Year 2

Friday 16/9/22

We thoroughly enjoyed Roald Dahl Day. We had excellent fun with West End for Schools Fantastic Mr Fox drama workshop, where we especially enjoyed acting out the frantic digging to escape the farmers. Back in the classroom, we made our own paper plate foxes and also listened to our guest readers. Thank you so much to all the parents who came in - do come back again!

Literacy: The children had a rather tasty lesson, this week, as we thought about adjectives and similes to describe our favourite sweet. They were blindfolded as they tried a selection of sweets (liquorice was by far the least favourite!) The language they used was amazing: 'the chocolate is as smooth as velvet' or 'the candy floss is pink like rosy cheeks.' Well done, Class 2. 

Maths: We have worked on being able to count in steps of 3 and 5 from any number, forwards and backwards. for example, counting on in 3s from 36 and filling in the missing numbers. e.g. 36 ___  42 ____  48. Also, 75  80  ___  ___ 95. If you want to do any practising of this at home a hundred square would be useful. I am attaching one below.

Topic: We have two topics at the moment. Movers and Shakers and Mix It. In the latter, the children created stunning snowflake colour wheels which will be backed onto card once dry and pinned up. We used the book Mix it Up book, by Herve Tullet to help us understand primary colours and then how secondary colours are made from them. In Movers and Shakers, we studied timelines and tried to get ourselves into age order, using nothing but gestures and actions (i.e. no talking!) It was quite a challenge but it helped us understand how events have a start and finish point in history. The children then placed significant individuals onto a timeline in their history books. 

We have also begun to find out about Henry VIII and why he might be thought of as a 'mover' or 'shaker'.

Finally, every child was given a raffle ticket in exchange for their book review postcards. We pulled the raffle today and the winner was Mia, who has a lovely Jill Tomlinson text as a prize. Well done to everyone for all their splendid efforts though.

Mrs Haysom and Mrs Ralph

HOMEWORK

Please could children create a timeline of their own life to date. This can be done simply on a piece of paper and decorated/with pictures (either drawn or printed off!). If you are stuck for ideas, there is a template which you can use below. Please bring in on Tuesday 20th September. 

Phonics and Spellings

This week we focused on 'ay', 'a_e', 'ea' and 'e' as in 'he'.

The spelling words to be practised are play, tray, made, game, sea, treat, fever, secret. There are a few tricky words, which are said, sure and they. We will do a little test to see if you have remembered how to spell them next Thursday.

Reading

Our group book should have been allocated on your Little Wandle account. There is also a sharing book. Some of you may want to keep them longer than the weekend and that is fine.

WELCOME CLASS 2, 2022! 

It has been a joy to meet and teach our lovely Year 2 class this week. They have transitioned amazingly well and seem settled and happy. Thank you for all the support you have given them in the holidays with their various pieces homework. We have been so impressed by their postcard writing and their commitment to the reading challenge. We have made a lovely display with the postcards. There are a couple missing still though so if they are lurking at home, please do send them in on Monday so that we have a full house and no one is left out! 

Each week, we will give an overview of what the children have been up to and any key dates or bits of information that you may need. 

Numeracy - we have been comparing numbers 0-100. We started the week with a mindmap of how many ways to make 10. After giving the challenge of who can use three operations (x + - ), about 12 children managed it...so watch out, Mrs Ralph will be giving harder maths next week! We have also begun to use the greater than and less than signs to help us record our comparisons.

Literacy - With Mrs Ralph, we are looking at a book called The Chocolate Touch. The children were introduced to John Midas, the main character, and explored using different adjectives to describe him. Some children even managed to use a simile: He was as sly as a fox. Well done, Class 2! With Mrs Haysom, the children are focusing their literacy work on Fantastic Mr Fox. They also worked on character descriptions, but of the characters: Boggis, Bunce and Bean. 

Topic - Our topic this term is, Movers and Shakers. It is predominantly a history topic looking at significant individuals who have had an impact on the world in some way, from activists to explorers. It couldn't have been a better topic to start the new academic year, following the death of HRH Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II. Today, the children looked at her timeline and incredible leadership and influence of Britain and the Commonwealth. They also thought about what they would like to bewhen they grow up - more pictures to follow next week. They have also looked at the life of Christopher Columbus. 

RE- is taught by Mrs Frederick on Wednesday mornings (please see the timetable for your reference, attached at the bottom of the page). She has started off the term with the theme, God and Creation. 

Finally, as a bit of an icebreaker on the first day back, the children drew 3-4 highlights from their summer. Please see the bright display of them below! 

Key information/Dates:-

Spellings will be set weekly, every Thursday. We will resume Little Wandle phonics and reading scheme from next week and set books on the elibrary by Friday for children to practise at home. The spellings will be linked to the LW scheme.  

Times Tables will be 10x table for this term. We will not start formal tests just yet but if you'd like to practise at home, then Hit the Button is a great game to get the children going: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

PE/Forest school: Please can children make sure they come to school on Tuesdays, in PE kit, and home clothes (inc. wellies, waterproofs) on Wednesdays.   

We will be having Curriculum/Class meeting on Wednesday 21st September, 2:45-3:15pm, where we will be able to discuss the children's learning through the year, in more detail. We will also be able to answer any questions you may have.   

That's all for now, have a great weekend and do keep sharing a good variety of texts from home until we recommence Little Wandle.

Mrs Ralph and Mrs Haysom 

AND.....THAT'S A WRAP! 

What a year it has been and what an amazing class they have been! We have loved teaching them and so proud of the way they have progressed this year, not just academically, but also in emotional maturity. They were a total triumph in the summer production today and we hope you all managed to enjoy watching it. 

THANK YOU for your incredible support for you child(ren) over the year and the way you have encouraged and supported us too, as teachers. 

You all now deserve a relaxing summer holiday break - enjoy! 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom  

We made it! We have completed our final week in Year 2.

We have had a fantastic week in Class 2 – although, I cannot think of a more tiring one. Starting off with the class party on Monday, we had a lovely afternoon round Mrs Braid’s house. With swimming and games, this was such a wonderful day to bookend what has been wonderful year with this class. I am - as I am sure you are all too - extremely grateful to Mrs Ralph for all of the hard work that she put in to making this such a special occasion.

In Literacy, Class 2 have finished another book! Using the chapters from the book as inspiration, the class were split into groups and performed little drama sketches. Having completed The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark, we shall be looking at writing a book review on these texts next week. 

Finally, as I am sure you are all aware by now, I shall be departing Chiddingstone at the end of this term.

The time I have spent working with the children has been an utter pleasure and I shall be extremely sad to say goodbye to them all. Chiddingstone is an extremely special place, made so by the exceptional staff, parents and children who contribute to the community. I am so very proud to have been part of that as a pupil, TA, student teacher, teacher and governor. In my seven years there as a student and four as a member of staff, I can attest that there is no better seat of learning - state or otherwise. The years at Chiddingstone have truly been the best of my life.

This class are so fortunate to be having the outstanding Mrs Glover next year. Even though I am rapidly approaching my mid-twenties, I still have such fond memories of her as my own teacher in Year 6. She has a remarkable gift for making every lesson fun – I was always keen to get in to school! With her, I am certain that the class will continue to thrive as they transition in to Key Stage 2. I wish them all the best for the future!

Mr Haysom

Friday 8th July

It feels as if we are now motoring onto the end of term....ten days to go! We so enjoyed seeing many of you at open evening last night. I know we may not have been able to speak to all of you but I do hope you enjoyed the evening and really relished the chance to see your child's work.  

The children have had a busy week filled with rehearsals, exploring Mary Poppins in a bit more detail and lots of art. A big highlight was using their art skills in RE, to make amazing Mosque watercolour pictures. We first looked at colours in paintings to understand that each colour has different shades. Then the children explored different Mosques around the world and we discussed what makes them beautiful. It came down to the fact that they are so detailed and have amazing geometric/repeating patterns. This is out of respect for Allah. The children then sketched their mosque first, before adding watercolour paints to it. Hopefully, you enjoyed seeing them displayed in the classroom last night. 

We are rehearsing our scene of, 'Let's go Fly a Kite,' regularly at the moment. The children are certainly getting there with the choreography but some children seem to not be so sure of the lyrics. Could you possibly go through them this weekend so they are word perfect for next week. See lyrics attached. I have also attached, Supercalifragilistic... as that is another song they need to know for the finale. Also, if they have not brought in their coloured t-shirt for the production, could they do so by Monday. 

MONDAY 11TH JULY - OUR BIG END OF YEAR SWIM TREAT!

A few reminders:- 

- children need to come to school in home clothes and trainers.

- they need to bring a small bag/rucksack (which they can carry on the walk) with water bottle, swimming costume and small towel (and goggles if required). 

- could you ensure they have suncream on in the morning before we go.

- parents allowed to come from 2:30pm, please follow signs to park in the field. 

- you can take your child back earlier if you need to pick up a sibling but please let the office know if someone else is picking up your child. Finish time is 3:30pm.

- if you haven't already, please let us know who the responsible adult for your child is & if your child(ren) is a swimmer/non-swimmer. 

It should be a really lovely afternoon and a great way to celebrate what has been a successful year for the children - they have worked so hard and made really good progress. 

Have a good weekend, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom      

Year 2 Spellings

Question Words

who

why

what

how

which

Challenge Words

where

when

1.7.22

Happy Friday all!

It was a pleasure to welcome you all to Sports Day on Monday. Although, I didn’t quite appreciate how intense the Space Hopper race would become. A fan favourite, this must surely be a mainstay of future Sports Days. You may all start the prep for next year!

Year 2 were superb. Not only did the class showcase some truly astounding athleticism, but they were also very mature in how they conducted themselves. Whether they won or not, the children were magnanimous. We could not be more proud of them or what they have achieved. 

In Literacy, we have continued learning about the Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark. This week, we have been writing our own recounts about a time that we were afraid to do something. Apologies for the delay in uploading the pictures from the Owl Show last week – my iPad is not cooperating. I shall do this as soon as I can.

In maths, we have finished looking at telling the time. In the last few weeks, we are going to keep plugging gaps and will be recapping some of the core skills and strategies that will be useful for them as they move up in to Key Stage 2!

Please keep going with the practise of our class song for the summer production – Let’s Go Fly A Kite. Unfortunately, as my singing is so flat, I don’t think I have been too helpful in teaching them the tune. As long as they are confident on the words, I am sure that Mrs Ralph can work through the music with them.

