Year Two

Dear Year 2 Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 3! We hope you enjoyed a refreshing break—it’s been wonderful hearing our students’ holiday stories. We’re excited for the rich learning adventures that await us this term.

READING

In Reading, we’ve focused on building good reading habits and understanding how our reading time helps us grow as learners. We explored how to care for books and use our classroom library respectfully. We also learned the difference between fiction and non-fiction texts, sorting examples and talking about their features. As part of our author study, we’ve been getting to know Bob Graham—learning about his life, where he gets his ideas, and what makes his stories special.

WRITING

In Writing, students have been learning how to share their ideas and experiences clearly and creatively. We began the term by writing holiday and weekend recounts, focusing on using strong leads to hook the reader—like sounds, action or dialogue. We explored how authors use words like “Crash!” or “Look out!” to grab attention right from the start. Students also learned how to link their ideas using connectives (like because, so, and therefore) and how to revise and edit their work to improve spelling, punctuation and clarity. We’ve been so impressed by the creativity and effort students are putting into their writing!

MATHS

In Maths, we’ve been building our understanding of multiplication through hands-on learning. Students explored how equal groups, repeated addition, and arrays can help solve multiplication problems. We’ve played games to practise our doubles facts and skip counting, and used materials like counters and pictures to represent problems in different ways. Students also tackled open-ended challenges where they had to apply strategies and explain their thinking. 

INQUIRY

This week we have celebrated the road to the end on our third unit of inquiry in which students explored how different cultures show respect and care for the land. We learned about the strong connections Indigenous peoples from different countries have with nature. To end our unit one of our year 2 teachers, Karlee Fowler, created and ran an amazing incursion for all of our year 2 students where she shared how New Zealand Māori connect to the land and express identity through pepeha. To make their own connections, students created a class “Euca-Quipu-promise” by tying a gum leaf and a promise to care for Country onto a shared rope and after the incursion they also completed their own 'This is me' which depicted their own connection to the land. 

TREVOR MACKENZIE

The year 2 teachers and students of 2A were lucky enough to have Trevor MacKenzie, an educator and author known for promoting student agency through inquiry-based learning. This was an amazing experience for both the teachers and students in 2A with the focus on developing students who are curious, independent learners who ask deep questions and pursue meaningful investigations.

We spoke with a few students about the experience:

"It was really fun, we used sticky notes and ordered our learning. The teachers were all watching and they had to learn as well!" - Heer Barot 2B

"I loved writing down the questions and putting them under the pencil" - Mila Gundogdu 2A

"When your have Open questions they can have many answers but closed questions only have 1 answer" - Myra Divekar 2A

Important Reminders:

• Year 2 Crocodile Park Excursion Tuesday 5th August - please put your child's snack in a plastic bag as we will eat at the park.
• Students are expected to bring their satchel to school every day, filled with their take-home reading books, reading journal and homework book. 
• Students are also expected to bring their iPad to everyday fully charged, as well as a water bottle. 
• Doors open at 8:20am classes start at 8:30am. Any students arriving after 8:40 will require a late pass from the office. Dismissal is at 2:50pm.
• If your child is absent, please ensure the reason is entered onto XUNO.