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