Welcome to the Year 2 Parents and Friends Newsletter. This is where you will find all the latest happenings in Year 2.
It has been a very busy start to the year. Many new friendships have been formed by the children and they have settled into the daily routines and learning environment of our PYP classrooms.
The Year 2 team welcomes six new teachers to Year 2.
These teachers are Mrs Fiona Forbes, Miss Melissa Walton, Miss Naomi Gough (formerly of our Preschool), Mrs Alison Miller, Mrs Lyndall Van Onselen (formerly of Year 1), and Ms Lauren Ford.
The new teachers join our existing team including Mrs Michelle Habgood, Miss Marissa Cohen, Ms Jen Kennedy and Mr Peter Hayes.
Our Teacher Assistant team consists of Ms Jean Thomas, Ms Mary Jane Cua, Mrs Lay Geok Teo, Ms Rohani Tahir, Ms Manisah Shariff , Ms Norshidah Shariff, Mrs Maylyn Harrison, Mr Gilad Eliahu, Mrs Anna Orchard, and Mrs Kathy Mariadass.
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| Year 2 Teachers and Teacher assistants celebrate Australia Day |
Unit of Inquiry
What is inquiry-based learning?
An old adage states, ‘Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand’. The last part of this statement is the essence of inquiry-based learning. Inquiry implies involvement that leads to understanding. Furthermore, involvement in learning implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit you to seek resolutions to questions and issues whilst you construct new knowledge.
Inquiry is defined as, ‘a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge, seeking information by questioning’. Individuals carry on the process of inquiry throughout their entire life time. This is true even though they might not reflect upon the process. Infants begin to make sense of the world by inquiring. From birth, babies observe faces that come near, they grasp objects, they put things in their mouths and they turn toward voices. The process of inquiring begins with gathering information and data through applying the human senses- seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling.
Children can learn many things through the exchange of questions and it is equally important for both parents and teachers to create an environment that motivates children to inquire about the world around them.
Here are some activities you can do at home to promote questioning:
· Use things in the environment such as animals, plants, insects and other artifacts to provoke children’s curiosity. Ask them to use their five senses to explore the objects and ask questions.
· Devise ways to expose the children to questions. Record and post the questions on the wall or fridge at home to stimulate thinking through discussions.
· Play different games which encourage children to ask questions. Games such as ‘I-Spy’ are great ways to help children formulate questions.
Last week we moved onto our second Unit of Inquiry - Where We Are in Place and Time'
The central idea is 'People are connected with the world around them through their experiences and traditions’.
In this unit we explore and inquire into -
- Personal experiences and family traditions
- Traditions, customs and history of different groups in Singapore
- How we are connected to our host country
Through the concepts of Connection and Perspective, we will be inquiring more deeply into how this experience of living in Singapore enables us to connect with people in Singapore but also remain connected to our own beliefs and traditions.
Next week, we embark on an excursion to different cultural centres within Singapore to gain further insight into the communities of the Chinese, Malay and Indian cultures.
In Week 10, Year 2 will be having a ‘Cultural Day' where we celebrate the learning that has taken place during this unit. Parents are most welcome to attend.
Prior to this Unit, our first Unit of Inquiry was 'Who We Are ' with the central idea
'Understanding different ways of learning helps us to be a successful learner'.
This unit continues to be a focus throughout the year as teachers regularly assist students to review and refine their learning goals.
During this unit, the children began to learn through the lines of inquiry
- How we learn
- Characteristics of successful learners and
- Strategies to help us be better learners
The concepts related to this unit included:
- Form - What is it? What does a good learner do? What can we do to become better learners? What does a successful classroom look/feel/sound like?
- Reflection - How do we know? How do we know we have been a successful learner?
- Responsibility - What is our responsibility? What do we need to do to become a successful learner?
You can strengthen these concepts at home through conversations about how you learn best, discussing the similarities and differences between yourself as a learner and your child and identifying your strengths and weaknesses together.
Goal setting was an important element in this unit.
Gotcha Awards
Gotcha awards are presented to children who display the core values and attributes of the IB Learner Profile within the school. Each week, two children who have demonstrated the attributes of the Learner Profile have their card pulled from a special box at Assembly. They will earn 50 house points each and an Icy bonbon from the canteen.
This past fortnight, 'Gotcha Award' winners have been Austin 2KE, Oliver 2HB, James 2KE, Andy 2KE, Mya 2HA, Brigitte 2RY, Brieanna 2HA x2, Claudia 2HA and Tahmara 2HA. Congratulations to all these students!
Learner Profiles
Helping your child develop their understanding of the IB Learner Profile
The IB Programme promotes the education of the whole person, emphasizing intellectual, personal, emotional and social growth through all domains of knowledge, thus preparing children to face this ever changing world with confidence in themselves. To further enhance the learning experience, the PYP places emphasis on developing actions and attitudes along with teaching concepts and skills and ensures that the learning is relevant, engaging and challenging.
The IB Programme supports the children to become inquirers, thinkers, communicators, risk takers, and to be knowledgeable, principled, caring, open-minded, balanced and reflective.
During the first two weeks of the school year the Learner Profile attribute upon which we focused was Caring.
