Mrs Sherriff’s

Year 1/2 Class Newsletter

Waiker ie Lutheran Pr imary School

TERM 1 — 2016 Edition 1

IMPORTANT DATES

Wk 1: Thurs 11th Feb @ 6pm

Parent Information Session

Wk 2: Tues 16th, Weds 17th & Thurs 18th Feb, from 6pm Parent/Teacher Sharing after school, from 6pm

Wk 4: Fri 26th Feb @ 6pm

Welcome Back BBQ Wk 5: Fri 4th March @ 8:50am

‘Grandfriends Day’ in the Hall

Wk 6: Fri 11th March

WLPS Sports Day Wk 7: Mon 14th March

Adelaide Cup Public Holiday

Wk 8: Fri 25th March

Good Friday Public Holiday

Wk 9: Mon 28th March

Easter Monday Public Holiday

Wk 10: Fri 8th April

Mid Murray Sports Day at Blanchetown PS

Wk 11: Fri 15th April

Last Day of Term

Welcome to 2016!

It has been fantastic to see the students excited and eager to get back into school routines, and we have had a wonderful Week 1, getting to know each other. Thank you also to those parents who have introduced themselves to me, as I endeav-our to get to know you all also. I feel very blessed to be part of Waikerie Lutheran Primary School, and have been warmly welcomed by all the students, staff and parents alike. Thank you! I look forward to continuing to build these relationships with you and your child throughout the year.

This year brings many exciting changes in both the class-room, and whole school, as we implement school-wide Literacy and Numeracy Blocks, tailored to meeting the educational needs of every student. I strongly encourage you to attend the upcoming Parent Information Night on Thursday in Week 2, where Mr Borgas will explain this new initiative in further detail, with a whole-school address in the Hall at 6pm.

This year, our class will also be working closely with Mrs Beelitz’s F/1 class. We will be joining together for Unit of Inquiry lessons, some Literacy and Mathematics, as well as some Hands-On Learning opportunities; whilst other lessons will run independently.

I am really looking forward to seeing your child grow, learn, develop and challenge themselves throughout the year; and I am excited by the opportunities that lay ahead. Please re-member that I am always available to discuss any queries or concerns you may have about your child, or their time at school. I am here to work with you, to provide the best learning opportunities possible for your child.

Special Days of the Week

Monday: Assembly at 3pm (all welcome) Tuesday: Library Borrowing Day

Music with Mrs Burgemeister Lunch orders due in morning

Wednesday: Lunch Orders available Indonesian with Mrs Canney

Thursday: P.E. with Mr Borgas School finishes at 2:30pm

Friday: Chapel @ 8:50am (all welcome)

IMPORTANT EVENTS:

This will be held on:

Thursday

11th February

@ 6pm

I encourage all parents to attend this night to gain a greater understanding of classroom organisation, weekly routines and learning opportunities for your child this year. There are some significant changes from last year, so I urge all parents to attend, including the opening address in the Hall at 6pm.

As the F/1 and 1/2 classes will be work-ing closely together this year, Mrs Beelitz and myself will outline what this will look like.

Please check week 2’s school newsletter for further details regarding times and rooms.

Parent Information

Night

Optional Parent/Teacher Sharing Sessions

This is offered in Week 3, on Tuesday 16th, Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th February, after school from 6pm. This is an opportunity for me to meet with parents one-on-one, to further get to know you and your child, and to discuss any concerns you may have about your child’s learning needs, or their social or emotional development. Parent/Teacher sharing is not compulsory, but it provides you with an opportunity to mutually share information about your child with their teacher. An appointment booking sheet will be available on Parent Info Night, and later hung on the noticeboard outside your child’s classroom. Please be sure to schedule an appointment if you wish to participate in these sessions.

There has been a further change of date for the WLPS Sports Day.

It is now scheduled for Week 6 — Friday, 11th March

WELCOME BACK BBQ Wk 4—Friday, 26th February @ 6pm

All families are invited to attend the Welcome Back BBQ , held on Friday evening in week 4. This is a fantastic oppor-tunity to meet other school families from within and beyond our class. Also on this night, there will be an election of 2 parents as the Parent Representatives for School Council. Please be sure to complete and return the RSVP form from Week 1’s school newsletter, so that appropriate catering arrangements can be made. Hope to see you all there!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

A friendly reminder that it is a require-ment of all schools in Australia, that chil-dren wear a hat when outdoors. This is a sun-smart and child-safe initiative.

