Dear Parents,
We are now over the half way mark for Term 3 and what another busy term it has been. The Year 2 classrooms and pods have been buzzing with the sounds of instruments, singing, chanting and all kinds of music. The students have really enjoyed this unit and have engaged in a variety of different musical genres. We are looking forward to seeing you next Friday for our Musical Journey Expo!
Thank you to parents for visiting our classrooms last week for the Student Led Conferences. The children really enjoy sharing their learning experiences with you and appreciate your supportive and encouraging participation.
This week marks the end of the Kais Kids Readathon! A fantastic initiative by Year 10 student Sophie Aitken. The children have demonstrated their love of reading whilst also supporting others less fortunate than themselves. Please complete the survey for Sophie to assist with her MYP project. It will only take a few minutes. Please follow the link.
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| Sophie reading to 2CO |
This week we celebrated BookWeek - 'One World- Many Stories'. The library was alive with visiting students from Middle School, parents and authors sharing their stories in their mother tongue language. The Nepal fundraising bookstore and Bookaburra Book Fair also provided opportunities to purchase books whilst providing funds for the charities of Nepal and the school library. Teachers also took part in a school wide program - Reading Across the Years -whereby teachers went to other classes in the school and read their favourite book.
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| Book week characters |
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| Ms Hitz-Morton reading to 2RY |
Unit of Inquiry
How We Express Ourselves
On Friday 2nd September we will celebrate the end of this Unit of Inquiry with the Musical Journey Expo. We look forward to seeing you there.
We are forntunate to have a visiting performer Mr Bruce Rodgers (uncle of Ella 2HA), who will conduct a workshop with the children on Friday.
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| 2RY jamming |
Class of the week - 2 KE
2KE are having a lot of fun exploring the current unit of inquiry. Our classroom is full of home made and real instruments. Many of the instruments have been discovered in little shops on holidays in Malaysia and Indonesia and we have found it all very interesting. We’ve also liked finding out about famous composers and sketching them too! We also decided as a class that we would like to learn an instrument so we’re learning the recorder.
Zari found out that when Mozart was 5, he was travelling around Europe playing music.
Matthew found out that Mozart is one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.
Zari found out that when Mozart was 5, he was travelling around Europe playing music.
Matthew found out that Mozart is one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.
Lachlan found out that Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria on the 27th January 1756.
House Leaders
Murray - 379 points
Lachlan - 310 points
Fitzroy - 289 points
Derwent - 252 points
Meet the Staff - Kerryl Howarth
5 Facts about me
1. One of my proudest achievements was completing a half marathon walk/ shuffle last year to raise money for the women of Congo.
2. I enjoy teaching and have a particular passion for teaching Reading and Writing.
3. I have two sons and an amazing husband.
4. Our family enjoys travelling. We recently travelled to Switzerland and Italy and had a some magnificent experiences hiking in the Dolomites and the Swiss Alps.
5. I have lived in Singapore for more than ten years. One of my favourite things to do here is go to the movies so that I can remember what winter feels like.
Meet the Staff - Juliet Cabreros
5 Facts about me
1. Family comes first
2. Loves to celebrate Christmas in Philippines
3. Strive for the best in each assigned task
4. An active member of a Filipino organization that organizes charitable works for young Filipinos
5. Loves watching TV series like Criminal Minds, 24, V, The Unit
Specialists in the Spotlight - Music
Here are some of our student reflections:
“I wonder how they learned to play the instrument so quickly” – Sam J
“It was awesome, it made me feel excited. My favorite instrument was the big long gong” – Rebecca W
“If primary did that for SLC and I was their Dad, I would be very impressed!”- George
“That was awesome and I have never seen it before. My favorite part was the gong”
Meanwhile, all of our music classes have been working on their performances for our showcase next week. We have been learning great xylophone playing technique and we’ve also been improvising our own music!
Year Two CCA News
Cooking and Creative Play CCAs
Students participating in the Cooking CCA this Semester have enjoyed making pancakes topped with jam and honey as well as old fashioned chocolate milkshakes. Many delicious delights are still to come.
The Creative Play CCA has proven to be a popular choice this Semester. Students have so far enjoyed making art work, building with blocks and imaginative play. We look forward to further using our creative sides in the weeks ahead!
Science CCA
After asking the students what they would like to learn in the Science CCA, we decided to make volcanoes. This week we began the process of making the volcanoes using large water bottles and paper mache. Once we finish the paper mache models we will use vinegar, dish washing liquid, food colouring and bicarb soda to create an explosion/erupting volcano. Miss Rodrick
Tennis CCA
Tennis stars of tomorrow! Over the past couple of weeks, Yr 2 students have been practising their forehands, backhands and enjoying rallies with one another. It has been wonderful to see their independence in remembering their hats, racquets, water bottles and sneakers each Monday. Already we have noticed an improvement in their skills and sportsmanship. We look forward to seeing them progress throughout the term. Ms Cohen & Ms Turnell
Dates to Remember
Thursday, 1 September | Teachers’ Day |
Friday, 2 September Monday, 5 September | Year 2 Musical Journey Expo Year 2 Excursion - DBS Theatre |
| Thursday, 15 September | AIS Foundation Day celebrations |
| Friday, 16 September | Junior and Primary Fathers’ Day Breakfast |
| Monday, 19 September | Year 1 Athletics Carnival |
| Tuesday, 20 September | Prep Athletics Carnival |
| Wednesday, 21 September | Junior International Peace Day Celebrations |
| Thursday, 22 September | Year 2 Athletics Carnival |
Parent Education
Denise Jackson, our Junior School Librarian, found this interesting article that may be of interest to parents. The article explains that, verbal skills (a necessary part of language development) are lacking in young children, this hinders their chances of learning. The 5 tips for parents recommended by Dr John Munro are listed below and included is a link to the article from the Herald Sun.
TALKING TIPS FOR PARENTS
2. Encourage them to use speaking and listening to communicate. Try to understand what they are saying, and show them that they are making sense. Encourage them to talk about their feelings.
3. Encourage them to talk in sentences about their surroundings. Guide them gradually to say more longer sentences.
4. Encourage them to play with words and sentences, to sing and recite rhymes, and to explore their language
5. Guide them to extend their language in small steps. Model how they can say ideas in slightly more complex ways.
Source: Dr John Munro, Melbourne Graduate School of Education
Source: Dr John Munro, Melbourne Graduate School of Education
"What did you do at school today dear?"
"Nothing….."
Sound familiar? A lot of children get in the car at the end of the day and they are exhausted! Often they need a little bit of time just to gather their thoughts and reflect on their day. You might find that at night, over dinner, at bed time or even the next day they may tell you about something eventful that has happened to them.
A great game you can play to encourage discussion about their day is "The High/Low Game". Very simply, everyone in the family shares their high and their low for the day. It may be as simple as "My low was that I didn’t like my vegemite sandwich and my high was I had fun playing at lunch time." As an adult, it’s important for you to share too! "My low was forgetting to get milk at the shops and my high was the beautiful weather we had today."
Why not make it part of your evening dinner conversation or your car trip home! Little brothers and sisters can play too!
Ms Elle Ryan and the Year 2 Teaching Team
