Dear Parents and Families,

As we are approaching our final week of the term of what has been an extraordinary year, I’d like to take the time to say thank you for a special year. The thought of being at the end of this year certainly seems surreal. It has been a joy to be part of your child’s learning journey. Our little learners have achieved so much, working and learning together over the year. I want to thank all our families again for your ongoing support and working together in partnership to ensure our precious little people had the best year given the unforeseen circumstances. At the end of this week, I will be uploading a video to Seesaw with some of our special memories from this year.

In all of this lead up to the end of the year, there are some important reminders:

• Seesaw: Please check Seesaw to see the ‘Meet the Teachers’ for 2021

• Home Readers: All take-home readers are to be returned tomorrow

• Tuesday 15th of December: Children are invited to wear Christmas accessories (a shirt/hat/headband)

• Wednesday 16th of December: Students are to wear their sports uniform for a surprise event!

• Thursday 17th of December: Final day of term 4 and early finish time: 1:45 pm. Students are to wear their full summer uniform on this day.

Congratulations to all our little learners for their determination and achievements in their first year of schooling. Wishing you all a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year. I look forward to seeing you all in the new year!

Warm regards,

Ms Nathalie Torres

Hello Prep T Families,

What a fantastic week we had in our Prep T learning studio.

Colour Run Explosion!

Our School Run 4 Fun was a very eventful day. The Prep cohort was able to join together and walk or run the race. It was a very exciting time for our Prep friends, especially when they had the opportunity to squirt themselves with colour powder!

Literacy

We introduced our topic of ‘Dinosaurs’. We read and explored fiction texts, including ‘Crunch Munch’ and ‘If the dinosaurs came back!’ We also continued Learning Centres in our Reading sessions to consolidate targeted reading and spelling skills in small groups.

Maths

In Maths, we commenced our new unit of addition. Students had the opportunity to explore when two or more numbers are added together the result is ‘more’. During our Maths Rotations, students have consolidated their learning by continuing to build strategies such as counting on, doubles, adding 10 and counting all (counts on from one number to find the total of two collections).

In Week 8, we will be investigating the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction, e.g. 7 + 2 = 9 and 9 – 2 = 7.

Religion

In Religion, children made their own model of something God created. This week, we began our new unit of ‘Advent’. Every Monday, we will be participating in whole school liturgies through Google Meets to lead us into a time of waiting and hope for the coming and birth of Christ. 

Things to note:

Week 8 Show and Tell children are asked to bring their Advent sheet that was sent home on Friday. Students will need to draw and explain a time they have had to wait for something special.

With kindness,

Ms Nathalie Torres 

Hello Prep T Families and Parents,

Week 6 had many special activities and events in our Prep T class. Please check below to see some important reminders for Week 7. 

Remembrance Day

We participated in a Remembrance Day Liturgy, remembering those who have given their lives in battle. Our little learners created a prayer of thanks and their own poppies to understand how they are the flowers that grew on the battlefields after World War One ended.

Cricket Mascot Challenge

Last week, we completed the first week of our 4-week Cricket Mascot Challenge. Each day we spent 10 minutes developing fundamental motor skills to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. 

Maths

In Maths, we have continued exploring fractions and looking at halves and quarters. Children used different shapes of paper to fold and find how to create equal parts.  In Week 7 & 8, we will begin a new unit of addition and subtraction. We will be investigating different ways of how we can add and subtract numbers together using hands-on materials.

Things to note:

• School Photos are this Tuesday the 17th of November. Students are required to wear full summer uniform. While Tuesday is normally a sports uniform day, on this occasion students will not be required to wear their sports uniform as this week children have Visual Arts

• Week 7 Show and Tell is ‘My Favourite Book’ children are invited to share their favourite book. Students may wish to bring a book from home that they love to read. It would be fantastic if parents could practise with your child to help them gain more confidence to explain why it is their favourite book

  

• SGP Colour Run is this Friday the 20th of November! On this day, students will need to bring a white or used t-shirt as we will be getting dirty from the colour powder

• Home Readers and activities– a reminder that readers are being changed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Non-compulsory additional activities that you may wish to complete with your child at home:

  • Make a prediction before you do your first reading 

  • Find all the High-frequency words within the text 

  • Practise High-frequency out of sequence

  • Draw your favourite part of the book then orally create a sentence to match

  • Make some connections to the book. How do you think the charterers felt? Why? Have you felt this way before?

