Classroom Gallery 

Year 1/2 Newsletter – Week 10, Term 1

Our students have been working incredibly hard this term! Have a great week everyone.

-Anna Flanagan and Sarah Hoy.

English

In English, we are all setting personal learning goals to help us grow in confidence and skill. Whether it’s mastering new sight words, improving fluency, or crafting creative stories, everyone has something exciting to strive for. 

We have been strengthening our reading, writing, and spelling skills by learning letters, sounds, and sight words. Handwriting practice has focused on careful letter formation, and this week we explored ‘slope’ in our writing. This is the way we write our letters:

A highlight of our writing this term was our Cold Write narrative titled When the Time Stopped. We used our imaginations to create exciting stories!

Reading remains a top priority, and we have been working on fluency and expression during reading groups. We are incredibly lucky to have wonderful helpers—Jen, Mrs Harrison, Mrs Laurie, and Mrs Clark—who support us throughout the week.

Here is a story from Jack Provost.  We have been looking at ‘sizzling’ starts and personification. Personification means giving human qualities to things that are not human. For example: "The sun smiled down at us." (The sun can't really smile, but we say this to make it feel alive!) 

The Snail and the Whale by Jack Provost.

The stunning sky sang to the sea, as the massive clouds rolled by. The stars set up into the sky as the moon rose. The snail and the whale went on a giant adventure, through the towering icebergs. The shivering snail held on tight. As he travelled, the snail watched exploding towers of ice, travelling cold water and golden sands.  It was so cold the snow sprinkled down. 

Mathematics

For the past three weeks, we have been deepening our understanding of place value, whole numbers, and reading numbers aloud.

Learning Intention: We are learning to understand place value and the role of zero to read, write, and order two- and three-digit numbers.

Can you put these numbers in order from smallest to largest?

Tens numbers:

27    72   71   56

Hundreds numbers:

526       562        256         265

Thousands numbers:

5626       1562        2567         2659

Here are some photos of our Maths group activities:

Science

Once a fortnight, we are excited to do Science with Mr Hyatt. This term, we have explored the Living World, focusing on the features of living things, their environments, and how they grow and change.

The Science, ‘Living World’ strand focuses on the features of living things, their environment and how they change and reproduce. Students investigate how plants and animals are used to satisfy our needs for food and fibre. Stage 1 of this strand develops students’ understanding of how living things and their environment play a central role in the support for and survival of humans.

A major highlight has been creating our very own worm farm near the chook pen. We have been feeding the worms with fruit scraps and learning how they help enrich the soil.

Sport

This term, much of our sport time has been dedicated to preparing for the Cross Country Carnival held last week. Our 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds ran a 1km course, showing fantastic determination and fitness. Well done to everyone for giving it their best effort!

Creative Arts

Our creative focus this term has been animals—a theme that has inspired incredible artworks. Next, we will shift to Easter crafts as we prepare for the upcoming holiday.

Students also created an animal-themed artwork for the Walcha Show, aligning with our school’s 2025 theme, Animals. Looking ahead to next term, we are excited to enter the NERAM ‘Let’s Hang It’ competition. Our theme this term has primarily been about animals.  

We have investigated how shape, texture and line can be used to express ideas about ourselves as we make artworks that include the qualities of animals. 

Religion

We are now exploring our second unit, which focuses on Lent and preparing for Easter. Our learning includes:

 ✅ Becoming more familiar with Scripture stories

 ✅ Understanding Jesus and His teachings 

✅ Identifying key times in the liturgical year

We have read the scripture stories of Zacchaeus and The Poor Widow from the bible, reflecting on their lessons of kindness and generosity. As we prepare for the Easter holidays, we look forward to celebrating the joy of the Risen Jesus.

Wishing all our families a wonderful break over Easter in a week’s time!

From Year 1/2