Welcome to Term Two

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome back to another fantastic term of learning at Glen Waverley Primary School. Term One brought many highlights for Level Three such as creating wonderful learning communities and getting to know our new class members and teachers. Students participated in our school swimming program and the Inquiry Incursion: ‘The Wellbeing Show’ where students gained new strategies to support them with their wellbeing. Lastly, Cultural Diversity Week saw them share their cultural calico pieces with each other and supported the development of connections throughout the school. Thank you to our parent community for all your support during Term One!

In Term Two, the Level Three students will be completing the National Assessment Program of Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) where they will be assessed on the key learning areas of reading, writing, mathematics and language conventions. This will begin in Week 3. Education Week will also be happening in Week 5. Our parent/carer community will be invited to join in on Education Week – please keep your eyes out for updates on Compass. 

We are all looking forward to a very productive, rigorous and interesting term of learning. If you have any queries or concerns you would like to discuss with your child's teacher, please don’t hesitate to organise a meeting or send them an email. 

Important Dates:  

• 4th – 6th May – Mother's Day Stall
• 10th May – NAPLAN Writing
• 12th May – NAPLAN Reading
• 17th May – NAPLAN Language Conventions
• 19th May – NAPLAN Mathematics 13th – 20th May – NAPLAN Catch Ups
• 23rd May – Education Week
• 24th May – Open Morning (9.00 - 11.00am)
• 13th June – Queens Birthday Public Holiday
• 14th June – Curriculum Day
• 24h June – Last day of Term Two. Early dismissal: 2.30pm.

Reading

In Reading and Viewing in Term Two, students will continue to analyse persuasive and informative texts, as well as a variety of vocabulary that impacts the audience. They will also be learning about information reports, specifically their structure, text features and language used. It is important to remember that children in the modern world access texts in a range of different ways. Often, a Reading and Viewing lesson could include different texts through the use of digital or non-digital resources. 

Speaking and Listening

Every opportunity will be given for students to further develop their speaking and listening skills. This will be done through presentations of learning, group discussions, class discussions and circle time. Active listening will be expected with the audience encouraged to question the presenter following their sharing. Students will develop their confidence when presenting to an audience, speaking clearly, and using an appropriate tone to match their setting. Displaying respect for others’ thoughts and taking turns to speak, continues to be paramount to any speaking and listening learning tasks implemented in the classroom.

Writing/Spelling

During Term Two, students will continue to learn how to write an effective persuasive piece using examples and evidence to back up their opinions. Throughout the term, they will experience the entire writing process of brainstorming, planning, drafting, editing/revising and publishing. We will emphasise the importance of re-reading their own writing and editing/revising for meaning, clarity and better use of vocabulary. 

In preparation of NAPLAN Writing, students will practise writing using past NAPLAN prompts, and following the NAPLAN structure to become familiar with the process. Thereafter, they will learn to write information reports to align with our Inquiry focus. Personalised writing goals will continue to be set through regular writing conferences to ensure every writer’s need are catered for.

Throughout Term Two, students will continue to develop their spelling knowledge by investigating a range of spelling patterns/generalisations as our weekly spelling focus. Personalised spelling inquiries and personalised spelling words will continue to be a part of our spelling lessons to expand students’ vocabulary. Students will learn to spell words they misspelt in their writing, in addition to our weekly spelling focus. They will be encouraged to apply their spelling knowledge in their speaking and writing.

Mathematics

In Term Two, the Level Three students will continue to extend their understanding of the four proficiencies of Mathematics: Problem Solving, Understanding, Reasoning and Fluency and how to apply these strategies within their learning. In our first topic, students will begin to learn a range of multiplication and division strategies, and the connections between all four operations. From there, they will move into Length and Area, focusing on measuring and calculating in formal units of centimetres and metres. The students will also be completing a unit on Time, where they will deepen their understanding of telling time to the minute and applying knowledge of AM and PM notations. In Statistic and Probability, students will revisit how data can be represented in different and meaningful ways, linking to our Inquiry unit where possible and interpret data to make informed decisions and conclusions.

Inquiry

In Term Two, students will investigate the Inquiry question of ‘How do human actions impact the world around us?’. To begin they will identify a range of positive and negative impacts that humans have on the world and categorised them according to which element of the world they affect. Then students will launch into their investigation by separating the impacts caused by human action into the following categories: Environmental, Technological, Wildlife and Human. The students will then make connections to their Term One Inquiry topic by analysing the positive influences that social figures have had on the world by exploring the initiatives and programs they have helped to develop. Students will then reflect on their own actions by analysing their personal impact 'footprint’. From this the students will utilise a range of problem-solving strategies to help improve the environmental and social impact they have on the world and making changes in actions.