I wish you all a blessed week.

Kind regards,

Ms Nathalie Torres

Hello wonderful Prep T Families,

What an amazing and busy week we’ve had commencing our new units in Literacy and Maths, but also celebrating our Footy Colours Day! It was fantastic seeing the children dressed up in their favourite footy team colours. 

English: This week, we have been learning about Fairy Tales. The children thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Gingerbread Man’ and investigating the characters, setting, problem and solution. 

During Reading and Maths, we have also commenced rotations where children have the opportunity to consolidate targeted reading and number skills in small groups.

Maths: We began investigating Two-dimensional Shapes. The children loved exploring different ways to sort shapes according to their properties and making connections to Three-dimensional objects. 

Wellbeing: This week, we have incorporated ‘Wellbeing’ sessions to ensure the students are re-orientating themselves with their surroundings, strengthening learning behaviours and developing positive social relationships. 

Things to note:

• Week 4 Show and Tell will be the ‘Animal Poster’ children created during Remote Learning. If your child does not have their animal poster, they may read a piece of work from their Remote Learning book.

• Take home readers have commenced this week. Books will be changed on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Readers given to your child will be easy to read texts to help children build their reading fluency and comprehension. Reading should take place each night and we encourage children to reread texts multiple times to help students reinforce their reading skills and behaviours.

• Diaries will be checked every Friday. Please encourage your child to fill in each day with your support. 

I hope you all have a beautiful long weekend. Wishing Richmond and Geelong the best of luck during today’s Grand Final game! 

Warm regards,

Ms Nathalie Torres

Hello Prep T Parents and Families,

What an amazing week it has been seeing our little learners back together in the classroom again and exploring the new areas of our schoolyard. We had a fantastic first week back settling into our school routines and making new friends.

It has been wonderful to watch all the children share their ‘Me Bag’.  Next week children will discuss their ‘My Animal Book’ which they created during Remote Learning. Thank you to those families that have already returned your child’s animal book with their learning pack. If your child has theirs at home, please ensure your child has this in their bag on their scheduled day. 

Next week we will commence new learning for Literacy, Religion and Mathematics. Our focus will be on exploring Fairy Tales, the properties of two-dimensional shapes and the Creation Story. 

Things to note:

• Friday 23rd October is a public holiday, children who would normally have Show and Tell on Friday will be rescheduled to Thursday
• Home Readers: Take home readers will officially commence next week
• Handwriting books: Thank you to those families that have returned your child’s Remote Learning Pack. I am still waiting for a few handwriting books to return if you could please make sure they are returned next week
• Timetable: Next week we will be referring to the Week B Timetable, a reminder that our sport uniform days will continue on Tuesday and Thursday’s.

I wish you all a beautiful weekend!

With kindness,

Ms Nathalie Torres

Hello Prep T Families,

I hope you have all enjoyed some much needed sunshine over the weekend.

Please find a copy of the Prep T Week A and B timetable for Term 4. For week 2, we will be following the Week A timetable. Prep T students are asked to wear their Sports uniform every Tuesday and Thursday.

Warm regards,

Ms Nathalie Torres

Hello Prep T Families and Parents,

We have reached the end of our Remote Learning and I am so thrilled to see all our little learners back in the classroom next week. This week my focus has been preparing the children for the return to onsite learning. It was wonderful to see all their excited faces on our virtual tour, exploring the wonderful improvements that have happened to our school environment. I have included some pictures of our room below for families to see.

Having been onsite this week preparing our learning space, we have been struck by how quiet our Prep building is. Having taught for many years, I can appreciate how busy and noisy Prep rooms are meant to be. It is with great excitement that I look forward to Monday when our room is once again filled with our wonderful prep family.