If students do not wear an appropriate sun-smart hat at school (i.e. no caps), they will not be allowed to play outdoors, and will be required to stay under the shades in the quadrangle area.

Children have a dedicated storage pocket in the classroom to keep their hats at school, to avoid it being left at home or forgotten. Please be sure to clearly label your child’s hat with a permanent marker on the inside brim.

SCHOOL LUNCHES

It is important that children eat healthy lunches when at school. There is a definite correlation between healthy food intake, and a healthy brain to make for more effective learning. At WLPS, we have a nut minimalisation policy to protect

students with allergies to nuts. This means that any food brought to school should NOT contain nuts (i.e. no

Nutella or peanut butter spreads. Please check muesli bars carefully, as some may contain nuts). Children are not permitted to share food with others at school, unless specified by the teacher. This reduces any reactions to food by those with food insensitivities, whether known or not. Children have a 10-15 minute eating time at the beginning of Recess and Lunch. Children are asked to eat as much of their lunch as possible; placing the remainder back in their lunch box to return home (so you know how much they have eaten, and if there is some-thing they dislike. This gives opportunity for you to talk about this at home with your child).

WATER BOTTLES

With the warmer weather upon us, it is vital that your child brings a water bottle to school every day.

Water is crucial to healthy brain func-tioning, and is essential to your child’s learning.

* REMINDER *

Please ensure that all clothing, hats, lunchboxes, containers and water

bottles are clearly labelled, to avoid belongings ending up in lost

property.

IN THE CLASSROOM:

NEWSTIME All children have been allocated a set newstime day each week, to present a short talk or show-and- tell related to the particular topic for the week. The weekly topic is related to our Unit of Inquiry, and is an integral part of our learning, and skill de-velopment in speaking and listening. I encourage you to help your child by finding something of interest, relevant to the topic, and to discuss this with your child to help them in their preparation for sharing. A handy checklist, along with a list of Newstime weekly topics, and allocated student days, was distributed last week. If you have mis-placed yours, additional copies are available from the pocket organiser on our class notice board, just outside our classroom. Newstime commences in Week 2, with the first topic being ‘something from the holidays’.

HOMEWORK & READERS As per previous correspondence home, this year we are implementing changes to the teaching of reading, spelling and writing. As per the Australian Curricu-lum, WLPS will be using decodable readers to support and develop children's’ early literacy skills. These de-codable readers are currently in the process of being delivered and prepared, ready for home use in the near future. Meanwhile, your child is encouraged to borrow ‘Just Right’ books from the library, or a ‘lucky dip’ reader from the silver reading box, as their home reader. Phonetically coded High Frequency Words and a Home Maths and Literacy pack will be discussed and distributed on Parent Information Night, in week 2; and I strongly encourage all parents to attend this evening as instruction will be given on how you can best support your child at home, in line with the new school- wide changes.

GETTING ALONG

Our first Unit of Inquiry (UOI) is entitled ‘Getting Along’.

In this unit, we will be discovering how we can get along with others (in our classroom, in the school, in our family, with friends, people in the commu-nity, and across the globe). This UOI will be an integrated unit of work, encompassing many learning areas, including Christian Studies.

COMMUNICATION BOOKS

Your child’s Home Communication Book is a vital tool in helping to keep the lines of communication open be-tween home and school; especially for those parents who are unable to make it into the classroom before or after school Please be sure to check this book regular-ly for notices and updates on your child’s learning. This book can also be used to communicate messages about illnesses, absenteeism or any other important infor-mation about your child; or to request a time to meet with me in person, or via telephone to discuss any queries or concerns you may have.

HANDS-ON LEARNING This year, our class will be participating in Hands-On

Learning opportunities with Mrs Beelitz’s F/1 class, first up on a Monday and Tuesday morning.

Hands-On Learning has proven to be a valuable time for children to develop their social, communication, thinking, self-management and cooperation skills. It allows children to create, imagine, develop self-confidence and language skills, and to model, think and test ideas in a safe environment. Our Hands-On Learning activities will be used to help ‘unpack’ what a friend is, and will link explicitly to our UOI ‘Getting Along’. This learning time has proved to be a highly successful format for developing students social, communication, and problem solving skills; as well as fostering positive attitudes and dispositions towards school … children actually look forward to coming to school on Monday, so you don’t have to fight Monday-itis! :)