Term 1 Weeks 3 and 4

Year 1 Drama Toolbox Incursion

Year 1 students thoroughly enjoyed their recent Drama Toolbox incursion. Students were engaged through drama, story telling and dance through exploring the wonderful world of Minibeasts. Year 1 loved dressing up in beautiful costumes as insects such as Spiders, Butterflies, Caterpillars and Ladybirds to explore the way minibeasts moved depending on their size, shape and features in the garden environments.

Year 1 playing Grammar Communicative Games

Term 1 Weeks 3-4

Dear Year 1 Parents,

What has been happening in Year 1 this term?

The sounds and sights of daily life in Year 1 energises us each and every day. It is a wonderful privilege to be part of such a dynamic environment filled constantly with a myriad of emotions, encounters and experiences. We are only four weeks into the school year, but the girls are hard at work and we are pleased they have settled into their new routines.

We have had a fantastic start to the term in Year 1 and there have been lots of exciting new things happening. In Mathematics, we have been learning about Numbers and counting by 2s, 5s and 10s. We have also been identifying two digit numerals and identifying numbers around our school.

We have been developing our artistic skills through the use of oil pastels, glitter and paper techniques. Our students have created some butterfly spectacles and snail collage artworks.

In English, we began the term by reflecting on our holidays and many students composed some interesting recounts of their adventures! We have been busy investigating Minibeasts and writing Information Reports and Descriptions on Snails and Earthworms. 

In Grammar, we have been studying the purpose of Nouns and Synonyms. We have worked on using synonyms to improve our sentences.

Reading has also been high on the agenda and we have explored different narrative styles in reading lessons and have been trying to predict the ending of a story. We have also loved reading to our Parent Helpers in the mornings!

We have had a busy week of learning.

We hope you have a wonderful week! 

Kind regards,

Mrs Lena Cooper and Mrs Alison Larkin

Children’s Story Books

I read an interesting article concerning children’s reading. There were comments from authors Jackie French (Australian Children’s Laureate) and Andy Griffiths as well as the thoughts of Gail Erskine, President of the Children’s Book Council of Australia.

What I found insightful was the comment made by Emeritus Professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Canberra, Dr Belle Alderman, who said that educators should look at why children do not read. “All kids love stories. Rather than saying they are reluctant readers, what is it we aren’t giving them to make them want to read and enjoy it?” Andy Griffiths, a former high school English teacher was inspired to start writing children’s stories after he became aware of how many of his students did not read. What a life-changing decision that was for him!

As an aside....this is why we, at Danebank, go to great pains to ensure that children will be matched to “the right book”. One of our Core Values says it like this; “Engaging learning through quality teaching across the curriculum with innovation and creativity”. It is such a gift to be engaged in your learning by falling in love with a good book, and our Library is certainly full of so many of them. One of the joys of being a teacher is to find that perfect match. Please never hesitate to contact Mrs Jamieson (Librarian) or drop into the library, should you ever need help to match your child up with books that she might fall in love with.

On this topic, Jackie French offered her suggested reading list:

Books for 2-6 year olds:

Rudie Nudie” (Emma Quay)

 “The Pros and Cons of Being a Frog” (Sue deGennaro)

(These last two were short-listed last year).

 “Greetings From Sandy Beach” (Bob Graham)

 “Irresistible books for younger readers”

 “Tashi” (Anna Fienberg)

 “The 13 -storey (and 26-Storey and 39-Storey) Treehouse (Andy Griffiths)

 “The Terrible Underpants” (Kaz Cooke)

You may have noticed she modestly did not list any of her own books. I will say that anything written by Jackie French is a sure winner!

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge

Mrs Jamieson will soon be handing students their Premier's Reading Challenge username, password and Reading Log.

We encourage every student to keep reading and to keep your book lists, as you will be able to use these books for the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge. If you are having trouble finding books for PRC, Mrs Jamieson is happy to help you. We don’t have all of the books from the PRC in our School Library, but we do have many of them.

Year 1 students need to read 25 books from the PRC list and 5 personal choice books. The PRC begins on 1 March and students are expected to read the 30 books by 24 August. Happy Reading!

