RE in Year Two

Summer term

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

http://stadrians.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/baptism-candles-2.jpg

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.

Class Pages

Happy Mother’s Day from Year 2

To access this video please log into your child’s St Adrian’s Google account.

Learning in Year 2 this week

English

Mrs Hayes’s English group: We are finishing our teaching sequence on Wolves. The children are writing their own non-fiction booklet on Wolves. Our spelling learning focus includes reinforcing the Year 1 and Year 2 common exception words as well as single and plural spelling patterns i.e. scarf/scarves; puppy/puppies; bridge/bridges etc.

Maths

Mrs Hayes’s Maths Group: We are finishing off our topic on Fractions and beginning our learning on Money. We will be working with coins to solve word problems up to £1. We thought about all the different ways that we can pay for a £1 Sport Relief badge.

Mr King’s Maths Group have been doing it the other way around! Having finished off our topic on money we are now starting to look at fractions. So far we have looked at recognising equal parts, then finding one half, one quarter and three quarters of shapes. We plan to go on and look at finding thirds of a shape, looking at how two quarters and one half are equivalent, and then learning to find halves, quarters and thirds of amounts (e.g. half of 8 is 4, one quarter of 8 is 2).

Science

We are continuing with our learning on Plants. We carefully drew and labelled a strawberry plant and predicted what will happen as the plant grows through the next month. Next, we will be exploring the marigold plants that were sown by the children six weeks ago. The children each have their own seedling (3-4cm tall at the moment) and they will track it’s growth across the next month on a bar chart. Building on from learning that took place last autumn, the children will also set up an investigation to explore what happens to plants grown without water or plants grown without light.

Computing

We are introducing our We are Programmers unit, currently focusing on directions i.e. Go forward two steps, make a quarter turn to the right, go forward three steps etc.

Design and Technology

We have been setting up our sewing kits, ready to begin learning how to do a running stitch. As we will not be having parent helpers in school for the foreseeable future, children will bring these kits home to complete them there. If you child is not in school to receive a kit, feel free to practise running stitch on material or binca. The aim of the sewing activity is that the children will learn how to thread a needle independently, tie a knot in the end of the wool and then complete a running stitch.

History

We have been exploring a hundred year old family photo to see what we can find out. We have been thinking about the questions ‘What do you know/think/want to find out in relation to this photo.

Religious Education

We have just started our new topic: Opportunities. We are thinking about how Mothering Sunday gives us an opportunity to think about why our mother is so special to us. We have written messages relating to this theme and are practising our Mother’s Day song. During the week, we will be thinking about our journey through Lent and renewing our wish to help others.

Year 2 liturgy

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

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)

ECO WARRIORS: Could you get a Blue Peter badge?

The Eco team want to inform you of an opportunity where you can earn your very own Blue Peter Badge!

Blue Peter are giving out Green badges for Eco Warriors all across the country.

Green badges are awarded for sending in letters, pictures that are about the environment, conservation or nature.

You can apply on the link below. Remember to include a message at least 50 words long, explaining that you’re applying for the Green badge and why you deserve to be awarded one.

Also, on this link, there are some examples of brilliant Green badge posts, to inspire you to get yours!

So, why not try and apply for one today! When you get one- remember to tell your class Eco Reps so we can share the amazing news.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/bp-how-to-get-a-green-badge

The Eco Team.