One of Willunga’s values is Responsibility and  we work every day to develop this indepence skills in our students.  One of the ways we do this is by giving them the morning jobs.  Up until now we have all been helping them with reminders and occasionally doing it for them but now we need to see how much has really been learnt.

David Langford, an American educator, tells us there are 4 stages of learning

The Four Stages of Learning are:

Information: This means you know that an area of learning exists.

Knowledge: This means that you can tell someone about the area of learning

Know-how: This means that you have achieved skills you are trying to learn.

Wisdom: This means that you know the material so well that you can teach it to someone else or that you retain that information forever.

We watch the children in the morning and we see students at all of these stages.

We hear/see and often find ourselves in these situations……..

You need to put your reading folder in the right place.   NO you do it

I can’t find my school bag.  Where did you put it?  I didn’t put it any where Mummy put it somewhere!

I haven’t got any lunch. Have you checked your tray? Yes.  Your school bag?  Yes. Do you have a lunch order?  No. – When the canteen orders arrive there it is!

I left my library book/ reading bag at home.  Did you put it in your bag?  No Mummy didn’t do it

We ask students to change their reading books then get notes saying they have had the same book for a week.

At the end of the day we are amazed to see all the students walk out the class with their bags on their back only to see then throw their bag at their poor parents who then walk away with 3 or 4 school bags.

SO NOW IT IS TIME TO TAKE A BIG STEP BACK.  Starting on Tuesday 22 nd until Wednesday 23rd we are asking all family members to say goodbye outside the class room and then let your child come in to do their jobs independently.

We will be talking about this a lot over the next few days to get them ready and it would be great if you did at home too.

We want to step back and observe and see who has learnt these skills and what stage they are at – can they help others or do it or will they wait for every one to do it for them!

Some parents find this week very difficult they believe that their child is too young to be able to do these jobs independently but just look at a child who goes to OSHC in the morning, they come in and do all their jobs with no problems, they ask if they are not sure – a very commendable skill.  We will of course be there to support and guide.

What an interesting week it will be!       Di and Leanne

Hello Room 25d Families,
I hope you had a relaxing Easter break with your families.
I would like to say a special welcome to Liam, Ishtah and Yazmin who started last week, and Brodie who started today and their families to our class.

So lets get Term 2 started.

School begins at 8:45 when the bell goes all students are required on the floor

Please check the white board in the window every morning and evening in case there are ‘special’ things we need to do before coming into class or you need to know for the next day!

Please take the time to read the whiteboard in the classroom every morning.   The notes up there are really for you (the parents) to help you keep track of what is happening/ upcoming events and special messages.

Where do things go?

Drink bottles on the top of the outside rack (terms 2/3) – In the warmer months we take them in and out every recess and lunch it is much easier to just have them outside.

Hats are also not required for play time during term 2/3 but we still use them if it is warm.  Please ensure your child’s hat is cleaned and returned. (They were sent home on the last day of Term 1)

Bags go inside the rack – especially with rainy weather bags on the top have been known to get very wet!

Lunch/Recess in your child’s tray    (Just a quick note on lunches – if your child cannot open/manage it by themselves please do not send it or open it for them and put them into an other container, for example cans of tuna, cans of baked beans, some packaging and please don’t send food that requires reheating!)

Brain Food (fruit) on  your child’s table.

Your child needs to change their book.   Level 1 books are out the front of the room, all others are out in the shared wet area)  – its all about making decisions/choices.   Don’t forget to keep practicing sight words as well.

Please try to find time to  stay one morning a week to help out with reading, the more times the children can read to different people the more success they will achieve, its all about confidence and having a supporting person to share their excitement and enthusiasm about reading with.  All you need to do is talk about the cover, (what the book might be about from the picture on the front) then read the book to them, read slowly and point to each word, after you have finished reading the book ask them to have a turn.  Now check their reading record book write in the name of the book and put a sticker in the box.  EASY!!

Library Books only need to come to school on TUESDAYS and can stay in bags, we will get them out on the way to the library which is after recess.

Show and share  Please remember that your child is only allowed to bring 1 item. Lately we have been getting ‘ boxes’ of treasures and it just turns into I bought this and this and this and this and this rather than thinking about the descriptive words we need to use – the who, what, where, when, why, the colours, sizes,shapes and  the associated feelings.

