As I continue my journey at Birregurra Primary School, it has been wonderful to build on the strong relationships already formed with both staff and students. It’s been a positive and settled start to the year, and I’m excited to share what we’ve been learning in Grade 2/3.

In literacy, our Grade 2 students have once again been engaging in the Sounds-Write program, strengthening their reading, writing, and spelling skills through explicit phonics instruction. Across the class, we have also explored compound words, helping students understand how words can be combined to create new meaning. Building on this, our Grade 3 students have been working with polysyllabic words and exploring morphology, learning how prefixes and suffixes help them unlock the meaning of unfamiliar words. As a classroom community, we have also focused on setting clear expectations and classroom protocols to ensure all students are ready to reach their full learning potential. Students have begun our Text-Based Units, where reading and writing are taught together to strengthen comprehension and written expression. Our first mentor text called ‘The Shop Train’ is about a train that travelled from South Australia to Western Australia, stopping in small communities for people to shop. This unit explored expanding simple sentences and a range of new vocabulary.

In Mathematics, our focus has been on place value, extending students’ understanding of numbers beyond 10,000. We have also been developing strong maths fluency through activities such as Times Table Rockstars, Daily 10 Mental Maths, and a range of engaging number games that promote confidence, speed, and flexibility with numbers.

A very exciting milestone this term has been our Grade 3 students receiving their laptops. They have been learning how to log in, practise typing skills, use Google Search safely, and support one another as they build confidence with digital learning tools.
Our Respectful Relationships program has continued to be a highlight, with students identifying and reflecting on their emotions using our feelings check-in station. They are learning about the Zones of Regulation and discussing times they have experienced each zone, supporting the development of emotional awareness and self-regulation skills.

In Inquiry, we have begun our Launching Learners unit, focusing on our school values. Students have been discussing what it means to be a successful learner and how these values can be demonstrated through their actions and words each day.

Students have also been enjoying their specialist classes, including Art, Library, Indonesian, and PE. PE has been particularly engaging as students prepare for upcoming House Sports and Polwarth Sports days.

It has been a pleasure to see the enthusiasm, resilience, and love of learning across the Grade 2/3 classroom. Student learning and updates will be shared through XUNO, along with our weekly classroom updates, as we work together to support students in achieving their learning goals this year.

- Miss McLaren