Year 1/2 News

Welcome to a Wonderful Year in 1/2 – The Reef 

We have had a wonderful start to Term 4, and it has been lovely to welcome the children back after a well-deserved holiday break. As we move into Week 3, students have settled back into their classroom routines and are showing great enthusiasm, confidence and a positive attitude towards learning. It has been fantastic to see them reconnect with their friends, support one another, and engage in new learning experiences. 

As we begin our final term of the year, we are looking forward to celebrating the progress students have made and continuing to support their growth and achievements. We have an exciting term ahead, filled with new learning opportunities, fun activities and memorable experiences as we work towards finishing the school year on a positive note. 

Below is a snapshot of what we have been working on together in the classroom. 

🏅 Sports 

We had a fantastic time participating in our Foundation–Year 2 Sports session! Students enjoyed taking part in six different sporting activities designed to develop their fundamental movement skills, coordination, balance, teamwork and confidence. 

Throughout the session, students had opportunities to practise a range of physical skills while learning the importance of cooperation, fair play and good sportsmanship. It was wonderful to see everyone actively participating, encouraging their peers and showing enthusiasm as they moved between activities. 

The session was a great opportunity for students to stay active, challenge themselves, build friendships and enjoy being part of a team! 

📚 Learning 

Literacy 

In Literacy, students have been exploring the /ear/ and /air/ sounds, focusing on different spelling patterns such as ‘air’, ‘ear’ and ‘are’. Through explicit phonics lessons and word-building activities, students have been practising recognising, reading and spelling words containing these sounds. 

During our reading lessons, we explored the picture book Jessica's Box, where students developed their comprehension skills by making inferences about the characters' feelings, thoughts and actions. They also practised giving thoughtful advice to the characters by considering their challenges and suggesting possible solutions. 

More recently, we have begun reading Definitely No Ducks!, focusing on building background knowledge through research before reading. Students have been learning how to gather information, make predictions and use descriptive phrases to describe characters' appearances, feelings and actions. This has encouraged students to use more interesting and detailed language in their writing. 

In Grammar, we have been learning about verbs and adverbs. Students have been identifying action words and exploring how adverbs provide more information about how an action is performed. Through sentence-building activities, students have been practising using verbs and adverbs to make their writing more descriptive, engaging and meaningful. 

🔢 Mathematics 

In Mathematics, students have been exploring division, patterns, and location and position through a range of hands-on and engaging learning activities. 

Students have been learning about division by exploring equal sharing and grouping. Using counters, drawings and other materials, they have practised dividing collections into equal groups and making connections between multiplication and division. 

Our learning has also focused on patterns, where students have been recognising, continuing and creating repeating and growing patterns using numbers, shapes and objects. They have practised identifying pattern rules, predicting what comes next and finding missing elements in sequences. 

More recently, students have been exploring location and position, learning how to describe where objects are and give and follow directions using positional language such as left, right, forwards and backwards. These activities have helped students develop their spatial awareness and problem-solving skills. 

🌏 Inquiry 

In Inquiry, students have been exploring our new topic, Culture. We have been learning about what culture means and how it shapes our identities, traditions, languages, celebrations and everyday lives. 

Students have been discussing the similarities and differences between cultures, recognising that although we may have different backgrounds, we also share many things in common. Through classroom discussions and interactive activities, students have explored the importance of respecting cultural differences, appreciating diversity and treating everyone with kindness and understanding. 

As part of our learning, students have created and shared posters about their own cultural backgrounds, introducing their classmates to their traditions, languages, food and celebrations. It has been wonderful to see students proudly sharing their cultures while showing curiosity and respect for others. These experiences have helped us celebrate the rich cultural diversity within our classroom and build a stronger sense of belonging and inclusion.