Foundation (Prep/Kinder) 2015 - Chat

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Our school provides a weekly school letter each Tuesday, a dedicated prep newsletter on Thursdays as well as communication via the "skoolbag" app. I'm really happy with their communication, although it can be overload sometimes Lol!

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The amount we get I can't complain about - indeed it is sometimes overload I think. It is the quality of it - incorrect dates, missing info all the time, and insufficient notification of things for my liking (personally I think if they want you to take time off work, organize care for siblings etc then a week is probably the minimum notice should be giving). Is a bit like that as long as they are sending out communications that is good enough, never mind if they are accurate at all - I don't mind if they are all paper based and come home with DD (like the ones from her teachers) but at least be correct.

They don't use skoolbag as far as I can tell (I have heard good things about that) (but seem to be trialing some other form of web based system Sentral???) - but again it is all a bit sketchy about where to look for what, and what the intention is. Maybe they are focusing too much on the delivery of the communication and not the content - doesn't matter how flash the method if the content itself is wrong or unclear a flash system won't help - I will find someone at the school to ask what the deal is.

Ahhh ok, incorrect content is a different story! The skoolbag app is really good, has a calender that you can put important dates in with alerts to remind you etc. Our school also sends text msg reminders for the important stuff too e.g. upcoming lap-a-thon, ride to school day and p&f meeting for the school fair.

Wow so much to catch up on again.

DD2 is going really well, loving school and had no issues going to the full week last week.
She is doing so much better than I thought she would with concentrating and no relying on her sister, her teacher said she is quite independent and works very well.

We have started StudyLadder now and the girls love it, DD1 had it last year so we had it for DD2 aswell so she has a rough idea of how to use it which really helps.

We have put forward quite a few ideas to the school for fundraising and the like but I haven't been able to make council meetings as it's the one night we do invoicing for the business, another member has put inn a motion to change the nights though as I would rally love to be there, she's apparently nominated me as 'community member' or something ;)

Tomorrow is DS's first Wednesday and DH is going to try kiss & drop both going to & from school. Term 1 Wednesday is now independence days where kids have to get themselves sorted in the classroom without help. Could be interesting ... DS has been wanting to do kiss & drop for a while already

I can't complain about communication, we have a class blog where the teacher posts updates/photos of what the class is doing and also reminders of things coming up and forms that need to be returned etc. Then there is a fortnightly newsletters for the school and stuff put into her communication book, and all of it so far has been accurate and timely.
It was funny a couple weeks ago I had to write a note for DD1 because she had been sick and out of all the things I've done in the transition to school, writing a note as a parent is the thing that has most hit home about being a school parent! Somehow the move from 'excusee' to 'excuser' really struck me even though it has been a loooooong time since my mum had to write a note for me ;)

DD1 is still loving school, totally loving learning to read and all the different subjects they do i.e. PE, library, computers, Art and Drama.

I have been listening to reading one morning a week, DD1 gets soooo excited when I am in the classroom which is pretty cute!

In SA we have to have a 'working with children' police clearance to do anything in the classroom like reading. I already had one from last year being on the Kindy committee so I was fine but lots of parents are still waiting for theirs to come through so aren't able to help. Do other states have this requirement?

Communication here is pretty sketchy, more vague then anything else.
They use skoolbag, fb, and traditional notes.

Dd is doing well though, and is fairly happy. Although she has been bitten twice at school and is being bullied by one little boy in her class. Her teacher is aware of it and taking action, unfortunately this little boy isn't scared of breaking rules.

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In SA we have to have a 'working with children' police clearance to do anything in the classroom like reading. I already had one from last year being on the Kindy committee so I was fine but lots of parents are still waiting for theirs to come through so aren't able to help. Do other states have this requirement?

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We had to (not sure if is school or state regulation), but the school are happy to let you start as soon as have the receipt that you have sent off for the clearance - but we have to do this parent participation thing (2 evening sessions, and one observation) so can't really start till term 2 anyway and the clearance came through really quickly (in VIC you do a load of stuff online then submit at post office).

We haven't had to have working with children's checks but being such a small school we didn't really go in and help with reading etc.

How is everyone going coming up to the end of term?

