Week 6

We have enjoyed a week of books, costumes and more! The Book Week parades have been a big hit for the children in Kindergarten. Please keep an eye on our blog for photos of all the fun. 

 

Literacy

This week we focused on a review of the initial sounds Ll, Bb, Gg and Ff. We continued to explore syllables, rhyme and sight words. 

We are really enjoying the ocean theme news that the children are sharing with our class. A note will go home a few days prior to your child's news day.

 

Numeracy

This week we reviewed the numbers 1-15. We also practised to orally ‘count on’ from a given number. We will continue to develop our knowledge of simple AB patterns. For example, blue, red, blue, red or using our body to create patterns such as touching our heads, touching our knees and repeating the pattern.  

Important Dates

Wednesday 2 September - Tabloid Sports (Kindy and Pre-Primary)

1.30 - 2.30pm

Children in Blue Group and Red Group are invited to attend. This is a Blue Group Day, Kindy Red will need to be signed into our office at 1.00pm and collected from their classrooms at 2.50pm. Parents are invited to watch the event. Please ensure that you are abiding by current COVID health advice.

Friday 4 September - Whole School Sport Carnival

8.30 - 9.30am

Children in Blue Group and Red Group are invited to attend. This is a Red Group day, Kindy Blue will need to be signed into our office at 8.30am and collected from their classrooms at 9.30am (after the running races). Parents are invited to watch the event. 

 

The children in Kindergarten have been enjoying learning the tabloid sports and running on our school track. Parents are invited and encouraged to attend both events. On both days, please ensure your child has a water bottle, school hat, suitable running shoes and a faction shirt. 

 

Please don't hesitate to ask the Kindy Team if you have any questions. 

  

Week 6 Photos

Week 5

We have already hit the middle of Term 3, and we would like to congratulate students and families for a wonderful four weeks at school. The students have continued to amaze us with their progress.  Please continue to support your child through home practice. A few minutes each day can really make a big difference in supporting your child to retain the concepts taught at school. 

  

Literacy 

Phonics 

This week the students learnt the phonic sound Ff as in Fish starts with Ff, Ff, Ff – Football starts with Ff, Ff, Ff – Fire starts with Ff, Ff, Ff.   

Don’t mention this to dad, but we have also been busy working on some Ff- Ff-Ff Father’s Day surprises……ssssh!! 

Our home corner has transformed into a florist’s shop and the children have used their creativity to make flower arrangements and have used the language and social skills required for customer service!  

Dramatic play is very important for children’s development and learning. They can try out roles from familiar family scenes and local community experiences. It enables children to develop their imagination and engage in experiences to make sense of the world they live in. 

Links to the Early Years Learning Framework: 

(4.4:2 Staff promote each child’s ability to develop and maintain relationships.)  

1:1 Children feel safe, secure and supported. 

2:3 Children become aware of fairness. 

3:1 Children become strong in their social and emotional well being 

4:1 Children develop dispositions for learning, such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity and commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity. 

5:1 Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes. 

 

Sight words 

Through the year, Kindy students have a list of 20 high frequency words, which are found in written texts and readers. Children are encouraged to recognise these words without having to ‘figure them out’. They are sometimes referred to as sight words or look and say words. At Kindy we call the first block of twenty “golden words.” They are : I, am, a, look, mum, dad, is, it, at, in, can, the, we, like, here, see, go, will, to, this…..so far the students have learnt eleven. 

This week’s sight word was ‘The’ e.g. Mum is at the school. The sun is hot. 

The students have enjoyed learning and reviewing these words while reading them in sentences. They have also been observing how to track words in a sentence, from left to right, when reading.  The students have also been using clues from pictures to predict what some words might be. 

 

Numeracy 

Students have been focusing on the numbers in the teens and this week the number of the week was 15. We will be practising how to accurately count objects and identify that the last number counted answers the question “How many?”. We are also learning to place numbers in the right order, to make a number line.  

 

Book Week 

This year the theme is ‘CURIOUS CREATURES – WILD MINDS’. In order to celebrate Book Week, Kindy Blue Group is joining in with the whole school Dress Up Parade on Thursday 27th August at 9:00 am. Students are invited to dress in their favourite book character. This should be simple and done in consultation with your child. If possible, students could wear/hold a sign to show what the character is and what book it is from, if not immediately obvious. 

