Year 2 Bulletin
Wellbeing
Our Wellbeing program this term has encompassed:
- Open Parachute
- ‘Why Worry Wally?’ incursion
- Transition activities with next year’s students
Open Parachute
This is a program, based around the teaching of specific skills, needed when dealing with relationships at school. Each lesson is based around documentary videos which showcase Australian youth sharing their own experiences of overcoming struggle. Exercises follow the videos, with peer role-modelling. It is designed to help students develop resilience, while also creating a sense of safety in the classroom, enabling students to explore their own experiences of struggle, and strategies to overcome difficulties.
We have covered different issues in a series of lessons, including:
- Anxiety, Screen time and Self-soothing
- Friendship Challenges and Choosing Kind Actions
Embracing Change and Building Resilience
Why Worry Wally? Incursion
Yesterday, individual grades enjoyed an incursion by the author of ‘Why Worry Wally?’, Rick Foster, and his business partner Andy, a qualified teacher.
Rick explained that his aim was to create a story that was first and foremost fun and engaging, but used the theme of worries to normalise anxiety and act as a conversation-starter for children and their parents around the subject.
The learning intention was to understand and explain worries and prepare strategies to manage them.
Issues discussed:
That everybody faces worries sometimes, including at school, and that's OK.
That talking about worries with trusted people rather than hiding them is the best way to handle them.
To develop strategies to independently manage worries and know when to seek help.
We started our session with movement-based trust activities, with a partner, as a warm-up.
Rick read his book to the group, and each child was asked to make a real-life connection to the story.
Different types of worries were identified:
Then each child wrote down a ‘small’ worry on a sheet of paper, with no name.
Notes were folded up and placed in a box.
Students were given the opportunity to self-reflect and engage with their peers.
Strategies for dealing with worries were discussed. Students were placed in a circle, and the anonymous ‘worry sheets’ were read out to the class randomly; and the best strategies for dealing with that particular scenario, were decided. Positive approaches to understanding emotions and applying strengths were reinforced through example.
Mindfulness-based breathing techniques were practised. Ask your child to show you ‘dragon breathing’!
Transition
Yesterday afternoon, the current Year 3 students joined us for a get-together. Each child made a chatterbox, which included questions about personal interests, likes, preferences. They then mingled with the other year level, to learn more about someone they had never met before. We played musical turns, where they had to switch partners, when the music stopped, and use their chatterbox on each other.
Mrs Evans and Rosanna
Year 2 Team