DD2 pulled her very first sickie last week, said she had a headache then told me she just wanted to stay home with mummy.
She DID have a headache but agreed she could have had some nurofen and she would have been fine for school, I think she was just a little tired and emotional.

Otherwise she is loving school, I really can't wait until mid year reports to see how she is going on paper - she has gone up to a level 3 reader this week so she is very excited.

Jamie's had a bit of a bumpy start he's awesome at his school work but he has issues with the other kids he lashes out when he's frustrated and I have a meeting to discuss his behaviour I have started with these steps yesterday with a photo someone posted on Facebook for kids to help manage their emotions
1. Remind myself that it is never ok to hurt others
2. Take 3 deep breaths or count slowly to 10
3. Use my words to say how I feel and what I wish would happen
4. Ask for help to solve the problem
5. Take time to calm down

So far it's working well even thought it's only been a day

He's getting an award on Friday at assembly and he was so proud of his work today he had to show me his story writing :) so no issues in the actual school front just his interactions if it was possible to have school with just him it would be perfect but unfortunately I can't homeschool so we will just have to work with him and the school to hopefully have a solution to his issues

After a rough start, with being sick etc she is doing so well now.
She has been star of the day twice & is just loving school.
Her teacher is fantastic & i honestly have no complaints :)

End of term tomorrow that has come quick. DD has fingers crossed gone on excursion today just to local park, the school were quite pessimistic about the weather yesterday but is nice this side of town today so I hope they went.

We did our Easter raffle today & DD2 won some eggs.
She is going to be thrilled when they call her name out this afternoon.
So looking forward to school holidays!

Term one done and dusted! DD1 has well and truly settled in and is doing really well. She got her blue words to learn over the holidays and is very proud of herself 😁 she said "Mum, when I got my yellow words, I thought I'd never move up but now I know my yellow, and red words and I'll know my blue words by the end of the holidays!"

DD1 is doing the colour word sheets too. She gets so excited when she finishes a level too. it is awesome. And she finds yellow, red... words everywhere.

i am loving the holidays, DD is calming down a whole lot. Really hoping she is refreshed and reenergised for the start of the term.

Jamie has his colour words too he's up to green but he's stuck on our, out, now and new and I have no clue how to help him know them
I made him flash cards with all his words and it makes learning them so much easier for him all I did was print the words out and stick them onto coloured paper and covered them In contact I also printed out the next set for him to have a go with in the holidays
He also has the reading eggs app on his iPad and he's really enjoying that

At the end of the term he got an award for maths and the teacher said he's really good at his story writing I'm so proud of how well he's doing and his social skills and issues dealing with other kids is improving as well we shall see how we go when he goes back

School is back tomorrow for us (VIC) - DD is excited. I am happy because holiday program doesn't do breakfast even though still starts at 7:30 (first day I didn't realize so poor DD was a bit hungry till snack time - whoops) - but before school does and when leave house at 7:15 getting breakfast in is a rush. Also happy that now are doing till 15:30 so will save me money on OHSC for the hour gap and also because on a Tuesday when not working the day won't be so rushed. Do other peoples holiday programs do breakfast? She really enjoyed the holiday program though, especially the excursions to museum and cinema - there was another child with the same name as her there (mixture of schools seem to use it) and is first time she has encountered that and thought that was cool.

We haven't started any words or reading yet - will be this week I believe. I think DD will love it, as every journey in the car at the moment is punctuated by her spelling things out and asking what they are/mean (we did a road trip over holidays and that game gets tiring for parents very quickly - especially if she gets cross because we have driven past too quick and can't work out what word she was on about).

DD1 is so excited to go back to school today that she thought a 6.15am wake up was a good start 😮 I'm up for work anyway but I wish she'd slept a bit a later!

Our holiday program does breakfast and afternoon snacks. We just had to supply lunch and morning snack 😊 DD1 loved her holiday program! They had excursions to inflatable world and big slide world and incursions of karaoke and lava lamp making.

Very excited to be back at school today.
We went into the classroom to see the Easter bunny had been, he left big white paw prints on the floor.
The kids were so excited.

