The children have been enjoying the story of ‘How to catch Santa’ this week and have worked hard on their writing as part of this teaching sequence, in particular thinking about writing sentences with conjunctions such as but, because, so, and as well as punctuating question sentences correctly. Having focussed on learning how to accurately draw the hands onto a clock face, in maths, we are learning how to subtract within 100, using manipulatives, 100 squares and place value strategies that explore how to subtract from the tens and ones.
As part of our art topic on Leaves, the children also created some beautiful artwork inspired by poinsettias. The children all worked so hard on this paper collage learning and if you sneak a (socially distanced) peak through the classroom window, you will be able to see their artwork, which is making us all smile.
Thank you for working with your children to write some lovely Advent prayers, which the children have been reading as part of our daily prayers.
The recordings for our Christmas play were completed on Monday and the final video with all the pieces edited together is wonderful. We are all looking forward to sharing this with you on Tuesday at 7pm. Further details on how to access this video will be sent to you early in the week.
To allow for the recommended quarantine period, the final ‘posting’ day for class Christmas cards is Tuesday, so that all the cards can be delivered on Friday, along with the exchange of our KK gifts, which should also be brought to school by Tuesday. We are all looking forward to our Christmas lunch on Thursday and the children are invited to wear a Christmas jumper and bring in Christmas hats on Thursday.
Once again, thank you for your continued patience and support as we ensure that everyone stays safe inside their own classroom bubble and close to their families at the start and end of the day.
The children have had great fun this week, learning their lines as well as the actions and songs to lots of cracking nativity songs. We have recorded groups of children in their roles and they all look wonderful in their costumes. We look forward to sharing the completed play when it goes live during the last week of term.
In a whole school competition, the children refined their speed stacking skills and it was lovely to see how their times came down as they practised more and more. This activity was done as part of our maths topic on Time and it would be great if you could continue to help your child to tell the time using an analogue clock, reading half past, quarter to and quarter past times first and leading on to reading times to five minutes.
As part of our English learning, we have started to read the book ‘How to catch Santa’. This is a great read and the children had lots of questions to ask Father Christmas, so we used their ideas to write letters to Father Christmas. I was very impressed with how the children remembered to punctuate all their sentences beautifully when they were writing to Santa!
To mark the first week of Advent, we lit the first candle on our Advent wreath and decorated our Christmas tree. The children have set each other Advent Challenges such as ‘Share a friend’ and ‘Help Mum and Dad’ and we open one of these challenges each day as part of our school journey through Advent.
As we go through Advent, one of my favourite activities is to walk around my village each Sunday afternoon as it begins to get dark and look to see how the houses are being decorated. As the weeks go by, there are more and more lights and this is a wonderful way to see just how important Jesus’s birth is in the lives of so many people around us. I wonder what the Christmas lights are like down your street? Maybe you could take a walk and find out.
As ever, we continue to be very busy in Year 2, combining a focus on Maths and English with many other areas of the curriculum.
As part of our topic focussing on People who Care, past and present, the children learned about Florence Nightingale and Saint Teresa of Calcutta as well as nurses who care for us so well today. Next, we will learn about other nurses, such as Mary Seacole.
The children had great fun creating a sculpture of a modern day nurse and we linked this to our Design and Technology topic on Structures. The children explored what makes a structure stable and the classroom is now filled with paper rollercoasters, 3D shapes made out of construction kits as well as playdough sphere structures. Following their investigations, the children concluded that a structure needs a flat and wide base in order to be both stable and strong. They are using this information well this week as we hold our Speed Stacking Competition along with the rest of the school.
We are all looking forward to enjoying Advent together and today, we will start making our classroom look much more Christmassy! Please do read our RE home learning page to find out more about what we are learning in RE between now and Christmas.
This week, the children have continued learning about Walter Tull, in particular thinking about how Armistice Day is commemorated on the 11th November every year. The children were particularly thoughtful and respectful during our class worship on Wednesday that included the two minutes silence.
The children all looked suitably spotty during Friday’s Children in Need fundraiser and they were very proud of their outfits. Well done to you all.
This week, we have also planted out onion sets, so, along with the spring bulbs that we have planted, we will keep an eye on them to see when they start to shoot.
Next week is an incredibly busy week. We will be learning new songs for our Christmas play, concentrating on the theme of Anti-Bullying during our Well-being sessions, learning about Sikhism in RE and building a five foot tall sculpture of a keyworker in Design Technology! Please do speak with your child as they go through the week to find out more about their learning,.
The children have settled beautifully in Year 2 and it was wonderful to meet with all the parents this week during our socially distanced consultations.
We have had a very busy half term, focusing especially on English and maths, but also a whole host of other areas of learning too.
Year 2
The children have been very excited by the planting that they have done outside and we are halfway through an investigation to find out what happens when plants are grown without heat (we’ve left a pansy plant in the fridge!), light (another plant is in the cupboard) and without water. The children have a number of predictions and we will find out more after the holiday.
Our pumpkin raffle was a great success and £67 was raised for the class. We will use this money to fund other planting projects as we go through the year, so thank you very much for your generosity everyone!
