SES Blog

Dear Parents,

Before the mid semester holiday, we participated in The Great ShakeOut (Earthquake Drill). The children were alert and quickly curled themselves into a safe position before ducking under the tables. They then walked calmly to the assembly point on the soccer field. It was a valuable experience that helped them understand the importance of staying safe during an emergency.

As part of our Grace and Courtesy lessons, we learned how to sneeze and blow our noses properly, and what to say in polite situations: When you hear someone sneeze, say: “Bless you.” The person who sneezes should say: “Excuse me.”

Thank you to all the parents who took the time to attend the Language Workshop. Your participation made the session engaging and interactive.

We are also happy to share that the first week of classroom drop off and pick up went smoothly. A few children are still adjusting to the new routine and showed some hesitation at first, but we are confident that with continued consistency, this will soon feel more familiar.

It was wonderful to welcome the mums who joined us for the birthday celebration this week. We truly enjoyed hearing your stories about the children’s milestones and special moments.

We are also excited to share that we will soon welcome you for the Parent Lunch Visit. Our very first session will be on Monday. Please plan to arrive and leave on time so that the next classroom routine can continue smoothly. More time slots will be available in Semester 2, and we will post the schedule in January.

In Week 9, our focus was on the sense of smell. The full day students explored how smell can influence taste by comparing the scent of spring onions while tasting pears and apples. They also enjoyed a fun ‘smell and go seek’ game, where they used their noses to locate hidden scents.

We also celebrated Diwali, a joyful week filled with art and cultural learning. The children created Diya lamps and Rangoli patterns using glue and coloured sand, and came to school dressed in vibrant Diwali attire. They listened to presentations about the story and traditions of Diwali and ended the celebration by dancing to the lively song “Chittya Kalayia”, which celebrates bangles, dance, and beauty.

Important Dates Semester 1

31 Oct : Halloween Dress Day – Parade in the morning

27 Nov : Montessori ‘Peace Performance’ 11:30 am

12 Dec : School finishes 12pm

13 Dec – 5 Jan : School Holidays

Year 1 additional learning covered – Week 9 and 10

Phonics   

To identify sounds represented by more than one letter, for example /ch/, /th/, /qu/, /ng/, /ay/

To use phonic knowledge to read decodable words. Reading and writing CVC words,words with adjacent vowel / consonants using sounds covered, words with double consonants such as bell, mess, mitt, back. 

Language / Literacy – Reading. Guided Reading groups – Practising fluency of reading and gaining the confidence to recognise sounds and blend them to read words and sentences.  Reading comprehension, to be able to answer direct questions about the book.

Language / Literacy– Weekend news

The children planned their writing by recording key words on their planning sheet:. ‘My weekend snapshots’. They concentrated on choosing plausible graphemes that match phonemes to write simple regular words and to attempt other words.

Language / Literacy– Grammar analysis

We are continuing to learn what a sentence is made of: an article, a noun,an adjective,a verb, a preposition, a conjunction. We looked more closely at the function of articles and nouns in sentences. 

Maths – 

Addition

We reviewed how to add using the counting on method with a number line and combining two sets to find the total

Place Value 

We reviewed the concept of ‘place value’ using unifix cubes and numicons Maths materials. E.g 14 is 1 ten and 4 units.

Time

The concept of time can be quite abstract for a child. We began by brainstorming the vocabulary used such as : month, year, day, week, minutes, seconds, hour, clock, yesterday, tomorrow. The children played various games to help them understand the concept of time. For example, the children counted how many jumps they were able to do in a minute ( we used a sand timer). How many days are in a week? We learned the names of the days and which order they go in. The children completed a written activity sheet. They were able to practice how to spell each word correctly.

Kind regards,

Montessori Team