 

Sports practice 

We have been having a great time learning and practising many new team games for our tabloid sports which will be held on Wednesday 2^nd September. Please watch this space for further information. 

 

Show and Tell 

Our news-telling has been going very well and we have learnt some very interesting facts about various sea creatures. 

Top Fact of the week: Whales “vomit” is used to make expensive perfumes!! 

 

National Quality Standard 

Introduction  

The National Quality Standard (NQS) has been formulated by the Australian government. It is used to guide all staff working with children in the early childhood sector.  

The K-2 team at Wattle Grove Primary School have been exploring and reflecting upon the NQS throughout the year.  

If you would like to find out more information about the NQS, please have a look at the website:   

https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/national-quality-standard 

 

Quality Area 2: Children’s Health and Safety 

All staff promote and implement effective hygiene practices at Wattle Grove Primary School.  

In each of the classrooms, hygiene posters are referred to by teachers and children to ensure good hygiene practices are maintained.  

 

Some of these hygiene practices include:    

Children washing hands with soap and water when hands are visibly dirty. 

Children washing hands with soap and water before and after eating. 

Children washing hands after going to the toilet.  

Children coughing and sneezing with a tissue or bent elbow, disposing of used tissues immediately and washing hands. 

 

Here is a Handwashing Song by the Wiggles that reinforces the importance of handwashing for children.   

 

Have a fantastic week and make sure to find time to relax and have some fun time together. 

Week 5 Photos

    

Term 3, Week 4

We had such a wonderful end to last week at the Scitech incursion. We were eager to explore our scientific world using our science 'tools' (sight, touch, smell, hearing and talking). Our little ‘scientists’ found great enjoyment in constructing their own learning through discovery, play and experimentation. It was a fun day for all!

 

Literacy

Phonics 

This week we introduced the phonic sound Gg as in girl, guitar and gorilla. The children have been busy practising their writing using sensory ‘glittery goo’ bags and have used their cutting skills to cut grass and flowers for their beautiful garden craft!

To celebrate the Gg phonic sound we have recently opened a Grocery Store in Room 4. Children have been using literacy and numeracy skills to label items, count items, identify prices of items and practise weighing items using our balance scales. We are very proud of the children for displaying excellent social skills in the sociodramatic play area such as sharing, cooperation and good communication skills.

Story retelling 

We have recently been focusing on retelling a story in three sequential parts (beginning, middle, end). This skill assists children with their reading comprehension of a text and enables them to practise the important skill of sequencing. We would encourage you to read simple narratives with your child and practise sequencing the events of the story into beginning, middle and end. This could be done through oral retell, drawing pictures, acting it out or using puppets to retell the story.

 

Numeracy

Our number of the week is the number 14. To reinforce the sound of the week and the number of the week, we have been stamping 14 goldfish into a fishbowl. This helps the children to practise their counting and one-to-one correspondence. We have been practising on stopping once they have counted to the given number, as it can be very tempting for children to demonstrate their fantastic counting skills by continuing to count past the given number. To further practise this skill at home, you could give your child a specific number of actions to complete such as 10 star jumps, 5 hops, 14 stomps and see if they can stop once they have reached the specified number.

 

Songs

In Kindy we often teach concepts through music and movement to make learning fun and enjoyable for the children. We also notice that learning is optimised when concepts are taught through music and movement, as children are engaging with the curriculum through a multi-sensory medium. Below we have attached a link to all of the songs and actions that we use across all Kindy classes for letter sounds, letter formation and number formation. We would love for you to sing these songs with your child at home to reinforce what they are learning at school. They would love to teach you all of the songs they know – just ask them! Keep in mind that we have covered the following sounds (SATPINMRCKHEDLBG) and numbers (1-14).

Phonic Songs & Cues, Letter & Number Formation Songs

 

Thank you for all that you do to support your child at home with their learning, it is amazing to see all that the children have achieved in such a short space of time! We are very excited for another great week ahead!

 

Week 4 Photos + Scitech Incursion Photos