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.

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

Space Chase: Summer Reading Challenge 2019

The Summer Reading Challenge 2019 theme is Space Chase, an out-of-this-world adventure inspired by the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.

Children taking part in the Challenge will join our super space family, The Rockets, for a thrilling mission to track down books nabbed by mischievous aliens!

Space Chase will feature bespoke artwork from top children’s illustrator, Adam Stower, and will celebrate adventure, exploration, reading and fun!

Taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge is aimed at children aged four to eleven and it is run in almost all libraries in the UK.

Visit your local library during the summer holidays to sign up – the sooner you go, the longer your child will have to read six books!

Staff will register your child for the Challenge and give them some fun materials to get them started.

Many libraries will also offer pre-school activities suitable for under-fours, including specially designed Summer Reading Challenge materials. Visit your local branch to find out more.

The Summer Reading Challenge is the UK’s biggest free reading for pleasure event for children. It is run by the national charity The Reading Agency in partnership with the UK public library network.

The aim of the Challenge is to encourage children to read any six books of their choice from their library during the summer holidays.

Children receive special rewards each time they finish a book and there’s a certificate for everyone who completes the Challenge.