Jamie did well at school today hope he can keep up the good work keeping up with his tips to keep calm

Our school holiday program didn't provide breakfast and unfortunately didn't go on any excursions im not sure that they do excursions and the kids were mostly preps so hopefully they will be doing it every holidays or I can just put him back into the daycare we use not sure just yet got 10 weeks to figure it out now lol but he did enjoy the smaller group and it was s bit easier on him he had one incident which included biting >.< luckily that was it the rest of the time they had nothing but good things to say about him hopefully he can continue to improve
The teacher thought he had a haircut 2 weeks is a long time not to see them I guess they grow so quickly at this age they would be a bit different to the last time she saw them lol

How'd the first week back go for everyone? We got the first "official" home learning matrix (homework) this week. It's six tasks to be completed over a 2 week period. As well as the standard learning (readers, sight words, numbers etc) they also have life skills/imagination tasks (eg. help Dad/Mum with dinner, make your bed, go for a family walk/bike ride and see what you can find etc). DD1 is very excited 😊

What's the girl/boy breakdown in other peoples classes? Our class (only 1 prep class this year) has 20 girls and 6 boys!

Jamie's class is about 2/3rds boys
He did a really good job this week he didn't hurt anyone but did get in trouble for going into the senior area I get why they have areas but it's hard for him to understand and he's always like why can't I go there I want to see my buddy

Our class is pretty much 50/50..

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Jamie's class is about 2/3rds boys
He did a really good job this week he didn't hurt anyone but did get in trouble for going into the senior area I get why they have areas but it's hard for him to understand and he's always like why can't I go there I want to see my buddy

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DD1 loves her buddy too but knows she's not allowed to go to the 5/6 area during recess and lunch time, even though she'd love to! . Our school does scheduled buddy activities twice a week (art, early lunches together, sport activities etc) with their buddies so they still get one-on-one time with them [emoji5]

DD's class is about 50/50 and I think the other 3 Foundation classes are pretty much the same.

First week back went well (first week of 15:30 instead of 14:30 finishes) - she was really excited to go back and still really enjoying it. We haven't really started readers yet - is this week I believe - but she is doing and requesting a lot of 'sounding out' of everything and now DS is too - it wears me out!!! School photos on Tuesday - you buy a pack before you have seen the photo - is that the way it works most places? We have a curriculum day a week tomorrow, DH job finished on Friday so at the moment she can stay home with him. Him not working means only one session OHSC for a bit too, I am looking forward to not having to wake either of them in the morning (they will probably both be up before 6 now they don't have to be though :-))

Yes we always order packs first, we had our pics taken start of March & still waiting.
Hanging out to see the pics!

We only have photos coming up on the 18th of May. Apparently they alternate the uniform seasons each year so this year the pics will be with kids in their winter uniforms ☺ We get to choose our packs after we've seen the pics.

For kinder photos we get to see them before we pay but school is pay before you see it was like that when I went to school
We have ours on Monday and a student free day on Wednesday we already had portraits for the preps in feb but photos again this time but we could pay online which was good

We got our photos back this week DD's is really nice. Had open evening due to education week today - DD was so excited to show us round and what she has been up to. She still seems to be loving it.

The school still irritates me somewhat not with the teaching which is most important, but just the communication stuff as normal. Each class must have about 5 kids who use before and after school care regularly - therefore meaning their parents are not picking them up or dropping them off to the classroom so putting notices for parents on the door to the classroom only is useless for the parents of those children - it isn't a difficult concept surely - everytime a notice goes on the door make sure it goes in the communication folder too - easy!.

No school photos yet here. First reader came home today! They had a library redevelopment so that delayed some stuff re readers but they've been learning the jolly phonics sounds & finally onto tricky words so DS1 was actually able to work out words today with DH. I was dealing with upset DS2 who didn't want to go to bed even though he was tired as. We're only just 4 weeks into term 2 here in SA.

We got our photos back & they turned great.

DD2 is doing so well, upto blue words now & just waiting to be tested so she can move up.
She's moved up 2 levels in reading as well.
I've been told she needs to work on her handwriting but that will come as she gets older.
Otherwise she is doing great :D

Jamie is up to reading level 5 got told hat he would be up to level 8 but he needs to improve on his reading comprehension

His teacher was away the first 2 days this week and he was really out of sorts and he was hurting kids again and not concentrating on his work and not letting me go in the morning but she was back today and he did heaps better

Still waiting on school photos can't wait

We haven't had photos yet, not sure when they are. DD1 is up to reading level 4 and really getting into it! For some reason she is reluctant to do her sight words but we are getting there with them.

