Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Easter Preparation and Parent Meetings

Easter Raffle
Thank you to those families who have donated chocolate eggs and bunnies to our Easter raffle. If you haven’t made your donation yet, there is still time! The basket will be out until Monday 3rd April. The more eggs we have, the more prizes we can give away! All the money raised from the raffle goes towards Mission fundraising. Donations of baskets for the raffle are also much appreciated, please take them to the front office if you have any.

Stations of the Cross
A letter went home yesterday to all Year One parents outlining the roles that the children will be playing in the Year One presentation of the Stations at 9am on Monday. We have discussed with the children that we need to keep the costumes simple! The photos below might help if your child is a disciple or an onlooker.  Mrs Derickx has kindly made the soldiers and Pontius Pilate a hat which we can leave at school until Monday morning. Readers will stay in school uniform. If your child has been selected for a reading part please practise with them as much as possible before Monday! We will be doing the same at school this week. Any other questions, just ask us!



Parent Teacher Interviews
Many thanks to all of the parents for attending our Parent/Teacher meetings over the past two weeks. Your input into your child’s learning is invaluable and we really appreciate all of your support and feedback.

Miss Rundle and Miss Prowse

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Sound Review, Science and History

Good evening parents,

Below are the sounds that your children have been learning for the past 8 weeks in their spelling rotations. On Monday we will be having our term spelling review to test their knowledge of sounds. Below is a table with all the sounds that you children have been learning. They will be able to tell you what group they are in, but please email me if you need clarification.



A way you can help them is to call out a word with that particular sound for them to write down on a scrap piece of paper eg. if you child is in the blue group you can use the 'tr' sound,  ask your child to write down the word trip and so on.

If you need any more information, please email me to let me know.

Science Helpers

We have designed our musical instruments and the children have put a lot of time and effort into their plan. On Friday, the children will be using their plan and construct their musical instrument but any help from parents to help glue, stick and tie would be wonderful. We would love some help from 11.20-12.45 on Friday this week so please email me if you are available.

History items

This week we are looking at things from the present so we are asking your child to bring in something that is special to them now. They can bring it in tomorrow or Thursday for our second last History lesson this term.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Miss Prowse

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Science items

Thank you to everyone who has brought in Science items this week! We are looking at creating some wonderful instruments!

As we are still investigating the science of light and sound we won't be constructing our instruments until Week 9 ( 31st March). Thank you to all those parents who offered to come in tomorrow (you were so keen you were two weeks early!)

Looking forward to lots of helping hands on the 31st from 11.20-12.45 but I will put out a blog post closer to the date.

Thank you for your ongoing support

Miss Prowse

Parent Meetings Timetable Update

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Wow... It's Week 7!

Dear Parents

Some important information for you this week:

Maths Pencil Cases
As the Maths pencil cases are now complete, I will send them home over the weekend for labelling. If you could use a permanent marker to place your child’s initials on each counter, each card in the deck (just a small initial on the back corner), the measuring tape  and place a sticker with your child’s name on the counting beads that would be much appreciated. I know labelling all the pieces is a tedious task, but it will help us immensely in the classroom should any small pieces go missing from the children’s cases. A big thank you again to all of the parents and grandparents who generously gave up their time to create this resource for the children!

Health Notes
Two pink notes have gone home this week highlighting reported cases of worms and head lice in Year One. Please read through this information and be sure to follow the treatment recommendations, should your child be affected. We really appreciate parents letting us know about this important health information in the classroom.

Lost Property
I have a school jumper with a smudged name on it (size 6) and a grey jacket that have been left behind by two of the students in Year One. If your child is missing either of these items, please let me know, as none of the children have claimed them. I will place them into the lost property at the end of the week if they are still unclaimed.

History Program
Thank you for the wonderful response we have had from last week’s blog post regarding our History Unit this term. Most of the children have already brought in a special item from ‘when I was a baby’. I have photographed these items to attach to the children’s work and will be sending them back home, as I know some of the photos and items of clothing are very precious. Remember next week’s focus is ‘when I was young’. Our History lesson is on a Thursday.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

I have placed a Parent/Teacher Meeting sheet on the Information Board outside the classroom. Please write your child’s name in on a time slot that best suits you. At this stage, I am going to hold an afternoon of meetings next Wednesday followed by another series of meetings the following Wednesday. Time slots will be available from 3:15pm – 5:30pm on these days. I am also scheduling morning meetings before school from 8:15am – 8:30am. If you cannot make it into school to fill out the timetable, please email me 2-3 of your preferred times and I will get back to you, hopefully with one of your preferences. Other arrangements can also be made, if all of the times available are unsuitable for you.

Have a great week!

Amy Rundle

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Year One Science

In Science this term, the Year One students have been learning about sound and light are produced by a range of sources and can be sensed.

Over the next few weeks, we will be designing a musical instrument out of recyclable materials. We are asking you to bring in any recyclable materials such as:

- Tissue boxes
- Paper towel middles
- Food boxes
- Lackey bands
- balloons
- Paper plates/ cups
- Plastic jars
- Beads/dried beans

If you could start bringing in items from Tuesday week 7,  in a plastic bag marked 'SCIENCE' that would be greatly appreciated. We may also require some parent help on the Friday we have Science (between 11.20-12.45)  to help construct the musical instruments so please keep an eye on the blog for what week it might be.

In our Science lessons, we have been exploring different ways sound can be made. We have looked at sound waves how they are invisible waves that travel through the air and to show our understanding, we made string phones and found out that the vibrations travel along the string so the other person can hear on the other side.

