Author: Mrs Hayes

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New to Year Two

I have enjoyed receiving all of your child’s postcards this week and I am looking forward to welcoming the Year Two children into their new classroom on Wednesday. If your child has completed the reading challenge over the holiday, please send in their certificate so that their achievement can be celebrated in class.

Can you spot your postcard?

Gentle reminder

Children should bring in a coat, full drinks bottle and school book bag with them every day.

Please ensure that all PE kit and school uniform is clearly labelled with your child’s name so that mislaid items can be returned easily.

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Year 2 RE

Our RE topic is based around the theme of Spread the Word.

Key words for the topic are: risen resurrection Holy Spirit Ascension witnesses blessing Pentecost promise Good News

As part of this topic, we will consider the Big Question ‘Why should we spread Good News’?

The children will read from the bible to find out how the women at the tomb were asked to tell the disciples that Jesus has come alive again.  We will hear Jesus’s message that he would give them a special helper called the Holy Spirit and then find out about the effect of the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the disciples at Pentecost as they then went out to spread Jesus’s word on the streets of Jerusalem.

RE home learning

As part of their home learning, the children will think about how they can pass on the Good News that Jesus is alive in each and every one of us.  Read John 14: 18-19 and Acts 2: 1-4 together and talk about how the Holy Spirit helps and guides us.   Your child will bring home a flower with the phrase ‘Jesus is alive in me’ at the centre, with a space where they can draw a beautiful self-portrait. 

Talk to your child about the different things that they do which show that the Holy Spirit is working through them.  These things can include

  • reading the bible, maybe about the experience of Jesus and the disciples after the resurrection
  • telling other people about the life and message of Jesus
  • examples of how your child follows Jesus’ message to love other people through their actions and service
  • talking about your child’s prayer life and what they pray about
  • talking about ways in which your child contributes to the Common Good by giving time or money to charities so that they can do good works

Through a combination of images and writing, ask your child to fill in each petal with a different way in which they show that Jesus is alive in them.  They need to write their sentences in their own words (not a direct copy of the bullet points above!) and ensure that their handwriting is neat and correctly punctuated as the flowers will all contribute to a classroom display.

We are looking forward to seeing the finished flowers and you will be able to see them on display during our next Sharing Friday.

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Year 2 raise money for Comic Relief

What a lot of red noses!

The children had a great time on Red Nose Day. They donated money to come into school dressed in red and shared a red snack together while wearing their red noses.

As part of their maths learning, the children found as many different ways as they could to pay for a £1.25 red nose. We also looked at the Comic Relief website and thought about the good that would be done as a result of their donations.

The children ended the morning by writing messages of thanks to our classroom cleaner Mandie, who has been working at St. Adrian’s for over ten years. They were very pleased to be able to give Mandie their messages, best wishes and a gift later in the day. Thank you once again Mandie.

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Year 2 worship with Father Francis

The children have enjoyed a wonderful liturgy with Father Francis on the theme of Thanksgiving. As part of the worship, the children all had a role to play and each group planned a different part of the service, including making up their own verses to familiar hymns, writing the prayers and reading from our new class bible.

  • Father Francis shakes everyone’s hand at the end of the liturgy.
  • The children enjoyed preparing the prayer focus.

Father Francis spoke warmly with the children and during his homily, he talked in detail about the importance of the Eucharist as a way of giving thanks in the mass. At the end of the liturgy, the children were congratulated on their singing, which is such an integral part of their everyday prayer life in Year 2. The service ended with Father Francis blessing our food (brioche from France!) and four new bibles which were then delivered to year groups across the school.

Well done to everyone for the very thoughtfully decorated crosses that have come in as part of our class RE home learning. The crosses are all so unique, they look wonderful on the display and reflect the children’s understanding of The Last Supper and the celebration of mass. If your child has not brought in their cross yet, please bring it in by Friday.

Reading Logs – Wcb First Grade with Children Reading Clip Art – Free Design Templates

I have been asked if there are any books that are recommended for Year 2 children to read. Ideas can be found here: https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-2 and it is also a wonderful idea to visit your local library which is filled with hundreds of age appropriate books for free!

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Advent in Year Two

During the last week of the Christmas term, the children had a lovely time, filled with anticipation and excitement. The children started their week with a panto, then enjoyed a visit from Father Christmas (in response to the letters that they sent him at the beginning of December!), ate a delicious Christmas lunch together, attended a mass presided over by Father Francis and shared an advent celebration during which kriskringle gifts were exchanged. The children have certainly responded to Father Francis’s message to share the gift of Jesus by living with hope, joy and love in their relationships with others.

Please note that if you click on any photo, you will be able to watch a slide show of all the photos.

Thank you very much for your generous Christmas gifts. Teaching your children is a privilege, which we enjoy every day. May you have a holy Christmas and a new year that is filled with peace, happiness and good health.

Emma Hayes, Kim Heffernan, Robin King and Sally McCarthy

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Creative RE in Year Two

A wonderful project book showing the children’s learning about Saint Teresa can be found in our class library.

Year Two are very sad that their amazing display on Saint Teresa of Calcutta has been taken down.  We are hoping to put their beautiful drawings up in the classroom.  Meanwhile, the children have been inspired by the story of the Annunciation and they are now designing their own angels as part of an Art and Design Technology project.  During your visit to the school to watch the children’s play on Thursday 13th December, please do take a look at our finished display of angels which will accompany the Angelus prayer in the dining room.  We look forward to seeing you all then.

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Learning in Year 2

This week, we have been learning about the religion of Islam.  Arafa brought in her prayer mat and taught her friends about the way in which she prays five times every day.  Arafa taught us all a huge amount about how Muslims pray.

As part of their learning about Signs and Symbols, the children created some beautiful baptism candles and thought very carefully about the signs and symbols that were meaningful to them.  Well to everyone.

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Dramatic Year 2

The children have had a great start to Year 2 and have been very excited about their new learning.  What has been especially rewarding is the enthusiasm with which pupils have brought in information from home about current learning.  Thank you for the high quality of their home learning, including the posters about Saint Teresa and beautiful baptism candles.

We had an inspiring drama session earlier in October.  The children paid great attention during the session and showed themselves to be wonderful actors.  Well done to you all!

The circus ringmaster told us that the clowns are very sad and our mission is to make them happy.
Maybe our funny faces will make the clowns laugh?

Our wonderful acting has made the clowns smile again.  HURRAH!

The Year 2 children have a great passion for art, so I look forward to seeing their artwork inspired by the theme of Bread of Life.  

Have a wonderful half term break with your family.

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Art competition

An exciting competition is taking place across the county.  The task is to:

Create a piece of artwork entitled ‘The Bread of Life’.

Encourage your child to think about what the blessed sacrament, the Eucharistic host, means to them and then create a piece of artwork reflecting their thoughts.  The artwork needs to be A4 in size and can be created using any medium, including paint, collage or printing.  Please label the back of the artwork with your child’s name and year group and return to your class teacher by 9th November.

More details can be found here:   

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