Kindergarten team updates

Kindergarten Team – Term 3

Dear Families and Friends of Kindergarten,

Welcome to Term 3! It is hard to believe we are now entering the second half of the year. You will no doubt start to see some big changes in your little people. So far we have been developing our skills as self-managers and positive contributors, this term we introduce the learner assets of ‘I am a Thinker’ and ‘I am a Collaborator’. These life-long learning skills are part of our ‘Turner Learner’ profile and is part of the globally essential skills our young people need to help them thrive in the big, wide world.

Dates for your Diary:

Please make sure you are receiving our fortnightly school newsletter for all the information you need regarding school events, processes and changes. If you are not receiving the newsletter, please speak to the front office team.

8^th August: Athletics Carnival (more information in the newsletter)
9^th August: 8:30- 9:30 – Parent Literacy Workshop Session in the hall. Please come along to learn more about our approach to teaching literacy at Turner School.
12^th and 13^th August: Kindergarten Health Checks
14^th August: Excursion to Questacon
16^th August: Opening Ceremony for our STEAM festival
26^th – 30^th August: STEAM festival (more information in newsletter)
22^nd August: P&C Trivia Night fundraiser for parents (more information in newsletter)
28^th August: Junior Assembly, 2:10pm in the hall
26^th September: Kindergarten Learning Journeys and Maker Expo (details to come)
27^th September: End of term fundraiser (details to come)

Term 2 Big Question: ‘How do Tinkerers Tink and Thinkers Think?’

Our inquiry focus this term is driven by our biannual STEAM festival and the physical and chemical sciences strand of the Science curriculum, investigating different forces, movement and materials that impact the way things move. We also incorporate the idea of being a ‘thinker’ and developing skills to articulate our ideas, connections and learning in multiple ways. We are very excited to have the Academy of Future Skills join us again, who will be collaborating with us to explore movement and forces through technology. We will be developing our skills in recording observations, designing solutions and giving reasons for predictions.

Excursion

In week 4, we will be visiting Questacon for two hours to explore the lego exhibit as a way to tune us in and build excitement for our STEAM festival in week 5. Our festival tag line this year is ‘Tinkering Takes Time’- and what better place to ‘tinker’ than at Questacon! Notes will be sent home soon.

Library

Library borrowing sessions are every Friday for all of Kindergarten.

Volunteers

If you would like to volunteer in your child’s classroom or across the kinder team, please get in touch with your child’s teacher. Now that we are in more of a routine, we would love to welcome you. All regular volunteers need a Working with Vulnerable People Card (WWVP), available through the Access Canberra website. There is no cost for volunteers to obtain this.

Reminder

Our school day starts at 9am. That first half an hour in the morning is so important to set their day up for success. Students can be dropped off before school at the pergola between 8:30 to 9:00, where they will be supervised by a teacher on duty. If you are running late in the afternoon, please contact the front office directly by phone. Students will be supervised in the front office until you arrive. If you need care outside of the 8:30am-3:00pm please contact our After School Care provider to enrol.

If you would like to contact your child’s class teacher to discuss their progress, email is the best option. Please allow 3 working days for a response as per our communication policy.

We are looking forward to another successful and fun term!

The Kinder Team:

Kayla Gifford (Team Leader) Alice Winchester (KAW) Imogen McKeon (KIM)

Lee Young (KYL) Jane Frazer (KYL & KIM)

Learning Overview for Kindergarten- Term 3

Please find below the achievement standards from the Australian Curriculum) that will frame your child’s learning experiences.

Learning Area

Focus

Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards

English

Writing

Reading

Speaking and Listening

Visual Literacy

Term 3 Mentor Texts. These guide a majority of our literacy lessons.

Shares thoughts and preferences, retells events and reports information or key ideas to an audience
Uses language features including words and phrases from learning and texts
Orally blends and segments phonemes in single-syllable words
Identifies the language features of texts including connections between print and images
Names the letters of the English alphabet and knows and uses the most common sounds (phonemes) represented by these letters (graphs)
Reads words including consonant/ vowel / consonant words and some high-frequency words
Retells, reports information and states their thoughts, feelings and key ideas
Uses words and phrases from learning and texts
Forms letters, spells most consonant/vowel/consonant (CVC) words and experiments with capital letters and full stops

Mathematics

Number

Addition

Subtraction

Position

Mapping

Length

Mass

Makes connections between number names, numerals and position in the sequence of numbers from zero to at least 20
Partitions and combines collections up to 10 in different ways, representing these with numbers
Represents practical situations that involve quantifying, adding to and taking away from collections to at least 10
Identifies the attributes of mass and length and uses direct comparison strategies to compare objects and events
Describes the position and the location of themselves and objects in relation to other objects and people within a familiar space

Science

Physical Sciences

Chemical Sciences

Identifies factors that influence the movement of an object
Describes the observable properties of the materials that make up objects
Engages in investigations and makes observations safely
With guidance, compares their observations with their predictions
Shares questions, predictions, observations and ideas about their experiences with others

PE and Health

Fundamental Movement Skills

Social/Emotional Learning (SEL)

Fundamental Movement Skills rotations
Exploring SEL through mentor texts
Applies fundamental movement skills to manipulate objects and space in a range of movement situations
Identifies and demonstrates protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies to keep themselves safe

The Arts -

Visual Arts

Music

Weekly art sessions with Vineeta
Integrated art lessons aligned with our inquiry focus
Participate in music activities, keeping in time and listening to pitch when they sing and play
Describes experiences, observations, ideas and/or feelings about arts works they encounter at school, home and/or in the community
Uses play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to create and share arts works in different forms

Technology

Design/Make/Appraise

Digital Technologies

Kindergarten Maker Expo: Week 10.

Aligned with our mentor texts, STEAM festival focus, technology outcomes and measurement strands in Mathematics, students will design and make something for a car, house or school for the future. These will be on display during learning journeys in week 10 for parents to observe the learning process involved.

Creates, communicates and chooses design ideas
Identifies familiar products, services and environments and develops familiarity with digital systems, using them for a purpose
Follows steps and uses materials and equipment to safely make a designed solution for a school-selected context