Category: Foundation

Foundation Fun!

Foundation students have been engaging in rich language experiences over the last few weeks to encourage and build confidence in their emerging writing skills. Teachers prepared sensory activities, which allowed students to feel, smell, hear, see and even taste the things they wrote about. So far, we have used bubbles, ice cubes and feathers to stimulate our beginning writers to create fantastic pieces of work. Last week, Mrs Crundall brought in her popcorn machine and students participated in a popcorn language experience! Students even created a paper cone, decorated in patterns (linking to our current unit in Maths) and were able to enjoy a healthy snack while writing.

Last (very short) week in Foundation, our highlight would have to be joining in the whole-school celebration of Multicultural Day.

Students had a lovely time viewing the ‘Dance Around the World’ performance, embracing many cultures of the world as well as the comedy show ‘Ristorante Mangiabene’. The gelato van visiting the school was a favourite for our Foundation students who enjoyed the yummy gelato. Thank you to our families who assisted students with their costumes. Everyone put in a lot of effort and students were very excited to show their costume off… The teachers enjoyed dressing up too! Have a look at Miss Vounoridis representing Vietnam and Mrs Crundall representing Australia.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to our 2019 Foundation students and families!

We have had the most incredible time in Foundation this year. The Foundation teachers are so honoured to be a part of such a special year of school. We have learnt, laughed and grown all together – building memories to last a lifetime!

As our time together comes to an end, we must not forget to reflect on the year that has been. In the table below, all students were asked to share a highlight from their first year of school.

Foundation A   Foundation B     Foundation C

Mete – I love Maths because we add numbers.Amelia – I loved when we had Italian Day because I was cutting the tomatoes.Deniz – My favourite thing at school has been the firefighter visit.
Zayn – I have enjoyed Maths because we get to use cards and play games.Arya – I like playing with my friends.Strati – My favourite thing about school this year has been AFL day.
Paige – My favourite thing at school has been P.E because I love it.Breanna – I enjoyed the visits from the community helpers, especially the dentist Dr Ben.Jasmine – My favourite thing at school has been going to Italian.
Miles – I like Music because I like playing the xylophone.Victoria – I have liked making Christmas things especially making the Christmas tree crafts in Art.Alessandro – My favourite thing about school is when I do music and sing and hop on the stage.
Lucy – I liked Italian Day because I made passata.William – I had so much squeezing the tomatoes on Italian Day.Rojbin – I liked the school Fun Run because I liked eating the sausages.
Ava – I liked Book Week because I liked dressing up as Dorothy.Mariam – My favourite thing at school has been Italian, because I like writing words in Italian.Hayden – My favourite thing this year has been the Fun Run because I got covered in powder.
Lilah – I have liked making lots of friends this year.Scarlett – My favourite thing at school has been the disco, because I liked dancing.Yahya – I liked the school Fun Run because it was fun running through the obstacle course.
Natalie – I liked singing the alphabet in Italian.Josh – I enjoyed making a Chinese Dragon with my buddy.Thomas – My favourite thing at school this year has been Art because I like doing art work.
Leora – My favourite thing about school is doing morning activities on the iPads.Ethan – My favourite thing at school has been the Colour Run.Baxter – I liked making new friends at school this year.
Elijah – I have enjoyed learning about the 4 VCOP sections.Milla – I liked when we performed in front of everyone at the Specialist Showcase because all my family was there to watch.Daneen – I liked the Specialist Showcase because we got to sing and watch the other kids perform.
Jackson – My favourite thing at school has been Italian because I learn another language.Stella – This year I have made lots of new friends.Lulani – My favourite thing has been writing because we write lots of fun stuff.
Miette – My favourite thing is doing writing and reading because you get to write to exciting things.Sophia – This year I have loved learning to write.Elijah – My favourite thing at school has been seeing my Dad at AFL day.
Indiana – My favourite thing at school has been Music.Nia – I like to be in Foundation because you get to make new friends.Yves – My favourite thing has been Art because you can create things.
Moustafa – I love Music because it has instruments.Orlando – I like writing words.Aubrey – My favourite thing at school this year has been performing at the Specialist Showcase.
Louis – I have liked making new friends this year.Oliver – I like Maths because it is fun.Tiffany – I liked when I got to perform at the Specialist Showcase, I had a really good night.
Mia – My favourite thing at school has been Music because I love Mary had a Little Lamb.Rafa – I like doing Italian because I like saying words in Italian.Alessia – My favourite thing about this year has been making stuff in class.
Oscar – I like Maths because I am good at maths.Eli – I like reading because I like words.Jack – I loved footy day because you got to play footy for a long time.
Heidi – I love Maths because I like adding numbers.Emma – I have enjoyed the School Fun Run and all the other events.Jacinta – I like learning new things like counting.
Jack – I like PE because we do free bouncing and throw balls in the sky.Aydin – I enjoyed Inquiry because sometimes we make stuff.Stephan – I liked playing sport in PE.
Jack Will – I have enjoyed Art because we make stuff.
Mert – I liked playing with the guitars in Music.


