Year 2 ~ 2013 OLQP Greystanes

1. Year 2 ~ 2013OLQP Greystanes Learning together for the future

2. Unity Partnership Between Home and School I dreamed I stood in a studio And watched two sculptors there The clay they used was a young child’s mind And they fashioned it with care. One was a teacher The tools they used were books and music and art One was a parent with a guiding hand and a gentle loving heart. Day after day the teacher toiled With touch that was loving and sure While the parent laboured by their side And polished and smoothed it o’er. And when at last their work was done They were proud of what they had wrought For the things they had worked into the child Could never be sold or bought. And each agreed they would have failed If they had worked alone For behind the parent stood the school And behind the teacher stood the home.

3. Welcome to Year Two • Introducing the Year Two Teaching Team • 2O Ms Margaret Wade ( M,T, W, F) • Mrs Marianne Holohan ( TH ) • 2L Miss Danielle Smith • 2Q Mrs Marianne Holohan (M, T, W) • Mrs Jane Lavercombe ( W, TH, F) • 2P Miss Ashleigh Hehir • SUPPORT TEACHERS/ AIDES • Miss Cheryl Gunter • Mrs MartesMicallef “Our goal is to engage the children in their learning by promoting a collaborative community of learners. All children will be encouraged to achieve their full potential at their developmental stage by making choices in their learning across a range of intelligences. The children will be taught a range of cooperative learning strategies to promote collaboration. The Year Two Learning Team work collaboratively in planning, assessment and teaching in the learning space.”

4. A Day In Year Two • 8.55 am Class Routines ( Unpacking bags) • Year Two Prayer gathering • 9:15 – 11:05am LITERACY • JOLLY PHONICS • WRITING (2 classes)- Text Types, Spelling, Grammar, Handwriting • READING (2 classes)- Shared Book, Comprehension, Guided Reading (Rotated after approximately 50 minutes) • Talking and Listening is integrated throughout • 11:35- 12:05 RELIGION • The Angelus will be prayed daily • 12:05-1:05pm NUMERACY • Each class teacher with their own class • 1:45-3:05 pm THEME WORK incorporating • HSIE, Science & Technology, PDHPE, Creative Arts • Technology is incorporated in all Key Learning Areas

5. What does learning look like in Year Two? • You may be wondering what actually happens throughout the day! • Each class has their own class corner where each class gathers with their teacher for explicit teaching of new skills and strategies and when it is simply time to come together for some quiet learning time. • When it is time for paired, group or individual work, the children move throughout the learning space in areas that have been designated to share. • When the whole grade comes together, it is where we are sitting now. • Throughout the year, your child may work with different members of the Year Two teaching team during the day. • Not all children in a class will be completing the same task as we have a differentiated curriculum that caters for a range of needs. • - Literacy (Reading Response tasks at differing levels) • - Maths (Small focus groups/mixed ability ) • Library borrowing is on Tuesday • Sport is on alternate Wednesdays • Music is each Wednesday • Grade sport is on Friday

6. Children as the Centre of Learning In Year Two, focused observations and assessments allow us to plan for the children’s learning. • In Term 1 all Year Two children will be undertaking the following : • Mathematics Assessment Interview • Running records • Each class teacher conducts their own assessments to gather vital information and observations about each individual child.

7. Reporting • In Year Two, the children are allocated grades in accordance with government guidelines. • E- Elementary Achievement, experiencing difficulty and requires support to complete tasks • D- Basic Achievement - working towards grade level • C- Sound Achievement - achieving at grade level. • B- High Achievement - achieving beyond grade level • A- Excellent Achievement -achieving well beyond grade level • The majority of children will achieve a C grade which is considered working at grade level. • The Half yearly report is based on the first half of the year. • The End of year report is based on the second half of the year. • The grades are given to children based on assessment tasks, class contributions and observations of their day to day learning. • Assessment tasks are analysed. Those in workbooks will be highlighted with a coloured dot.

8. Student Management • At Our Lady Queen of Peace, all of our teaching is based on the Gospel values of Jesus. • It is imperative as parents that children are taught to respect themselves, each other, teaching staff and the school property if we are to maintain a cooperative Christian community based on Gospel values. We ask that all parents be supportive of school policies in regards to behaviour. • All children are expected to follow the school and class rules at all times. When children have made poor choices, we follow the Restorative Justice procedures where children are asked to identify what mistake they had made and how they could fix that mistake. This is guided by a teacher. • Any issues your child may have with another child must be dealt with by the school. Please consult your child’s teacher if you have a concern.

9. Parent / Teacher Contact • If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year, the first thing to do is to speak to your child’s teacher directly. Either send in a note, ring the office or drop in and see us before or after school. • We will be calling for parent volunteers at different times throughout the year. If you would like to become an active member of the Year Two Learning Community, please make sure your Child Protection Training is up to date. This training is available online. • There is a link to the Child Protection Training on the school website under student services.

10. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION • Religious Education is the core of teaching in Catholic Schools. In the Parramatta Diocese we follow the Religious Education Curriculum called Sharing our Story which is based on stage outcomes and key concepts in seven major content areas in the Primary school. These key concepts are: 1.     God 2.     Jesus 3.     Church 4.     Sacraments 5.     Scripture 6.     Christian Life 7.     Prayer • The development of faith is through reading, interpreting and applying the Gospels to our lives. Picture books are integrated into the Religion lessons that tell stories about life, people and values.  Children relate to these stories and apply them to their faith development. Prayer, mass, liturgies and the receiving of the sacraments are how we celebrate, live and give thanks for who we are as members of our Catholic faith community. Though Religion is explicitly taught through formal Religion lessons, Gospel values underpin the entire school day. • Parents are always welcome and encouraged to share our religious celebrations of masses and liturgies.

11. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION • New initiative- Schools in the Parramatta Diocese will pray the Angelus at noon daily to join in the beautiful tradition of prayer as a sign of  ‘unity, reverence and dignity.’ • Sacramental Programs are Parish Based • Reconciliation Dates to come

12. Mathematics- How can I help my child at home? • Maths today is about understanding number patterns, not learning by rote. • There is always more than one way to get the right answer. We ask the students to explain and prove their answers. • Children are taught various mental strategies, like using number lines, to figure problems out in their heads. • Count with your child whenever possible. Play counting games while travelling in the car and sing counting rhymes. Remember to count forward and backwards starting from different numbers. • Number Facts- If the children know, for example, that 5+2=7 is the same as 2+5=7, and relates to 7-2=5 and 7-5=2, then they know a lot of facts. The same is true for multiplication. If they know that 5 groups of 4 =20, they also know 4 groups of 5=20, 20 divided by 5=4 and 20 divided by 4=5. • Next they need to learn general principles such as adding 1, adding 2, doubles, near doubles (5 + 6 is the same as 5+5+1), adding 9 ( by adding 10 and taking away 1). For multiplication they can learn about doubling (x by 2) • Encourage your child to use money. Support your child’s efforts to calculate change. • Cook together -look at measurements, digital time, analog time also fractions when cutting up a cake.

13. Reading • Reading has always been an important skill. In our modern world it is more important than ever. • Daily reading at home is vital in helping your child progress in reading and comprehension. • Just as a child has achieved one learnt skill or strategy, there is always the next step to move towards. From the time children are born, they achieve particular milestones such as crawling, walking and talking at different times to others. Keep this in mind in regards to your child’s learning at school. For example, with reading, there is no magical moment when a child learns to read. It is different for all children! Avoid comparing your child’s reading level to that of another child in the class. The levels are there for the purpose of the teachers, as a guide to the strategies that need to be taught at that developmental level. Texts are given that are an Instructional reading level, given the child achieves 90-94% accuracy when reading independently. • As children read more challenging texts, usually beyond a level 18, our focus moves away from decoding to comprehension. By this stage, most children read with accuracy using a range of strategies, so hence levels do not change as quickly as the content of the text becomes more challenging.

14. Reading- How can I help my child at home? • Hints for listening to your child read • Before reading, talk about the cover, the title, the pictures, and discuss what the book may be about. • During reading, discuss what has been read up to that point, and imagine what will happen next time. • After reading is finished, talk and ask questions about the story and the pictures. • When reading a harder book together, take turns. Beginning readers can read the repetitive parts and more experienced readers can read a paragraph or a page. • On finding an unknown word: • Pause to give your child time to work out the word • Prompt • –  go back to the beginning of the sentence, or read past the difficult word to the end of the sentence. • –  look for a clue in the picture or the words • –  look at the first letter and think about what the words could be • –  ask “Does this make sense?” • –  try to sound out the word • –  if necessary tell your child the word • Praise your child for trying even if mistakes are made.

15. Homework • Homework will begin in Week 4. In Term 1 it will include reading, comprehension, Mathematics and at times a free choice activity. • Some children will have different numbers of words to learn each week. • Encourage them to become independent with their homework. Establish a routine for completing the homework. Just be mindful that the spelling really should be completed each day, rather than all at once. The rest of the homework could be completed at their own pace. • Please check your child’s work to ensure it has been completed in a neat and tidy manner. • If your child is struggling with the minimum that has been set, please see your child’s teacher so that we can adjust the homework.

16. How Can I help my Child succeed at school? • Listen to your child read each day. Choose the time that best suits your child. It may be at breakfast time when they are rested! Ask your child to retell what they have read. Children who are read to from the earliest age and those who enjoy recreational reading are usually very effective learners. • Don’t give up when you ask your child what they did at school each day! The most likely answer will be nothing!!! You can always ask them “ What story did your teacher read to you today?”“What was it about?” This may start a conversation. • Foster good relations between home and school, children tend to do better at school when they see their parents and teachers supporting each other and sharing common expectations. • PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE!!!! Tell them how great all of their work is, even if you think it could have been written neater. Encourage them to try their best and build their confidence. Make them feel great about their achievements! Aspects of this taken from CEO Parramatta websiteTen Ways to Help Your Child Succeed at School.