Parent Information Night
Year 2
2017
Dear Parents,
Welcome to Year 2!
This will be a year filled with many new experiences and exciting learning opportunities for
your child.
We have a busy year ahead of us, packed full of exciting learning opportunities. In Year 2
we encourage our students to have open minds, to be curious about the world around them
and to work as inquirers. As inquirers we ask questions and seek opportunities to build upon
our knowledge.
Should your child wish to explore his/her learning beyond the classroom, please respond
with enthusiasm. It would be wonderful if your child explored topics of interest at home.
Students are always welcome to share new knowledge with the class. We love learning from
each other! You are also invited to share artefacts from home which may support student
learning or topic studies. Do you have skills or knowledge which you could share with the
class? We welcome you as a guest speaker!
To support you, we have listed the topics which we will explore across the year (though
these may change as the year unfolds).
Term One
Literacy:
Spelling, grammar,
reading skills and
comprehension,
narratives and
recounts.
Maths:
Number and algebra
Science:
Push and Pull.
Gravity.
Health and Social
Sciences:
A Special PlaceHow a place has
changed over time.
Term Two
Literacy:
Spelling, grammar,
reading skills and
comprehension,
responding to texts,
Roald Dahl author
study.
Maths:
Number and
algebra,
measurement and
geometry
Science:
Water. Sorting and
Classifications.
Health and Social
Sciences:
Local PlacesPlaygrounds
Term Three
Literacy:
Spelling, grammar,
reading skills and
comprehension,
reports and poetry.
Term Four
Literacy:
Spelling, grammar,
reading skills and
comprehension,
expositions and
explanations.
Maths:
Number and
algebra, statistics
and probability
Maths:
Number and
algebra,
measurement and
geometry
Science:
Watch it Grow!
Science:
All Mixed Up
Health and Social
Sciences:
Asia Studies
Health and Social
Sciences:
Reflecting upon our
journey and
Recording History.
Our Weekly Timetable
Our Morning Routine and the Daily 5
We have just begun to explore the Daily 5 and Literacy CAFE within our morning
routine.
Daily 5 is the structure we use to plan our morning. In the mornings, children will be busy
completing meaningful literacy tasks:




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Read to self
Work on writing
Word Work
Listen to reading
Read to Someone
While the students are engaged in their literacy choices, teachers will be teaching small
groups and individuals, so everyone can get the just-in-time instruction they need to reach
their potential. You are welcome to participate in our Daily 5 program. You can help by
listening to reading, supporting students as they ‘work on writing’ and you could offer them
direction to strengthen their spelling skills as they participate in ‘word work’. Please ask the
teacher for direction in the mornings so that we can maximise all learning opportunities.
CAFE is what we study during the Daily 5 time. CAFE is an acronym for the four major
components of reading:




C for Comprehension
A for Accuracy
F for Fluency
E for Expanding Vocabulary
Your child will learn reading strategies (or goals) within each category. These strategies will
become tools that help them become better readers and writers.
Your child will record his/her reading goal in the diary. I encourage you to discuss this with
your child as he/she reads each night. When we feel that your child has mastered this goal,
your child will be given another goal to further explore the ways in which he/she can ‘bump
up’ his/her reading.
You will see these goals on display in our classrooms. We have also included the ‘CAFÉ
Menu’ below, so that we can ‘speak the same language’ when discussing reading.
Home Learning
We encourage all students to read aloud for at least 10 minutes after school. We do not call
this a ‘home work task’. Daily practice encourages children to make reading a part of their
daily routine. Frequent reading helps to reinforce skills learnt in class and it further
strengthens student abilities. We want our students to foster a love of reading with a
passion for life-long learning.
Please take the time to sit with your child and to listen as he/she reads. Remember to make
this a positive experience.
When reading with your child:
-
Create a quiet and calm environment. Do not rush reading, remain positive around
books.
Sit next to your child
Never read a book cold. Discuss and question the text before you begin.
Discuss the text during and after reading. Questioning helps to strengthen
comprehension skills.
When discussing reading, use language from the CAFÉ Menu, referring back to your
child’s personal goal.
Explore real world texts and foster a love of reading.
Read for pleasure in front of your child. You are your child’s best teacher!
Please record your child’s daily reading in his/her diary.