Spellings:

Months of the Year

January

February

March

April

May

Challenge Words:

August

September

Friday 24th June

Another busy week for the Year 2 class this week! The children have enjoyed science experiments, such as the one from the photos below. The title was, Can water make music? The idea being that the children explored how sound travels in different mediums and how we can alter the pitch. The children had three glasses (apologies that these are wine glasses but we didn't have enough tumblers at school to use!) on their table: one was quarter full, another half full and finally, the last one was full. The children explored how the pitch was different between the three glasses. The end result was that: the more water in a glass, the lower the pitch. The children also explored how the tone sounded different when they used metal, wooden or plastic spoons. Metal was by far the loudest and most 'tinny' sound. One child said to me: Mrs Ralph, please can we do science every day? So I'll take that as a successful lesson! 

We have completed a mixture of information and narrative writing this week. The children chose an instrument to write about, using Ipads to find facts. Many of the information posters are up on the topic display, ready for you to see at open evening (7th July). In their narrative work, the children looked at the book, The Tunnel, again and explored how different the two characters were. The children came up with amazing adjectives, like, inquisitive  and confident. Well done, class 2!

Thank you for coming along to our Maypole dance on Thursday afternoon, we hope you enjoyed the bouncy music and our enthusiastic skips! 

Finally, a Friday highlight has been the Owl Show today! The children got to meet a variety of owls and understand them as a creature, their habitat and their behaviour. This has fitted suitably with our class book and literacy work, The Owl who was afraid of the Dark. 

Spellings: night, knight, blue, blew, hole, whole Challenge Words: because and every

Times tables: we are going over the 2x 5x and 10x tables in class. This week we will be having a formal test and those that would like to have a go, can do the mixed grid! 

Homework: can children please watch Mary Poppins, Let's go Fly a Kite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA-g8YYPKVo in preparation for our summer production rehearsals next week. Costumes: children will need to wear plain black shorts (cycling ones or PE shorts) and a bright t-shirt. Please could your child let me know what colour top they will be wearing? Just so we don't have everyone in one colour - variety is key! Many thanks.  

DATES FOR THE DIARY: 

MONDAY 27TH JUNE, 10AM - KS1 SPORT'S DAY (please come into school wearing your PE kit) 

MONDAY 11TH JULY - end of term afternoon treat (games and swimming at Mrs Braid's house) more details to follow in a letter next week so watch this space.  

Thanks for all your support, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom

17.6.22

In Year 2, we have not let the stifling heat get in the way of our hard work! Battling through the conditions, we have been busy preparing for our Maypole festivities for next Thursday.  We hope that many of you will be able to come and watch.

In maths, we have been applying our understanding of fractions to aid us with telling the time.  Splitting the clock face into quarters, we can tell the time to the nearest 15 minutes. Considering that much of the Year 1 learning on this topic was missed due to the lockdowns and remote learning, we have been staggered by how proficient they have become at this. Should you wish to practise this some more at home with the children, I shall attach a Time board game, below. Next week, we shall learn how to tell the time to the nearest 5 minutes. Over the weekend, it would be brilliant if you could recap the 5 times tables.

In literacy, we have continued looking at our new class book, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark. This week, we have written a set of instructions on how we made our paper plate owls. As our GPS focus for this task, the children have been using subordinating conjunctions. For example, ‘Stick on the beak when the paint is dry’ or ‘You can use a two pence coin to draw around if you have one’. I am hoping that we can soon announce a special visit that compliments this learning - watch this space!

Finally, as I am sure that the children have already reported back to you, the class had a wonderful afternoon in Forest School forming their own bands! Linking perfectly with our Beat, Band and Boogie topic, the children were creating instruments from materials that they have found. With the abundant musical talent in Year 2, Mrs Ralph and I will be expecting big things for our performance in the Summer Production!

We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

Thank you,

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Spellings:

Year 2

Week 2 Term 6

Homophones and near homophones

there

their

they’re

here

hear

Challenge Words:

see

sea

Friday 10th June

Welcome back Year 2! It has been lovely to see the class settle back into school life this week. We trust you all had a splendid half term. 

This week, we have enjoyed all things musical (much to my delight!) Our topic this term is - Beat, Band, Boogie. It focuses primarily on music and science areas but will have some aspects of PE too. The children explored what rhythm and pulse is in our topic lesson this week. We set up a kitchen band on each table which helped the children use their rhythm skills. Safe to say, it was a very noisy lesson! Please see photos and video below. 

The children were also treated to a super workshop by 'Rock Steady Music'. This is an external group who introduced the children to the different instruments of a band: electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboard and vocals. It was a super AOW followed by a fun workshop. It really showed children that music doesn't just have to be classical instruments. 

In Maths, we have been exploring Volume/Capacity and the children looked at containers that were more or less than a litre. At home, perhaps the children could go on a 'volume' hunt and see if they can find containers bigger than a litre. e.g. a bath, sink, bleach bottle etc. If you are feeling ambitious, the children can make their own 'potions' using different amounts of coloured water. Try putting oil in and you'll be amazed at what happens!

In Literacy, we looked at the poem, The Sound Collector, where we explored the different adjectives used to describe sounds. e.g. The purring of the car, the ticking of the clock. The children then wrote their own poem but instead of 'a stranger called this morning' it was ' a teacher called this morning'...where they wrote descriptions like: 'the scratching of the pencil, the scraping of the chair' 

Homework

Times tables - we will be doing 2x 5x and 10x. Please practice these at home and ensure the children know the inverse (i.e. multiplication and division) 

Spellings - 

Have a great weekend,

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom  

Another one down! This week, the children have worked exceptionally hard and have now finished their SATs! Once again, we want to thank parents for their remarkable support with all the extra work that we have been setting.

We were privileged to have Ed Miles come in a lead the class for a couple of Coding lessons. Complimenting our Magnificent Monarch learning, this was a fun and exciting break from the assessments. Please see the pictures from the sessions, below.

I am sure that you shall all be relieved that there shall not be any extra work being set for the 2 week break!

We hope to see many of you at the Jubilee celebrations.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph 

Friday 13th May 

We really enjoyed our trip to Hever Castle on Monday this week. The children enjoyed a tour of the castle where we found out about Henry VIII and all his wives! There were some good questions out of it and some funny answers, including who wiped King Hnery VIII's bottom! The children got to renact being a king/queen in the play area before then heading to the water maze. I must say that overall, the children were simply superb. The behaved, listened and interacted with each other so well and to the staff - I was so proud of them all. We also had a report from the staff at Hever Castle to say that they were the best school they have had in the water maze, they didn't run as instructed and were very polite. Well done all - do check out the photos below!

This week we have completed two of our KS1 SATS papers - maths arithmetic and reasoning. We have completed this in a gentle way so that it is not too overwhelming for the children. As explained in the parent consultations, we do not have to publish these results, they are for our own tracking and will be taken into account when we make an end of year teacher assessed judgement.

In RE, we looked at the fruits of the Spirit. They tried to remember them with this fun song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-hrxEjWxkE  We had a good discussion about which fruit we need to have more of in our lives. e.g. peace to help us not worry so much or self-control so that we don't retaliate or say/do soemthing we later regret.  

Year 2

Term 5 Week 4

Contractions

can’t

didn’t

hasn’t

couldn’t

it’s

Challenge Words

wouldn’t

shouldn’t

Friday 6/5/22

A short week, but we have packed in a lot over the four days.

We began the week with a visit to the Literary Festival, where we enjoyed Chrissie Sans's workshop and found out about her book The Treasure Under the Jam Factory. Here is the blurb from this latest of her texts, in case any of you would like to read it;

The second hilarious adventure starring Scooter the inventor and his top secret alien sidekick. Scooter's hyper-creative brain is a constant fizz of brilliant ideas, but when he pairs up with his best friend Fizzbee the alien, his inventions are out of this world.

Back in the classroom, we have practised putting commas into lists of adjectives and also nouns. 

For example, 'The big, blue, cuddly teddy' or 'He needed bread, butter and jam'. Why not have a go at writing lists of your own at the weekend and also look out for commas in lists when you are reading?

In maths, we have been working on fractions of a whole number. For instance, what is half of 16 or a quarter of 8.

When I was your age, I remember practising my fractions using the cutlery at home. I think it may have been a crafty way to get me to lay the table! There were six of us - so twelve pieces of cutlery with both knives and forks -  so  I would use them to help me work out half, a quarter or third of 12. It did help in making sense of it all. 

Don't forget our visit to Hever Castle on Monday. Let's hope this fine weather holds for our trip.

Homework

Reading as usual - both books from home as well as your school book. Look out for those commas in a list when you're reading. 

You might want to make a note of any you find for a house point.

GPS book please.

See resources section below for maths.

Spellings to be added in due course.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Spellings: station, fiction, motion, national, section Challenge Words: addition, subtraction 

Friday 29th April 

It has been a busy week as always in Class 2. The children enjoyed learning all about the role of a Monarch in our topic lesson. They explored how their power has changed over time and, unsurprisingly, Henry VIII was mentioned (especially his wives!) They explored how the role of our Queen does not just impact the UK but all the countries in the Commonwealth. The children used their geography skills to explore the countries in the Commonwealth and we discussed how Barbados has now become republic. The children then looked at what makes a good Monarch and created their own laws. They then took turns hot seating their laws as queen/king!

In Literacy, we have really enjoyed our book, The Chocolate Touch. The children created letters, as Dr Cranium, to John Midas to tell him to stop eating so many sweets. There were some amusing ones, involving John needing surgery on his sugar filled stomach. 

In Numeracy, we have continued to study 2D shapes and fractions. The children have worked well with this and there is maths homework for them to complete - please see attachment below. Please can they hand this in on Tuesday 4th May. 

Times tables - we focusing on the 10x table. Please can the children practise writing the bigger numbers (12 x 10 = 120, 11 x 10 = 110). As many of the children are doing well with their tables, I gave them a challenge to do a times tables grid. I must say I was pleasantly surprised! The children really got the idea of it. I have attached one to this webpage for the children to have a go - this is optional homework.   

CGP Reading Book - Please complete the next reading task in the CGP reading homework book. We have been absolutely thrilled how well the children have been getting on with this - thank you for all of the support and effort from parents at home. 

