Welcome to Miss Cuskelly's Prep/1 class.

Hello and welcome to Prep/ Year 1.

I am your teacher for Term 1, Miss Jo Cuskelly. I hope you all had a great holiday period and are ready for an exciting school year.

During the first part of the year the Prep/ Year 1 children will be busy simply learning how to be school kids!  This means a focus on social and personal learning and establishing of routines.

Your child will be learning to:

·    Participate in a group

·    Take turns

·    Participate in planning and reflection discussions

·    Eat lunch out of a lunch box without dropping it

·    When and where to go to the toilet

·    Make sure they don’t lose their hat

·    Not cry when their parents or carers drop them at Prep/1

·    Make friends

·    Use words to solve conflicts

Learning in Prep/ Year 1 will be achieved through investigations, play, real-life situations, routines, and focused teaching and learning episodes. Our Prep/ Year 1 classroom aims to make connections between children’s prior experiences and what they will be learning at school. Therefore it is fitting that our Term 1 program be titled ‘All About Me’.

Our term will be begin with a look at what it means to be Australian and in the first week we will be cooking like Possum Magic and enjoying ‘Australian’ food at a picnic on Friday with the other junior school classes. Throughout the term we will also be investigating our community, families, friends and pets as well as a look at our bodies (the 5 senses, healthy choices, hygiene etc.). Because the Prep/ Year 1 program is child centred and directed by what the children know and are interested in, this outline is extremely flexible.

In Term 1 the focus will be on:

* The Year 1 children will be following this program including more focused literacy and numeracy experiences as well as working closely with Mrs Cameron’s Year 1/2 class.

Parent Helpers

Early in the year it is important that children gain confidence in being an independent part of the classroom. For this reason we ask that parent’s not be ‘in-room’ helpers for the first few weeks of term. There is however plenty of ways that parents can still contribute! (Eg. washing paint shirts, cutting out magazine pictures, gathering natural materials etc.)

One of the most enriching ways that you can help your child at school is simply by reading to them for 15-30 minutes each night!

If you are interested in being a parent-helper, register your name at the school office to be part of the Learning Assistance Program in Term 1. This program will help support your role with specific information around literacy, safety and behaviour.

Parent Communication

We will be organising a set of communication pockets to help support the communication process between home and school. They are currently being made so we hope to have them in use by the start of week 2. These pockets will be located at the door of the classroom and will be clearly labelled. Newsletters, permission notes, order forms and special letters will be placed in each child’s pocket for parents to collect.

Week 3 we will have the opportunity to have a group parent/ teacher discussion, the details of this meeting will be in next week’s newsletter. At the end of this term individual parent/ teacher interviews will be available to discuss progress to that point in time.

In the meantime please contact me before and after school to arrange a suitable time to discuss any issue.

I look forward to a productive and enjoyable start to the year.

Kind Regards

Miss Jo Cuskelly

Prep/ Year 1 Class Teacher