Carnegie Primary School

Prep Information 2008

Before your child starts school

TERM DATES FOR 2008 PREPS

1st Term: An eight week term, Thursday 31st January to Thursday 20th March
*Preps become five days a week from Monday 10th March*

2nd Term: A twelve week term. Monday 7th April to Friday 27th June

3rd Term: A ten week term. Monday 14th July to Friday 19th September

4th Term: An eleven week term. Monday 6th October to Friday 19th December

Please note the Preps will start on Thursday 31st of January, one day after the other students.

The prep children will commence school on Thursday 31st January 2008.

During Term 1, Preps will not attend on Wednesdays until the week beginning the 10th March.

On the remaining four days, children will attend from 9.00a.m. - 3.30p.m.

Please see the Principal if this will cause your family some difficulties.

Individual Prep School Entry Assessments will also be carried out on the five Wednesdays where possible. Your family will be notified if your child is required for an appointment on one of these days.

PREPARING FOR SCHOOL

BEFORE YOUR CHILD STARTS SCHOOL

Leave your child for periods with another adult to help him/her gain both independence and confidence that you will return.
Have practice play lunches and lunches in his/her lunch box before he/she starts school. This will familiarise him/her with the procedure and show you the difficulties caused by "Glad-Wrap" and lunch boxes that are difficult for little fingers to handle. It would assist both the teacher and your child if a small play lunch could be packed quite separate from the lunch.
Train your child to say his/her full name, address and telephone number. He/she should be able to repeat this information clearly when asked.
Please teach your child to put on shoes and tie shoe laces correctly. If your child is unable to tie shoe laces, buy shoes with clips, buckles or Velcro that your child can handle.
Be sure your child can use the toilet unaided and knows how to flush it, and to wash his/her hands afterwards. Be sure your son understands how to use the urinal.
If possible walk your beginners to school so that they know the way (even if you intend to drive them).
Give your child challenging and interesting things to do. Puzzles, games, sorting activities etc.will all make school work so much easier. Recognising jigsaw shapes will one day help them recognise the shapes of numbers and words. Provide activities with scissors, paper, plasticine, paints, crayons, etc., giving plenty of opportunities to practice with them.
If you have any doubts about your child's hearing or eyesight, take him/her to your doctor before starting school. Poor hearing or eyesight may affect your child's progress at school.
Please ensure that your child knows how and when to use the school crossing. If you drop them off by car, it is most important that he/she still walks along to the school crossing to cross the road.
Talk about how long the school day will be e.g "It's as long as Kinder, but you'll have your lunch after that, and perhaps some stories and then I'll come and get you." Talk about the difference between 'playtime' and 'lunchtime'.
Teach your child to put on a coat, a jumper and a bomber jacket without assistance.
Develop a sense of responsibility in your child by encouraging him/her to keep his/her room tidy, put their used clothes in the laundry, etc. At school, one activity has to be tidied up before another can be started, and carrying out basic responsibilities at home helps children adapt to responsibilities at school.
Help your child's developing independence by allowing him/her to tackle appropriate tasks by himself/herself, and praising both the effort and the result.

THE FIRST FEW DAYS

On the first day, if tears start - assure your child that you will pick him/her up at home time, kiss goodbye and leave. Tears usually cease very soon after the parents are out of sight. We would always contact you if your child didn't settle. Please keep the 'before school' routine as calm and 'normal' as possible.

Most children are very tired after their school day and many need an earlier bedtime or extra naps on weekends or after school to 'catch up'. Your child may not wish to discuss his/her day at school, or he/she may give you every detail - always show interest in what is offered and peruse any work that is brought home. Parents provide the strongest role model for their children and your interest and encouragement will be reflected in the efforts of your child.

Please try to be punctual at all times. Ensure your child is at school on time and you are there to pick him/her up after school. Bringing your child to school late means they miss morning routines and end up feeling different or anxious.

Please make sure your child attends school regularly. Absences are a handicap to a child's progress. The first year at school is most important so unless your child is ill please make sure he or she attends school every day. A written note is always required after an absence.

If you are concerned about any aspect of your child at home or at school please make an appointment to see his/her teacher or the Principal.

SUGGESTED LUNCH

Children eat their lunch inside supervised by their teacher.

The lunch need not be large - one round of sandwiches and a piece of fruit in most cases is sufficient. If the lunch is taken in a paper bag, name and grade should appear on the outside. Plastic lunch boxes and drink bottles should be clearly named. Please note that glass bottles should not be brought to school.

Wrap another piece of fruit or small snack separately for the child to eat for play lunch at morning recess.

We encourage "no litter lunches" and request where possible that food is placed directly into lunch boxes, eliminating paper and plastic wrapping which are the cause of much schoolyard litter.

HELPING YOUR CHILD LEARN TO READ

Until now, you have been your child's main teacher. Now the school is sharing this task with you.

Your child will have many new experiences at school. One of these may be learning to read. It is important to note that while the development of reading skills follows a similar pattern for all students, the time taken to do so will vary with each individual.