Spellings: - badly, hopeless, penniless, happily, lovely. Challenge Words: careless, fearless. Please also` keep going with the high frequency words that were put on the website in the last weekly update. 

Reminder that we have a school trip to Hever Castle - Monday 9th May. The letter is attached. 

Have a really super bank holiday weekend - see you Tuesday! 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom

Friday 22/4

Welcome back, Year 2. 

You have worked very hard this week - all those Easter eggs must have given you an energy boost!

We have enjoyed beginning two new texts: The Chocolate Touch and a personal favourite of mine: Mr Majeka. Some of you may remember my costume on World Book Day - although precious few of you recognised me as Mr Majeka as you hadn’t come across the character before; hence, I decided it was high time you got to know him. I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I did when I was in Year 2.

In GPS lessons, we have studied contractions, such as don’t, can’t, I’m. Please look out for more examples of contractions as you read this weekend.

In maths, we worked on fractions and have introduced the terms ‘numerator’ and ‘denominator’.

It has been a pleasure to update some of your parents on your pleasing progress in family consultations. We look forward to meeting with more parents and carers next week.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework 

CGP homework book: please complete the next task.

Reading: Continue to read and look out for contractions as you go. Discuss what the expanded form would have been and what letters are missing. E.g. Didn’t - did not. Missing letter o. Perhaps make a note of one or ten in your reading diaries for a house point.

Spellings: see below.

Year 2

Term 5 Week 1 

The Suffixes -ment, -ness and -full

enjoyment

sadness

careful

playful

plainness

Challenge Words 

argument

happiness

Friday 1st April

WELL DONE YEAR 2 - YOU HAVE MADE IT!

What a cracking  end of term we have had this week as well....I promise to limit my jokes from now on to save embarrassing Mr Haysom. Thank you for making the "eggs-cellent" (last one - I promise!) Year 2 Egg Rolling Competition on Monday. It was wonderful to have parents on site as well as the younger years to support the Year 2s. As you saw, the smooth playground certainly made those eggs roll! Well done to RG and HF for rolling their eggs the straightest and furthest. Also, well done to all the children for their truly magnificent Easter Gardens - so beautifully thought out and intricately made. It was such a tough experience having to judge the top three and I know the Leading Lights found it a huge challenge. Well done though to TM, CB and WC for being in the top three. Thank you to those that also played music for us all, what a talented class they are - I felt so proud of them as I'm sure you did too.   

The rest of the week has been a whirlwind of singing rehearsals in the church, making 3D Easter cards and starting a new topic in Maths....2D shapes. The children have enjoyed the first couple of lessons on this and particularly engaged with making 2D shapes out of spaghetti and marshmallows. The challenge, we discussed in class, was ensuring regular polygons have equal, straight sides. e.g. a square needs all four sides the same length. It was a good reminder of the properties of different shapes and the children used vocabulary, such as, polygons and vertices. Do try this at home if you have any spaghetti or even bluetack at home. I once knew a child to use strawberries to make a shape with spaghetti, so .... get creative!

HOMEWORK

Unlike previous holidays, we are setting homework for the Easter holidays. We would really appreciate it if the children went over the common exception words (see the wordmat attached below) and wrote out each of these spellings. The GPS and Maths work is all compulsory so please do have this in your child(ren)'s bag on the first day back (Tuesday 19th April) as we will go over it. If your child struggles with any of the work, please do not worry or keep trying to complete it, just simply leave out that question. Hopefully it will not be too onerous - little and often is key!

Many thanks and we hope you have a lovely Easter break 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom  

EASTER HOMEWORK - Optional 

As I am sure that many of you have noticed, we have sent each child home with a CGP reading booklet and a photocopy of a GPS test. 

For the reading booklet, please could you go through Set A ,Tests 3 and 4. 

For the GPS, can they complete the worksheets provided. 

Whilst this is not compulsory, we strongly advise that they complete this work. As we approach the SATs, the children will benefit immensely from exposure to these assessment-style questions.

We will be taking this work in on the first day back, Tuesday 19th of April, and marking them.

Of course, this will help us to identify anything that your child may require extra help and support for. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to learn about what we are covering in class and the type of questions that the children are expected to answer independently. 

Friday 25/3/22

I am uploading the information a little earlier than usual as we will be at Wakehurst Place on Friday, where I am anticipating an enjoyable and informative day in the spring sunshine. Hopefully, you will be able to see some of the photos from the day once Mrs Woodhouse uploads them to Instagram. May I just take this opportunity to thank the adults who gave up their time to accompany us  - I am so grateful.

In the classroom, we have been thinking about alternative versions of Jack and the Beanstalk in preparation for a writing task next week. If you have the story at home, have a read of it this weekend. The more familiar that you are with the tale the easier you will find the writing. You might also want to chat with someone at home about how you might change your version.

In maths we have been working on our number bonds to 100. E.g. 70 and 30, 60 and 40 and going on to slightly more challenging ones, such as 72 and 18, 88 and 12 etc.

Yesterday we were treated to an alternative version of snakes and ladders by Year 6, who had made heart-healthy models as part of their topic this term. We had great fun playing with them. Do look out for the photos on Instagram - hopefully they will be up by now.

We are now looking forward to the next week's egg rolling, the church service and other Easter fun before we break up for the holidays on Friday.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

Do continue to read at home. Maybe have a change from your school book and look for something that you wouldn't normally read. Perhaps some poetry, a comic or an information text? Let us know what you are enjoying by making a note in your reading diaries please.

Spellings 

Term 4 Week 5

The sound /zh/ spelt 's'

television

treasure

usual 

division 

vision 

Challenge Words:

pleasure 

measure 

18.3.22 

Happy Friday all! Once again, please accept my apologies for the delay in uploading this. Embarrassingly, I struggled with the technology, not once, but, twice this evening. As we approach the end of Term 4, I had hoped to have mastered this by now...

In maths this week, we have continued to develop our understanding of money. With the grand opening of the Year 2 Shop, we explored how we give back change if we don't have the exact coins to pay. Taking it in turns to be the shopkeeper and the customer, the children thoroughly enjoyed this activity. With extremely competitive prices (with a glue stick costing 4p), the shop has done some wonderful business. At the end of the lesson, to offset the losses of the 2p bananas, the children were all able to purchase a square of chocolate for £1! As soon as my iPad cooperates, I shall ensure that I upload some pictures of this. 

In literacy, we have continued to read our class book, The Enormous Tunip. Following on from Mrs Ralph's teaching about fables, we have been exploring the moral within this story. Even though he was the smallest, the little mouse taught us that, no matter how small, everyone can make a difference. Therefore, in recognition of his efforts, we wrote a letter to Mrs Streatfeild asking her to make the little mouse Year 2's Star of the Week. Following on from our GPS learning, the children had to use possessive apostrophes in this writing. For example, 'Mary was pulling on Ken’s shoulders'. Then, as the mouse's reward for being the Star of the Week, we have all made him a rosette!

As their topic learning with Mrs Ralph, the children have been learning all about the different parts of a flower. When I walked in to the classroom on Wednesday and saw the Topic board, I was absolutely staggered by the work that they had produced. With complex topic-specific vocabulary and phenomenal presentation, the children should be immensely proud of their creations.

As I am sure that many of you are now aware, we were treated to a superb talk last week from RNLI volunteer, Mick. Hoping to raise enough to buy one pair of RNLI wellies (£50), this is an extremely worthwhile and deserving cause. Thank you so much for those of you who have already given to this. If you have not yet done so and would like to contribute, please can you send in your child with a small donation on Monday. When they arrive at school, they can take their donation and put it in our RNLI wellie that is on display.

Finally, I am pleased to confirm that we are planning a school trip to Wakehurst Place for next Friday morning (25.3.22). To compliment on topic learning on The Scented Garden, there shall be a workshop and a trail walk. Led by experts, and with sunny forecast, this should be a lovely morning.  I appreciate that this is quite short notice, but we would be extremely grateful for any parent volunteers willing to drive a small group and to support the children when we are there. Of course, more details shall be emailed to you soon.

HOMEWORK

GPS – As we have been learning about possessive apostrophes in class, please ask the children to find three examples of this in their reading books. For example, ‘William’s’ or ‘Josh’s. They can record this in their reading journals.

There shall be a housepoint on offer for all the children that complete this homework!

Whilst we appreciate that this may just seem like another job, this can be so valuable in cementing their class learning and engaging them with school work.

Year 2 Spellings
Week 4 Term 4

The /er/ sound spelt with ‘or’

word

work

worm

world

worth

worst

Friday 18th March

Well done to Year 2's effort with Comic Relief today, it was a brilliant sight to see them all dressed up in such fun outfits! 

This week has been a busy one starting our Easter song, Hosanna, which is ambitious as involves part singing but the children have taken to it well. Please do practise at home, the song sheet is attached below. In RE, we have enjoyed thinking about this song and what the words mean, how they make us feel and what the Easter links are. The children are also very excited that Rev Bill MacDougall is coming in next Monday to answer their questions about Easter. Photos to follow so watch this space....!

In Literacy, we looked at adapting a fable to change the ending. We discussed how stories have happy and sad endings. The children then chose a fable that we have looked at and changed the ending. This was quite a tough challenge for a year 2 class but they seemed to have no problem writing!

In Maths, we have been continuing with money and focusing on adding amounts together. The children are starting to understand what the decimal point means (i.e. £3.20) and sort money based on £ or p. Going to the shops this weekend (without the use of Apple Pay!) would be a super idea to really put their learning into context. Perhaps ask them to count up two amounts of money to buy from the shop. E.g. a chocolate bar for 75p and a toy for £3.50. 

In topic work, the children enjoyed another science lesson on dissecting plants to name their parts. The photos speak for themselves, the children created superb posters naming and explaining what each part of the plant does. The topic board is looking stunning, though I am now conscious that there will be brown petals by the end of the term!

Please remember, the children have times tables test (2x) every Tuesday now. These are completed in a formal way, complete silence and timed. The children have to answer both multiplication and division questions. Please do practise them at home in this way. It helps the children to draw links. 

As mentioned all in the letter I sent out earlier this week, we have the annual Year 2 Egg Rolling Competition, Monday 28th March, at 2:30pm in the playground. All the details are found in the letter which I have attached below, including ideas for the the Easter Garden that the children need to also create and bring in that morning. Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Thanks and have a super weekend,

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 11th March 

It has been lovely to be back this week with the class, huge thanks to Mr Haysom who kept the Year 2 boat going last week in my absence. 