You can find the PRC book lists at the following web address:https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/ prc/booklist/home.html

PM Home readers

Thank you to all the wonderful parents who so kindly volunteered to cover our 650 new Home Readers! We were overwhelmed with offers. The books have now been distributed as evenly as possible across the K-2 classes based on receipt of the forms. If you did not get books to cover this time, do not worry! There will be a next time! We will keep your name on file for the next round. Thank you once again to all those who wanted to help. We really appreciate it.

Parent Reading workshop

There is  Parent Reading workshop run by Mrs Sharon Williams (Learning Support teacher). This is a great opportunity to hear about strategies to assist you with helping your daughters to learn to read. The Reading Helper Information Morning will be held on Wednesday 8 March at 8am in KB classroom. This workshop is essential for parents assisting with the Year 1 Parent Reading program. A flyer will also be sent home promoting this information morning soon. 

Pencil Grips

The Pencil Grips have arrived at the Junior School Office. If you would like to purchase a pencil grip for your child, please encourage your child bring $3.50 in a marked envelope. The Cross Over pencil grips have been recommended by Occupational Therapists and encourage correct pencil grip and reduce writing fatigue.

Sun Safe 
Students are not allowed to play outdoors at recess and lunch unless they are wearing their ‘red hats’. Please make sure that your daughter has her ‘red hat’ with her each day for sun protection. Please also ensure your daughter's red hat is labelled.


Junior School Photos 
Our school photos were taken this week. There were many wonderful hairstyles and smiling faces for the occasion. The photos will be delivered to the school soon and we will send them home with the girls.


Move More, Sit Less, Every day!

Does your child get up to 60 minutes of physical activity every day? The guidelines recommended by the Department of Health encourage children to sit less and be more active and the use of electronic media for entertainment should be limited to less than 2 hours per day.

Being physically active is good for kids’ health, as well as being a great way for them to make friends and to develop physical and social skills.

Children are individuals – they grow and develop physical skills and abilities at different rates. Providing opportunities for active play, will allow your child to continue to grow and develop at their own pace. It is important to promote healthy bodies and minds, and to limit children’s sedentary behaviour, regardless of how much physical activity they do.

What are the benefits?

Social Benefits

·Creates opportunities for fun with friends.

·Reduces anti-social behaviour, including aggressive and disruptive actions.

·Develops skills such as cooperation and teamwork

Emotional and Intellectual Benefits

·Improves self-esteem and confidence.

·Improves concentration and management of anxiety and stress.

Health Benefits

·Reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

·Improves physical fitness, including coordination and movement skills.

·Reduces the risk of unhealthy weight gain.

·Builds strong muscles and bones.

·Promotes healthy growth and development.

Children’s daily physical activity does not have to be done all in one go. The 60 minutes can be accumulated throughout the day.

Remember, even if your child doesn’t play sport, there are lots of activities they can do. Being active in a variety of ways will help children get all the benefits.

So…10 minutes before school, 20 minutes walking or riding to and from school and 30 minutes of active play after school = 60 minutes.

Help children to grow strong bones and muscles by encouraging them to:

·Skip, run, hop and jump.

·Climb or swing on monkey bars and climbing frames.

·Play games like tug-o-war and hopscotch.

·Do structured activities like dance, gymnastics and martial arts.

Be active every day in as many ways as you can!

More information about healthy living, including references to other Australian Government guidelines concerning healthy weight and healthy eating, can be found at www.health.gov.au.

Does your daughter get enough sleep?

It is important that children receive a minimum of 10 hours of sleep a night. Children who do not get enough sleep have a reduced capacity for learning. They become tired and irritable during the day and also have a reduced threshold for coping with friendship and peer problems. Research also correlates a lack of sleep to childhood and adolescent depression, obesity and anxiety. Please do not accept your child’s complaints that “all the other kids go to bed much later than me”. TV and computer use prior to bed-time can also stop children from settling and disrupt sleep cycles. If your child complains about going to bed at a decent hour, tell them “Mrs Cooper and Mrs Larkin said!”… We are happy to have a little chat with her because we want your daughter to learn well and be happy at school.