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)

ECO WARRIORS: Could you get a Blue Peter badge?

Blue Peter’s beautiful green 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:

  1. 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
  2. Zip it: Keep your personal information private
  3. 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:

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!

Illustrations © Adam Stower 2019 for The Reading Agency


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.



Donations required!

When you return to school on Tuesday you may notice a new addition by the gate in the playground … it is our new recycling bin!

As you can see, it clearly states which materials are accepted and we would love for you to get involved by donating some clothes, towels, sheets, blankets, curtains or even shoes. The bank holiday weekend is the perfect time for a spring clean and all donations are greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance,
Miss Costello and the Eco Council

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

What a lot of red noses!

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.

We’ve been sharing stories!

We’ve been celebrating World Book Day this week with special assemblies where teachers have taken it in turns to share favourite stories or poems with the children in their key stage.

We hope that the stories we share will inspire the children to read on and read the books for themselves or find other stories by those authors.

We will list the books we have share on this page.

Monday

  • Mr Hayes (whole school):
    • Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, from Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
  • Mrs Hayes (key stage one):
    • Mrs Wobble the Waitress by Allan Ahlberg
    • All Join In by Quentin Blake
  • Mr Hayes (key stage two):
    • The Rise of Wolves by Kerr Thomson

Tuesday

  • Mrs Teixeira (key stage one)
    • Chocolate Cake by Michael Rosen
    • Please Mrs Butler by Allan Ahlberg
  • Miss Costello (key stage two)
    • Little House in the Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wednesday

  • Mrs Ruffell (key stage one)
    • The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
  • Mr Sallis (key stage two)
    • ‘Infinity and Me’ written by Kate Hosford and illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska
How would you describe infinity to Uma?

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 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!