Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to term 2. The children have all settled well and seem rested and ready for learning. Term 2 is a 10 week term. The teachers have planned many great learning activities.  Each term we are going to keep you informed about the teaching and learning that is happening at our school. This term families will be receiving their children learning progress via a written report. Please see your child’s teacher or the Team Leaders if you have any concerns.

Staff in the 1/2 classrooms

Room 2       Samantha Rovtar

Room 3       Sue Hrovat  (Team Leader) & Alicia Bartholomew (Thursdays)

Room 6       Silvana Skender 

Room 5       Val Orsillo & Milly Taylor (Thursdays & Fridays)

Rights and Responsibilities

At Thomastown West we have developed the following ‘Rights’.

• At this school everyone has the right to feel comfortable and safe.
• At this school everyone has the right to work and

All classrooms are using these rights to establish class and playground standards of behavior.

Values

At Thomastown West we focus strongly on Responsibility, Respect, Resilience, Empathy and Striving to be our Best, as well as Honesty, Cooperation, and Kindness.

We teach the children that:

• Values guide the way we think, speak and behave.
• Values help us to decide what is right and what is wrong.

You can help your child develop these values by discussing them at home and encouraging them to make good choices.

A FEW REMINDERS:

• WHOLE SCHOOL PHOTOS: Tuesday 26th May
• Water bottles: children will be allowed to have access to a water bottle during class time. However, we ask that bottles be no larger than 600mls and that the water not be frozen. The water bottle will also be taken out during P.E. sessions.
• Art Smock: please make sure your child has an art smock or shirt at school for weekly lessons in the Art room.
• Library Bag: the school library is now operational, and the children have started to borrow books during their weekly lesson - a bag.

Punctuality is our whole school goal this term: School begins at 8.45 am. Please ensure your child is at school on time. Late children disrupt the learning of other children and also miss important instructions. Often late children become upset and take longer to settle into school.

Absences: School attendance is compulsory; however, we do not encourage sick children to come to school. If your child is absent, please provide the classroom teacher with a note for the absence. Lessons taught in the classroom are sequential and often when a child is absent, they will have gaps in their learning. Many absences may mean huge gaps in a child’s education.

Uniform: Children must wear the correct uniform at all times. Please remember to label your child’s clothing. The uniform shop is open every alternate Tuesday from 1-4pm.

CURRICULUM PROGRAM FOR TERM 2

Following is an outline of the work the children in grades P-2 will be involved in this term.

Inquiry Unit:  

• Students will learn about the changes in seasons and weather. They will discuss the need for different clothing, the activities, both indoors and outdoors available during Autumn and the changes in nature.
• This term the students will develop an understanding of the term ‘Change over time’. They will learn and investigate what life was like in their parents and great grandparent’s days. They will identify changes these people have seen in their lives and in the local community.
• Students will complete a mini project about their personal timeline starting from birth to their current age. Students will be required to collect photos/information from home of different milestones in their short life.
• Living/ Non-Living Things, through the ‘Australian Animals’ theme. Students will also investigate characteristics,features and habitat of animals. An excursion to Ballarat Wildlife Park will be organised later in the term, to complement the topic studied.  More details to follow.

Mathematics:

• In Number we will focus on addition and subtraction. There will be a strong focus on developing the children’s ability to use mental strategies and the relationship between addition and subtraction will also be explored. Money activities will be introduced with a focus on counting collections of coins and on learning how to give change. Counting and place value activities will continue to occur on a daily basis.
• In Measurement we will be learning how to tell the time to the minute on both analogue and digital clocks.

Literacy

Literacy: Preps

• The children will continue working on phonemic awareness- hearing sounds in words. (Please note that the focus is on the sounds of letters and not the letter name.)
• Students will segment the sounds (c/ a/ t) and make connections with sounds and symbols-written letters and writing 3 and 4 sound words.
• Ongoing teaching of Sight words will continue in conjunction with the program to develop high frequency words and sight vocabulary.
• Students will begin writing simple sentences using the words taught and use decoding taught to assist with unfamiliar words.
• In addition, children will learn what makes a letter, word and sentence. Looking into, ’what is’ a capital letter and full stop and using 1:1 pointing when reading.
• Handwriting is important so we will be practicing copying from the board with the focus being on       correct letter formations, proper pencil grip and posture, and making sure children are writing on the lines correctly.

Grades 1/2:

• In Reading we will continue to build on the children’s phonemic awareness skills and introduce phonics (sounds and spelling patterns) in a step-by-step manner. We will provide children with many opportunities for repeated practice. We will be working on developing comprehension strategies as well as helping the children develop fluency and expression.
• In Grammar we will revise and further extend the children’s understandings of nouns, adjectives and verbs. We will develop sentence structures by using conjunctions, punctuation and the use of pronouns.
• In Word Study we will continue to work through commonly used words (Oxford) these words will often have very tricky spelling patterns.
• In Writing we want the children to learn to work through the writing process – planning, composing, recording and revising their work. These processes will be further developed this term – children will be taught how to write good beginnings and endings and practice describing characters, settings and events in greater detail.
• Handwriting is still a major focus. We will continue to use the letter formation phrases to help with correct letter formation and introduce capital letters. Children will also learn the correct placement of letters on lines.

Homework:

This term children will receive weekly homework. Every Monday children will be given their homework for the week. They will be required to complete a section every night. Homework will be required to be completed and returned to school by Friday for correction.

Home Readers:

Children will borrow and complete home reading every night. Home readers are to be signed nightly.

Class Dojo

At TWPS the P-2 Team use an App which can be downloaded onto your device as a means of communication. Each child will be given a Dojo emoji to represent them. These are used as reward systems and to communicate electronically with parents. Parents will have received an invite. If you haven’t accepted the invite, please do so to join our class dojo so you can be kept up to date with class messages.

At Thomastown West Primary School, we believe that education is a partnership between teachers, families and the wider community. We work together to ensure all students experience success. When sharing the responsibility of improving children’s learning, effective communication is vital for teachers, parents, and carers at TWPS to work in a positive and productive partnership. Our school utilises a range of multimodal communications with all key stakeholders within and beyond our school community.

Our fortnightly newsletter is shared with you via Compass, Class Dojo and Facebook every week and it can always be accessed on our school website:

https://www.thomwestps.vic.edu.au/enews/ 

We hope you all have an enjoyable term and thank you for your continued support.

Silvana Skender, Sue Hrovat, Alicia Bartholomew, Val Orsillo, Milly Taylor and Sam Rovtar

Important Dates