Year 2

It was so lovely to see the children come back from the Easter break full of energy and ready to learn! Everyone was excited to be back with their friends and teacher, and they had lots of holiday stories to share.

A big well done to all our students for such a fantastic first Term! They worked really hard and made great progress — not just in their learning, but in how they work and play together.

We're excited to start another term of learning, shared experiences, and collaborative teamwork, especially as we delve into our exciting upcoming STEAM projects!

Reflections on Term 1

In our recent Inquiry unit, All About Family, our students did a wonderful job exploring the many ways families can be diverse and unique! One special activity was the grandparent interviews. Students asked their grandparents questions about what life was like when they were younger. They came back to school so excited to share the stories they heard!

Students also had fun creating their own family trees. Students enjoyed finding out how their family members are connected, and they took great pride in putting their trees together. 

Literacy

This term we are diving into the world of real-life information. Our students will learn to find facts, understand important details, and explore different types of non-fiction books. Some of the Mentor Texts we will be delving into this term include: The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants and How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth.

In our lessons, we will:

• Use text features like headings, captions, diagrams and images to help us understand the content.
• Identify the main ideas in non-fiction texts.
• Practice asking and answering questions about the information we read.

Writing

This term, as part of our STEAM project and our Inquiry topic on Minibeasts, students will be working on a research project and creating a fact file on a minibeast of their choice. We will explore non-fiction texts and writing techniques to help guide and inspire our work.

We look forward to sharing with you some incredible writing and research projects!

Maths 

So far this year, we have been exploring number properties, place value, and counting. Students have been busy making, discussing, and ordering two- and three-digit numbers, while also noticing and identifying observable patterns.

In Term 2, we’ve continued to build on our understanding of number and place value. Soon, we will begin learning about addition and subtraction. Students will use manipulatives such as Unifix cubes, alongside their growing knowledge of place value, to support their learning.

Later this term, we will be exploring measurement using informal units and these skills will also be applied as part of our ongoing STEAM project. We will also be focusing on telling time — an area that can be challenging for some students. We encourage you to take this opportunity to talk with your child about what they know about time and support them by helping them practise reading time.

STEAM Project and Inquiry Topic: Minibeasts

This term, we are excited to be learning all about minibeasts! Students will explore their unique characteristics, habitats, and diets. We’ll also investigate the important roles minibeasts play in ecosystems and why they are essential to our environment. Our excursion to the Melbourne Museum and IMAX will offer a fantastic opportunity to observe minibeasts up close and in detail.

As part of this unit, students will team up with the Grade 1s for a fun and hands-on STEAM project—designing and building their own Bug Motel! They’ll combine creativity and teamwork to plan, construct, and explain their designs. This exciting project links learning across science, literacy, maths, and digital technologies, giving students a chance to build a wide range of skills in a meaningful way.

MSL

This term, we have continued with our Multisensory Structured Language (MSL) approach to literacy learning. Students have really enjoyed the structure of these sessions and have shown great progress in their phonics knowledge and confidence in reading and spelling. As we move forward, we will be building on the sounds and letters we've already covered, while introducing more complex sound work. 

Term 2 topics:

• The vowel team oa, ow (Boat is Slow)
• The vowel team ou, ow (Loud Cow)
• The letters C and G represent 2 sounds (Gentle Cindy) - C and G  letters g and c say their soft sounds when followed by e, i and y e.g. gem and circus.
• ge/dge,  we use dge (long spelling) following a short vowel.
• Er, ir, ur (Her Bird is Hurt)
• Vowel team ea has 3 sounds (Eat Bread and Steak)
• The vowel team au, aw (Saw Paul)
• The vowel team ue, ew (Sue Grew)
• Plurals - -s ending and when to use -es (If a word ends in s, ss, sh, ch, x or z)

Zones of Regulation

This term the Year 2 students will continue work on identifying emotions and strategies that help regulate them. In the upcoming lessons, students learn and practice tools that can help them regulate their zones.

Sensory supports: Sensory tools can be used to help calm or alert the central nervous system, so that students are better able to focus on relevant information, help them calm down and feel more organised e.g. fidget balls, kinetic sand, drawing, listening to music. 

Calming techniques: Students try out calming techniques that can be utilised to calm their body and mind e.g. five finger breathing, candle and flower breathing, belly breathing, lazy 8 breathing & Progressive relaxation. 

Thinking Strategies: Students learn different effective thinking strategies to help with self regulation. They learn to analyse different problems and rationalise how big a problem is and that the size of their reaction or expected response must match the size of the problem.

Homework

The My Home Reading Book will be used to track your child's nightly reading (10 mins daily). Please record the book title and your initials each time they read. These books should be returned to school each Monday, when new books will be selected. Developing reading fluency is essential for improving comprehension. Reading fluently involves several key skills:

• Speed: Reading at a pace that is easy to understand.
• Accuracy: Reading the words correctly.
• Expression: Using the right volume, pausing at full stops and commas, showing excitement for exclamation marks, raising the voice at question marks, and changing tone for character speech.

Encouraging your child to practise these skills each night will help them become more confident and skilled readers.

Some of the maths games that we play at school have been sent to you via Compass. We encourage families to play together.  This helps students with mathematical skills and strategy, and reinforces that maths is fun!! If you have not been receiving these notifications/emails please speak to your class teacher. 

Important Dates to Remember:

• Tuesday 6th of May- Minibeasts Incursion 
• Monday 2nd of June- IMAX and Melbourne Museum excursion 
• Friday 6th June - Pupil Free Day
• Monday 9th June - King’s Birthday
• Friday 4th July- Last day of Term 2:30pm dismissal 

All further updates throughout the term will also be in the School Newsletter and through the Compass app. 

If you have any questions, or need to contact your child's teacher, please don't hesitate. Here's to a wonderful Term 2.

Year 2 Teachers

Andy Culvenor (2A), Kerrie Gentner (2B), Rebecca Taylor and Carly Toister (2C)