She has been saying that one of the girls in her class has been excluding her from their games at lunchtime. There are 8 girls in her class and they all play together apparently, except her. Dunno, I have to chat to her teacher about it because when I am at school all the kids seem really warm and friendly towards her so not sure if part of it is her interpretation of things being a bit confused? Might email her teacher now actually....

We had photos last Monday, can't wait to see them 😊 although the day before we were at my sisters place and DD1 was playing basketball with her cousins and she ran straight into her cousins finger while trying to catch the ball and ended up with a nice graze and bruise under her left eye! Guess her prep photos will be a nice memory 😀

Dd1 is doing really well with her words, she's up to her violet ones. However, when it comes to reading she does struggle to recognise them!? 😑

Gee with her sight words, mix up the order as she does them, makes sure she's not reading them by rote, I do DD's in random order

Thanks hun 😊 we place all the words face down in no order then she sings the tic tac toe song they've learnt in class so she doesn't know what she's going to land on.

I just find it hard to understand she can do the game and knows the word as soon as she flips over whatever word she's landed on, but when it's the words all together in a book she sometimes struggles to recognise them. I've spoken to her teacher about it and she said she's noticed that too, so will be keeping a closer eye her.

Mmmmm interesting.....
Some kids find it easier to read words on coloured paper, perhaps print out a few on plain white and play that game, see how she does, my cousins DD is being tested for Erwins and she needs stuff on coloured paper or she uses see through coloured plastic sheets over books etc as it makes the words really pop out.

Wow, that's interesting! I don't *think* it's a paper thing though. Her indigo words were printed on plain white paper as the teacher had run out of the indigo coloured sheets at the time and she flew through learning them 😕 and a lot of her readers are printed on colour pages! my concern, which I raised with her teacher, is dyslexia. Her teacher doesn't think it's that as she said she would more likely than not, also really struggle with the sight words but she said she will be doing some extra exercises with her to see if it's just a development thing or if there's an underlying issue. As part of the prep year the school offered eye and hearing tests which she passed with flying colours.

Interesting that others are looming at dyslexia things - we have DS under the care of a behavioural optometrist for investigation into dyslexia or similar issues. At this point it appears that her vision is fine but her ability to process what she is seeing is delayed (due to the paws opthalmologist saying that she didn't need glasses when she was younger - and the probs she has mean she shoulda have had them long ago). Her brain and eyes have a bit of "lag" and it's causing impact at school. She is using colored paper for something's, has a colored "white" board, and has some exercises to do at home to help her brain catch up to her eyes. It is something that we need to focus on to help her out. Very frustrating seeing we actively pursued the paws opthalmologist and appear to have been given dud information- but such is life.

The colored paper and white board came about due to her fixing it easier to see on slightly colored surfaces - reduced glare etc.

How frustrating for you BG! Glad that you've got things in place to help your DD now 😊

We got our login details to book our parent teacher interviews yesterday (booking opens Monday 15), so we're definitely looking forward to that!

DD1 is very excited to have a lead butterfly role in the upcoming mid-year school concert in August 😁
We got our school photos back yesterday too, very happy with them and they only took 3 weeks to come back!

How is everyone else's little ones travelling?

We got our reports today - all very good and I really liked the format - more of a portfolio with report type bit sections than what I remember of school reports.

Parent teacher interviews next week - the bookings opened on Wednesday, but they gave us no information about how it would work (typical of them) and if students are meant to attend, so I emailed and they said yes students attend - and our sessions were booked accordingly (there is 5, 1 main class teacher and then the 4 specialists - no real idea if we are meant to see them all or not or some are optional (because school don't tell you anything) but I wanted to show DD that all were important so I booked for all 5) - and then today we get a letter saying for foundation students not required because is more 'purposeful' without! DD was already expecting to go and she will have to go to a couple because no one else to look after her as I booked them before school for her to go with DH.

So DD loves school is doing well and the teaching all seems great - but the place still irritates me a lot. They keep asking for feedback about their communications and I keep giving it and am sorting out going to some meeting next week but progress is slow.