Encouragement is the key to making sure that your child develops confidence as a reader and enjoys reading now and in the future.

Quite a lot is now known about what happens when we read and programs such as "Early Years Literacy", which is followed at Carnegie, reflect this. Reading is more than recognising or sounding out words. It is seeing print and attaching meaning to it; it is sharing ideas and information.

For example: To read the sentence "The dog jumped over the fence" with understanding, we need to know:

Here are some ways you can help your child have the experiences needed to become a successful reader.

HOW TO HELP

Encourage your children to talk with you about everyday things - things you see when out shopping or in the car, television programs, things children draw or build. In this way you extend the words they understand and the ways they can share ideas through language.
Read stories to your children every day. The stories may be in English or in any other language your children understand. Make it an enjoyable time - perhaps at bedtime. Through stories, you share your pleasure in books and help your children get to know the language used in them.
As you read, hold the book so the children can see it too. You might run your finger smoothly along under the lines as you read, so that children become aware of some of the features of print, such as where to start reading. Encourage children to join in the parts that they know by heart, thus building confidence in their ability as readers.
Not all print is in books. The breakfast table usually has plenty of print on it - on the cereal packet, the margarine container, the bread wrapper. So do road signs, service stations and shops. Whenever your children comment on this print, respond enthusiastically - for example "Yes, the same word is on the label too. Can you find it?"
When children draw, or when you have been talking together, write down one of their sentences and stick it up on the wall or the refrigerator. Encourage the children to write too. Their writing may at first look like scribble, but it means something to them. They are learning how to communicate through print.
When your children bring home sentences from school, ask them to tell you about the sentences. It doesn't matter if the words aren't exactly right. Sometimes they won't remember what the sentence says., so ask them to tell you about the picture. Then you can respond, "That's what it says, doesn't it: 'I am riding my bike.'"
When your children bring home their first books, share their excitement with them. At first they will 'read' by remembering the sentence patterns or looking at the pictures. This is a natural stage in learning to read. As they begin to understand more about reading, they will use the print message more. The most important thing is that you encourage them to make sense of what they read. If what they say doesn't make sense, repeat it and ask "Is that the way we say it?" or "Does that make sense?" If children get stuck on a word, don't ask them to sound it out unless it is a simple phonetic word e.g dog, sun, cat etc. Ask them a question that will give them a clue to the difficult words such as "Where were they going?" or "What do you think they are doing?"

Try to

Make reading time a pleasure, not a chore
Let your children feel that they are doing well
Encourage their attempts to make sense of what they read, instead of drawing attention to their mistakes.
Give children clues to help them work out unknown words instead of making them sound out the words.

CLASSROOM ASSISTANCE

Teachers value the assistance of the many parents who come to school regularly to hear the children read. A notice about helping in this way and in other school programs will be sent home early in the year.
An information session will be held for those parents who wish to assist in the classroom.
The school will run a 'Literacy Patnerships' course for interested parents early in the year. This excellent program gives you an understanding of how children learn and shows how you can help your own child learn to read and write at home. Information about this will be sent home.

COLLECTION OF MONEY

Parents are encouraged to pay the excursion levy as a bulk payment with the booklist and contributions. The collection of money for other payments such as swimming lessons, camps etc should always be through the classroom teacher who, after recording the amount, will send it to the main office. By observing these procedures you will assist us with our accounting process.

Please enclose correct money in an envelope labelled with your child's name, grade, amount and nature of payment.

EXCURSIONS

First hand experiences - gained through excursions - provide the stimulus for a significant part of our educational program. Further, in order to assist your child's social development it is most important that he/she participate in these group outings.

On each occasion, when organising an excursion, you will be notified and we will seek your written consent.

We value parent assistance in the supervision of students during excursions. Please notify teachers if you are available to help in this way.

REQUIREMENTS

Classroom requisites are bought in bulk, and are charged as part of the booklist. There is also a levy to cover consumables i.e. photocopy paper, computer ink and cartridges.

Our School Council is asking all parents to contribute to a Voluntary Contribution Scheme. This money is used to maintain and improve our buildings and grounds.

Families eligible for the Education Maintenance Allowance may use this to pay for the booklist.

UNIFORMS

The Carnegie Primary School Council encourages the wearing of our school uniform and has in place a school dress code.

GIRLS:
Summer dress
Navy blue shorts
Gold or blue T-shirt with school emblem
Navy blue tracksuit with school emblem

BOYS:
Navy blue shorts
Gold or blue T-shirt with school emblem
Navy blue tracksuit with school emblem

School hats, school bomber jackets and school bags are also available. We are a SUNSMART school hence suitable hats (wide brim or legionairres) must be worn during Terms 1 & 4.

These items can be purchased from the Office in the main school building (form enclosed). Uniform can be ordered on any day but will only be filled on Mondays.

Please label any clothes that may be taken off, as well as things such as lunch boxes and school bags.

** Each term a significant amount of clothing is left unmarked and unclaimed.