Below are some pictures of the children experimenting with sound using the string phones.






We also went for a look around the school for places that are light and places that are dark. We found the oval and the grassed area outside the classroom was very light and the hall behind the curtains was a very dark place. We looked at the different parts of the eye and what happens when light enters our eyes. The children loved seeing their pupils dilate and contract when exposed to light.

Below are some pictures of our findings around the school.



We love learning about sound and light!

Miss Prowse

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Week Six Update

Good Afternoon Parents!

Please read through our week six update:

Maths Pencil Cases
Our parent helpers were very productive today in putting together the Maths pencil cases for the Year One students. We very much appreciate your input in creating these fabulous resources for the children. Thank you all, we can’t wait to use them!

Decoding Bookmarks
Today in your child’s homework folder you should find a bookmark with a list of fun ‘decoding’ skills that you can practise with them during daily home reading. On the back, there is also some useful reading advice on how you can assist your child at home and make reading a fun part of family time.
A reminder that class readers are exchanged every two days by the Education Assistants. Please aim to get your child to bring their folder in and place it in the tub each morning.

Our History Unit – We Need You to Start Collecting Items!
As a part of our History program this term, we are exploring the terms ‘past’, ‘present’ and ‘future’. In this week’s history lesson, we have created a plan to collect some special items or photographs from our life, starting from:
-          When I was a Baby (bring something in for next week): Items may include a baby photo, a special item of clothing, a favourite toy, a baby item such as a bottle/dummy, etc.
-          When I was young (bring something in for week 8): Items may include a favourite book, a special toy, something that you made, a photo of you hitting a milestone, a certificate or medal.
-          Now/In the Present (bring something in for week 9):  Items might include a current family photo, a favourite toy or sports item, an item from the house, a photo of a current pet.
-          In the Future (bring something in for week 10): What do you see in your future? Is there something you would like to learn to do? Is there an achievement or a goal that you would like to reach? You could draw a picture or print out a picture of something that you would like to see in your future.
Please bring in only one item from each category in the following weeks. We will need our special items at school by each Thursday in time for our History lesson.

Parent Teacher Meetings
I would like to meet with all parents before the end of Term One to discuss how your child is progressing and how we can work together to support them throughout Year One. Next week I will send home a preference sheet for meetings and parents can select a preference from the allocated times. In the meantime, if you have any questions about your child and their learning at school please let me know. At this stage I am looking at time slots in week 8 and week 9. Stay tuned for further information.

Monday – Pupil Free
A reminder that this Monday is a Pupil Free Day. The staff will still be at school attending a professional development course based on the social/emotional education programs ‘Friendology 101’ and ‘Kimochi Dolls’.


Have a happy weekend and enjoy your extra family time next Monday!



Amy Rundle

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Parent help needed!

Good evening parents,

On Thursday 9th of March, we are seeking assistance in assembling some Maths resources for each of the Year 1 students. Both Miss Rundle and myself would like to create a "Maths pencil case" for each student that includes tactile maths equipment that will greatly assist in the students learning.
This should only take an hour to an hour and a half and you will have an area set up in the hall with all the resources you need. There will of course be coffee and morning tea to keep you going through the morning.

If you can help on Thursday 9th of March from 8.45am (after gathering time)
 please email me at: prowse.monique@cathednet.wa.edu.au




Thank you in advance for your assistance!

Miss Prowse

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Week 5 Update

Dear Parents


Please read through our week 5 messages:

Sight Word Progression
How is your child going with their sight words? As soon as your child can READ and SPELL the words in their current list (independently) it is helpful to let us know, so that we can retest them ASAP and move them onto the next list. Thank you to parents who have been notifying me in the mornings about how sight words are going at home. This helps us to be able to test the children as soon as it’s needed and accelerate them through the program. Although we aim to test regularly, some children seem to be moving rather quickly through their current lists. Your feedback to us is very valuable in the classroom and because of this we have already celebrated with a number of children who have progressed forward onto the next sight word list. We are so proud of them!
I have also noticed that some of the children have been dropping sight words out of their homework folders. If you notice that your child is missing their sight words during gathering time I have a small container next to the parent information book for lost and found words.

Crunch and Sip
Our Crunch and Sip session is a short break during the morning block when the children usually have a period of ten minutes to have a drink and munch on their snack. They have a short brain break and then continue on with classroom activities as usual. After ten minutes the children are asked to put their remaining snacks in their school bag so that they can be finished at recess, to avoid the food becoming a distraction for further learning. Keeping this short time frame in mind, it is only necessary to pack a small snack (unless your child has a particularly large appetite)! Thank you for keeping the snacks natural and healthy.

Library
Just a reminder that we have our Library lesson each Wednesday. The children are also required to return their PLD Reading Packs on a Wednesday to the trolley in the classroom. This will allow the Library enough time to exchange the packs ready to go home on a Thursday.

Observation Surveys
Tomorrow and Friday, we will have a relief teacher in both Year One classes, while Monique and I administer the Observation Survey Assessment. This assessment involves a series of early Literacy tasks which give us an indication of individual student achievement at the beginning of Year One. The information from the assessment will assist us with our future Literacy planning and give us a thorough indication of your child’s current knowledge and skills including reading, spelling and writing. As this assessment is a one-to-one task, the students will be removed from the classroom and taken to work in a quieter space to complete the allocated tasks. If you have any questions about the assessment, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Have a fabulous remainder of the week and enjoy a well-deserved long weekend with your families.



Amy Rundle