Stoney Creek Road, Beaconsfield Upper 3808 Phone: 5944 3591 Fax: 5944 3506
Email: Web: www.bups.vic.edu.au
Term 3, 2015
Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome back to BUPS! We hope you were able to have a wonderful break and enjoy some rest and relaxation after a very busy term 2.
Term 3 is a fantastic term in prep, where suddenly everything seems to come together for our little learners, and you will see your child come on in leaps and bounds. We have some terrific things to look forward to this term. We are looking at chemical science and some famous authors. We are all very excited about the up and coming school production, and I am sure the preps will be a big hit.
Thank you once again for all the terrific support we get from each and every family both in the classroom and at home. We really value our home school partnership and it continues to ensure our gorgeous preps are the best they can be.
Well done to the preps for thriving and surviving the two week swimming program last term. We were told by the swim school numerous times just how independent and resilient the students were, great to hear!
We will be completing the second stage of the EYE testing this term. All students were involved with this in Term 1, and Term 3 will conclude their testing and results. We will provide these toward the end of the term.
We look forward to our learning journey this term, please be part of the action and join us in the classroom if you can.
IMPORTANT Dates –
Prep EYE Testing Week 3 & 4
Science Week Week 6
School Rehearsal 4th September
School production Rehearsals
at St Margarets 15th September
School production performance 15th September
EARLY DISMISSAL OR LATE ARRIVAL
Please remember that if you need to pick your child up early or if they arrive late, you must sign then in or out at the Office, before going to their classroom.
READER POUCHES
As you will all now be aware our notices and home reading items come home in a reader pouch. They will continue to be sent home each day so please ensure that you check this daily, empty and share contents, and have your child pack their pouch back in their school bag ready for the next day. It is important to tell your child when you put a note in their reader pouch so they know to pass it on to their teacher first thing in the morning.
NUDE FOOD LUNCHES
As part of our schools strong environmental focus, please don’t send your child with rubbish to school. This includes glad wrap, zip lock bags and anything, which comes, packaged in non-recyclable materials. We are still seeing wrappers and packaging daily so it would be great to change this in term 2.
On this note please ensure all containers are named as they can tend to disappear throughout the day and they are much easier to return to you if they are named.
UNIFORMS
We have come across some jumpers and hats, which weren’t named. Please ensure that all items of clothing are clearly named. Unnamed items of clothing will be placed in lost property and can be very hard to find.
COMPUTER PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT LEARNING
At BUPS we use a variety of ICT programs to support student learning. This is a fun and interactive way for your child to learn. Here are a few programs/apps that we would highly recommend if you were looking for something you can do at home.
Computer programs:
Mathletics- Student passwords will be in their Word Book
Counting
Caterpillar- http://www.ictgames.com/caterpillar_slider.html
Reading and writing- http://www.starfall.com/
Some suggestion Apps for your Ipad:
Reading egg
ABC writings
Phonics lite
Red write
Balloons
ABC Ninja
Phonics Tic Tac Toe
Tracing Numbers
ENGLISH
During Term 1 and 2, we have embarked on our literature rich language program. We will be continuing many literacy experiences, which involve rhyming and recognition of patterns and sound and song. Students will continue to learn the letters and sounds of the alphabet during our Language Experience sessions. We will be moving on this term to focusing on good sentence structure, sounding out words and basic spelling patterns. We are focusing on good modelling of all aspects of literacy, reading, writing, and oral language. We have daily sessions of guided reading and writing, and small spelling clinic groups. It is terrific to see their enthusiasm for our Language Experience sessions; we like to engage the students in lots of hands on, tactile learning experiences as it makes learning fun and a memorable experience. We will continue to explore writing and continue to develop our writing skills by using our Writing Burst Books and Handwriting Books. Children will continue to bring home Take-Home Books to read each night. The children will continue to recognise and practise good listening skills. They have gained much confidence in speaking in front of the grade to share their ideas, especially while enjoying their turn as the focus child or the reporter during Investigation sessions. During the term as part of developing the love of literature, we will be studying some different authors, and the wonderful things books have to offer.
Stoney Creek Road, Beaconsfield Upper 3808 Phone: 5944 3591 Fax: 5944 3506
Email: Web: www.bups.vic.edu.au
MATHS
In maths this term we will continue to have a strong number focus and include the development of the following concepts -
· Reading stories featuring counting in sequence to assist students to recognize ways of counting in local languages and across cultures.
· Identifying the number words in sequence, backwards and forwards, and reasoning with the number sequences, establishing the language on which subsequent counting experiences can be built.
· Developing fluency with forwards and backwards counting in meaningful contexts, including stories and rhymes.
· Understanding that numbers are said in a particular order and there are patterns in the way we say them.
· Students will be given opportunities to order and compare collections of numbers.
· Students will use a range of practical strategies for adding small groups of numbers such as visual displays or concrete materials.
· Mathletics & iPads used to support learning.
· Knowing and identifying the days of the week and linking specific days to familiar events.
· Sequencing familiar events in time order.
· Interpreting the everyday language of location and direction, such as ‘between’, ‘near’, ‘next to’, ‘forwards’, ‘towards’, following and giving simple directions to guide a friend around an obstacle path and vice versa.
· Students are given opportunities to compare objects directly by placing objects against each other to determine which is longer or by pouring from one container into another to find which one holds more, while using language associated with measuring such as tall, taller, heavy, heavier etc.
· Using Students familiar routines, make connections between home and school.
SCIENCE
Term 3 will see a focus on science within our Investigations. We will be exploring chemical science for the first part of the term. We will be investigating different substances, liquids and solids and why they can change, as well as chemical reactions they can have. We began this investigation with the whole school mucky day. Let’s just say the preps squeals of delight said it all. It was a very messy but wonderful hands on experience of many different textures, smells and even tastes. We will be having a guest presenter, our very own Kate come in and crate some great experiments in the prep rooms so we cant wait.
INVESTIGATIONS
All students are now in full swing of our investigations. It is brilliant to see all students being able to discuss their learning intention and take full responsibility for their learning. We have introduced investigation books where students record their learning intentions at the beginning of a session after tunning in. If they are building something they draw and label their design first in the book. During reflection students can comment on their session. These books are a great way for us to keep track and students be accountable for their learning. Term 3 will see each day children take it in turns at being a Focus Child and a Reporter. It has been great to see students take on these roles with such enthusiasm. At the beginning of the session the Focus Child and the Reporter are interviewed by the class teacher and asked questions such as ‘Can you tell us what day it is today?’ ‘Do you know of anything important that is happening today?’ During this time students are taught to speak loudly and clearly to an audience whilst the other children must demonstrate their ability to be a good listener. At the conclusion of the session the Focus Child will share with the grade what they have achieved during the session and the Reporter will share the information they have gathered.
Throughout term 3 students will continue to use our Learning Intention Board where they will learn to plan and reflect. Our reporters will undertake tasks such as creating tallies, interviewing other students and writing reflections. We will provide a roster of who is focus and reporter students each week so students can be prepared to bring something special form home to share.
Stoney Creek Road, Beaconsfield Upper 3808 Phone: 5944 3591 Fax: 5944 3506
Email: Web: www.bups.vic.edu.au
Stoney Creek Road, Beaconsfield Upper 3808 Phone: 5944 3591 Fax: 5944 3506
Email: Web: www.bups.vic.edu.au