Welcome everyone to the Classroom Blog for Room 5 Pre-Primary for 2018.
I would like to welcome all the students and parents to Pre-Primary, and a special welcome to all our new students and families. I look forward to working with the parents and getting to know your children better throughout the year.
It has been a busy start to the year and the students have done well adjusting to full time school, especially considering some of the extremely hot days we have been experiencing. To ensure your child gets the most out of each school day, please make sure they are getting plenty of sleep each night. Children this age still need between 10-12 hours of sleep to be able to function.
As mentioned at the Parent Information Evening, I am available by appointment on Wednesdays and before or after school most other days.
Parent Information Evening
Thank you to all the parents who came to the Parent Information Evening. The information that we discussed was included in the handbook that was given out. I have uploaded some of the slides from the PowerPoint that I used as there were ideas of things that parents could be doing at home.
If you were unable to attend the Parent Information Evening, the student handbook was sent home in your child's note folder. If you have any questions please feel free to come and see me.
As discussed at the parent evening, a laminated A4 copy of the Victorian Modern Cursive letter and number formation was sent home with your child. This is for you to keep at home to refer to and to allow your child to practise the correct number and letter formation.
School App
If you haven't already done so, download the Wattle Grove Primary School App. It allows you to notify the school if your child is absent, order from the canteen, keep up to date about coming events and receive the school newsletter.
The App is available for Apple as well as Android phones.
Canteen
The canteen operates on a Wednesday and Thursday. Orders can be placed online, via the School App, or by writing it on a lunch order bag, available from the classroom. Students can order for recess and lunch (if you are ordering using the lunch bags, you need to write recess and lunch orders on separate bags). Pre-Primary students are allowed to order icy poles and ice creams.
Library
Our Library day is every Monday afternoon. Students are allowed to borrow one book at a time. Students must have a library bag to be able to borrow books and books must be returned before they can take another book. Library bags and books need to be put in the Library box.
Merit Award Winners
Congratulations to the Merit Award Winners, Mason, Ruby and Kohan. Keep up the great work!
On Entry Testing
I will be conducting the Pre Primary On Entry testing during Week 5, 6 and 7. As the test needs to be one-on-one, I will be out of the classroom on some days. The students will have a relief teacher on these days. I will discuss your child's results from the On Entry testing with you at the parent interviews on Tuesday of Week 10.
Aussie Day Dress Up
Thank you to all the students who dressed up in their Aussie clothes to raise money for the Act for Kids Charity. The children looked amazing and thanks to your generosity, we raised $824. Our School Motto is Give to Receive and I'm sure that the people at Act for Kids will be very grateful.
Our Program
To make the transition from Kindergarten to Pre-Primary easier, we are currently revising some of the things taught in Kindergarten. We are revising the letter sounds, numbers 1-20 and the Kindergarten sight words.
Whilst revising, we are also focusing on new concepts, such as letter and number formation, among other things.
If there are any areas that your child may need extra assistance, I will let you know so that we can work together to ensure that they have a strong foundation. Below is a list of the Kindergarten sight words, as well as the letter and number formations.
STEM
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are an important focus with the Department of Education. We integrate STEM into our other learning areas, as well as doing STEM challenges. On Thursday, we did a STEM challenge that involved making the tallest tower possible using mini marshmallows and dry spaghetti. As you can see from the photos, we had lots of fun!