We encourage students to explore classroom learning beyond classroom walls and to share
discoveries with the class.
Your child may wish to further practice his/her reading and/or maths skills using digital
technologies. If so we recommend the following:
Sunshine Online (Literacy and Maths): Login: West456 Password: West456
Study Ladder https://www.studyladder.com.au/ (Literacy and Maths)
Your child will be given a login and password. These will be stuck into your child’s diary.
The benefits of reading to your child are beyond value
Kevin Donnelly, Herald Sun, February 18, 2016
PARENTS are their children’s first teachers and there’s no doubt that surrounding them with books
and reading to them from an early age is one of the easiest and most effective ways to provide a
rich and rewarding education.
In the early years, reading your children nursery rhymes, poems and ballads gives enjoyment as well
as teaching about the musical quality of language and helping them to be confident and familiar
with words.
Stories like Spot the Dog, Who Sank the Boat? and The Jolly Postman and picture books like
Animalia and Where’s Wally? also provide shared time when parents can introduce children to the
world of the imagination.
Stories like Aesop’s Fables and those by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen are
enjoyable in their own right but help children to understand the difference between right and wrong.
The Ant and the Grasshopper, in which the ant survives by storing food for winter while the
grasshopper lives for the moment, teaches the benefits of hard work and planning.
The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg learn teaches that greed and wanting riches quickly can destroy
that which is most profitable.
Myths, legends and fables like Sinbad the Sailor, the struggles of Hercules and Odysseus are exciting
and dramatic as well as teaching children, especially boys, how to be brave and resilient.
As argued by the American psychologist, Bruno Bettelheim, classic fairy tales and stories like Jack
and the Beanstalk and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs help children to understand and deal with
emotions and fears like jealousy, love, anxiety and loss.
And, proven by Star Wars and the Marvel comic-inspired films like Iron Man and Thor, stories about
heroes and the struggle between good and evil will never lose their relevance and interest.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the central character’s father, Atticus Finch, tells his daughter,
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you
climb into his skin and walk around in it”.
Literature, at its best, teaches empathy for others because when reading we learn to sympathise and
understand how others feel and think. In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings we understand why Bilbo is
drawn to the dark side and how his love for Sam helps him overcome the evil Sauron.
Surrounding your children with books and regularly reading to them isn’t just about introducing
them to important emotions and moral values. Research carried out by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development proves children whose parents read to them regularly
before starting school are one year ahead of other children academically by the time they get to
secondary school.
The OECD also states “students who are highly engaged in a wide range of reading activities are
more likely than other students to be effective learners and to perform well at school”.
Reading teaches children to sit still, to concentrate and not be distracted — vital if they are to learn
properly when in the classroom. It’s no secret that too many children, because of TV, computers and
the internet lack the patience to be good learners.
Many parents are investing a lot of money on tutors, weekend lessons and expensive computer
software programs to give their children an academic edge when competing with other children. But
reading to your children and surrounding them with books is a far cheaper and more effective
strategy. At a time when many parents are both working and time short, sharing books and
literature also provides a much-needed opportunity to strengthen family bonds.
Student Wellbeing
At Westminster School we believe in educating the whole person. We want our students to
be optimistic, resilient and positive people so that they can strive, thrive and flourish at
school, at home and in the big wide world.
To support this, students will participate in weekly Bounce Back lessons. Bounce back is a
wellbeing and resilience program. Students will participate in mindfulness and meditation
activities and they will be exposed to opportunities to strengthen their self-awareness and
well-being throughout Assemblies and House Meetings.
You may hear words such as ‘resilience, goals, stamina, optimism, gratitude and positivity’
at home. We encourage you to question your child on this language and to include it in
your daily conversations.
For ideas about how you can practice mindfulness at home, please speak to your child’s
teacher.
In Grade Two we believe…
It is okay to make mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn!
Should you wish to discuss your child’s learning, or seek ideas about how you can further support
your child at home, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We look forward to working closely with you this year and we thank you for your continued
support.
Meg Fitzgerald, Mike Genikas and Sue Whiffen
Year 2 Class Teachers
Meg Fitzgerald Ph: 8276 0300 E: [email protected]
Michael Genikas Ph: 8276 0393 E: [email protected]
Sue Whiffen Ph: 8276 0301 E: [email protected]