First Week of Year One!
Hello parents!
What an absolutely brilliant, fantastic, wonderful couple of days of Year 1! I am so blessed to have such an awesome bunch of children to be a part of the 1C team. We were busy little bodies all day learning about the big world of Year 1, how to eat and play in the 'big school', all having our own desk to work at, how to get things out and pack away at the end of the day and even went to the new Book Bunker library with the 1K class to read a story together. There was lots of questions, lots of answers, lots of learning and a little bit of fun too! Stay tuned for some photos of our first day of fun in the blog post at the end of the week.
I'm going to attach below this post some information from the previous blog to help out a few parent questions but please feel free to email me anything else you are wondering. There will also be a detailed powerpoint for the Parent Information Night (class meetings in person are currently cancelled due to COVID) that I will send a link to you at the end of this week with further details which may answer any other questions you may have. A couple of things that popped up today that might help you too:
-Crunch and sip is in addition to recess food. This is an initiative we do at OLC in all grades 1-6 Children are encouraged to bring in a single serve or fruit or vegetables to have as a mid-morning break. They can bring this in a small container or just a plain piece of fruit which they can leave on their desk on the placemat. Please note that yoghurt, crackers, cheese, pretzels etc are not a part of this initiative but are welcome to be included in their recess snacks instead.
-Students only need to bring into the classroom their crunch and sip and water bottle until we begin homework folders and home readers. In Year 1 (and beyond all the way up to Year 6) hats stay in bags and go to and from school. Hats can be worn to and from school or they can just live inside the bag at home so they won't be forgotten.
-We ask that you send into school the plastic homework folder that you used last year in Pre-primary as we will reuse them again this year to hold our homework book and reading folder by the end of the week if you still have it lying around the house somewhere as these are very durable and last so well being transported each day to and from school. We have other green folders available to use so it is no problem if your child no longer has his or hers around.
- I ask kindly that you continue to wait back near our gate entrance or outside in the courtyard area on the other side of the gated area until the bell at the end of the day, weather permitting of course, as the area around our bags and Early Childhood entrance doors can become congested and difficult for your child to see you at pick up time.
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 Hughes as a education assistant for each morning this year, Mrs Hughes 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.
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 1C 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. If your child regularly goes to pick up lane and is aware of the 'normal' procedure for their family then that is fine too and no need to add to the communication book. Students catching the bus can add their names to the bus roster outside the double doors near our room to ensure that a teacher collects them and takes them to the correct bus line up area.
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.
Sport
Wednesday: OLC Green sport shirt
Friday: Faction shirt
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.
Monday: LIBRARY with Miss Christie bring library bags and books
Tuesday: HASS with Mrs Martin
Wednesday:
Thursday: Indonesian with Ibu Katana
Friday: Class sport Year 1 combined (wear coloured faction shirt and black shorts)
Friday: Music with Mrs Sherbourne
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 Hughes 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 1C 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:
isobel.christie@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.
Warm Regards
Miss Christie
Comments
Post a Comment