Year 1/2 Term 1 Overview

Year 1/2 Term One

Welcome to the 2023 school year at St John’s. We are looking forward to working in partnership with you. It is great to have our two Learning Support Officers working with the students each day, Melissa and Connie. A big welcome to our new families also,  William in 1/2A and George in 1/2B. 

Lunch and Recess

The Year 1/2 students eat a fruit/vegetable snack each morning around 10am. The fruit or vegetable should be chopped into small pieces as students do not have a long time for this snack. Please bring a named drink bottle to school every day for water. Children are reminded that they are not allowed to share food from their lunchboxes at school.

Please do not put sweet treats in their lunchboxes as we encourage healthy eating and use small containers instead of plastic wrappings to reduce waste. Thanks for your support with this.

Religious Education

Our focus for this term is on Gratitude. We will be exploring the meaning of gratitude and how it can help us build stronger relationships with God and others. Later in the term we will be exploring the season of Lent. Students will reflect on Lent as a season of waiting and connect this to things that they wait for in their own lives. We will also explore the events leading up to Easter Sunday and the significance of this celebration in the Church’s calendar. 

Mathematics

In Mathematics we will continue to strengthen our use of EMC3- Exploring Mathematical Challenges, as we develop and implement rich learning experiences for all students. 

Our topics will include:

• Counting: developing confidence and fluency in counting forwards and backwards from any starting point, and skip counting by various numbers
• Place Value: being able to read, write, recognise and compare varying sized numbers 
• Addition and Subtraction: using mental and written strategies to solve simple problems
• Length and  Area: investigating length and area of various objects 

Literacy

In Reading, we will continue to work on developing fluency and expression with a focus in reading groups, on the following comprehension strategies:

• making connections
• sequencing
• identifying the author's purpose
• comparing and contrasting

In Writing, our focus this term will be on recounts and persuasive pieces. Students will have the opportunity to develop their abilities to include reasons and examples that support their arguments, as they aim to persuade different audiences. Handwriting will continue to be a focus as students aim to form all upper and lowercase letters correctly.

Inquiry

"How do I keep myself and others healthy and safe?" 

This term during our Inquiry learning we will be exploring healthy eating and staying active to promote our own wellbeing. Students will discuss strengths and how they contribute to their personal identities. Students will also explore how being grateful for diversity helps to build healthy communities. 

Home Learning

• Daily reading and recording in reading records. 
• Mathletics - Tasks will be set in Mathletics relating to classroom topics to consolidate learning. It is not expected that students would complete all tasks in one sitting. 

Specialist Subjects

Students will have specialist classes each week on a Tuesday and Thursday (please see timetable below). In the first few weeks of Term, Class Sport will be held on a Friday until 24 February, 2023. Class Sport will change permanently to a Wednesday from 1 March. Please ensure your child wears their sports uniform on these days.

We will visit the Library every Tuesday and borrow different books for Home Reading.

WEEKLY TIMETABLE

Important dates to remember:

Tuesday, 14 February - Meet and Greet Discussions

Monday, 20 February - School Photos

Tuesday, 21 February - Curriculum Information Evening

Monday, 6 March - Twilight Sports 

Wednesday, 8 March (week 6) - School Closure Day 

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us via email or Seesaw.

Lisa Read and Tyler Boyd

lread@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au 

tboyd@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au