Alyssa – I liked playing with my friends at school.

We encourage you to reflect at home and talk about such questions as:

  • What is something you did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?
  • What is something that was hard for you at the start of the year but is easy now?
  • What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

  • What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

Students have been very considerate of the less fortunate, especially over the holiday season and have generously donated to the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal. Teachers are very appreciative of how generous our students and families have been with donations. Students have shown a great deal of maturity and understanding during the collection of toys and gifts and teachers are so proud of them. We can tell the students feel good about giving back to the community too!

Have a look at Mrs Crundall placing all of our presents under the Wishing Tree!

Thank you for a wonderful year! We wish all students every success in the years to come!

Mrs Strouzas

Miss Vounouridis

Mrs Crundall

Miss Marsden

Andrew

Fairy Tale Fun in Foundation

Our Foundation students have enjoyed reading and discussing elements of fairy tale stories these last few weeks. This week, students helped create a class fairy tale by innovating on the text – ‘The Giant Turnip’. As we are growing sunflowers, we cleverly created our class book ‘The Giant Sunflower’. The students enjoyed seeing themselves as characters in the story and assisted with illustrations. Over the next few lessons, students will create individual fairy tales and short stories by innovating. Teachers are looking forward to seeing all of the imaginative stories.

Lots of fun in Foundation!

Welcome back! Foundation students have now settled into Term 4 and teachers have enjoyed listening to enthusiastic oral presentations about the school holidays.

Our students have been excited to commence the Inquiry unit ‘The Wonderful World of Materials’ The genius, Dr Know (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ms Vounoridis) returned to visit Foundation students to introduce the unit.

During the visit, students discussed the definition of ‘Materials’ and established that materials are used to make things. As a cohort, students brainstormed a list of materials found in the environment. 

Our students had the task of bringing in a toy from home so they could discuss and label materials used to create their toy. We had a great discussion as to why certain materials are used for various toys.

We had an opportunity after our writing task to reflect on the materials we discovered through our inquiry learning and sorted them into Venn diagrams. Students were able to find items that had two or more materials and place them in the Venn diagrams. We cannot wait to show Dr Know next week!

Foundation Fun in Term 3

Our Foundation students have had a wonderful Term 3. We have engaged in many new learning opportunities across our Numeracy and Literacy areas, as well as our exciting Inquiry unit ‘Living Things’.

Visit from Bunnings Warehouse

Earlier in the term, our Foundation students had the pleasure of working alongside Bunning’s team members to explore the Inquiry unit ‘Living Things’. Students participated in three (very hands-on) rotations to discover how nature represents itself as a ‘living thing’. Students asked valuable questions during the experience and made connections through learning about the life cycle of plants, flowers and trees. 

Direct experiences included: 

Planting a Seed…

Have any of your seeds sprouted at home? 😊

Flowers to Fruit…

Foundation students had the best time filling the pots with soil in an ‘Amazing Race’ competition style. These deciduous fruit trees live just outside the Foundation wing where we can easily observe them. Two have just started to flower! Maybe we will have some fruit later in the year?

Garden Project…

All hands on deck here! Foundation students take great pride in this area, so imagine how lush and beautiful this garden section will look when our students are in Grade 5/6.