This week…Mon 5th Feb 9am start – 3.30pm finishTues 6th Feb 9am start – 3.30pm finish

Music and PEWed 7th Feb Assessments – no schoolThurs 8th Feb 9am start – 3.30pm finish

ArtFri 9th Feb 9am start – 3.30pm finish. Buddies session.

Our Learning Intentions…LiteracyLetters A & S

Students will be introduced to the alphabet letter by letter. They will be exposed to various learning styles in the teaching of these letters in order to ascertain their understanding through various tools; such as cued articulation, hands on, visual and oral.

Numeracy For students to be able to identify, write and differentiate the numbers 1, 2, 3.

Integrated For school expectations to be introduced to the children, focusing on positive behaviour through tools such as "Have you filled a bucket today?"

Social To ensure students feel safe and comfortable in their classroom environment and school surroundings.

Wednesday’s Assessments 7/2/16Time Prep K Prep W Prep C Prep Y8.40am Lydia Morris Calise Leaver Caleb De Brujn

9.20am Ava Trsek Samuel Barnes Elodie Le Gall Ava Malpass

10.00am Charlie Johnstone Dane Brown Janelle Domantay Hope Williams

10.40am Eden Hobbs Ruby Vatsaloo Leo Hall Harper Wells

11.30am Jordan Stamatis Liam Whitaker Alexander Dimitriadis-Castillo

Bessie Cooper-Davies

12.10pm Jacob White Matilda Carson Chloe Ashton-Smith Isaac Bull

12.50pm Nicola Sloan Oscar Geelen Emily Jewell Laura McCrae

2.30pm Nate Turner Raina Gerrard Jack Green Isla Frost

3.10pm Maeve Buenen Saxon Elvey Harper Wentworth Sunny Payne

Prep PatterTerm 1, Week 2

Birthdays! Charlotte James-Sanguinedo – 4th Feb

A big Happy Birthday to those that celebrated their special day in the holidays too!James Dell – 16th January

Alexander Dimitriadis-Castillo – 7th JanuaryJanelle Domantay – 29th December

Finley Taylor – 27th January Indiana Bearup – 2nd January

James Linden-Koska – 10th JanuaryCharlotte Perry – 25th January

The journey begins – Primary school. For some of you this is a new experience, for others, another child to join us at Tecoma. We are all excited about the year ahead!

Thursday and Friday were our settling in days – A perfect introduction to school. Your child will have experienced lining up, eating snack with their buddy and playing in the playground at recess. They will have been on a tour of the school and talked a little bit about what school is all about. Our second week will be used to establish routines, learn about the letters S & A, the numbers 1,2, & 3 and participating in specialist lessons. Be aware your child will be EXHAUSTED by the end of the week – this is normal!

If you ever have any concerns please pop in and see us! We are always happy to discuss your child – no matter how big or small the issue. We walk the children out each afternoon, giving you another opportunity to see us.

WednesdaysJust reminding everyone that Prep Students don’t attend school on Wednesdays until after the Labour Day long weekend, unless they have their scheduled assessment. Please see above a list of all the students that have their literacy assessment, which commences next week (Wednesday the 7th of Feb).

ReadingBeginning next week, your child will be bringing home a Take Home Book each night. With teacher guidance, the children select their own books from designated boxes in the classroom. We would like you to keep a record of your child’s reading in their Home Reading Record Book. We will discuss with the students the importance of enjoying a book, even if they can’t read it! Looking at the pictures, finding letters and words they might recognise, pointing to the words as someone reads to them and learning new things from books are all of the things we wish to achieve with Take Home Books. As the year progresses the students will bring home varying levels of difficulty depending on their reading ability. Take Home Books are not meant

to be difficult – they are used so your child can go home and practice the skills they are learning in class and so they can share with you a ‘little bit of school’ and show you how clever they are. Reading time at home should be a stress free and enjoyable time where they are able to develop a love for reading - it is important that a regular pattern of nightly reading is established from early on in a child’s life.

Letters of the WeekThroughout terms 1 & 2 we will be investigating two “letters of the week” through a series of reading group activities, brainstorms, craft activities and writing activities. The focus letters are always listed in the Prep Patter. The students will begin to learn the Writers Word List 100 Words at home and this encourages them to recognise words in a wide range of contexts. This is a fun way to learn the 100 most used words and each child will be monitored to check their progress. Each child will receive a certificate to celebrate their achievement, when they are able to successful identify and spell all of the words in a set.

Learning about your childOur whole school focus this term is Identity. Could you please send a family photo in with your child ASAP so that we can learn about their lives outside of school. Thanks!

General InformationN.A.T. BAGS This year we will be using the green N.A.T (Notices and Take home reading books) bags. If you have not already packed this in their school bag can you please do so? Can all art smocks, library bags etc. please be brought in. In particular library bags - as children cannot borrow books if they do not have a bag. Please ensure these are clearly labelled!!

School NewsletterThe school newsletter is available online each Thursday afternoon through the school website – www.tecomaps.vic.edu.au. On the website there is a link where you can request for a notification email to be sent to you, so that you know the Newsletter is online. There are also a small number of hard copies available at the office. Download the FlexiBuzz App to receive updates and important information from the school. NOTE – Apart from this first edition, the Prep Patter is a paperless newsletter and will be sent out via FlexiBuzz at the end of every week. Please download the app to stay up to date with important and exciting news!

Change of ClothesFrom time to time the Preps have accidents... Can you please ensure your child has at least a spare pair of underwear and socks in their bag. A spare pair of pants/shorts is also a good idea. This saves the students embarrassment and it saves us a great deal of time when we can assist them in changing in the Prep room. Thanks!

TissuesA donation of one box of tissues per student for classroom use during the year would be greatly appreciated.

Money/noticesAll money is to come to the teacher in a clearly named envelope with the excursion etc. written on the outside. Please note, that if a permission form has not been received by the designated date (usually 3 days before the event) then your child will not be able to participate in the planned event. So please ensure you check the NAT bags for notices and get your notes back ASAP.

Welcome BBQHopefully you all will have received a letter inviting you to our Welcome to Tecoma BBQ, which will be held on Tuesday 6th February from 5:30pm – 7:30pm, outside the Foundation Learning Centre. Can you please let us know ASAP if you are able to come (number of adults and number of children) so that our School Council, our Parent Network and our staff can provide enough food for all who attend. Please be aware that this is a no-alcohol event.

Here’s looking forward to a fantastic second week!

If you have any queries at all, please don’t hesitate to ask us.

Regards,

Lauren K Hayley Felicity Lauren C