When parents are consistently caring and compassionate, it's more likely that the children will be too. Children observe their parents, and other adults, for clues on how to behave. Children should be encouraged to read books/stories or watch movies that promote compassionate behaviour.
During these next two weeks, we are focusing on being Open-Minded
A person who is open-minded shows respect for other people’s ideas and values. Recognising another perspective and acknowledging that there may be other ways to look at things is a characteristic of open-mindedness. In the classroom, the students are encouraged to listen to other points of view and ideas, and to strive toward accepting that there is more than one way to look at things even though ideas may be different from their own. You can support your child in becoming more open-minded in the following ways:
· Encourage your child’s interest in other cultures. Attend cultural events that feature music, dance or food from other countries.
· Introduce literature about different cultures into your home library.
· Encourage your child to really listen to others when they speak. As parents are the most influential role models children are likely to have, parents must model being good listeners.
Being open-minded is an attribute that is particularly significant to the current Unit of Inquiry.
House Leaders
The children earn house points through their positive and responsible actions by listening and respecting others during Assembly, and by participating enthusiastically in the Athletics Carnival, the Swimming Carnival, Music and PE.
Also during Assembly six children are awarded 'Star Awards' and they receive 10 house points each.
DERWENT | FITZROY | MURRAY | LACHLAN |
210 | 280 | 310 | 210 |
Meet the Staff
5 Facts about me - Ms Elle Ryan
- My beautiful 18 year old daughter, Jordan, completed her HSC last year at AIS and now lives in Sydney, studying at UNSW.
- I love sports and try to learn a new one every year. While living in Singapore I've learnt to Dragon Boat, Dive and Golf.
- I regularly practise yoga and swimming and try to see a live band or musician each year. John Butler is one of my favourites! Luckily he came to Singapore!
- I have always been a member of Surf Life Saving Clubs in Australia and continue to support these while living overseas. I am a life member at Coffs Harbour SLSC
- I'm an 'Aussie country girl' and love all things nature! I've had horses for many years and competed in dressage and eventing.
5 Facts about me - Ms Jean Thomas
- I am an avid collector of masks
- I love listening to music – my favourite artist at the moment is C Lo Green
- I like baking choc chip cookies...and eating them too!
- My favourite show is Fat Albert
- I would love to go to Africa someday - to get more masks of course!
Year Two CCA News – from Darren Campbell (Junior Community & Service Co-ordinator)
The Year Two lunch time clubs have been successfully launched this year, with many enthusiastic students making their way to various activities and sports prepared by Junior School teachers. This semester, fifteen clubs have been offered to Year Two children. The old favourites like Cooking, Drama, Science and Dance have been offered as well as some new clubs like Basketball and Claymation.
Some clubs are very popular and, owing to a lack of time and resources, we can’t always meet the demand, unfortunately leaving some children having to settle with their second choice. However, all details are recorded and children who missed out on their first choice this semester are guaranteed their first choice in the Second Semester.
Be on the lookout for updates from various clubs in the coming months!
Reminders
· Before and After School Routines
Please remind children that they can drop off their bags at the lunch tables in the morning and go and play. When the bell rings they can collect their bag and go up the main stairs. Children are reminded not to come up to the pod before school unless it is raining.
Please inform your child’s teacher about any changes regarding drop off and pick up arrangements. If there is a last minute change, please contact the school secretary directly. Her number is 6319 7589.
· Hats
A number of children are not bringing their hat to school. Please remind children that hats need to be worn at all times when they are outside.
Parent Education
Throughout my teaching career I have encountered many children showing signs of mild to severe anxiety. Not only is excessive anxiety upsetting for the child but it can also wreak havoc on daily family life. Fortunately nowadays there are many places you can go to for help with this problem.
Anxiety is a normal part of childhood. Most children report having several fears at any given age, with research showing that 90% of children between 2-14yrs of age have at least one specific fear. It is common for children in the early years of school to be fearful of the dark, sleeping alone, thunder, floods, ghosts, and monsters. As they reach 7-8yrs of age, their fears start to become more realistic, e.g they may worry about physical injury, school performance, death, earthquakes, floods.
Whilst most children will go through phases of anxiety that don’t interfere with their daily life, approximately one in eight children will develop some type of anxiety disorder, making it the most prevalent mental health problem amongst children and adolescents.
It is common to see anxiety start to become a problem in children around Year One and Year Two, and for this reason our School Counsellor runs an anxiety management program in every Year Two class at AIS. This program will be underway in Term 3 this year. Meanwhile if you would like to know more about anxiety in children you can check out the resources below.
· http://www.emotionalhealthclinic.com.au/ is the website for Macquarie University’s child psychology clinic.
· ‘Girls don't start out more anxious than boys, but they usually end up that way.' is an interesting article that explores how parents raise children differently according to gender. Click on the title to read the article.
· “Helping your anxious child” by Ron Rapee. Available at any big bookstore or on-line at www.opentrolley.com.sg
Please feel free to contact our school counsellor - Lia Gould if you have any concerns about your child’s level of anxiety. lia_gould@ais.com.sg
Kind regards,
Elle Ryan
Head of Year Two
