YEAR 2 INFORMATION EVENING 2014 2D Mrs Susan Maher 2R Mrs Janeane Millar

YEAR 2 INFORMATION EVENING20142D Mrs Susan Maher2R Mrs Janeane Millar

Curriculum English – Reading English – Writing Mathematics Integrated Studies Skills for Life Specialists

Handbook Overview of the curriculum Supported with newsletter detailing content at beginning of each term Please read so you are familiar with the Year 2 learning occurring in 2014

Communication Please feel free to contact us with concerns Telephone reception and leaving a message for us to call you back Email millarj@lowtherhall.vic.edu.au mahers@lowtherhall.vic.edu.au Absence notes in envelope to reception or written in planner Special dates are in the planner and Bulletin Learning Conference dates are: Monday 10 February from 4.00pm to 8.00pm Wednesday 12 February from 4.00pm to 8.00pm These Learning Conferences are arranged to discuss learning goals for 2014. Parents are asked to reflect upon the questions on the page included.

Housekeeping Birthdays – cupcakes only with ingredients listed They are given out at the end of the day Uniform – check policy is in handbook and planner Signs around school detailing uniform Please check blue hat is at school every day

Daily Routine Doors open at 8:30. Traffic considerations and arrangements Program begins at 8:40 3:10 dismissal - collected at the blue rubber area. Students left at 3:45 will be taken to After Care Please check your daughter is aware of where she needs to go – via planner If there is a change, contact Junior School reception (not email to teacher as we cannot guarantee this will be read)

Planner Like a diary or organiser New in Year 2 to introduce time management skills in preparation for middle and upper primary Also a method of home/school communication as alternative to email Needs parental support to be a successful learning tool. Sighted and signed daily by parent and teacher Please fill in after school commitments and home reading with your daughter Please encourage routine of placing in bag with home book (maybe use blue satchel) Comes to school and goes home every day School tasks will be written in classroom as necessary

How You Can Support Your Daughter’s Learning Sleep. Students of primary school age require 10 – 11 hours of sleep. Morning routine and being to school on time by 8:40 so your daughter settles into learning Healthy eating Afternoon Home Routine: Encourage your daughter to unpack bag, check planner, snack, homework. A manageable amount of outside school activities relaxation Support homework - have a working space that is quiet, uninterrupted, monitoring the use of electronic devices (such as iPod, iPad, TV, NintendoDS)

Homework Supports the students in time management skills. Consolidates skills in curriculum areas Enables parents to experience current topics Year 2 - 20 min per night. Homework Scrapbook If homework hasn’t been finished, a note in the planner is fine Homework is given weekly (Friday to Thursday) enabling family flexibility and teacher correction time (Private Music Practice is an extra commitment)

Homework Home Reading 15-minutes or more depending on endurance. Parents are asked to sign the planner of pages read Books selected are easy for fluency, accuracy and comprehension practice. Enjoyment is key Home reading is still an integral part of reading improvement. Reading every day Please sign planner Spelling and Numeracy Mathletics – sign in will be pasted in planner. Oral Language

Weebly Contains resources for learning May detail events Communication Home practise and access at home Students go through Weebly to complete learning activities http://year2.lowtherhall.vic.edu.au/ Fox022014 Password to be sent home in planner Internet agreement signed by students Encourage sensible blogging that is pertaining to learning

Specialists & Timetable PE John Lyall Sports uniform on Wednesday and Friday Art Pam Wood Tuesday PRS Simone Saunders & Pam Wood –Mon/Wed Music – Anna Miller & Jo Carroll Mon/Thurs Library – Robyn Hirst Tuesday

Music • Welcome to music in Year 2! This year, girls will continue to develop the skills they worked on in Year 1. Singing remains a strong focus, with theoretical concepts also being introduced in an accessible and age-appropriate manner. Students will also begin to develop their own ideas for composition. They will have the chance to listen to a range of music, past to present, and practice evaluating some of the features of this music. • Year 2 girls also take part in the weekly Songbirds singing session, where choral skills and techniques are focused on and developed. • Term 1 begins with a range of singing games such as Baby Shark and The Postman.

