Our Foundation Teachers

FS: Kathy Seator | FH: Lauren Heard | FM: Alexandra Macias 
Welcome Parents/Guardians

Starting school is an exciting time for both children and parents. At Oak Park Primary School we strive to ensure that our Foundation students feel comfortable in their learning environment and are eager to learn from their very first day at school. We aim to meet the needs of all our students by providing a stimulating and engaging curriculum which includes real-world learning experiences to further develop curiosity and understanding within our students.

Our classroom based programs focus on Literacy, Oral Language, Numeracy and Challenge Based Learning. In addition to these students are also involved in:
  • Weekly specialist programs of Physical Education, Visual Arts, Japanese and visit to the school library.
  • An Extensive Transition Program. Four Sessions are held in Term Four to introduce students to the school and learning environment.
  • Buddy Program with Grade Six students. Each Foundation child is paired up with a Grade Six child to form friendship, meet and complete activities together in the classroom and sometimes play with each other in the breaks.
  • 1:1 BYO iPad Program
  • A range of Incursions and Excursions throughout the year to further develop students' knowledge on rage of topics.
  • Each student is presented with a Student Learning Record (SLR Portfolio) each semester. The SLR Portfolio contains work samples which illustrate the students learning across the curriculum.
Important Dates ​
  • February 24th - Final day of Foundation Student Entry Assessments
  • March 1st - First full week of school begins for Foundation Students
  • March 8th - Labour Day Holiday - No School
  • March 12th - Billy Cart Grand Prix
  • April 1st - Last day of Term 1 (2pm Dismissal) 
Welcome Back to Term 1!!
Behalf of Oak Primary School we hope everyone had a safe break! We have lots of exciting things happening in this term.
​
Literacy
This term students will begin to develop their awareness of Concepts of Print. For example:
  • Understanding that print relays a message
  • Identifying the title, author and illustrator
  • Reading pages and words from left to right
  • Word to word matching
  • Distinguishing between a picture, letter, word and sentence.
Students will also begin expanding their phonological awareness skills, which is strongly linked to early reading and spelling success. This will involve:
  • Recognising phonological patterns such as rhyme and alliteration.
  • Awareness of syllables and sounds within a word.
  • Hearing multiple sounds within words.
They will be exposed to a Cued Articulation program to develop their knowledge of letter and sound relationships, with a focus on recognising the initial sound of a word. Students will be introduced to a small group of sounds/letters every one to two weeks and will engage in a variety of activities to help build their ability to recognise that letter by name and sound. 

Literacy - Writing
In Writing this term, there will be a strong focus on developing students’ ability to write their name correctly and learning where to use uppercase/lowercase letters within their name. They will also be explicitly taught how to hold and use a pencil correctly. Our Fine Motor Skills Program is aimed at developing the strength required to correctly grip and manipulate a pencil. Students will be taught how to write letters of the alphabet by focusing on a few letters each week. They will learn the correct starting point and formation of both uppercase and lowercase letters. Students will also practise how to write the common words we have learnt through our Tricky Word Program. 

Mathematics
In Mathematics this term, students will be exposed to counting forwards and backwards to 10 and beyond. They will experience a wide range of ‘hands-on’ activities involving counting, recognising numerals, making collections and sequencing numbers. Students will acquire an increased understanding of numbers to ten and how they can be represented in different formats such as numerals, words and pictures. They will learn about the various ways to make single digit numbers, e.g. seeing numbers as being made of two or more parts. Students will also be exploring non-number concepts such as measuring and comparing objects based on their length and height and initial understandings surrounding time (yesterday, today, tomorrow, days of the week and months of the year).

Inquiry
As part of our Inquiry program, students will be exploring the concept of ‘Identity – We Belong!’. As part of this unit, students will explore the ways in which they belong to different groups, such as their family, classroom, school and local community. They will investigate their rights, responsibilities and personal connections within these different places. Over the term, the students will learn about our three school values, ‘Resilience’, ‘Respect’ and ‘Responsibility’. They will be taught about the growth mindset approach to learning and how it enables us to develop a positive attitude towards challenging tasks. Students will begin to understand that mistakes help us learn and that greater effort leads to greater achievement over time.