As part of our history learning, we are finding out about the life of Walter Tull. Our learning will culminate in a focus on Remembrance Day and how we remember our servicemen and women. This topic gives the children a great opportunity to develop a sense of time as well as promoting their enquiry skills.
As part of their Design Technology learning, the children have also been enjoying developing their sewing skills and they have created a wonderful banner to welcome everyone to the class every day.
Next half term will include many exciting new activities and I look forward to sharing them with the children.
Have a well earned break this week. The children certainly deserve it.
It is wonderful to have all of the Year 2 children back in school. They have returned with great enthusiasm and have all been very sensible as they keep themselves and their families safe by staying in their protective bubbles in school. Well done to everyone!
Individual reading
This week, I have read with all the children and given each child reading materials in their book bag. When your child is ready to read something new, they can put their reading log in the class basket and they will be able to choose something else. We have a quarantine system for returned books, which means that they will be left for a minimum of 72 hours before they can be chosen by another child.
Home learning
We will continue to use the Google Classroom for home learning this year. Your child’s existing log-in will provide access to the Year Two Google Classroom and more details can be found on the Year 2 Home Learning Quick Link. Home learning is posted at 2pm on Friday, to be completed by 8:30am on the following Wednesday.
As ever, if there is anything that you would like to discuss, you are very welcome to speak with me at the end of the school day (socially distanced, of course!).
Information relating to weekly home learning is posted on the Google Classroom at every Friday at 2pm. Most home learning is then due to be returned on the following Wednesday.
Each term, your child receives a home learning grid that includes exciting activities that can be completed at home throughout the term. We look forward to celebrating this home learning with your child when they bring it into school. More information can be found on the Google Classroom.
Ongoing activities for your Year Two child
Spellings
Spellings to be learned before starting Year Two can be found here:
By the end of the year, the children need to confidently know the multiplication and division facts for the 2x, 5x and 10x tables. Free games to reinforce these skills can be found here: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Google Classroom
The children have joined the Year 2 Home Learning Google Classroom and their login details can be found in their Reading Record.
You can access Google Classroom here: https://classroom.google.com/c/NTQ3MTA1NTg0ODc2
This link will only work if you are logged in to your child’s own school Google account. You will not be able to access the classroom if logged in to Google with a parent’s account or that of another family member. Further information can be found on the Year 2 Quick Link, where you will find a handy Google Classroom guide should you have difficulties logging on.
Ideas of activities that can be done as part of your day together can be found here. Please do contact me through the googleclassroom stream to let the class know of any activities that have worked well for you and your family.
There is obviously an understanding relating to the activities listed below that these are only suggested activities as resources may well be reduced or unavailable at this time.
Some ideas, all on a handy A4 sheet can be found here: https://mcusercontent.com/35a57192e9ec6a559eaaa6cf9/files/ca721c01-dadb-4434-89ff-be64f1f19aa8/20_Activities_to_try_at_home.pdf
Being creative
This is an task to do when you are feeling in the mood for a peaceful, creative activity. Design a rainbow piece of artwork that you can put up in your window to make your neighbours smile as they go past doing their daily exercise. You can let your imagination run wild by using paint, pens, coloured pieces of paper or card (these could be cut off your magazines, paper or boxes before they go into your recycling box if you don’t have any paper), sequins or anything else that you think would make a wonderfully beautiful rainbow to bring happiness to your families and neighbours. If you upload your photos onto the Year 2 stream of the googleclassroom, I will add them to a class slide presentation, so that we can enjoy each other’s artwork.
Prayerlife
I have asked the children to keep one another in their daily prayers and suggested that at the end of the day, they could name each of the children who sit at their table in their prayers. We reflected on how lovely it would feel to know that every day, we are all being prayed for. Please support your child to remember their friends, including those on their learning table in their prayers each night.
Daily prayers can also be found here https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/primary-subscription/prayers-for-home/
The Scouts have produced a list of 100 free activities, games and craft ideas. All the activities are designed to have a clear positive outcome, such as developing communication skills or learning how to solve problems. https://www.scouts.org.uk/the-great-indoors
Cook/prepare meals with your child and as you do so, think about the following:
Talk about the different parts of the meal and how they fit in with the Eat Well Plate, which can be found here: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/the-eatwell-guide/. What types of food are you eating? Is it protein, carbohydrate, fruit, vegetable or dairy? Talk about the healthy and not so healthy parts of the meal.
Make sandwiches with your child. Let them think about the different fillings that they could include? How could they vary the content? Encourage children to make their own fillings such as …
egg with mayo (try growing your own cress to go into these sandwiches)
tuna with mayo
meat and salad
grate cheese/chop tomatoes for cheese and tomato etc. etc.
Use scales and measuring jugs to measure out ingredients, encouraging pupils to read the measures and think about what each unit of measurement is worth. Questioning could include How much more do we need? If we double the recipe, what ingredients will we need? The bread will prove for two hours and then bake for an hour and a half. What time will the bread be ready?