In Literacy, we have been looking at the moral in a fable and how they can teach us something, for example, appearances can be deceiving. The children also enjoyed understanding the characteristics of animals in fables - both their appearance and their character traits. We used expanded noun phrases to describe, which were very impressive. e.g. The red, long scorpion stung the green, slimy frog. Well done Year 2! In Numeracy, we have started a new topic, Money. The children began the week recognising coins and ordering them in value (see photo below). They have moved onto finding and making equal different amounts. e.g. £5 =  £2 + £2 + £1 or £1 + £1 + £1 + £2. 

In Topic, we had a very exciting lesson understanding the xylem tubes in a plant and how these transport water in the stem. The children enjoyed using celery in coloured water to see how the water travels in a stem. After a few hours, we found the coloured dye in the water was up to the top of the celery thus showing the water travelling there. Please do see the photos!

The children had a very art filled afternoon on Monday in RE. There they used pastels to create a cross stencil. They thought about what elements are sad and what elements are happy about the cross. They then used happy/sad colours to show this. We then got out the watercolour paints for the last part of the lesson as we thought about new life. The children used these paints to show signs of new life in spring. I was wholly impressed by the effort and ease with which these children painted. Definitely some budding Van Goghs!

Dates for the diary

Easter Garden and Egg Rolling Competition - Monday 28th March, 2:45pm outside.  

Homework 

Times Tables tests will now take place each Tuesday. We are currently working on the 2x table. Remember to practise the multiplication AND the division! It is easy to ignore the division but teaching it as the inverse (opposite) to multiplication will really help. 

RNLI Following Mr Haysom's email, a little reminder about our RNLI fundraiser. The boot is ready and waiting for your donations to roll in. Thank you to those who sent some funds in today! I just want to clarify that this it is not compulsory to donate. Moving forward, Mr Haysom shall ensure that he proofreads his emails before he sends them! Please see the pictures of the visit, below. 

Spellings 

Week 3 Term 4

The /o/ sound spelt with 'a' after 'w' or 'qu' 

want 

watch

wander

squash

squabble

Challenge Words 

quality 

quantity 

Thank you for all your support at home - have a great weekend! 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

4.3.22

As Mrs Ralph has been poorly this week, I am afraid that it shall be Mr Haysom again with this week’s update. Before you collectively groan, I will try my best to keep it as brief as possible! 

For our GPS focus this week, we have delved deeper in to the subordination. Using subordinating conjunctions, we have been learning how to join an independent and dependent clause. To test our understanding of this learning, the children put together a wonderful memory game where they had to match the conjunction to the correct sentence.

On Wednesday, Mrs Braid led a fascinating workshop on Ash Wednesday. With lots of different stations scattered around the church, the children were free to explore how Lent ties in with our school values. I have attached some photos of this below.

As I am sure you are all aware, Thursday marked National Book Day. I must extend a hearty congratulations to the children – and of course the parents – for the extraordinary costumes that were on display. I was staggered by the time and effort that you have all put in to making this such a special occasion. As a class treat, we were thrilled to have Mark Streatfeild come in and read an extract from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Mark set an incredibly high standard – one that I am not keen to follow on after!

Even though the class looked out on their feet today -after the excitement detailed above - the class have completed some outstanding acting this week, based on our class book, The Enormous Turnip. Following the rave reviews from their nativity performance, I knew that they were a talented bunch. However, I think they may have even exceeded my expectations. Please see the pictures underneath.

Thank you, 

Mr Haysom aand Mrs Ralph 

Term 4 Week 2

Spellings

The /ee/ sound spelt with ‘ey’

donkey

chimney

valley

monkey

trolley

Challenge Words

hockey

parsley

Friday 25th February

Welcome back, Year 2. 

We have kicked off this exciting term with an old children's classic tale - The Enormous Turnip. This text fits nicely with our Scented Garden topic, where we will be exploring the life cycle of plants and how they grow. So far, we have read the story and then sequenced the events in the correct order. We noticed that the version that we read and the one we sequenced were slightly different. Our book had a little robin as the character whose help managed to finally get the turnip up, whilst the tale we sequenced had a mouse.  We talked about how this happens sometimes in stories - particularly old favourites. See if you can think of any other stories where the plot or characters change a little bit in different versions.

In maths, we have begun to look at strategies for solving word problems - in particular though using the bar model method, which uses rectangular bars as pictorial representation of quantities.

Enjoy the sunshine this weekend - a welcome change to those awful storms in half term! Don't forget to sort out your costumes for World Book Day next Thursday and also a book that you are happy to swap.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

Reading - further to the text above, maybe revisit some old favourites of your own and see if you can think about different versions that you have come across. I recently reread some of Roald Dahl's classic stories that he had put a twist on. I loved his Little Red Riding Hood! If you come across any alternative versions, make a note of them in your diaries - or maybe bring the story book into school for us to look at as a class.

Term 4 Week 1

The /u/ sound spelt with ‘o’

brother

nothing

other

money

wonder

Challenge Words

Monday

discover

Friday 11th February - end of Term 3

WELL DONE YEAR 2, you have made it to the end of term 3! 

I am sure you'll agree, you have all coped magnificently this term especially in the light of so much Covid and many of you having to work remotely at points. This week has been a great way to finish off our various topics. We have enjoyed exploring Mass and measuring in both g and kg. Do continue to practise this at home with baking opportunities and asking the children how many grams are in 1 kg, weighing themselves and continuing to feel the difference between 100g, 250g and 1kg. In Literacy, we have finished off our work on The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch with a drama oppportunity to predict what happens next. At the end of book, the seagulls attack the fisherman's lunch. So the children acted out ways of getting rid of the seagulls, such as: a whale blowing water out of its spout and splashing them away, the fishing rod swishing them out the way and even Mr Grinling using a bow and arrow to aim mustard sandwiches at them. A very amusing lesson as you can imagine!

In Topic work, we have finished looking at our, Will it degrade? investigation, which proved that the most decomposed material was (unsurprisingly) organic matter. The least decomposed was plastic which brought up a lot of discussion about how we can use less plastic to avoid the harm and damage to our environment. Mr Haysom enjoyed a super lesson erosion with the class which was a great way to consolidate the children's geography skills! 

Finally, RE this week was lots of discussion about prayer. We enjoyed doing a skittles prayer idea to help us pray for different people. It also made for a sweet end of the term!! 

HOMEWORK

Have a super half term, whatever you are doing, and remember to keep up spellings, reading and times tables. Formal tests of times tables will resume next term so watch this space. Our topic for Term 4 is Scented Garden so do ask your child to list all the flowers and shrubs you have in your garden as well as your home. Please bring this in for the first day back, Tuesday 22nd February. 

There is also some reading homework in the bags. Please complete CGP Set A Test 1 and 2 and bring the book back for 22/2.

Finally, our Oxford Owl eBook library membership runs out on 20th of Feb. You might like to use it one last time before it ends and read Plants for Dinner by Becka Heddie in preparation for our new topic.

Many thanks for all your support, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 4/2/22

This week, we have been learning about adverbs and how they are a word which modifies a verb, which means that it tells you how, when, where or why something is being done. For example, Billy shouted excitedly to his sister or Billy called angrily to his sister. Helpfully a lot of these adverbs (although not all) end in 'ly', which is useful in helping us identify them. This weekend, as you read your book, or are having a story read to you, look out for any adverbs and should you find any, write them in your reading record to earn yourself a house point. This will help to consolidate your learning. You may also want to think about how you are doing things yourself. E.g. Tilly skipped happily.

As you will see from the photos, we have been busy in maths, learning to read thermometers and also picture graphs. We have also found out more about British explorer and navigator Captain James Cook and I am attaching a PowerPoint below for those of you who might like to continue your research (ignore the plenary slide at the end). Finally, we have created some splendid Mousehole Cat art. 

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

Please keep reading and remember it doesn't have to be a school book. The weekend is a good time to look for other texts to enjoy. (See adverb homework detailed above.)

Spellings 

Term 3 Week 5 

all

ball

call

walk 

talk 

Challenge Words: 

altogether 

always

Friday 28th January

It has certainly been a strange week with roughly only half the class on school site! However, the children have been working hard as always and we have had lots of fun. I know Mr Haysom has been managing the daily Literacy and Maths zooms to keep the isolating crew entertained! Well done to all of you for managing this week, especially those parents juggling childcare and home-schooling! 

This week at school we have finished off our learning on multiplication and division and looked at odd/even numbers. To those at home, please don't worry about doing all the MNP sheets, just keep up the times tables practice. The children  have really loved: https://www.teachit.co.uk/resources/all-subjects/bubble-multiples as a fun way to test their speedy times table skills! 

In Literacy, we have enjoyed planning and writing a letter to the seagulls from The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. The children used their super character descriptions of Mr Grinling from last week to help them write their letters. We learnt a new word too: industrious. There was a little crafty moment where we made super seagulls out of paper plates and with googly eyes. Do check out the photos below. On the back are some adjectives describing them.

In Topic, we have studied beach safety and created super posters of how to stay safe at home. The children have also used their map skills to understand where the RNLI lifeboat stations are situated around the UK. 

In RE, we have looked peace (which I am sure many of us have needed this week!) and sequence the story of Jesus calming the storm. Very appropriate with our topic, Coastline!

Have a really lovely weekend, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Year 2

Term 3 Week 4

Adding -ing, -ed, -er, -est and -y to words of one syllable ending in a single consonant after  a single vowel

patting

patted

humming

hummed

dropping

Challenge Words:

runner

runny

Friday 21/1/22

Another busy week, Year 2.

We have enjoyed using expanded noun phrases in our writing, which have proved very helpful in our Mousehole Cat recounts and out descriptions of 'Old Tom'. We have added to basic noun phrases to make these expanded noun phrases; for example, changing 'the waves' to 'the big, choppy waves'. Look out for some expanded noun phrases as you are reading this weekend. If you find any, write them in your reading record for a house point. 

Maths lessons, meanwhile, have involved word problems to do with measuring, while topic work has included finding out about the Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby and also the famous seafarer, Captain James Cook. I wonder if you can tell anyone at home about what you've learnt?

