Curriculum News
English
Reading and Viewing
Year Two students will start each day with Heggerty, which aims to improve the students’ phonological awareness. This is the ability to rhyme, identify syllables and manipulate sounds in words. We will also be using the Little Learners Love Literacy Program, which has a focus on explicit instruction in phonics knowledge. The students will begin by learning new sounds and skills each week, and using decodable texts to reinforce their learned skills. Our reading program will consist of whole class instruction followed by small group work and independent work.
Writing
Writing is taught as part of the Little Learners program, with students learning and practising correct letter formation alongside each new sound. Students will also develop their understanding of spelling rules and practise writing sentences as their reading skills progress.
Through the use of the OCHRE resources, students will explore different text genres and develop their writing skills through the use of picture storybooks. In Term 1, our focus texts for informative writing will be Under the Southern Cross and The First Scientists, while The Shop Train and Fabulous Friend Machine will be used to support our imaginative writing focus.
Speaking and Listening
Students will complete a range of activities that focus on oral language across all curriculum areas. These activities may include taking turns, listening to others, asking questions and speaking in front of their peers.
We will also be continuing with the Take Home Toy and Mystery Box, which students will keep for a week. Further instructions will be sent home in the coming weeks once these programs are ready to begin.
Mathematics
This term, we will focus on three main units in Mathematics.
Counting and Place Value – Students will revise how to represent and work with three-digit numbers.
Time – Students will develop their understanding of analog clocks and learn to tell the time to the half and quarter hour. They will also explore clockwise and anticlockwise turns and learn how to use a calendar.
Addition and Subtraction – Students will build on their understanding of partitioning to add and subtract two-digit numbers, supported by the use of concrete materials such as base ten blocks, number bonds, and number lines.
Religion
This term in Religion, students will explore the themes of Church and Community. They will learn about ways people belong to God’s family and explore the importance of belonging to both family and Church. Students will also interpret the significance of family meals and gatherings and how these relate to traditions within the Church.
Later in the term, students will learn about the significance of Lent and Easter by exploring the biblical Easter story and reflecting on the importance of these events in our faith.
Science
In Science this term, students will learn about caring for the Earth by reducing waste and conserving resources. They will explore the importance of reducing, re-using and recycling materials and identify everyday objects that can be reused or recycled. They will also learn about composting and how it helps reduce food waste sent to landfill, as well as investigate how changing materials can allow them to be reused in different ways.
Humanities
This term in Humanities, students will learn about how people have shared stories and information over time. They will explore how stories were passed on in the past through oral storytelling, drawings, symbols and early writing, including the important role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in sharing knowledge and culture. Students will examine how communication developed from letters and printing presses to modern technologies such as television and the internet and how these changes have helped people connect locally and globally. As part of this learning, students will also investigate a person, place or building of local importance and share a story about the past using both traditional and modern forms of communication.
Wellbeing
Our Wellbeing focus for this term is Emotional Literacy. We will be working on learning to identify emotions in ourselves and others, what triggers these emotions and ways we can regulate them.