Monday – Daisy, Hayley, Maya, Brodie

Tuesday – Isabella, Lizzie, Cooper, Liam

Wednesday -  Nekeisha, Hunter, Morgan, Kurtis, Bailey

Thursday – Brock, Nathan, Ruben, Yasmin, Ishtah

Friday -  Cohen S, Cohen P, Cathan, Isabelle

Please return your child’s Sharing book (It went home on the last day with lots of learning samples it in.  We already have new work to put in but only 19 books out of 22 are back)

We have lots of things happening this term, we are putting up a display in the front office, go and check it out, we are doing an item at the next assembly in week 3,  the Reception classes are hoping to do an excursion to Kuitpo (still in the planning stages but we think week 5), a student free day on May 11th, Walk safely to school day on May 18th, a school disco (at lunch time) on May 25th,  and School Photos on the 20th June.  You can check these dates on our school website  www.willungaps.sa.edu.au or check our white board each morning for updates.

Don’t forget that if you have any questions please ask.

Looking forward to another fun filled term.

Leanne and Di

Wow what a busy day, Health Hustle, a Parade, Team cheers, dancing, skipping, obstacle course, relays, motor skills and sprints all in one day.  Thank you every one for all your help.  As you can see our class group are an amazing bunch, they listened carefully, and all joined in even all the little brothers and sisters. What a great effort!  Well done to Basset who won the day BUT… an even bigger well done for all being so enthusiastic and such great sports at your very First Sports Day.

On Tuesday we went down to the big garden to repot our little seedlings into bigger pots.  Glad we had some of the “Envirokids” and Karen there to help us.  While we were there we got to look at what was growing and help out an old friend!

Sports Day

Our 4 teams are Baxendale, Bassett, Jarbada, Atkinson. Team lists are on the white

board each morning.

On the Day

The children come to the class in the morning as normal  you might have time for reading but usually it’s all very hurried!.  We do the roll and then go straight out to the oval moving into our teams.  We practise getting into our team and the parade and health hustle a few times before the day!

Our first activity is the Parade and warm up Health hustle,on the oval, the children are in their teams for this and it’s great to see parents joining in and it gets the team extra points!.   Then students come back to me  (we also practice this) to start the JP activities. We will  begin in the drama room for dance and move on from there.

Children need to wear their sports day colour tops, bottoms can be any colour school blue or black is probably the least confusing. (no skirts or dresses with out bike shorts underneath please) Shoes suitable for sport and securely tied. Sun screen (applied by you) and hats (we will use school hats)  If you wish they can have face paint or hair colour but this is not necessary.

The children need a drink bottle for the day. They have to carry it themselves please don’t do this for them as we keep them together and if you are watching another child they get upset when they can’t find you or their drink.   All bottles need to be clearly named and able to be closed,  No fizzy drinks please!

Your child needs to stay with us for all our activities they can be with you for recess and lunch  – sorry they can’t go with you to watch brothers and sisters during our activities.

The canteen will be open all day and there will be a BBQ stall on the oval.  Please don’t buy them special food or drinks while we are doing our activities but wait for the breaks.

We will meet at a designated spot after (recess and lunch) ready to move to the next activity, will work this out together at the time.

Can we go home early?

After lunch we have our JP races, and your child  will get their participation ribbon at this time.  Then we have the whole school relay. (In each class the fastest boy and girl for each team is running) .  After this we sit together in a class group (we will be near the yellow team) so if you want to take your child to their team or if your child is getting tired and you want to take them home please let me know, I will cross them off my list and they are all yours!

What should I do if my child is “clingy”?

The class practices all the activities we are involved in and the children  happily join in during practices.  The best strategy is to tell them that if they don’t show you what they can do you will have to leave.  If they don’t join in, be firm, tell them when they are joining in you will come back, give them to me, and follow through. Come back in 5 and try again!  Be persistent it may take a few times.

Sports day is always a very tiring but a fun filled day!

If you have any questions   -   please ask.

This year our class participated in CLEAN UP Australia Day for Schools.  We were given the area down by the back car park and kindy and so we had a big talk about what was safe to pick up and what we had to ask Mrs Crockford to pick up and how we were going to sort the rubbish we picked up and what bag it went into.  It was a lot to remember but we were very excited to help.  We were only busy for a little while but we found lots of rubbish and even found a school ball to bring back.  It feels good to help clean up!