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

Do keep reading over the weekend - it doesn't just have to be a school book. We always enjoy hearing about what else you're reading. I know some of you have been finding out more about our topic, which is fantastic!

Unfortunately, there has been no teaching assistant in the class today, so spellings have not been marked - apologies. We have been a little stretched and so decided that books being changed was our priority. Thanks for bearing with us. This week's spellings will be added to the class page later tonight.

Year 2

Term 3 Week 3 Spellings 

hiking

nicer

shiny

shining

being

Challenge Words:

scary 

scaring

Friday 14th January

We have had a great week together this week and enjoyed getting stuck into our topic, Coastline. Thank you so much for bringing in jam jars, shells, materials and even topic books from home. It has been wonderful to see the children take ownership of their learning. This week, we completed a science experiment called, Will it degrade? As you may guess, we will be looking at how materials degrade or change over time from the effect of seawater. The children concocted a solution of salt and water to mimic seawater (approx. 2 tbs of salt to 1 litre of water) and added the same amount to each jar. The jars contained different items:-

- stones/shells

- wood/twigs

- organic matter

- metal

- plastic

- fabric

We are going to observe what happens to these materials over the course of the term so....watch this space! Please see the photos below, which includes one of our topic board showing the children's prior learning on a 'handprint wave.' 

We have started a new book in Literacy this week, The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch, a classic many of you may know. The children used adjectives to describe the setting and have sequenced the story using a storyboard to help. Next week, we plan to do some acting!

After a successful term on multiplication, the children have started to look more into division - especially grouping and sharing. It is a harder concept but we visualised it this week using diennes apparatus - please see the photos below.  

Finally, in RE this week we have started our new topic, Gospel, which means Good News. We thought about what things are 'good news' for us at the moment and historically. Do talk to your children about the good news on the TV/radio/newspaper. We are so often bombarded by 'bad' news, it may be refreshing to look out for the 'good' news this week. Perhaps your child(ren) can find some this week and share to the rest of the class on Monday (some housepoints will be in store for those that do!)

Year 2 Spellings

Week 2 Term 3

Adding -ing to a word ending in -y with a consonant before it

copying

crying

replying

marrying

      carrying

Challenge word:

skiing

taxiing

Many thanks and have a great weekend, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Week 1 Term 3 7.1.22

Welcome back all! We hope that you have all had a lovely break and that you have all kept well over Christmas. Despite enjoying the time at home with my family, I am – as I am sure you are all too- extremely thankful that the school is open and that we are back to business as usual (ish)!

The children have settled in nicely and have been worked exceptionally hard for the three days that we have had. Looking round at some of the tired faces today, I think that a good night sleep is needed for many of them.

For our topic this term, we are going to be looking studying the coastline of the United Kingdom. In the Coastline project, we will use maps to learn about the location of the world’s seas and oceans and keys to learn about map symbols (see pictures below). We will also find out about the directions on a compass. Class 2 will learn about the human and physical features of a coastline, including the effects of erosion and how to stay safe when visiting the coast. Covid permitting, we are hoping that we will have the opportunity to actually visit the coast this term! 

In Literacy, we have been privileged to have Mrs Haysom come in and teach how to identify nouns and adjectives in our sentences. For our class book this term, we have just started reading Mr Haysom’s favourite book, The Mousehole Cat. This is the stunningly-illustrated story of the seaside village of Mousehole (pronounced ‘Mowzel’) Cornwall, where Mowzer the cat lives happily with old his fisherman pet Tom.

In Maths, we have picked up where we left off last term with measuring length. This week, we have been using string to help us to accurately measure lines with curves.

Week 1 Term 3 Spellings

Adding 'ed', 'er', 'est' to Words Ending with 'y'

copier

copied

happier

happiest

         cried

Challenge words:

driest

funnier

Finally, on behalf of all of the Year 2 team, I just wanted to say that we are all so grateful for the incredibly generous gifts that we were given for Christmas. It is lovely to feel so appreciated – we were thoroughly spoilt!

Have a great weekend,

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph 

Friday 10th December 

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all of Year 2 for the Nativity on Wednesday. I think you'll all agree that considering the children had very few rehearsals with the correct parts and many people missing over the last couple of weeks, they did so well. We are both super proud of them all and they deserve a very restful weekend! Please do see the photos below of the ones taken by us from the Nativity. 

Following a rather busy few days of prep for the Nativity, the children have enjoyed learning about baby minibeasts. The children completed a matching game of baby minibeasts and their associated adult. Did you know that a baby earwig is a nymph and a baby spider is a spiderling? 

The children have also embedded more of their multiplication and division understanding in Maths and we have also practised some assessment style questions to get them used to different mathematical vocabulary. This is something you can practise at home - see the attached posters to help. 

In Literacy, we have enjoyed writing our own version of 'The Very Hungry ........' Children chose an animal, to keep linked to our topic, and wrote about how hungry they got over the course of a week. For example, On Monday, the very hungry horse ate one carrot. On Tuesday, he ate through one packet of mints.....etc. The children really engaged with this and there was much discussion around cheeky pets eating dad's slippers!!

Finally, in RE we had a brief look at Christingle as I know some of the children went to Christingle services last weekend. The children created their own Christingle and discussed what each feature represents. Please do see photos below. 

ONE MORE WEEK TO GO......

Have a very relaxing weekend, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Spellings 

Common Exception Words

find

mind

behind

old

cold

gold

Challenge Word : 

Christmas 

Friday 3rd December

Week 5 has rattled by and I can't believe it's only a couple of days until we put on our KS1 Nativity! Mr Haysom and I are hoping we won't need to stand in as a King or Shepherd at the last moment(!) considering we have not had a chance to rehearse with a full house yet. That said, the children have been amazing at coping with the many run throughs in a rather fresh church as well as the seven songs they are having to learn. Their enthusiasm has been amazing! 

Just a reminder, can any clothes that the children need for their costume, please send in on Monday 6th. The dress rehearsal to KS2 is on Tuesday 7th, with the performance on Wednesday 8th December at 2pm. Please remember to lateral flow before you come and wear a mask. These are some extra precautions we are taking, however, it will be live streamed if you cannot make it. Please note zoom details for the live streaming will be sent out before the performance. 

In-between singing and run throughs of the Nativity, the children have been really consolidating their understanding of multiplication. There have been some misconceptions about the meaning of x. Some have mixed this up with +. e.g. Instead of 5 x 2 = 10, children have written 5 x 2 = 7. We have therefore worked hard on understanding x as groups of. E.g. 5 groups of 2. This has helped draw the link with x also being repeated addition (so 5 x 2 is the same as 5 + 5). Our Maths board in the classroom has been updated accordingly to help remind children. Next term, we will focus on more formal times tables tests of 2x, 5x, 10x. After teacher assessing them in class this term, we felt it better to ensure children understand what multiplication actually means before testing them. Otherwise, it becomes a memory test rather than with a deep understanding. 

The children have enjoyed making hedgehogs out of dried leaves for our display board and wrote some lovely prayers of hope for our RE board this week. The children have also worked hard on their phonics understanding of some sounds that were proving tricky: str, spr and scr.  

SPELLINGS FOR NEXT WEEK

flies

tries

replies

copies

babies

challenge words: marries, families 

Many thanks to all the children for a superb trip last week and big thank you to Mrs Middleton & Ms Rushbrook for helping 

Have a great weekend and remember to get to the School fair this Saturday 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom

26.11.21 

Apologies for the delay in updating the class page this week. Every time I try to save the changes, the website keep crashing. Having grappled with the technology for the last hour, this is my third (and hopefully final) attempt at writing this...

In Year 2, we have been in full nativity mode. With daily rehearsals in the church, things are coming on very nicely. Please keep working on the lines at home and how the children deliver them.

The highlight of the week must surely be the trip to the Sevenoaks Wildlife center. Even though I did not have the pleasure of joining, it has been wonderful to hear stories from the day and some of the facts that the children have remembered. With Mrs Ralph, the class have written some superb recounts of their day, using time connectives and interesting adjectives. Using the facts that they have remembered, the class have also written some riddles about a minibeast of their choosing.

In maths, we have continued to use arrays to show multiplication. We  discussed how the first number in a times table shows how many groups there are. The second number in a times table tells us how many are in each group. For example, 5 x 3 is five groups of three. Building on this understanding, we have explored how we can reverse the times table and get the same answer. For example, 4 x 3 = 3 x 4. Should you wish to continue going through this at home, we have found this link particularly useful in visually presenting this:

ictgames.com/mobilePage/arrayDisplay/index.html

Spellings 

Spellings: The /igh/ sound spelt with 'y'

cry

fly

dry

try

reply

Challenge Words:

terrify

multiply

Thank you,

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Week 3 ~ Friday 19th November 

It has been yet another brilliant week in Year 2 and the children have worked so hard. We have hit the ground running with the Nativity rehearsals and would be grateful if all children could know their lines off by heart by Tuesday. We also have a lot of songs to learn which will be sent out next week for the children to practise at home. 

Thank you to for attending the Y2 zoom consultations last Wednesday this week. It was great to meet and discuss how your child is doing. 

This week, we have been continuing our understanding of the 10x table. The children seem to be able to multiply quite happily so now it is time to ensure they practise the division fact to go with it. i.e. 3 x 10 = 30 which means 30 ÷ 10 = 3. In Literacy, we have applied our understanding of adjectives into a sentence. We have loved some of the vocabulary which the childen have used: consume, gobble, mutter, stagger etc. Well done Year 2! In RE, we enjoyed making nativity characters out of playdough and then writing a diary entry on how they must have felt when meeting Jesus. There were some very thoughtful responses. In topic work, the children did some incredible observational sketches of a minibeast. They found it a challenge not to use coloured pencils but rely on careful sketching to add detail onto the parts of their chosen minibeast. The children then labelled the sketch with key scientific vocabulary. For example, thorax and abdomen. (Yes, I too had to look up what thorax was!) Our topic working wall is looking great - do take a look at the photos below. 

IMPORTANT DETAILS:-

Monday 22nd November - Y2 trip to Sevenoaks Wildlife Centre. 

Children need to:-

- Wear suitable outdoor clothing  (coat and layers!)

- Wear wellies 

- Bring a snack and water bottle

No money needed as I have arranged for each child to have a goody bag at the end of the visit 

We will leave by 9:30am and be back before the end of the school day. Thank you to those parents attending on the trip as well. 

