Year 2 

Spotlight on Learning

Dear Families,

Another week of great learning done by the Damascus community. Well done to all students for continuing to bring a positive attitude and following our school wide expectations. Don't forget Monday is a public holiday!

Mass

We celebrated Mass with the Jericho Community. Jericho were the hosts and we were the guests. Everyone did a great job at showing respect

Friendly Reminder:  Please ensure your child is in the correct school uniform and has their name on items that come off and on during the day. This includes jumpers and jackets. We have a lot of lost property at school to check if needed. 

Friendly reminder: 

Health Reminder: To help keep all of our students and staff healthy, we kindly ask that children who are unwell remain at home to rest and recover. If your child has vomited or had diarrhoea, please ensure they stay home for at least 24 hours after the last episode before returning to school. This helps prevent the spread of illness within our community. Thank you for your support in keeping everyone safe and well. 

If your child has any sort of medical condition please ensure that you have updated the school and the class teacher. 

Remember: At St Thomas we are Sun Safe Champions! We must remember our hats in Term One. 

Community time 

This is when we celebrate those who are having a birthday or receive an assembly certificate. We also use this time for community messages and Religious Education.

Assembly Award Winners

Congratulations to: Adriano, Spencer, Joanna, Lennox and Connor

This week we learnt about:

Religious Education: This week in Religious Education, we focused on the important themes of forgiveness and healing. The students explored what forgiveness means and why it is an important part of living like Jesus. We discussed how everyone makes mistakes, and how saying sorry and offering forgiveness can help mend friendships and bring peace to our hearts. Through stories, class discussions and role-play activities, students reflected on how forgiveness can help people feel better emotionally and strengthen relationships. We also talked about how healing is not just about our bodies, but about our feelings and relationships too. It has been a thoughtful and meaningful week of learning

Mathematics: In Maths this week, we have been developing our addition and subtraction strategies. Students have been learning how to use bridging to ten to make adding easier (for example, changing 8 + 5 into 10 + 3). We have also been practising how to use number lines to help us add and subtract by counting on or counting back. Another focus has been adding one-digit numbers to two-digit numbers, building confidence with place value and understanding how numbers are made up of tens and ones. It has been wonderful to see students explaining their thinking and trying different strategies to solve problems.

Structured Literacy:  In Literacy, we have been reading The Lost Girl and exploring the rich language and themes within the text. Students have been making connections to the story and using it as inspiration for their own writing. Our writing tasks are linked closely to the book, allowing students to build their vocabulary, describe settings and ideas in detail, and express their understanding of the text creatively.

Auslan: In Auslan we are looking at the following signs for the week:

Social & Emotional Learning: 

In SEL, we are learning to identify experiences and situations that can trigger different emotions. Students are exploring how certain events, words or actions can make us feel happy, excited, frustrated or worried. By recognising these triggers, students are building greater self-awareness and learning strategies to respond to their emotions in positive and thoughtful ways.

Integrated Studies: In Integrated Studies, we are learning about the human features of Australia and exploring where people live. Students have been identifying features that are made by people, such as houses, roads, schools, bridges and cities, and discussing how these places help communities function. We have also been looking at different types of areas across Australia, including cities, towns and rural communities, and talking about why people choose to live in different places. This learning is helping students understand how environments are shaped and how people are connected to places.

How you can support at home:

Families play an important role in supporting learning at school, and there are many simple ways you can help at home.

• Ask your child to tell you about the book we read this week. You can read the book together 
• Ask your child to tell you what they learnt about adding and subtracting. 
• Read with your child and ask them questions about the book
• Practise handwriting, using upper case and lower case correctly

 These small, regular conversations help build confidence and reinforce learning in a meaningful way.

Important Dates

TERM 1 KEY DATES — 2026

• Monday 9 March - Public Holiday — School Closed
• Thursday 2 April - Holy Thursday — Last Day of Term 1

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  TERM 2 START DATE

• Tuesday 21 April — First Day for Students

Contact Us @Damascus

damascus@cranbourneeast@catholic.edu.au OR