Welcome to 1K 2021!

 

Hello and welcome to the 1K blog!  We hope you have all had a relaxing and peaceful holiday and enjoyed some of this beautiful summer weather!  We am looking forward to getting to know your beautiful children and working with you throughout your child's learning journey this year.

Year One is a favourite year to teach for both of us - we've both taught it for at least five years each and are very excited to be back for another year in the land of Year One.  It is a big, but exciting year where your child will, discover, grow, create, learn, reflect and experience an abundance of fun and interesting things in our class!  This year your child is lucky to have two class teachers!  Mrs Penny King will be teaching Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and Mrs Gemma Sorgiovanni will be teaching on Thursdays.  You are able to contact either of us anytime throughout the week via email and we communicate daily with each other.   

As a parent of a Year One student, it is extremely important to keep in mind that we all build on small successes.  Each child will progress at their own rate, acquiring skills as he/she is developmentally ready. Here are some ways you can help:

• Celebrate your child's success, no matter how small it may seem.  This will keep your child enthusiastic about learning and proud of their work!
• Stay updated on what’s going on in our regular blog posts – we will text you each time there is a new blog post. These will have important information and helpful reminders.
• Read to and with your child every day, if possible. The more your child is exposed to language, the easier it will be for him/her to incorporate new skills in reading and writing in the classroom.

 First day Information  

Our first morning when you arrive - Our present COVID guidelines strongly recommend reduced adult presence in the classrooms. This is a challenge for children and parents at the beginning of a new school year. I will be outside the classroom to greet and settle the children throughout the first week.  Students will only need to find their desk where their name is, put down their water bottles and crunch and sip and play with a game on the floor.  We are lucky to have the wonderful Mrs Jackson and Mrs Edwards as education assistants for each morning this year and they will be in the classroom every morning to help the students settle in and prepare for the day to start at the 8.40 bell. Parent assistance inside is not required if your child is happy to say goodbye in the bag area outside.  

 Once everyone is settled, a bell will be rung to signal ‘Mat Time’ and we ask all parents to leave by then. We will return to “Kiss and Drop” in two weeks once students are settled. If you are concerned about separation anxiety, then please email us before the first day.   

Please bring all your child’s stationery and place it into the tubs provided outside the classroom. It will be ticked off by a teacher or EA later in the day. 

 A few important things for the start of Year One: 

Class Blog

This blog will be the main communication for any parent information over the coming year.  Please keep your mobile and email updated with the front office to ensure you receive texts and email communication from us throughout the year.

Communication Books

This book will be kept just outside the door of 1K near the fence as a way to communicate with me how your child is going home if it is ever different to the norm and you would like me to remind them before they leave the end of each day.  Examples of this are “Sally will be going home with Bob” “Sarah is on orange bus”.  Please remember to ring the office if there is a change to pick or drop off routines throughout the day as we do not check email during teaching hours and break duties. 

Stationery

All class stationery (pencils, crayons, scissors etc.) will be collected together at the beginning of the year and distributed to the students on a shared basis.  This year, we are trying to reduce our impact on the environment by not covering our books with contact. We have found in the past that the books have lasted throughout the year and it teaches the children to be responsible and take care of their belongings. Headphones (If you ordered them) are the only items that require labelling. If you had headphones from last year, they have been passed on by the previous year’s teacher.

Names

Please ensure that all personal items (hats, drink bottles, lunch boxes, uniforms crunch & sip containers, etc) belonging to your child are labelled to avoid losing items! You would be surprised how often we find a rogue shoe around the place :) 

Uniform
Term one is our Summer uniform: 
Girls - Summer dress with brown sandals or black school shoes with white socks.
Boys - White shirt, grey shorts with brown sandals or black school shoes with grey socks. Please see school website for more information. 

 Bell Times

Doors open/gathering time: 8:30am - 8:40am (This is the time that your child will settle in, set up their desk and change their reader)

Learning begins: 8:40am
Recess: 10:40am - 11:00am
Lunch: 1:00pm - 1:40pm
End of School Day: 3:00pm for everyone, including pick up lane & bus. 

Children can be collected from the courtyard or can wait on the bench outside the Year Two classes.

New Policy for Early Leaving
This is a new OLC policy regarding early leaving - If you wish to collect your child early from school, you are required to come to go to the office first and sign out via SEQTA using the school Ipad.  

Homework
OLC is continuing to follow the Ian Lilico homework grid. More information will follow in coming weeks and please note that homework will not begin until week three and just a home reading book and red folder starting from Week Two. 

Home Reading - As the children are settling into the new routines and expectations of Year One, we will begin sending home reading books from Week 2 Monday - Thursday. We ask that your child brings their Red Reading Folder everyday so they can write the title of their new book in each morning during gathering time. On a Friday the folders will be left at school, as there will be no homework assigned over the weekends. There will be a tub placed at the front of the classroom for all the folders.

 Specialist Days

Monday:  LIBRARY with Mrs King- bring library bags and books

Tuesday: HASS with Mrs Martin

Wednesday: Indonesian with Mrs Katana

Thursday: Physical Education with Mrs Sinclair (wear teal OLC sports shirt and black shorts) 

Friday:  Class sport Year 1 combined (wear coloured faction shirt and black shorts) 

We highly recommend you add these special days of uniform/library book day to your family timetable or calendar. 

Support Staff
We are very fortunate to have the outstanding Mrs Letitia Jackson and Mrs Mary-Lee Edwards to help and support the children in their learning journey throughout this year.  

News

The children will be rostered on a particular day for news once a fortnight, with a roster and start date to be announced shortly. Each fortnight on the afternoon before your child’s news day, a bag will be sent home with some question prompts inside.   We won’t be starting news until next month once all routines are in place and you will be given this roster in a blog post.  

Crunch & Sip

Each morning before recess we will stop for a 5-minute Crunch & Sip break. The idea of Crunch & Sip is that the students have a short break to increase their energy levels, increase awareness about eating fruit and vegetables, as well as encouraging them to drink water and keep hydrated throughout the school day. You can refer to the Crunch & Sip website (www.crunchandsip.com.au) for specifics on a list of foods that can be packed for this time of the morning. Generally speaking, the list will include fresh fruit and vegetables (celery/carrot sticks, broccoli, chopped or whole fruit, as well as dried fruit). Please bring along a water bottle with your child's name on it and this can be placed on their desks along with their small container of fruit/vegetables. 

Canteen 

Canteen will run on Tuesdays & Thursdays & there will be a limited lunch time only menu on Fridays. Students are welcome to purchase food and drink at recess without prior ordering. If your child would like a lunch order, you can order online or can be ordered directly at the canteen. 

Class List 

There will be 25 wonderful friends in the 1K team! Please see the email sent this afternoon from administration to see the list of the class.  

If you have any question or queries, please don't hesitate to email us at:

penny.king@cewa.edu.au

gemma.sorgiovanni@cewa.edu.au

If you have any information that you think will be important for the first day, please don’t hesitate to email us as the first day is always such a busy time.

We am looking forward to seeing your little ones on Monday!

Have a restful weekend and we can’t wait to see you all. 

Penny and Gemma 

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