An amazing workshop experience!

Year 2 had such a wonderful afternoon when Sophie from the Edward Wilson Museum in Cheltenham came to visit us. We looked at artefacts from past expeditions and dressed up in period costumes. We also used water colours to create an Antarctic landscape. Have a look at some photos from our session.

Spring Communication Letter

Dear Parents,

 

Welcome back after the Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year to everyone! The children have quickly settled back into the classroom routines and we are delighted to welcome Mrs Mhairi Jeavons to the Year 2 Team!

 

This term we have one main topic which is ‘Pole to Pole.’ This will mainly focus on History and Geography, in particular, Captain Scott’s expedition to the South Pole. However we will incorporate most areas of the curriculum. The children have already been introduced to the topic through an exciting and interesting workshop led by the Learning Outreach team from ‘The Wilson Museum.’

For your information a brief outline of coverage across the curriculum for this term is included below.

English	In addition to daily practice of handwriting, spelling and grammar we will be focusing on the following text types Recount of a real event in history Narrative Instruction writing
Mathematics	In addition to regular practice of number bonds, problem solving and calculation we will be focusing specifically on the following areas: Measuring lengths, weights and capacity using standard units. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Handling data
Science	This term in Science we will be looking at Living Things and their Habitats, with a particular emphasis on the Polar regions.
RE	This term the focus in RE is ‘Who are Muslims and how do they live? (part 2), followed by ‘Why does Easter matter to Christians?’
PSHCE	In PSHCE we will be exploring relationships. We will focus on how to stay safe at home.
PE	Our main PE session will be on Mondays with Jon, the PE coach, and this will focus on developing skills for team games. We will have a shorter PE session on Friday which will focus on Dance.
Art and Design Technology.	Our art work will focus on improving our key skills in watercolour and modelling with clay. In DT we will be making and evaluating survival biscuits.
ICT	In ICT we will be using a word-processor to produce, edit and save our work.

 

We have an exciting and busy term ahead of us! The children have already made a fantastic start to the term and are very enthusiastic about the topic. We have enjoyed looking at objects used by explorers in the past and comparing them to the modern version. As always, if children have any books, photos or artefacts linked to our topic we would love to see these and they can be brought in for Show and Tell.

 

Reading

As part of their home-learning children should be reading at home for at least 10-15 minutes per day. Children continue to choose a colour-coded reading book, these do not need to be changed daily but when children are ready. As children progress onto trickier and longer texts they should be encouraged to discuss their reading in order to develop their comprehension. Our focus has now moved towards understanding the texts and any unfamiliar word meanings. As a result of this, you may find that a larger part of the reading time at home is spent discussing stories and texts and developing the skills of prediction and inference.

 

Spelling

A copy of this term’s Half Termly Spelling list is included with this letter. Children complete a baseline test at the beginning of term and their score is attached. The children will be re-tested on these words at the end of the half term. In addition to their half termly list, children will also continue to bring home a list of 6 words to be learnt weekly. These will be sent home every Monday and children will be tested on these words, plus two unseen words following the same pattern, the following Monday. These words will help children to learn the spelling pattern, rule or sound that is the focus of our daily phonics and spelling lessons.

 

Maths Homework

This will continue to be sent home each Thursday and then tested the following Thursday. Thank you for all your support in helping the children to practise these skills, it is really helping with their quick recall of number facts.

 

Communication books

Communication books should be brought into school each day and will be checked and signed. Please continue to use these books to record your child’s reading and to send any important messages to and from school.

 

PE kit

Weather permitting, we will be outside as much as possible on a Monday PE session. If children would like to wear trainers for their outdoor PE sessions this is absolutely fine.

 

A plea for labelled uniform!

Please could you check that all of your child’s uniform is labelled, we seem to have a lot of lost property already this term. Many thanks in advance for this.

 

If you have any questions, concerns or comments throughout the term please don’t hesitate to come and see us on the playground or make an appointment for after school.

 

Kind Regards,

Jane Rowe and Mhairi Jeavons.

 

Nifty Number Lines

In maths we have been learning how to use a number line.

These are our top number line facts:

• Number lines can begin and end at any number.
• Number lines read from left to right.
• It's important that all your numbers are evenly spaced.
• Number lines can help us with our addition and subtraction.