Read the packaging on your shopping. What is the country of origin? How do you think that this product arrived in this country? Trace a product’s journey on a world map. Which has travelled the furthest? etc.
The Change for Life website has activities for all the family, including fun food facts, and recipes. https://www.nhs.uk/change4life
Learn to tell the time to the nearest five minutes.
The best way to do this is by frequently referring to an analogue clock throughout the day, asking what the time is and further questions such as:
We’re going to have lunch in twenty minutes. What time will we have lunch?
The cake will take two hours to cook. What time will it be ready?
We have been playing with the Lego for forty five minutes. What time did we start? etc etc. etc.
Sow seeds
Great seeds to grow at this time of year are cress (perfect for those egg sandwiches), salad leaf, marigold and pea seeds. Talk with your child about what the seed will need to germinate and then measure/monitor the growth of the seedlings. A key element of Year Two learning in Plants is considering what happens if plants don’t have water or light, so consider doing an investigation by putting some seedlings in the dark or don’t water some seedlings and see what happens to them. Take some photos to show the growth/changes etc.
Keeping active
Joe Wicks is doing a daily PE workout at 9am. This is uploaded to his youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1XT0iEJo0TYlRfn6rYQ
If you join imoves at the following address, you will have access to videos, music and lesson plans for activities to do with your child. https://imoves.com/imovement-signup
Why not have a go at indoor monopoly? This looks great fun. If you don’t have access to a printer, your child could make a portable set that consists of cards written out with each of the activities which could be lain out in a board shape (or any shape your wish!) to travel along using a counter and dice. Just do the action when you land on your written card. Amend the activity as you wish and enjoy! https://mcusercontent.com/35a57192e9ec6a559eaaa6cf9/files/0852e3f0-ec76-494d-b704-f7d33a23f0b6/Active_
Reading
Hertfordshire Online library services: You can borrow eBooks and audiobooks FREE from Hertfordshire Public Libraries using the BorrowBox app, your library card number and your PIN. Anyone can join Hertfordshire Libraries if they live, work or study in the area. If you’re not already a member, you can join online (google ‘join Herts library’) then email libraries.information@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Go to: https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-2 to find recommendations of good reads for Year Two children.
Go to https://stories.audible.com/discovery and listen to some smashing stories together. If at all possible try to listen to them first to check that you are happy with the content.
Go to Curriculum Visions to access books suitable for your child to read with you. Go through the library shelves, looking for books that are at a similar colour to your child’s book band. A guide to the book banding can also be found on the site. Please note that this certainly does not replace sitting and reading a real book, but is somewhere that you can find limited, additional reading material, should you have exhausted your own supplies of lovely books to read at home. I will continue to search for sources of other reading material that you may be able to use.
Go to https://www.curriculumvisions.com/indexHomeScreen.html
Username: stadrians/0001 Password: jungle
Well being
Please see the Wellbeing post below to find lots of activities that will support your child’s wellbeing.
Maths
There is a wealth of maths activities on the Year 2 googleclassroom. Once you have completed all of these, please do feel free to complete any of the tasks on the Fluency Teaser blog which can be found in the menu on the right.
As part of our RE in the summer term, the children learn how early Christians Spread the Word about Jesus’s resurrection.
Key words are: risen resurrection Holy Spirit Ascension witnesses blessing Pentecost promise Good News
As part of this topic, we will think about ‘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. On your child’s summer home learning grid, you will find a flower with the phrase ‘Jesus is alive in me’, with a space on a petal for a beautiful, named 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. Please ensure that all handwriting is neat and joined correctly as the flowers will all contribute to a classroom display.
We are looking forward to seeing the finished flowers!
Autumn term
In the autumn term, we learn about the rite of baptism through the theme of Signs and Symbols.
We will be considering the big question Are signs and symbols important? Why? Please talk about this question with your child, looking for the signs and symbols that the children encounter on the way to and from school.
The children will learn to describe and sequence the baptism service and we will explore the different parts of the sacrament and their significance. We will focus on important symbols associated with baptism, such as the sign of the cross, white garment, font, candle, chrism and Easter candle.
Key words for the topic are: white garment, Easter candle, font, chrism, Good News
Please talk to your child about their own baptism artefacts and how they were used within their baptism. For their RE home learning, the children will design a baptism candle. Encourage your child to think about what signs and symbols they would like to include on their candle. It would be great if your child could write a key to go with their candle, that explains what each of their chosen symbols mean. Please ensure that your child takes pride in their candle as it would be lovely to make a display of them.
Spring term
During the spring term, our first RE topic is based around the theme of Books.
Key words for the topic are:
Scripture, lectern, Gospel, Bible, New Testament, Old Testament, genre, thurible, missal, Church, parish family
In particular, discuss the meaning of the words thurible and missal. When you visit church together, see if you can find the church thurible or missal to talk about with your child.
We will be considering the big question Why do we need books?
The children will read Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 3; 13-17) to find out about the Baptism of Jesus.
RE home learning
Let’s enjoy reading the bible: Share stories from the bible with your child. Talk about stories that are particularly important to you. What stories are important to your child? Create a poster about this story that can be shared in class.