Any questions or queries, please let me know. 

Have a great weekend and looking forward to a fun trip together on Monday! 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom

Year 2 Spellings

Week 3 Term 2

The /l/ sound spelt with ‘-il’ and’-al’ at the end of words

pencil

fossil

nostril

          pupil

          metal

Challenge word:

capital

hospital

Term 2 Week 2 Update 

Another wonderful, yet exhausting, week down. The class have worked extremely hard and are continuing to make phenomenal progression. Even though we have had quite a few children go home poorly this week, the group have kept their spirit and have shown an extraordinary resilience - we are, as always, very proud of this group and how they always rise to a challenge! 

In maths, we have continued to build upon our understanding of columns and place value. In particular, we have been practising using our column subtraction and renaming. To cement this understanding, we have been using the dienes and other manipulatives to break this process down in to steps and for them to understand why we must borrow from the tens column. If you would like to keep working on this at home, I have attached some links to some useful sites. 

Column addition:  https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/vertical/

Column subtraction: https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/verticalSub/

In literacy, the class were treated to a lovely food tasting lesson with Mrs Ralph. In this lesson, they had to describe the flavours using appropriate adjective. Please see the pictures below. With me, the class have been learning more about Max the hedgehog and his adventures crossing the road in our class book, The Hodgeheg. Next week, we shall be writing some instruction pieces on how to cross the road safely. 

As I am sure that many of you are aware, the class shall be completing the statutory phonics screening assessment towards the end of this term. This assessment is usually completed in Year 1; however, due to Coronavirus pandemic, schools were permitted to delay this until Christmas in Year 2. Therefore, in class we have been working to plug gaps and to ensure that the class are ready and know what to expect. However, if you would like to work on phonics with them at home, we recommend that you use the school's Oxford Owl system to supplement our teaching. In the Letters and Sounds ebook library, this week we shall be covering the sounds that are in Phase 5 Set 13. Please feel to go through the selection of texts and to pick the one/ones that take your fancy! 

Mrs Ralph and I want to thank all of you that joined us for parent consultations yesterday. We are looking forward to catching up with the rest of you next week. 

We hope you have a relaxing weekend. 

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph 

Spellings 'el' 

camel 

towel

squirrel

travel 

tunnel

Challenge Words:

jewel 

vowel 

NATIVITY SCRIPT IS OUT! 

Each child in the class has now been given their role and has been provided with a script. We have spoken to all of the children individually and have highlighted their lines. Of course, we shall be working on these lines at school, but we would be extremely grateful if you would start this process at home. Once we have mastered the lines, we shall start working on the stage directions and teaching them how to use expression and emphasis when delivering their words. 

TERM 2 ~ WEEK 1

Friday 5th November 

Welcome back Year 2 and what a great start we have made this week. The children have thoroughly enjoyed getting stuck into our new topic, WRIGGLE AND CRAWL. As you may have guessed, this has a predominantly science focus and means we will be looking at some creepy crawlies over the term! 

This week we started off by looking at a well-known book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The children used their drama skills to act out the story, using masks for effect! Then the next day, they wrote up the story in their own words, trying to use Time Conjunctions (after, next, before, later, finally) to sequence their story correctly. I must say, there was no hesitation in  getting started with the writing which was a delight to see. Well done Year 2! We continued our caterpillar theme into topic lessons by understanding the life cycle of a butterfly. Mrs Ralph even brought in some special guests to that topic lesson....three caterpillars! Please take a look at the photos below

In Numeracy, we have been looking at subtraction of ones and tens (without any renaming/borrowing). The part whole model has worked really well for this. Next week we will have a go at subtraction using the expanded column method. If you want to know more then do look at this site: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zfnvn9q

In RE, we will be looking at Incarnation (i.e. Jesus) so this all fits into Christmas. The children started off by comparing Christmas cards and then exploring Christian symbols by putting them on a crown using a variety of materials. Do look at the photos to know more. 

N.B. date for the diary - school trip to Sevenoaks Wildlife centre on Monday 22nd November. (More details to follow)

Finally, this term we will be doing Times Tables. The children will be doing a weekly times tables test on Tuesdays and for the next few weeks, it will be 10x. Please ensure children know both the multiplication and division. They won't have a TT book as it will be embedded within a maths lesson.

Many thanks for your support, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom    

Spellings Week 1 Term 2

The /l/ sound spelt with 'le'

table

apple

bottle

little

middle

Challenge Words:

multiple

dazzle

Week 7 – Friday 15.10.21  

After 6 weeks of shutting off and relaxing over summer, Term 1 can often feel like an insurmountable challenge. With new teachers, routines and expectations, the new year can be as daunting as it is exciting for the children. Considering the turbulent and disjointed start they have had in their brief time at school, Mrs Ralph and I could not be more proud of this group and all they have managed to achieve this term. In all areas of the curriculum, the class are keen to learn and always try their hardest – they have been a pleasure to teach.  

Even though the term has been drawing to a close, there has been no respite from the relentless pace of work in literacy! With Mrs Ralph, the class have been writing some fascinating alternative endings to their class book, Super Worm.  

With Mrs Haysom and myself, the class have been retelling the life story of a Mover and Shaker: Mary Seacole. It has been wonderful to see how the children have applied our recent GPS learning on verbs in the past tense and how much their stamina for writing has improved since Week 1.  

Hopefully, we shall be afforded the opportunity to go up to the Year 6 class and teach them what we have learned about this brave and inspirational lady. Do ask them to tell you a bit about her at home.

In maths, the class have been continuing to develop their understanding of column addition with two digit numbers. This week, we have begun to look at regrouping when the sum of the ones column is more than 10.  

There shall be no spellings homework over the break. New spellings for next term will be announced in Term 2. In the meantime, please do keep reading and recording what you read over the break – this can, of course, include books from home. Please see below for details of reading homework set.

We hope that you all have a lovely and relaxing couple of weeks off.  

Thank you for all of your support in this term.  

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

In anticipation of next term’s Wriggle and Crawl topic, please use your Oxford Owl login and password to allow you to access the online library and find the eBook What Bugs Eat. Once you have read the text (there is also an audio option available), please would you have a think about which creature you were most interested in and what else you would like to find out about them in our lessons next term. If there are other bugs that you are interested in that aren’t featured then you may want to think about them instead. You decide.

On a piece of paper, please would you draw a picture of the bug you are interested in and label it.

Would you also include a sentence about what more you would like to find out about it.

Remember to use a capital letter and a full stop, and also to make sure you have put your name on it as we hope to display some of your ideas.

I shall send home the class login and password in a separate letter later today.

As a short writing task, I have sent the children home with a book review that they can write about our term's class book, Fantastic Mr Fox. Please discuss with them the plot of the story and their favourite parts. In the top left box, the children may draw a picture of a chapter from the book. 

Please can you send the children in with a copy of this work for the first day back next term. 

As I appreciate that some of the worksheets may have been screwed up on their journey home, I shall attach a copy below for them to edit. 

Week 6 ~ Friday 8th October 

WELL DONE YEAR 2 on your brilliant performance at the Harvest service and thank you parents for helping the children learn their words. It was lovely to see so many of you there on Wednesday and the whole occasion was so special.

This week the children have been going a step up in their learning across the board. We have introduced a new method in Numeracy - column addition. You may know this method as how you learnt to add numbers together when you were at primary school. However, for children this is quite an unusual concept as they are used to a more linear approach from Year 1. We started slowly by using lots of manipulatives, such as the diennes tens and ones blocks. We then moved on from the concrete materials to pictorial representations of the number. This is where the children were encouraged to draw the diennes tens and ones as they learnt to add two digit numbers together. Finally, once their understanding was sound at this point, the children then moved onto the abstract where they filled in the column addition sums in written form. They can only complete this latter stage thanks to the hard work put into using concrete  and pictorial strategies beforehand. Do look at the photos below.

Literacy: I was SO impressed by the children's retelling of Superworm last week that we decided to do some peer assessment. This is where children are partnered up with someone else and they read each other's stories before giving each other two stars (two good points) and a wish (something to improve on). The children also used purple pens to correct their grammar, punctuation or spelling errors. Again, I was so impressed with how well the children completed this exercise, something that only KS2 have done before rather than KS1. Well done Year 2! Mr Haysom has kept them on their toes with Fantastic Mr Fox comprehension skills and he does a superb impression of FMF when reading the story!

In Topic, we have looked at Rosa Parks, who tied in well with Black History Month. The children were inspired by her story and created historical posters on her with the best three going on the topic board. Watch this space....!

Please see below spellings...

Spellings Week 6

Common Exception Words 

door

floor

again

wild 

children

Challenge Words:

climb

parents

Please continue to practise these words at home with the children - the next test shall be on Wednesday (13th). As mentioned previously, the spelling scores shall be sent home in their reading journals as 'sp ='.

Have a great weekend, only one week to go!

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Week 5 

Another busy and exciting week in Year 2! Throughout the school we have been gripped by the gruelling headboy and headgirl races. This week, we have listened to the candidates and have cast our votes. Of course, this ties in wonderfully to our class topic and our understanding of the women’s suffrage movement!

Producing some exceptional pieces of writing, the class have retold the story of Superworm and have written some instructions on how to catch Fantastic Mr Fox. Also, we were treated a session with the Year 6 class on subordination – please see the pictures below!

In Maths, we have been investigating the link between adding in ones and adding in tens. For example, 4 + 4 = 8 and 40 + 40 = 80. We shall continue this learning next week; however, it would be useful to keep practising this at home.

Finally, we must recognise the outstanding achievements of Henry and Tilly. Mrs Ralph and I were so terribly impressed by their splendid entries in to our ‘Reflections’ poetry competition. Well done to Tilly, who was our winner and Henry – our runner up. They beat plenty of older pupils for this coveted accolade. Superb! We also gather Tilly is having her poem read aloud at Penshurst Place this weekend as it has been shortlisted in the Sir Philip Sidney Poetry Prize 2021 competition. We are so incredibly proud.

Please note that due to there being and extra assembly put on to accommodate the head boy/girl announcements, we were unable to pull the reading raffle today. Apologies for this, two winners shall be pulled next week to compensate.

Spellings Week 5

The /j/ sound spelt with 'g' or 'j'

gem 

giant

magic

giraffe 

energy 

Challenge Words:

jacket

adjust

WEEK 4 - Friday 24th September

The children have had lots of assessments this week which has filled a lot of lesson time. They have worked so hard and shown true stamina with it all, well done Class 2! 

