Year 1/2 Cluster News

We are excited to have an incursion organised for Monday next week (12th May). Indigenous artists will be visiting the Year 1/2 classes to teach traditional weaving.

Parents and Carers are invited to come in to see the activities during this time. You do not need to have a volunteer clearance.

1/2Z is 9-10.20 am and Year 1/2AK is 11.00-12.20pm

Year 1 Vision Screening:

You will receive a form this week to have your child’s vision tested here at school with Mr K. Each year we have found a minimum of one student who has required further investigation, which is up to you if you wish to follow up.

If you would like to have your child’s eyes tested, please return the form. If this is something that you already do regularly, there is no need to have the testing done.

Year 1 Phonics Assessment

Phonics screener: In the next few weeks, the year 1 students will be assessed using the Year 1 phonics screener. This gives an indication of how students are tracking with decoding/reading skills. This will also be repeated early term 4 to see what progression has been made.

Year 1 and 2 Sight Words

We are continuing to focus on ‘Heart’ and high frequency words. Children have been/will be assessed in class and have received/will receive a list of words that can be practised at home.

Items from home/Canteen money

We have reminded students to not bring items from home unless this has been a discussion between parents and teachers.

Students may bring one named ball to play with at break times, however, please ensure it is not a special item in case of loss or damage.

We have also reminded students that the money they have for the canteen is for their own or sibling purchases and not to buy food for their friends.

Home Inquiry  

How do authors bring characters to life? What describing words are used to express the character’s feelings? You could create a new character and write a story or poem which uses describing words for their actions as well as speech.

You could enter your story into a writing competition such as:

https://www.aate.org.au/saeta-content/writers/young-writers-award

https://beyondwords.dymockstutoring.edu.au/

or a poetry competition https://dorothea.com.au/entry-information/

Only a few students have shared their home learning this year. Here is an encouragement to all students to stretch themselves and deepen their understanding of concepts taught at school. Please let us know when your child is ready to share their home learning or you are welcome to send in photos. If there is more than one photo, please send a Powerpoint or format that can be opened rather than multiple separate photos.

Read decodable/interest/library books etc every night for 10-15 minutes.

Weekly Timetable – 1/2 Classes

Monday	Change take home interest books. Assembly   Canteen
Tuesday	Japanese Library
Wednesday	Sport Art Canteen
Thursday	STEM odd weeks – Year 1/2Z even weeks – Year 1/2AK
Friday	Chapel  Music  Golden Time Canteen

Learning for Week 2 and 3

Word Study (previously Jolly Spelling):

Week 2

Year 1 double letters ‘ss and zz’ e.g. buzz, less

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G0G-CEVXis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=036uprV52rE

Year 2 ‘ph’ e.g. photo, phone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXvp4Ybx0W4

Week 3 Revision

Year 1 ‘ff’ e.g. cliff, stuffing

https://youtu.be/YvunCTJ61ek?si=zgDJAtI_wZR7dVg6

Year 2 ‘air’ e.g. chair, hairbrush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZHKK9jnfFQ

Year 1 ‘ll’ e.g. will, windmill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG1DVc8E1a8

Year 2 ‘ch’ for /k/ e.g. character, Christmas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXV6ZZcuCGA

Year 1 ‘short vowels’ e.g. dog, bag, box https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUSCz41aDug

Year 2 ‘ea’ e.g. bread, treasure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJi0kan0mBs

Year 1 ‘u_e’ e.g. cube, excuse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdfBg1SMFzM

Year 2 ‘ue, u_e and ew’ e.g. queue, ewe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZojmFjUAGh4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCeE3B_tAq8

Grammar Focus

Year 1: initial (at the beginning of words) blends e.g. cl, sl, bl

Year 2: possessive adjectives e.g. I – my, he- his

Writer’s Workshop: Students are inquiring into how to bring their characters to life. For example, giving them a name and characteristics.

Reader’s Workshop: Students begin experimenting with Reader’s Theatre, with a focus on expression to evoke feelings and atmosphere. We will be using books by Mo Willems for this unit.

Mathematics:

Year 1 students are continuing to explore ordering of numbers.

Year 2 students are inquiring into fractions – halves, quarters and eighths.

Unit of Inquiry: How We Express Ourselves

Students continue to inquire into forms of the arts, which includes Indigenous cultures as they include song, dance, storytelling and visual art. Marra Dreaming incursion is the culmination of this unit.

Christian Studies:

Christian Beliefs: Christians believe God is one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Students discuss and describe Christian beliefs about God and the blessings God gives people. They will take part in a sensory play experience next week on Friday.

Other Reminders

Shoelaces

Please make sure your child can do up laces themselves if they have shoes with laces. Another option is shoes with Velcro until they learn this skill.

Bag Tags

It is useful for students to have a bag tag to identify their bag. Please only put one bag tag on and make sure it is not a special one that will be missed if it is lost as we are not able to monitor this.

Each day students need to bring the following. Please label everything.

hats – these have been sent home for a wash as they are not a requirement for Terms 2 and 3. It is still a good idea to leave them in bags as some days can still have a high UV rating.
sunscreen is generally not applied at school during Terms 2 and 3.
Take Home Bags, which are also for Library borrowing.
a water bottle
a fruit snack
recess
lunch

Lunch Boxes

Please pack a substantial lunch rather than lots of recess snacks and put an ice pack in on hot days as the lunches remain in school bags outside. We also ask that you send in ‘nude food’ which does not include wrappers.

Library Borrowing

Both classes visit the Library on Tuesdays to borrow 2 books for 2 weeks.

Take Home books

Each week students take home 2-3 interest books to read at home. A letter has been sent home explaining the process. During the week, we listen to children and begin sending decodable books or other good fit books home to read.

Toddle

We post important information reminders, student learning, photos/videos and assessments on this platform.  Please contact the office if you are not connected.

Volunteers

During the year we have excursions, a Year 1 Sleepover and a Year 2 Camp.

If you are interested in volunteering, there a few things you must have up to date to be able to come along or to help in the classroom. Please do not volunteer unless you have these already. Contact the office if you have any questions.

Working With Children Check (WWCC) 
Responding to Abuse, Harm and Neglect training (RRHAN-EC) 
Valuing Safe Communities (VSC) training

https://www.goldengrove.sa.edu.au/parent-portal/volunteering/ 

May God bless your week,

Melanie Arnold and Ellen Zimmer

Melanie Arnold: Arnold.melanie@goldengrove.sa.edu.au

Tim Kriewaldt kriewaldt.tim@goldengrove.sa.edu.au

Ellen Zimmer zimmer.ellen@goldengrove.sa.edu.au

Sport

Basketball

Netball