Foundation – Year 2

We are always excited to welcome every year into our F-2 Unit our new Foundation students. Right from the moment they walk through the door their learning and personal development does not start, but continues, as we acknowledge and respect the role that their families and our early learning centres have played and will continue to play in the lives of these creative and curious little learners.

During the early years, the curriculum focuses on developing the fundamental knowledge, skills and behaviours in literacy and numeracy and other areas including physical and social capacities which underpin all future learning.

It is within our F-2 Unit that we lay the foundations for our students to continue and build upon the learning journey they have already travelled. It is a unit which is filled with exploration, interest and exciting growth and where we support our students in a safe environment to accept challenges and increasingly develop their independence to take responsibility for their own learning, and their social interactions with others.

Our Foundation-Year 2 students have regular opportunities to develop their reading skills and comprehension, beginning with daily independent reading supported by teacher conferencing. A focus on modelled and guided reading incorporates strategies from the CAFE Menu.  In the Foundation-Year 2 levels the focus is clearly on strategies and phonological awareness that supports learning to read, which is coupled with the development of comprehension skills.

Our Mathematics programs are engaging, fun and based in real life contexts. All students work across the three strands of Mathematics – Number, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. Our Maths programs are planned and taught at point of need, through ongoing data collection by the classroom and support teachers which enables students to be supported to work mathematically, as well as build their understanding, fluency and reasoning, but to be moved through these capabilities at their own pace.

There is a strong focus on the link between concrete materials and numeracy concepts and many learning experiences involve games and play-based opportunities that help make Maths meaningful and connected to real-life learning.

Our Foundation – Year 2 classes attend a one hour Art, P.E, STEM and French lesson on a weekly basis with our specialist teachers.

Our F-2 Unit also engages in the following programs and learning opportunities:

• A Kinder to School Orientation Program
• A four week Transition Program in November & December of each year
• A Buddy Program for our Foundation students
• A bank of iPads, 1-1 laptops for timetabled ICT lessons and core classroom work and a number of classroom computers
• I hour specialist classes in French, STEM, Art and PE
• An artist in residence program and other incursions linked to the integrated learning unit
• Yearly excursion linked to the integrated learning unit