Level 2: Connect

Welcome back for Term 3! 

Hello Level 2 families,

We’re looking forward to another great term of learning. The students have made a strong start, and as you all know, we have a term packed with lots of exciting activities such as our dance lessons, swimming (see more info below) and our school production.  Below is what we have been up to for the last two weeks and what we will be focusing on for the fortnight ahead! 

Swimming

Just when we thought we were ahead of the game with our fancy Google Forms… the swimming timetable has changed again!

As mentioned in Mrs. Hall’s Compass email on Wednesday, swimming in weeks 4 and 5 will now take place at Fitness First on Bay Road due to ongoing renovation works at the original venue. 

We’ll share the updated parent volunteer roster as soon as we receive the final details.

Thanks so much for your patience and understanding with this!

Reading and Inquiry

This term, we are integrating geography into our reading sessions. Students have started learning about the land of Australia, our neighbours, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. We aim to understand how people live in different ways and why it’s important to care for our country and respect everyone who calls it home.

Some of the questions we have been looking into this past week include:

-Where is Australia in the world?

-How many states and territories does Australia have and what are examples of both?

-Why is the population of Australian states and territories different?

Some questions we will look into over the next fortnight include:

-What are the major bodies of water in Australia and how do people use them?

-Which major ecosystems does Australia boast and what characteristics do they have?

-Where do people live in Australia and what are some of the differences between them?

Writing

To begin this term, we have reviewed what a sentence needs: a subject and a verb. Students have been introduced to fragments, which are incomplete sentences that are missing a subject, a verb, or do not express a complete thought. They have also learned how to turn a fragment into a full sentence.

Students have been introduced to subordinating conjunctions as well. These words connect a dependent clause to an independent clause. Examples include: although, even though, before, if, after, and when. These conjunctions are used at the start of a sentence. 

Core Literacy 

At the start of the term, students have been building on their phonics knowledge by exploring new spelling patterns and heart words.

In Week 1, students explored the /eu/ digraph (as in feud and neutral), the suffix -ness(as in greatness), and learnt the heart words: ready, example and tissue. 

In Week 2, students explored the /ar/ digraph when it makes the /er/ sound (as in dollar and cedar), the suffix -tion (as in communication), and learnt the heart words: measure, treasure and honest. 

Looking ahead in Core Literacy:

• Week 3: Students will learn the digraph ch (which three sounds - /ch/, /k/, /sh/), the suffix -sion, and the heart words:hour, fruit and blood.
• Week 4: Students will explore the quadgraph ear (which makes an /er/ sound), the suffix -ible, and the heart words: flood, river and rhombus. 

Maths

In the coming fortnight, our Year 2 students will be diving deeper into addition and subtraction. We’ll be learning how to trade and rename numbers to help solve more complex problems. The children will also be reviewing important mental strategies, including the compensation strategy, bridging to 10, rounding, and renaming. These strategies help students build confidence and flexibility when working with numbers, and we look forward to seeing their problem-solving skills grow!

Visual Art- please see 'Specialist Happenings' for an exciting whole school art project. 

MS Readathon: 

This August, we will be encouraging the Level 2 students to take part in the MS Readathon! This initiative is a great way to get our students reading while supporting an important cause. Resources will be sent home on Monday with students including a recording sheet to list the books they read and a donation form. 

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological condition that affects more than 33,000 Aussies. It is a progressive condition that affects the central nervous system and interferes with nerve impulses from the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. MS affects people differently, common symptoms include challenges with vision mobility and speech however many are often invisible. There is no cure, or cause however there are treatments available to help people live well with the condition. You can learn more about the MS Readathon here.

Have a great weekend!! 

Eileen, Kym, Anthony & Kylie