmer months. If your child requires a hat for TheirCare, we encourage them to keep a second hat in their bag for this purpose, so their school hat remains safely at school for use during the day.
Each year level team has provided their families with a detailed newsletter such as this. If you are interested in reading about all the exciting things happening across the rest of the school, these can be accessed online at our school website from early next week.