AIMS AND BELIEFS
The Prep Team believes that every student should have the opportunity to achieve to the best of their ability in a safe and supportive environment. We believe that young learners need:

• Equal access and rights
• A safe, secure and supportive place to learn
• The opportunity to explore and take risks
• To be encouraged in their learning and feel good about themselves
• Teachers who inspire them with a passion for learning

LITERACY
The Literacy Program in the Prep team is based on the philosophies of the Early Years Literacy Program.

The program aims to develop the students’ reading, writing, listening and speaking skills through daily literacy activities and explicit teaching. Each session follows the Whole Class, Small Group, Whole Class structure.

Our classroom programs focus on:

  READING

• Developing an enjoyment of reading
• Using prediction of what is to come in the text
• Being able to retell a story preserving sequence and detail 

  WRITING

• Developing an understanding that writing is a form of communication
• Writing simple texts about personally significant topics
• Introducing children to a range of text types
• Establishing a base vocabulary of high frequency words 

  SPEAKING AND LISTENING

• Having opportunities to interact in structured and informal situations
• Expressing thoughts clearly
• Being able to follow oral instructions

LIBRARY
Students attend library sessions once a week. Students are encouraged to borrow books every week that they can share at home with their families.

NUMERACY
Students are involved in a wide range of activities through which they can actively build upon mathematical ideas in the following areas:

• Number & Algebra
• Measurement & Geometry
• Statistics & Probability

The program aims to develop mathematical thinkers by:

• Providing a range of activities that will involve the students in solving practical real-life problems
• Encouraging students to verbalise strategies used to solve problems
• Promoting a variety of ways to demonstrate understanding
• Building on existing skills and knowledge
• Encouraging the students to evaluate their own ideas

INQUIRY
In inquiry, Prep students explore new concepts through a range of engaging activities that encourage them to discover and wonder about their world. These are the topics we will explore throughout the year:

• Who am I? Who are we?
• How do we care for our garden?
• What foods keep us healthy?
• Why should we recycle?

These topics are explored through a variety of activities including Excursions and Incursions.

VALUES
In the Prep team, we believe that the teaching of values provides the foundation for building healthy relationships and establishing a safe and supportive learning environment.

These are some of the values we explore:

• Friendship
• Respect/ Tolerance
• Sharing/ Co-operation
• Responsibility