Mrs Hayes

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 15^th 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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nMUbHuffO8

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:

Information-for-parents Download

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.

Year 2 raise money for Comic Relief

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.

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!

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