Welcome to Year 2, 2024 😍
Kaya and welcome to the Year 2M blog.
I hope you have all had a relaxing and peaceful holiday and enjoyed some of this awesome summer weather! I am looking forward to getting to know your beautiful children and working with you throughout your child's learning journey this year.
Year 2 is a big, but exciting year where your child will, discover, grow, create, learn, reflect and experience an abundance of fun and interesting things in our class! As a parent of a Year 2 student, it is extremely important to keep in mind that we all build on small successes. Each child will progress at their own rate, acquiring skills as he/she is developmentally ready.
Here are some ways you can help:
- Celebrate your child's success, no matter how small it may seem. This will keep your child enthusiastic about learning and proud of their work!
- Read to and with your child every day, if possible. The more your child is exposed to language, the easier it will be for him/her to incorporate new skills in reading and writing in the classroom.
As the Year Two cohort is made up of 47 children, we will be welcoming the children outside the classroom doors for Week 1. If you are concerned about separation anxiety, please email me before the first day.
We will be practicing regular hygiene through both washing hands and using hand sanitiser before and after eating times. We understand some children may be sensitive to some hand sanitisers. If this is the case, please email us and provide an alternative hand sanitiser in your child’s bag.
A few important things for the start of Year Two:
Uniform ⭐
Term one is our summer uniform:
Girls - Summer dress with brown sandals or black school shoes with white socks.
Boys - White shirt, grey shorts with brown sandals or black school shoes with grey socks. Please see school website for more information.
Swimming Information 🏊♀️🌊
Swimming commences Week 1, Wednesday 31st January to Friday 9th of February.
The children may wear their sports uniform from Wednesday 31st of January for the entire week of swimming with their bathers under their uniform. If your child is wearing a rashie, please bring it separately, as they can be hot under their uniform.
We are very lucky to be heading to the beach for a 45-minute session leaving OLC at 12.30pm and we will return to OLC by 1:40pm. As we are at the beach during lunchtime, the children will have an early lunchtime commencing at 11:45. They will then get changed into their swimming gear and be able to have a 20 minute play before we hop on the bus.
As we are outside, we would love it if you were able to ‘sunscreen up’ your child before school. We will then reapply spf 50 before departing for the beach. If your child has skin sensitivity, please let us know via email and we would ask you to pack their own sunscreen as we only have one brand at school.
- What you will need to pack:
- (Please label everything - including your child's sport uniform)
- A spare plastic bag (for wet bathers)
- Towel
- Goggles
- Thongs/slides (these cannot be worn to school - sport shoes to school, then they can get changed into them)
- Rashie – This is compulsory. Your child will not be able to swim without one.
Stationery ✏📝📚
Thank you to those families who have already dropped off your child’s stationery orders in the tubs outside the Year Two classrooms. It is greatly appreciated as this will relieve some of the first day madness. Don’t stress there is still time at the beginning of next week (Monday 29th & Tuesday 30th) to drop off your orders. We understand that there has been some delays with the Campion orders so please bring them in when you receive them.
All class stationery (pencils, crayons, scissors etc.) will be collected together at the beginning of the year and distributed to the students on a shared basis. This year, we are trying to reduce our impact on the environment by not covering our books with contact. We have found in the past that the books have lasted throughout the year and it teaches the children to be responsible and take care of their belongings. Headphones (If you ordered them) are the only items that require labelling. If you had headphones from last year, they have been passed on by the previous year’s teacher.
Names 👒
Please ensure that all personal items (hats, drink bottles, lunch boxes, uniforms, crunch & sip containers, etc) belonging to your child are labelled to avoid losing items! You would be surprised how often we find a rogue shoe around the place :)
Class Blog 💻
This blog will be the main communication for any parent information over the coming year. Please keep your mobile and email updated with the front office to ensure you receive texts and email communication from us throughout the year.
Seesaw 🖥
This is OLC’s formal reporting format that we are implementing over the year to give you an insight to your child's achievement. This is so you as a parent are informed of your child’s learning in real time and it will allow you to celebrate their success and provide you with an opportunity to work towards their goals at home as well as at school.
Don't forget you can have both parents or any family members (eg. Grandma) access your child's Seesaw account and that you can access directly with the Seesaw Family app on your phone, device or computer. We would love it if you can leave a comment on your child's work, as they can access the app at school and they love seeing your feedback!
The link for your child’s Year Two seesaw learning journal will be emailed to you soon, so keep an eye out!
Bell Times 🔔
Doors open/gathering time: 8:30am - 8:40am (This is the time that your child will settle in, set up their desk and change their reader)
Learning begins: 8:40am
Recess: 10:40am - 11:00am
Lunch: 1:00pm - 1:40pm
End of School Day: 3:00pm for everyone, including pick up lane & bus.
Children can be collected from the courtyard or can wait on the bench outside the Year Two classes.
Policy for Early Leaving 🏫
The OLC policy regarding early leaving - If you wish to collect your child early from school, you are required to go to the office first and sign out via SEQTA using the school iPad.
Crunch & Sip 🍎
Each morning before recess we will stop for a 5-minute Crunch & Sip break. The idea of Crunch & Sip is that the students have a short break to increase their energy levels, increase awareness about eating fruit and vegetables, as well as encouraging them to drink water and keep hydrated throughout the school day. You can refer to the Crunch & Sip website (www.crunchandsip.com.au) for specifics on a list of foods that can be packed for this time of the morning. Generally speaking, the list will include fresh fruit and vegetables (celery/carrot sticks, broccoli, chopped or whole fruit, as well as dried fruit). Please bring along a water bottle with your child's name on it and this can be placed on their desks along with their small container of fruit/vegetables.
Canteen 🥙🥗
Canteen will commence in Week 3 and will run on Mondays, Thursdays & Fridays. Students are welcome to purchase food and drink at recess without prior ordering. If your child would like a lunch order, you can order online or can be ordered directly at the canteen. It is vital that we have volunteers to enable our canteen to be operational. This is particularly important with the addition of extra canteen days this year. Please consider getting involved and helping out. Your children will love it when they see you in the canteen. Please email pippa.walsh@cewa.edu.au.
Class Timetables ⏰
These will be released after swimming lessons in week three as we have an alternative timetable for weeks one and two.
Teacher Contact 👩🏫
If you have any question or queries, please don't hesitate to email me at:
natalie.matthews@cewa.edu.au
If you have any information that you think will be important for the first day, please don’t hesitate to email me as the first day is always such a busy time. Please bear in mind that I am teaching throughout the day and don't always have access to my emails, so if it is anything of importance please contact me the night before or contact the office.
I am looking forward to seeing your little ones on Wednesday!
Have a restful day and enjoy your weekend,
Natalie Matthews
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