In RE, we explored prayer and thought about the ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication) prayer as a template. The children came up with some lovely prayers: "Dear God, thank you for sharing the world with us." or "Dear God, sorry for arguing with my brother, please help me forgive." Such a thoughtful bunch! 

In Topic, we have managed to enjoy looking at our baby photos and timelines as part of our history lesson this week. Please look at the photos below! Next week, we will look at the timelines of some significant people. Thank you to TT and HF who gave us a lovely show and tell of their books about important people from the past.  

Spellings: - the 'dge' sound

bridge

badge

dodge

edge

fudge

challenge words: - lodge, hedge 

Please do practise the Harvest Samba song at home, Harvest is less than two weeks away! 

Thank you for all your continued support at home.

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom  

Friday 17th September 

What fun we had in our Fantastic Mr Fox drama workshop, which was followed by creating our very own Mr Fox puppet from a wooden spoon (see pics). If we'd had time, it would have been wonderful to create a whole Fantastic Mr Fox set of characters.  Today's activity involved writing up the instructions for how to make him - in case anyone else fancied having a go!

We used the present tense, 'bossy' verbs and commas in a list with 'and' between the last items. Look out for commas in lists in your reading books over the next week. If you do find any lists and want to jot them in your diary, then there will be a house point in it for you!

In maths we have used number lines to work out sequences e.g. 2,4,6,8...

Have a splendid weekend.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

Spellings

As requested, please find, below, the spellings for Week 3 (tested 22.9.21).  

The /s/ Sound Spelt Using ‘c’

race 

ice 

face 

city 

fancy 

Challenge Words (optional): 

bicycle 

circle 

Reading

Please keep reading a variety of books - not just your reading scheme ones. Don't forget the reading raffle - to enter, you just need to read a minimum of five times at home (or at after school club) and get your diary signed by an adult.

This week, I am recommending another title from the Oxford Owl ebook library to share with someone at home. Again, this one fits with our Movers and Shakers topic and is entitled Real Heroes. It tells us all about three very significant people, who you may enjoy finding out about  - Emily Davison, Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela. I wonder which one of the three you will think is the biggest hero.

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/api/interactives/12956.html

Hopefully everyone is able to login now. If you do manage to read the book, there are some good questions at the back to talk about after reading. 

We only have three weeks before the Harvest service and have started to practise our class song, Harvest Samba. Please find attached the lyrics which I'd be grateful if you could go through with your child at home. Here is the song link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqpkWsR6Yew 

HOMEWORK:  Could your child please bring in a baby photo of themselves on Monday and a short timeline (written as a list is completely fine) of what they were able to do when. E.g. walking at a 1, became a big sister at 2, ride a scooter when they were 3 etc.

WEEK 2 - FRIDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER

It has been great to meet the class this week for Mrs Ralph and we have got stuck into our learning for the term. This week for maths, we have focused on place value and really understanding what each digit represents. The children used diennes to help them with their learning. These manipulatives are great to see a block of ten vs. ones. It was great to see them using these and working in learning partners to help write the number using the part/whole method. Please do look at the photos below!

In Literacy, we have introduced a great book to link with our topic - Superworm. We have all enjoyed chanting the part,
'Superworm is super long,
Superworm is super strong.
Watch him wriggle, watch him squirm.
Hip Hip Hooray for Superworm!'

The children have really impressed us with their writing. They have explored how adjectives really make their writing have flavour! A handful of children have received a class teacher award and many of the class have had housepoints for using adjectives and connectives in their class. 

Our topic this term is Movers and Shakers and we enjoyed thinking about what significant people we know and what we would like to find out. In RE, we have explored the story of the Good Samaritan. This bible story links to our school's church values so one that we need to know! The children porduced some stunning pastel drawings of this and they are hanging up in classroom proudly! Photos to follow next week. 

DATE FOR THE DIARY:- 

TUESDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER ~ 2:30PM: Class curriculum Y2 meeting.
Zoom details to be sent via email in due course. 

Spellings - The /r/ sound spelt with 'wr':

write

written 

wrote

wrong

wrap 

Challenge Words ( an optional, extra challenge which follows the same spelling rule): 

wrist

wreck 

Times tables will not be formally assessed until the end of this term. Watch this space!

Have a lovely, sunny weekend. 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 3rd September

Welcome back to school, Year 2. It is great to see you all seemingly recharged and ready for an exciting term ahead.

We have already begun our new class text Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl and used it to help us choose suitable adjectives to describe the farmers.

Our topic is ‘Movers and Shakers’. It is largely history based and enables us to study significant people who have had an impact on the world. We shall look at timelines, stories and historical sources to help us with our learning.

With this in mind, I would like to recommend a non-fiction book that you might fancy reading at the weekend that can be found in the Oxford Owl ebook library - Meet a Genius. This title informs about three important historical figures: Amadeus Mozart, Marie Curie and Srinivasa Ramanujan. Hopefully, everyone still has their Oxford Owl logins and passwords, but if in doubt do ask. We will be looking at the features of non- fiction titles this term, so do look out for headings, labels, a glossary and index.

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/api/interactives/33253.html This book has an audio option, so you can listen as you read along.

It’s great that so many of you have taken part in the Summer Reading Challenge - just a reminder that this finishes on the 5th of September. Please do bring your certificates (or copies) into school once you have received them so that we can congratulate you individually. We normally have a special assembly for this a little later in the term.

Lastly, we have been thrilled that some of you entered the Philip Sydney Poetry Competition. Please see Henry’s rather splendid Reflections poem below. Have a go at spotting the well-chosen adjectives that he has selected.

Homework

Reading - please read at home to an adult and ask them to add comments and sign your reading diary. We ask that you read a minimum of five times. This doesn’t always need to be a school book - it is great to have a good variety so do read other material too. This can be a range of fiction books, fact books, comics, magazines, websites etc. As an extra incentive, we will have a reading raffle, which will be pulled weekly on a Friday. In order to take part, you need to have read aloud to someone at home (or at after-school club) five times and had your diary signed and marked with an H (for home). 

Spellings are silent letter words: knee, know, knock, knit/knitting (note double t), knife. These words will be tested on Wednesday morning. When practising at home, you might want to write the words in sentences and ensure you use a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph 

Friday 16th July  

Well here we are, the penultimate week before we finish for the school year! Cliché to say, but it really has flown by.

It’s been a rather hectic week and the children have been great at showing their flexibility when lessons and usual routine has changed. With the upcoming production only a few days away, we have spent much of our time practising the song and dance. Keep remembering to help your children sing at home, especially the finale song too: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/music-ks2-ks3-school-plays-musicals-a-midsummer-nights-dream-what-a-lovely-midsummer-night/zmpmjsg  

The children have practised diary writing in literacy as they imagine life for John Midas who has the chocolate touch. He can't even drink anything without it turning to chocolate. This book has been really engaging for the class and I get a resounding, 'Please, Mrs Ralph read some more!' every time I have to finish at a chapter. The children have also been finsihing off their RE work on Islam by understanding the celebration, Ramadan and Eiid. The children showed great research skills using IPads in their lesson earlier this week. 

A big highlight of the week has been the Owl experience the children had today. They learnt all about owls from the way they camouflage themselves to how they fly and hunt. Safe to say, the children loved it! Well done to Mr Haysom for organising this. A great way to link in their understanding of the other class book (yes there are two the class have listened to on the go!), The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark. 

We hope you enjoy the sun this weekend and make sure you have booked you tickets for the production! 

Three days and counting….! 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Good evening all! Please do accept my most sincere apologies for the tardiness in uploading this. Having just returned from tidying up KS2 Sports Day, I was horrified to have found that the technology had failed me and that the class page was left blank. Anyway, here goes attempt number three at writing this…

We have had a fantastic week in Class 2 – although, I cannot think of a more tiring one. Starting off with the class party Monday, we had a lovely afternoon round Mrs Braid’s house. With swimming and games, this was such a wonderful day to bookend what has been wonderful year with this class. I am, as I am sure you are all too, extremely grateful to Mrs Ralph for all of the hard work that she put in to making this such a special occasion.

The next landmark in our week must surely be the Key Stage 1 Sports Day on Wednesday. Not only did the class showcase some truly astounding athleticism, but they were also very mature in how they conducted themselves. Whether they won or not, the children were magnanimous. We could not be more proud of them or what they have achieved. 

In Maths, we have continued our learning on the topic of money. Tying in to our understanding of column addition and subtraction, we have now moved on to looking at equivalent values.

In Literacy, Class 2 have finished another book! Having completed The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark and Mr Majeika, we shall be looking at writing a book review on these texts next week. Therefore, as the homework this week, please could you discuss with the children which book they preferred and why.

As our spellings have a GPS focus, there shall be no spellings test/ homework.

Finally, as I shall detail in an upcoming email to parents, there is another Class treat scheduled for this Friday. As many of you may have noticed in the School Newsletter, we have got some special visitors coming in to school. I am trying to keep this a surprise for the class as they come in on Friday, so please do not tell them about this!

I hope that you all have a lovely and relaxing weekend.

COME ON ENGLAND!

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Friday 2nd July 

This week has been yet another super week with the class. The children are so creative and we had great fun creating these lovely Mosque silhouettes in our RE lesson. We first explored the different images of Mosques around the world, then designed one on black paper. The children had to ensure their Mosque had a dome, minaret and crescent moon/star symbol. They then cut these out before using pastels to create an effective sunset. I think you'll agree with how effective they have come out. Do take a look at the photos below. 

In Literacy, the children enjoyed predicting what may happen to John Midas after he eats a delicious chocolate ball. The ideas were brilliant, here are some below for you to enjoy/chuckle at:-

- his face turns brown from all the chocolate

- he grows a pigs tail overnight and doesn't realise until the next morning

- his face gets covered in spots and he has to go back to Dr Cranium for an operation

- all vegetables and fruits, which he previously found disgusting, he now finds delicious.

- everything he touches turns to chocolate....including his mother!

- he turns into a full size chocolate bar

- he turns into a chocolate ball and has to roll out of bed, roll down the stairs etc. 

