Week 8 Term 4 2022

 Dear parents,

Welcome to Week 8... the final weeks of Year One ! I hope you have all been enjoying the weekend break and taking some time to rest as we power through til the end of the year ☀😎

Just a few notes for the final fortnight ahead...

Homework

This will be the last week of home readers as we need to do stocktake for the last week of school. I will also be putting in a mini booklet of all of the fluency grids and spelling lists that we have had this year.  If you could go through this booklet and work through particular sheets which your child may be having difficulty applying to their long-term reading memory that would be great.  We ask that you remove these white reading fluency and spelling lists from their homework folder and keep them at home to use over the holiday break.  A reminder that the spelling list on the back of these are the three levels.  Yellow list is at year 1 standard, pink is extra support and blue is extension.  The final six words on each list are tricky words which students are encouraged to be able to spell within sentences and everyday writing without errors.  Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about the reading fluency or spelling lists.  If they are still in the folders at the end of this week we will pop them in your child's bag to take home and use.  Thank you for the support and special role you have taken this year to support your child's reading and spelling skills at home this year.  

 Homework folders will be collected on Friday this week and will be kept at school and handed onto their next year's teachers to be re-used with new reading logs and homework books ready to go and hopefully this will save you trying to track them down next year.   🤓

Learning Intentions

English: 

This week we are focusing on procedural texts and how to instruct our reader how to do something. We will be reviewing all of our phonic graphemes and sounds from InitiaLit 1 this year and learning how to spell longer words by thinking about the multi-syllables within them.  

Maths

Last week, we reviewed number patterns and sequence patterns in mathematics.  We have learnt how to notice and test a repeating rule, identify if it is an increasing/growing pattern or a decreasing/shrinking pattern.  This week we will review money again, particularly coin values and learning how to count small collections of coins.  

Elderly Pen Pals

This fortnight, we will begin creating some Christmas cards to send to our elderly pen pals. The children have loved hearing from some of their pen pals throughout the year and it has been a great way to be involved in the Dunsborough community.

Year 1 Assembly

At the end of this week is our assembly combined with 1S starting at 2.15pm on Friday.  I am so proud of how many students wanted to speak to the whole school using the microphone and tell others about our topic which is International Day of Disabilities.  Your child will have come home with a line or two to practise.  These strips can be kept at home as we have other copies at school we will use to practise with throughout this week.  Your child can bring to school an wear an outfit which depicts something they feel able in in terms of achieving and succeeding or just free choice that they want to change into after lunch break. Just send it to school in a reusable bag to hang on their bag hook along with their school bag to make preparation for the afternoon easy.  We are looking forward to sharing our song in Auslan too with you.  

Merit Award

Congratulations to Joel who received last week's merit award for his effort in his reading skills.  We are so proud of your growing confidence and persistence to succeed, Joel.  

We have now reached the end of the year and all students should have received one Star or Merit certificate this year.  However with the lack of formal assemblies for most of this year and certificate presentations in class for most of the year, one may have been missed.  Please let me know if this has somehow happened as I would hate for any child to miss out on celebrating their learning, achievement and involvement this year.  

Excursion

Yes -  1K are the winners!  I am just in the planning process for our big excursion to Eagle Heritage Bird Sanctuary in Margaret River including booking buses.  We won't need any parent helpers for the day but you are more than welcome to meet us there for the morning.  At this point it will be during the last week of school either be on Monday morning 5th December or Thursday morning1st due to opening days.  I will let you know further details once everything is confirmed but we are all excited to celebrate this wonderful initiative win from Busselton City shire transport and sustainability program.  We will go there for a walk around, watch the birds of prey show and have morning tea before returning back to school.  What a great way to end a fantastic year together.

Semester Two Reports 📰

Grades and comments are being finalised into next week and formal reports will be sent home in electronic form via SEQTA on the final day of term.  

Our Semester Two reports grading align with the Western Australian curriculum and achievement standards for Year 1. We encourage you to read the first opening page of the report which explains what each grade letter means in association with the SCSA WA curriculum rather than thinking about the grade letters we used to receive in our schooling years.  A 'C grade' on your child's report is likened to an average achievement grade and relates to the majority of the WA year 1 population achievement/progression level of the curriculum and our OLC reports also include their personal values and attitudes for their learning. 

If your child receives a 'C' grade, this is the expected level of achievement. 

I am so proud of how far they have personally all come over the semester and their dedication towards achieving individual goals. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions at all or wish to meet and discuss anything at all over the last two weeks.  

Seesaw Journal

Please take some time to review your child's seesaw learning journal to get a snapshot of what they have been learning and how they are achieving this term.  Each term we have posted a sample of reading, writing, number and three other learning area samples with one more upcoming post left for the year.    

Vinnies Christmas Hamper Appeal 🎄
Each year at OLC we take time to be thankful for our blessings and to assist those in need by contributing to Christmas Hampers distributed by the St. Vincent De Paul Society. This year boxes will be located in EACH CLASSROOM and families are invited to contribute specified items. Please look out for boxes coming your way in the next few days. The Year One classes are asked to donate pantry items such as: pasta, rice, biscuits, crackers, sauces, jams, condiments, (basically any non-perishable good food, which can be used beyond Christmas). Please no baked beans or tinned vegetables.

Important Dates

Friday 2nd December: Year 1 Assembly

Wednesday 7th December - OLC Christmas Concert

Friday 9th December: Colour run & last day of Term Four

Thanks for your ongoing support.

Penny and Gemma