Bankstown Public School

Bankstown Public School Year 2, 2014

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

The year 2 teachers and staff at Bankstown Public School would like to once again welcome you to our school. It is encouraging to see all the Year 2 children settling well into their new classes. The following information tells you about the topics, activities and general information that relates to all children in Year 2.

Textbooks. The textbook to be used in Year 2 is “EnVision Maths” Year 2 Edition Pearson and Rigby. This book is used as part of our daily Mathematics. Copyright places limitations on the amount of photocopying teachers can do so it is very important for all students to have the required textbook. The students will also receive their Pupil Progress Folder as part of the textbook package as well as admission to the Social Skills performance.

Themes: (HSIE/Science) This Year the children in Year 2 will be studying the following themes  Term 1- Transport and Aboriginal Studies , Push and Pull  Term 2- Celebrations and The Way We Were, Mix it up  Term 3- Dinosaurs, Watch it Grow  Term 4- The Sea, Water works

Excursions: As part of these units of work, the children will be given the opportunity to attend some most valuable and worthwhile excursions. These excursions aim at providing students with hands on experiences and extend and support what the students are learning in the classroom. These excursions may change depending upon availability.

Term Excursion Approximate costs 1 Transport Excursion to the City $10 2 “Multicultural Fun Day” at school free 3 Reptile Show at school & Museum $15 4 Sydney Aquarium Darling Harbour $16

Money for these excursions and visiting Performances can be placed in the excursion drop box that is located in the front office. Please place the money in the envelope and ensure your childs name, class and the name of the event are clearly written on the front of the enevleope. NO money will be accepted on the day of the excursion.

Mathematics  Based on the N.S.W maths Syllabus covering the topics of Number, Patterns and Algebra, Data, Space and Measurement.  Supported by Best Start, the EnVision Maths program with textbook and teacher made worksheets, hands on activities, differentiated groups in a well resourced classroom and Interactive Whiteboard activities.  “Hands on” maths materials will be used to teach most aspects of our maths curriculum. In Addition “Count Me In Too” games are also taught.  Maths will be taught daily in each classroom to meet the mandatory 4 hours per week.

English Reading  Shared Reading – usually big books read with the whole class  Individual guided reading  Group guided reading- books with accompanying activities.  Literature- novels or poetry read by the teacher to the class.  Some STLA (Mrs Mitchell) and ESL support (Mrs Lynton and Miss Angelis)  Home Reading- students can take a book home every night. Writing  Journal Writing  Writing based on different text types  Handwriting – formal modelled handwriting lessons following the NSW Foundation style.  Occupational Therapist Grammar  Incorporated in reading and writing lessons to teach the rules of spoken and written English. Spelling  A weekly list of words is sent home on Monday. Activities in class will support this word list weekly. Talking and Listening  Weekly news  Listening/ Talking games  Listening to instructions  Telling stories/ Drama  Reciting poems  Topic Talks  Articulation/Speech Therapy- supported by Mrs Notaras. ESL  Mrs Lynton and Miss Angelis are our ESL teachers and they work with all classes during English lessons. They also provide special programs for children who are learning to speak, read and write the English language.

Library  Children attend library lessons each fortnight. Every child needs a library bag to enable them to borrow books. Books may also be borrowed before school and some lunch times.

Homework Year 2 has a homework sheet. Children will be reminded what needs to be done each week. Children are encouraged to do their homework every weekday. Homework is set to support lessons taught in class. Home readers should be read each night to encourage children’s fluency, comprehension and accuracy skills. Computers  Children attend computer lessons with Mrs Gonzales and Ms Gerges in the computer lab each fortnight. Please visit our website:  http://www.bankstown-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/  and the Student Portal address: is  https://student.det.nsw.edu.au

Creative and Practical Arts  We teach a variety of activities that develop your child’s fine motor skills and creativity.  We regularly participate in both Music, Dance and Drama activities.

PE/Health/ PD  Fitness (Tuesdays)  Grade Sport (9am Fridays)  Child Protection  Social Skills  Road Safety  Drug Education As part of our fitness program we do Occupational Therapy inspired activities to assist the children in all aspects of their learning. Healthy Lunch: All children need to have a HEALTHY lunch and afternoon break “snack”. This may include fruit, cheese, a muesli bar, yoghurt, a small salad, a sandwich and a drink. (Two drinks for hot days are very important). Crunch and Sip time is at 10am during class (optional). Snacks should be refreshing fruits or vegetables and water. Lunch is at 11.00am to 11.35am. Teachers supervise the students eating their lunch between 11.00am and 11.10am. Afternoon breaks are between 1.15pm and 1.55pm. *Please be considerate of the needs of children within the school and do not send nut products.

Community Languages Children attend the Community Language that parents have nominated. Where the language spoken at home is not available children attend lessons given by Mrs Catal, Mrs Raad and Ms Gerges.

Assessment of children Students’ progress is monitored on a continuous and progressive basis, making use of the following strategies: *Observation *Attitude and interest inventories *Checklists *Surveys *Student self-assessment * Anecdotal records *Student work analysis *Scored techniques (tests) *Standardised tests Teachers keep detailed records, including samples of children’s work.

Behaviour Expectations We expect all Year 2 children to:  Be in correct school uniform (including school hats) every day. NO HAT, NO PLAY.  Be punctual at all times- (school begins at 9am and finishes at 3pm. Prompt pick up is appreciated).  Follow the School Behaviour Policy. Students need to be Safe, A Learner and Respectful to go up in levels. All students begin at green level. (Should you have any concerns regarding your child, please feel free to make an appointment to see your child’s teacher. If your child is causing concern, we will contact you in order to set up an appointment).

Student Profile Folders/ Parent Meetings. During Term 2, Parent/teacher interviews will take place and progress folders will be sent home at this meeting. Parents are encouraged to look at the work their child has been doing and discuss their child’s progress. Progress folders must be returned soon after the interview so that more work can be added during Terms 3 and 4.

Latecomers and Absences Children need to be at school when school begins at 9 am. If your child is late or they need to leave early, he/she needs to go to the office where the time of arrival is recorded and they receive a slip that needs to be given to the classroom teacher. It is critical that your child be at school, on time, as often as possible to ensure educational needs are being met. When your child is absent would you please send a written note stating the reason for their absence. If you are leaving to go overseas for a variety of reasons, you must ensure your child is legally signed out by completing the forms at the front office. This is very important.

Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher regarding any issues that may arise. (You can ring the school to make an appointment). We feel that open communication will result in the best educational experience for your child.

Birthday Celebrations Sometimes parents would like to celebrate their child’s birthday at school. For Health and Safety reasons as well as time, only individual serves (eg cup cakes or donuts) may be sent to school for this purpose.

Finally, we would like to thank you for your support. We look forward to a very happy and successful year. The following teachers will be teaching or supporting the grade. Ms Sadek- 2D Mrs Cairns- 2C Mrs M. Lopez- 2L Mrs S. Smith- 2S (Assistant Principal) Miss Simiri- 2A Mrs Wever/Mrs Hall- 1/2E Mrs Lynton- ESL Miss Angelis- ESL Mrs Mitchell- STLA Thank you, Year 2 teachers.