Welcome back to school and 2019. We hope that you all enjoyed a beautiful summer holiday with your family and friends and that your children have settled back into school well. We are ready for a very busy and exciting term 1. Please see the attached timetable for your child’s specialist visits each week.

Children are encouraged to bring a refillable bottle of water with them into the classroom every morning. Please ensure these are labelled.

Please make sure your child has their name on all their jumpers, hats, coats, beanies etc.

With the typical ‘Victorian’ weather, the children take these items on and off and it is easier for us to return them to their owners. Even if you have put names on your child’s clothes please check as sometimes these wash off over time.

Please look for lost items in Lost Property in the main Office building.

Interviews – Monday 11^th, Tuesday 12^th and Wednesday 13^th of February

School Photos – Wednesday 27^th of Feb

Labour Day Holiday – Monday 11^th of March

Harmony Day – Thursday 21^st of March

Last Day of Term 1 – Friday 5^th of April

The children are encouraged to have a ‘healthy snack’ of some fruit that they can nibble on (strawberries, pieces of apple, a banana) or sultanas or cucumber and carrot sticks. This snack is in addition to the snack the children have at recess.

FRUIT BOWL

We have a communal fruit bowl located outside Miss Barnes’ room for children who may forget a snack. If you have any fruit you’d like to donate please feel free to.

From February to April all children must adhere to being Sun Smart. All students are required to wear a hat during recess and lunch breaks.

Children may also wish to apply their own sunscreen from home before each break for added protection from the sun.

Regular home reading (at least five times a week) is beneficial for your child and the books they bring home should be fairly easy for them to read. As your child chooses their own book, it may sometimes be too difficult for them. If this is the case, please just read it to them and ask your child to retell some of the story orally. If you have any concerns please see your child’s teacher.

This year, students have a yellow diary for their Reading Log. Please record any book your child is reading – even if they forget to change their book at school, they can still choose a book from home to read and record it. We will check these on a regular basis to monitor their home reading, but please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any concerns about their reading.

Please use the ideas below as a guide to discuss your child’s reading material:

1. What happened in the story?
2. Who are the characters?
3. Was this book fiction or non fiction? How do you know?
4. Does this book remind you of anything?
5. I liked the part where…because…

We do not expect the children to have to answer all the questions for every book.  These are to assist with book discussions between you and your child as you read.

Reading – this term students will be learning to build their reading stamina by practising read to self. They will use strategies when reading such as ‘check for understanding’, ‘making connections from the text to themselves’ and practising their fluency.

Writing – Students will learn the structure of a recount and what needs to be included. They will also focus on handwriting, letter formation and how to sit properly when writing. We will look at creating ideas when beginning to write.

Speaking and Listening – Our major focus in Term 1 is for students to listen and speak respectfully. We will be practicing how to articulate our ideas and thinking. Show and tell will run on a weekly basis. Please check the note that went home regarding your child’s show and tell day and see below for the weekly topics.

This term, students will be learning about Place Value and Number Sense. They will investigate quantity, how to build a number in multiple ways and what changes a number. They will work with and manipulate numbers in varying contexts.

They will learn about partitioning and how they can work out ways to break a quantity into smaller parts and put them back together.

Students will understand relative size where they can determine roughly how close numbers are to each other.