Grade 1/2 News

Welcome for 2023!

We are so proud of the way all of our grade 1 and 2 students have returned to school for the new school year and we welcome a number of new families across the school! Over the past week we have spent lots of time getting to know each other and learning the routines of our new classrooms. 

We know that sometimes this transition period can be a tricky phase for some students, if your child is requiring some extra support please don't hesitate to contact their teacher to discuss.

Reminders:

• Baby Photos: As part of our topic (discussed at the bottom of the page) we are asking if each family could please email (to your child's teacher) or bring in a photo of their child as a baby! 
• Homework: It is expected that our grade 1 and 2 students will complete 4 nights of reading at home per week. Please record this in your child's yellow reading diary. Over the next few weeks teachers will be assessing students until we find the exactly right level please bare with us
• Fruit Snack: Students are welcome to bring in a 'fruit snack' this needs to be fresh fruit or vegetables, and if necessary cut up or pre-peeled so that it is easy for your child to manage and continue learning at the same time. Grades may be trialling having their fruit snack at different times of the day depending on the needs of students in the class.
• Lunch and Recess times: We have recently made a change to our break times. Lunch (10.45am - 11.30am) and recess (1.30pm - 2.15pm) are both now 45 minute breaks. Students are supervised to eat at 10.45am and this is when they will be encouraged to eat their lunch.
• Parent Reading Helpers: Once again this year we will be seeking the help of our wonderful parent helpers. We will give the students time to settle into their new class and routines before we ask for help - it may take us a few weeks or until the end of the term, but please stay tuned for details about this!

What we have been up to...

Over the past week we have all been learning about the expectations in our new classrooms, the routines and rules we will follow when playing games and working together. We have discussed our house groups, where to line up and put our bag, when to eat lunch and lots of other things. There have also been lots of co-operative games, opportunities to meet and make friends and most importantly lots of fun!

Learning in Weeks 3 & 4

Mathematics: In Maths over the next few weeks we will be focusing on the idea of place value. Students will be learning about ones, tens and in some cases hundreds and thousands. We will explore the value that each number holds, for example, the number 54 is made up of 5 tens and 4 ones. Students will have the opportunity to make these numbers and be led to realise that once there is 10 ones you can trade it for 1 ten.

This is an extremely important aspect of Mathematics for all students to have a deep understanding of, as it is the foundation for being able to use the operations effectively. 

English: In Reading students will begin the term looking at the reading strategy 'Blends the sounds, stretch and re-read'. An important part of the reading process is for students to be able to decode each word by breaking it into each individual sound and then being able to blend the sounds back together.  As each child advances with this idea, they may be able to recognise sounds in chunks e.g. c - at and this allows children to read with improved fluency.

We will focus on revising the short vowel sounds (a as in apple, e as in egg, i as in igloo, o as in orange and u as in umbrella). This is often a tricky concept for students to master so we encourage you to discuss this with your child at home, you can ask "What is the sound you can hear in the middle of the word?" peg, log, bag etc. 

During Writing, we will focus on learning how to write a recount and the correct use of boundary punctuation (capital letter and full stop).

Topic: Our topic this term will focus on Growing older and wiser. Students will learn about taking responsible risks and staying safe. Healthy food choices, being able to express their emotions clearly and how to deal with conflict.