Wonderful Warwick!

As part of our current topic I'm the King of the Castle, Year Two enjoyed a great day out at Warwick Castle.

Our behaviour was excellent and thankfully, no one was left in the stocks!

We explored lots of different parts of the castle and even got to see inside the secret escape door which would have been used by the Earl of Warwick to escape if the castle was attacked.

We had our lunch watching the Birds of Prey. Some of them were huge!

In the afternoon we visited the Horrible Histories maze. We completed our Time Passports and didn't get lost...well not too much!

The Norman Conquest

Year Two have been learning about the Norman Conquest and Battle of Hastings.

We looked at sections of the Bayeux Tapestry to find out about William's journey to England.

We made our own Norman ships and practised sailing them in the water tray.

Fast Fact...
Did you know that William sailed to England in a boat called Mora? It was bought for him by his wife Matilda.

Autumn Term Communication Letter

Year 2 Communication Letter - Autumn 2017

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the start of a new year. We hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing summer. This letter is intended to give you an overview of the term ahead and we hope that you will find this information useful.

This term our topic is I’m the King of the Castle. As part of this topic children will be learning about significant people and events in British history, including William the Conqueror and The Battle of Hastings. We will learn about different castles and their features and will explore the physical geography around some famous castles.

For your information a brief outline of coverage across the whole curriculum for this term is included below:

English	In addition to regular practice of handwriting, spelling and grammar we will be focusing on the following text types Poetry with patterned and repeated language Narrative – The story of William the Conqueror Instructions – recipes Information texts – facts about castles
Mathematics	In addition to regular practice of number bonds, problem solving and calculation we will be focusing specifically on the following areas: Securing number facts Counting, partitioning and calculating Understanding Shape Handling data and measures
RE	This term in RE we will be learning what it means to be Muslim. We will also spend some time considering the importance of Harvest in advance of the Harvest festival in October.
PSHCE	In PSHCE we will be exploring: Roles and responsibilities Our likes and dislike What makes a good learner
PE	Our outdoor PE will be on a Monday afternoon and our indoor PE session will be on Friday afternoon. Children should have a PE kit in school every day.
Art and Design	In art and design the children will be exploring a range of techniques, including collage, watercolour and observational drawing.
ICT	In ICT we will be learning how to capture and edit digital images.

We have an exciting term ahead of us. The children have already made a fantastic start to the year and are very enthusiastic about the topic.

Reading

As part of their home-learning children should be reading at home for at least 10-15 minutes per day. All children have been given a colour-coded reading book, these do not need to be changed daily but when children are ready. In addition to developing their ability to decode and read unfamiliar words children should also be encouraged to discuss their reading in order to develop their comprehension.

Spelling

A copy of this term’s Half Termly Spelling list is included with this letter. Children completed a baseline test at the beginning of term and their score is also attached. The children will be re-tested on these words at the end of the half term. In addition to their half termly list, children will also continue to bring home a list of 6 words to be learnt weekly. These will be sent home every Monday and children will be tested on these words the following Monday. These words will help children to learn the spelling pattern, rule or sound that is the focus of our daily phonics and spelling lessons.

Communication books

Communication books should be brought into school each day and will be checked and signed. Please continue to use these books to record your child’s reading and to send any important messages to and from school.

Maths Homework

We are no longer sending home maths games in Key Stage One. Instead, children will be given a list of maths facts to learn on a weekly basis. This will help them to secure their basic number facts and will support all areas of mathematical learning. The format will be very similar to that of the spelling test. A list of facts will be sent home each Thursday and children will be tested the following Thursday.

PE kit

We will be outside as much as possible on a Monday PE session. As the weather starts to turn cooler, please add jogging bottoms, a jumper and spare socks to your child’s PE kit. Jogging bottoms and sweatshirts should be either black or red to match the school uniform. Children who wish to may wear trainers for PE.

Harvest festival

This year, Year Two will lead the Harvest service on church. The service will take place in the church at 9.15 on Wednesday 11^th October. We hope to see many of you there.

We will keep you informed throughout the term with letters like this but in the meantime if you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to come and speak to us.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Thomas and Mrs Rowe