Art • Welcome to Art in our portable classroom! • In our new environment we will have an awesome opportunity to use new skills and techniques to create amazing artworks. We will take advantage of being on the ground level to utilize the outdoor spaces. • Semester 1 • Drawing and painting skills • Exploring and responding to Van Gogh’s artwork • Printmaking • Arts language and terms • Textiles • Semester 2 • Sculpture • Indigenous art studies • Designing ideas through to creating and making

Junior LRC Student learning is supported by tools & resources for digital, visual & information literacy • Literacy Strategies: • Prediction, Visualising, Questioning, Summarising, Thinking • Choosing a book that’s right for me? • Finding information in a non-fiction book? • Making text-to-text, text-to-self and text-to-world connections? • Examining, responding to & creating literature • Digital Citizenship: • Appropriate & responsible use of equipment • Library Classes are Tuesday • Please have a named Library Bag • Opening Hours: • Before school : must be supervised by their parent. • Lunchtime: Tuesday - Friday • After school: Years 3-6 students only

PE • Week 1-7 • *Organisational games and activities • *Large ball skills: Tunnel Ball/ Cross Ball • *Small ball skills: Catch, Fielding and Throw, Modified game rounders • *Athletics Day preparation: Running, Relays, Throw, Jump • Week 7-9 • Large ball: Soccer type skill, modified game

PRS • During PRS this year we hope to help the girls to make connections between their new learning and their own personal experiences. The girls will be encouraged to reflect about God, themselves and the world by responding to their wonderings, feelings and ideas through prayer and a variety of other media. To support us in our endeavour please share your daughter’s faith journey by talking with her, answering her questions and by providing her with opportunities to experiment with her learning at home. • During the year the girls will look at four areas of faith development: • Talking to God; Listening to God • There are many ways to communicate with God. In prayer and worship we gather, listen and respond to God’s word. Prayer involves rituals, symbols, celebrations and silence. • Living God’s Way with Family and Friends • Jesus told us many stories to help us live how God would want us to. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the messages sent to us by God live in the lives of all Christians today. • God made us all different; but we all belong to the Church • The Church is a caring and welcoming community that gathers to celebrate their relationship with God. The Church is made up of different people who all share a special relationship with God and each other. • Awaiting the Arrival • Advent is a season observed by the Christian Church as a time of waiting and preparation for the celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas.

English Whole class Part Small teaching group and independent work Whole class – reflection Groups are fluid and change depending on needs and strategies Designed to meet the needs of students Our aim is to promote readers who have comprehension, accuracy and fluency as appropriate for age. IPICK - think about: what’s your purpose, are you interested, do you understand and know most of the words?

Reading • Whole class • Part Small teaching group and independent work • Whole class – reflection • Groups are fluid and change depending on needs and strategies • Designed to meet the needs of students • Our aim is to promote readers who have comprehension, accuracy and fluency as appropriate for age. • IPICK - think about: what’s your purpose, are you interested, do you understand and know most of the words?

Writing • Introducing and consolidating range of writing genre throughout the year • Need to think about the purpose and audience for writing • What we want to learn about: • organisation and structure • ideas and planning • sentence fluency, rhythm, variety • word choice, vocabulary • conventions, spelling, punctuation

Spelling • Explicit teaching of strategies to help students spell unknown words • Usually a weekly focus • Spelling words sourced from visual, sound or meaning pattern, also personal errors and integrated topic words • Spelling also forms part of the girls weekly homework tasks • High frequency words are particularly vital. These will be revised through the year.

Mathematics • Whole class • Small teaching group and independent work • Whole class – reflection • Groups are fluid and change depending on needs and strategies • Designed to meet the needs of students, based on assessment • Girls grasp concepts when they use them regularly and when they are practised in context • ‘real life’ approach preparing children for real life situations • Content – Number & algebra, Statistics and Probability, Measurement and Shape • Proficiencies – Problem solving, understanding, reasoning and fluency

Supporting Your Daughter in Mathematics • involving your daughter in real experiences -buying, supermarket comparisons, discounts, using money, planning for a party, measuring, reading scales, calendars, weighing, cooking, calculating mentally – look for opportunities • Encouraging reading analogue time - needs constant reinforcing. An analogue watch is a useful device. Digital too. ¼ past and to. • Practical money skills - counting, giving change • Play board games, puzzles – monopoly, Sudoku, chess etc… also good for learning skills of winning or losing gracefully, persistence • Mental Fluency – memorising number facts, addition, subtraction • Skip Counting, repeated addition basis for X tables later (2, 3, 5 and 10 ) • Encouraging persistence, stamina, flexibility, use of strategies independently when challenged

Integrated Studies • New topic each term • Incorporates Australian Curriculum areas of Science, Health and History. • Four topics are… • Fuel Our Minds, Fuel Our Bodies – health • What’s the Matter- Chemical Science • Physical Science – Light/Sound • History of Lowther Hall

YEAR 2 INFORMATION EVENING 2014 2D Mrs Susan Maher 2R Mrs Janeane Millar