KAY BOXALL
Reception Coordinator
2015 has been a very exciting year for Reception as we moved into an amazing new building full of wonderful facilities. Throughout Term One the excitement was building as the Cribb extension neared completion. During the Easter holidays the staff worked very hard to ensure that the new classrooms were ready for the boys to start Term Two. From day one the boys discovered many of the new spaces both inside and out and adapted very quickly to their new space, as young children do. The new facilities have enabled us to design many collaborative sessions with our neighbouring Reception classes. There are so many opportunities to be creative in our approach to teaching young children. Our new environment has meant we have thought about different approaches to many of the subject areas in the Australian Curriculum. The boys have realised that learning can take place in areas outside the classroom as well as inside.
Life in Reception is quite different to Preschool, but the boys took it in their stride and faced various challenges with a smile. Having such a large area to play in was initially a bit daunting for some, but with time they loved interacting with the Year 1 boys and making their own choices of games to play. They have enjoyed a variety of activities at different times of the year, including playing soccer and rugby, looking for bugs, climbing the spider gym, using the gross
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THE SOUTHPORT SCHOOL SOUTHPORTONIAN 2015
motor equipment and building forts from sticks found in the rainforest.
At the beginning of the year some boys were not quite able to write their name. Now the boys are writing sentences and stories. Each boy is on an individual journey and this is reflected in the adjustments that the skilful teachers make to the program to enable all boys to access the curriculum. The students are now very independent in their use of the THRASS chart and they are able to analyse their spelling words using the MASUTA Model.
In Maths the boys are now able to calculate addition and subtraction facts independently. They are counting in a variety of ways and love doing number work with the One Hundred Board. We now have enough computers in our classroom for the boys to use during our Maths and Literacy group times. Each week the students have also enjoyed going to the Computer Lab to hone their IT skills.