Things to note:

• Week 2 Timetable: Please note on Monday, Prep children are to wear their full school uniform. The specialist timetable is still being finalised and will be released during the week to note when Prep T students are to wear their Sports uniform
• Student Learning Packs: I kindly ask for all students to return their Home Learning Packs to school, including Remote learning book/workbooks, handwriting book and materials
• Home Readers: At the end of term 2, students were provided with books to take home. If you could please make sure your child’s readers are in their bag ready for next week
• Show and Tell: In term 4, Prep children will be invited to share something from our weekly topics with our class each week. Please see the timetable below for our weekly topics and your child’s allocated day 
• Pick up/Drop off Points: To prepare for the return of all students, a reminder to check which gate you have nominated for your child to be dropped off and picked up at. The Prep teachers and staff members will direct your child/children to and from your selected gate.

Thank you again and well done to our little learners and families on your tremendous efforts during Remote Learning. 

I wish you all a blessed weekend 🙂 

With gratitude,

Ms Nathalie Torres

Hello Prep T families,

Welcome back to our final term! We are all very excited to begin term 4 and soon we will finally be learning and exploring face to face again.

Today I have posted to Seesaw some of the goals your child will be working towards in Term 4. These goals are from our observations in our small group meets and assessments. I look forward to celebrating the achievements of all our little learners in the term ahead.

Below I have included the Timetable for Week 1. Next week there are significant changes to the timetable, so please take note of when your child’s English and Maths Google meets are. A reminder that Tuesday (6th October), will be an onsite planning and meeting day for all Prep- Two teachers. No Google Meets will be scheduled for that day. Learning activities will be provided on the Prep Blog as usual.

Enjoy a wonderful weekend and stay safe. I look forward to seeing all the children’s happy faces on Monday at 9 am on our whole class Google Meet. 

With kindness,

Ms Nathalie Torres

Today marks our final day of Term 3 Remote Learning. All our little learners AND parents deserve a well-earned break. Our Prep community has achieved so much, working and learning together this term. I want to thank all our families again for your remarkable efforts and persistence to assist with your child’s learning. 

Prep teachers are beginning to organise some exciting learning opportunities for Term 4, and we can’t wait to share these experiences with the children. Next term, I will be setting new goals for each student and will endeavour to notify all families on Seesaw of your child’s goals before commencing Term 4 learning.

Our year five friends from 5S have kindly made stories for our little learners to watch and hear over the school holidays. These stories can be found on our Prep T Blog under the tab ‘5S Story Time’. Wushka and Studyladder can still be accessed over the holidays. Wushka books will not be updated for the holidays, therefore I encourage Prep children to reread a book many times to help build fluency and comprehension skills.  

I look forward to seeing all the children again next term! I pray students will have a restful break and wish you all a wonderful school holiday. 

With kindness,

Ms Nathalie Torres

Hello lovely Prep T Families and Parents,

I loved seeing all of the children’s AMAZING animal costumes and toys this morning. It’s been wonderful to see all the Animal posters they have created and uploaded to Seesaw! It makes me so proud to see how much each child is learning and improving all the time.

As we approach the final week of term 3, I wanted to say a big thank you to each family. I appreciate all the feedback and conversations I have had with families over the past weeks. 

Thank you to all families for helping your child log into our 1:1 check-ins this week. I’ve enjoyed chatting with each child and playing some fun Maths games together. Under the ‘timetables’ tab is the new timetable for Week 10, the 1:1 teacher check-ins will still run next week. Your child has been scheduled for the same time as this week and just a reminder to not log into their meet before scheduled their time. 

Things to note:

• Friday the 18th of September is the last day of term 3. We are inviting each child to represent their favourite footy team. Children may like to wear a footy jersey or wear the colours of their preferred team (optional). 

Finally, this week each child showed a representation of how they can show love in response to the book ‘While we can’t hug’. Whilst we can’t hug and be physically near each other, there are lots of ways to show someone you love them. I have created a video below of the children’s illustrations and I can’t help but smile seeing all of their beautiful drawings.

I wish you all a blessed weekend.

Take care,

Ms Nathalie Torres