On Wednesday, the children celebrated a liturgy with Father Francis. The focus of the liturgy was thanksgiving and the children enjoyed planning prayers, readings and hymns that they would use within the liturgy. It was a joyous occasion and the children prayed thoughtfully and sang with gusto!
How to access our Google Classroom
In the event of school closure, I am hoping to provide activities via the Google classroom. It might be worth checking that your child is able to access this in case we are instructed by the Government to close in the coming weeks. Further details can be found below.
To access Google classroom, children will need to sign in using their school Google account.
Visit google.com and click ‘Sign in’ in the top-right of the webpage.
If you, or someone using the same device, already has a Google account, you will need to add your child’s school account and switch between them before accessing the Classroom.
How to add Google accounts
- Open the Chrome web browser.
- On the top right, select your profile image or initial.
- On the menu, choose Add account.
- Follow the instructions to add your child’s Google account.
- Children’s school Google usernames all end with the domain, @stadrians.herts.sch.uk
- Your child should know the first part of their username and the password.
For security, I cannot add that information here. Further details can be found in your child’s reading log.
Once you have, set up your child’s Google account. You may need to switch between accounts for them to access the Google Classroom.
How to switch between Google accounts
- In the top right, click your profile photo or email address.
- Click the account you want to use.
- A new window will open for this account.
Accessing the Google Classroom
Visit classroom.google.com
Eco Team 2023-2024
The children in their classes used democracy and voted to choose who would represent them in the Eco Team and we are all very proud to have been chosen as our class Eco representatives. We are passionate about making a difference to our school and homes by making sure that we do all we can to spread good ideas about how to look after our beautiful planet.
Our first mission was to plant some trees to help the wildlife around the school grounds. We chose a great site for the trees, where they wouldn’t get mown down by the lawn mower and ordered a selection of trees that would be great for birds, butterflies and bees. When the saplings arrived, we got all the resources ready (compost, trowels, gloves, wheelbarrows etc!) and taught each class how to plant the trees Over the next few years, we will care for them to ensure that they grow as big and strong as the trees already in our school grounds. Here is one class in action!
Here are our plans for 2024:
- Plant new trees and care for them
- Use both sides of your piece of paper: Set up a poster campaign to remind children not to waste paper as it means that more trees have to be chopped down
- Look after the wildlife in our school grounds by putting up bird feeders, butterfly ponds and renewing our bug hotels.
- Keep the playground tidy by doing litter picks around the school grounds and encouraging everyone to use the bins.
- Reduce the use of plastic around the school by encouraging children to use re-usable plastic pots for their daily snack instead of a new plastic bag every day.
- Keep our air cleaner and use less petrol by walking to school more. We will be telling our friends about the Walk to School week in May and then try to persuade them to walk to school at least once a week, even if is just by parking a little bit further away from school and then walking from there!
- Even more ideas to follow …
Wellbeing in Year Two
We have all had a lovely end to the half term. It was wonderful to meet with all the parents at the consultations and celebrate the enthusiasm the children have for their learning.
We ended the week by thinking very carefully about our own wellbeing. We kept ourselves active by running the golden mile before school, during the morning, or both!
The rest of the morning was spent in the Key Stage One playground, where we planted strawberry plants and peas in the new raised beds. We have also planted some seeds in the classroom, so we are hoping that some of them will have started to germinate over the holiday. Fingers crossed! We talked about how gardening is a great pathway to wellbeing as it encourages us to take notice of the wonderful world that is all around.
A great big thank you!
Thank you so much to all the parents who supported the Year Two cake sale last week. A grand total of £177 was raised and we will be mainly using the money to support the children’s learning in Science. Thank you very, very much.
RE Home learning for the whole school
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales have designated 2020 as ‘The God Who Speaks’: A Year of the Word to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Verbum Domini – Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation on ‘The Word of the Lord’, and the 1600th anniversary of death of St Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin. Cardinal Vincent Nichols has launched the Year of the Word across the diocese and further information can be found here: https://rcdow.org.uk/faith/2020-year-of-the-word-the-god-who-speaks/
As part of their RE home learning over the Christmas holiday, all children across the school are invited to think about the bible and the stories that are important to them. Maybe they have stories from the bible that they love to read and talk about. Share stories from the bible with your child and talk about what the stories mean to them. When your child is ready, think about what story they would like to create a poster for to advertise the story to their friends at school. Your child’s poster should include a clear title of the story or book from the bible and a beautiful image from the story. Feel free to let your child add a description of the story and what it means to them. We are looking forward to making a wonderful display of the posters and this will be a lovely way for us to start celebrating The Year of the Word in school. Please return posters to your class by Wednesday 15th January.
2020 will be a year of celebrating, living and sharing God’s word, through a range of events, activities and resources, available across the Diocese of Westminster. A lovely activity that is particularly pertinent to the time of year can be found here: https://rcdow.org.uk/faith/the-nativity-at-night
We look forward to seeing the posters that the children create to celebrate God’s Word.
Emma Hayes (RE Subject Leader)
E-Safety
This week, we have been thinking about the importance of keeping safe when accessing the internet.
In particular, the children have been thinking about the following internet rules:
- Block it and Flag it: If you are worried about anything on the internet, or get that ‘uh oh’ feeling, you should tell a grown-up that you trust
- Zip it: Keep your personal information private
- Be polite to people on the computer, just like you would on the playground
The children watched the CEOP cartoon below and discussed the top tips. Should you wish to go through it again with your child, or just for your own information, it can be found below:
Enjoy the sunshine this weekend.
Welcome to Year 2
The children have made a very happy start to Year 2 and we are all having a wonderful time as we get to know each other and start our new topics.
It was lovely to see so many Year 2 parents on Monday 9th September. Notes from the meeting can be found below:
Date for your diary: KS1 Christmas play on 12th December at 7pm
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.
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.
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.