The writing was simply brilliant, we are so proud of their efforts and will enjoy reading them out to each other next week. We have also started rehearsing for our summer production scene. The children will be doing the song, Once Upon A Dream, at the point where the main characters are in a deep sleep. The children will need to wear some traditional-style pajamas or nighties. Please find the lyrics attached, which I would be grateful if you could use to practise at home. 

Please remember, this Monday 5th July we have our END OF Y2 TREAT! Please find the letter attached to this website. Can I just clarify, the children will walk from Watstock to Penshurst so the walk should not be more than 45 minutes. We will then have a lovely time bouncing and swimming in between ice lollies and smiles!

Spellings this week...contractions: can't, didn't, hasn't, wasn't, it's, wouldn't. challenge: shouldn't, couldn't 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 25th June

As you will see from the photos below, we have had a very musical week - participating in an African drum workshop, as well as making our own guitars.

Our time has also been occupied with expanded noun phrases, which we have used to create some splendidly descriptive stories inspired by The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark.

In maths, we have begun a new topic, which is based around money - identifying coins and (separately) adding pounds and pence. Please see links to a couple of online games for those of you who may wish to continue to practise at home.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/coins-game

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/toy-shop-money

Next week, we are looking forward to Sports Day and very much hoping that  the weather will be kind to us. 

Homework

Please continue to read – not just your school books but other books from home too.

Some of you may enjoy this book of Music Poems which can be found on the Oxford Owl website (using your pupil login). I really enjoyed the one entitled simply Music and in particular the verse ‘Music is like magic’. If you do read the book, put a note in your reading diary to let me know which poem you enjoyed the most.

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/api/interactives/33479.html

Spellings  

This week, we are looking at –tion words :

station, fiction, motion, nation/national, section, addition, subtraction

Challenge word: international

Do practise them at home by putting them into sentences so that you know how to use them, as well as spell them.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Friday 18th June 

This week has been very busy with assessments for the children so they deserve a nice, relaxing weekend! When we haven't been doing assessments, the children have been enjoying some fun activities. On Monday, they got the chance to use their acting skills in a Perform drama workshop. The children had to be sea creatures and work together as a team. Safe to say, we had a lot of fun! We have also used our science skills to understand how the pitch can change with a glass of water. I promise the wine glasses were an accident....they are the only 'glass' material in the school. The children tried to make their own xylophone by pouring different amounts of water in. We then explored why the pitch is higher in a glass that doesn't have much water in it, compared to a lower pitch produced by a glass full of water. It is all to do with how quickly the particles in a glass move. Please see photos below 

In Literacy, we are looking at our class book, The Chocolate Touch, and thinking about letter writing. More to come on this area next week. 

In Numeracy, we have been working on our arithmetic skills in preparation for the assessments. So, we will go back to looking at time next week.

In RE, we are starting a new faith, Islam, and explored who the Prophet Muhammed is. 

Times tables - we will have our weekly practice in class but will start to focus on word problems as well as the grid. This will ensure we are applying our understanding in context. Please do go through the 2x 5x 10x with your child. 

!IMPORTANT!

Please can your child bring in a cereal box and cardboard tube for us to make something on Monday 21st June, for our topic lesson.

Date for the diary: End of Term treat MONDAY 5TH JULY  for an afternoon of bouncy castle and pool fun. More details to follow.  

Thanks and have a lovely weekend, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 11/6/21

Welcome back, Class 2.

This term's topic is a musical one that will assist in developing our knowledge and appreciation of musical instruments, lyrics a compositions. We got stuck in straight away and made our own splendid drums. The topic will lead us nicely into this year's summer production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and we will soon begin to practise ready for our singing and dancing roles. Can't wait!

We have started a new class text with Mr Haysom The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. In this excellent story, Plop, a baby barn owl, is like every barn owl there ever was, except for one thing - he is afraid of the dark! "Dark is nasty," he says and, so he won't go hunting with his parents. So far, we have read about how Mrs Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole to ask about the dark and he meets a little boy waiting for fireworks to begin. If anyone has a copy at home and would like to bring it in and read along as we read aloud then they would be very welcome to do so. There are also a couple of other titles by the same author that some of you might enjoy - The Hen Who Wouldn't Give Up and The Otter Who Wanted to Know., Mrs Ralph has introduced us to another fantastic story The Chocolate Touch, in which the hero is delighted when he finds everything his lips touch turns into chocolate. As you can see, we are having a very rich 'diet' of literature in Year 2!

We have also worked on homophones and made sure we can use them accurately. Do see the photo of our board below.

In maths, we are working on our time telling and attempting to tell the time to the nearest five minutes - do keep practising at home so that you become really confident.

Homework

Spellings: This week we are looking at suffixes -ful, -ment and -ness. The words to focus on are care/careful, play/playful, enjoy/enjoyment, argue/argument, merry/merriment, plain/plainness, sad/sadness. Look carefully at argue as you need to drop the 'e' before adding the suffix. Also play close attention to merry as you need to drop the 'y' and replace it with an 'i' before adding -ment.

Reading: Keep reading regularly and do write what you read (including books from home) in your diary for us.

Enjoy, what looks like being, a lovely sunny weekend.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Friday 21st May 2021

Congratulations Year 2, you have made it to the end of the term!

We so enjoyed rounding off our topic on Movers and Shakers with a the presentation on Tuesday afternoon. Thank you for all the support you gave the children at home with their costume and ensuring they looked the part! Headteacher awards were given to JB for being the best dressed and JR and TW for their speeches. As I mentioned on the live zoom, the children have spent the last couple of weeks researching facts, writing them using note form, refining them and, finally, producing them in a written speech. I think you'll agree that they all did incredibly well to speak so confidently and articulately for the presentation. I hope you felt you learnt a lot too!

This week we have also finished our Numeracy learning on fractions. The children can now find halves, quarters and thirds of a shape and number. In Literacy, the children have been practising their GPS skills within assessment style questions as well as editing and ensuring their speeches were ready. Hopefully, the children brought home a photocopy of their speech for you to see. 

Homework over the holidays:
Maths - The children have brought home their CGP KS1 Maths books. Can they complete the Set A: Test 3 (page 10-13) and then the arithmetic section Set A: Arithmetic Test (Page 18-20). There is a maths extension for those that want to do more! This is optional though 

A huge thank you for being such supportive parents at home, we hope you, as well as the children, enjoy a restful break.

Next term, our topic will be 'Beat Band Boogie' which is all things musical....so I am very much looking forward to this one!

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom     

Forest School Rota Term 6

Friday 14/5/21

As part of our Movers and Shakers topic, we have found out about Roger Bannister - an English runner. He won many championship races in the 1950s, but he is best known for being the first athlete to run a mile in under four minutes. At the time, many people thought that it was physically impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes. Bannister proved that it could be done. We had fun by having a go at running a mile in under four minutes ourselves so that we could appreciate his great achievement.

We then returned to class to do a write-up on this impressive man, where we attempted to include this week's GPS learning on homophones and commas in a list.

Homework

Reading, as usual please. Remember we still have a login for Oxford Owl ebooks. If you want a recommendation for the weekend, I rather enjoyed Pick your Queen - a text that compares when it was best to be a monarch - in Elizabethan or Victorian times. If you do share it with someone at home, remember to ask them to write it in your diaries.

Spellings: word, work, worm, world, worth. Extra challenge words: worst and war. Perhaps you might like to practise them at home by writing them out in a list using commas and then 'and' before the final word?

Please continue to practise your tables.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Week 3 - Friday 7th May

Dear Parents, 

The children are making great ground with their topic work at the moment. They have moved onto the 'Innovate' stage of the project which has allowed the children to delve deeper into an inspirational person of their choice. Children have started to research using Ipads and information packs, please see the photos below. 

DATE FOR THE DIARY: On Tuesday 18th May, 2:15pm, we will  have a zoom presentation to you all on our topic. The children will need to come into school dressed as a Mover/Shaker (inspirational person of choice) and then complete a short presentation on that individual. Zoom details will be sent nearer to the time.   

In Numeracy, we have continued our understanding of fractions by understanding quarters and thirds. Time to get that pizza takeaway and test your children!

In Literacy, the children have been making posters as supporters of Rosa Parks, using their understanding of different types of sentences: command, exclamation, question and statement. The children used some super slogans including, 'Equal rights for all' and 'Stand up and make a change.' The children were really fascinated and some of their posters have gone on our topic display. 

Spellings this week are: want, watch, wander, quantity, squash. Challenge Words: quality, squabble

Times tables continue to be revising the 2x/5x/10x tables using the grid format. An example is attached further down this website page. 

Finally, thank you for coming to the consultations over the last two weeks. We have so enjoyed discussing how your child is doing and making progress. We continue to have an 'open door' policy here, even in these virtual times, so if there is anything that you would like to discuss then we are always at the end of an email/phone call!

Have a great weekend. 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 30/4/21

May we begin my saying how much we enjoyed catching up with many parents at the family meetings with week and updating you on how well your children are progressing now that we are all back in the classroom. We shall look forward to our second sessions next week.

We have begun our new class text - Mr Majeka by Humphrey Carpenter. This book is an old favourite that Mr Haysom enjoyed when he was a pupil in Year 2 at Chiddingstone. Here is a little bit about it for those of you who aren't already familiar:

 Mr Majeika can behave just like any ordinary teacher if he wants to, but sometimes magic is the best way to sort out little problems in class – but problems arise when he forgets how to reverse some of his spells.

We felt that this funny and engaging book would be absolutely perfect for Class 2. There are plenty of other books in the series if anyone would like to read about his further adventures and escapades! I can definitely recommend Mr Majeka and the School Trip. 

We have also used literacy lessons to revise and increase our understanding of subordinate conjunctions (eg We couldn't go to the theme park because it was closed.) and recapped expanded noun phrases ready to use in our writing.

If you want to go over expanded noun phrases again at home, then this clip is quite fun:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwwp8mn/articles/z3nfw6f

Mr Rowland has been joining us for some of our maths lessons, where we have focused on recognising equal portions and halves.

We hope that you all enjoy your bank holiday weekend and look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

Please keep reading going. Do enjoy a variety of texts - they don't all need to be ones from the reading scheme. We have, of course, a subscription to ebooks on the Oxford Owl website and many of the titles available also have audio options that you might want tp check out if you haven't done so already. Do remember to make a note of what you're reading in your diaries as we like to know what you've been up to!

Spellings: key, donkey, monkey, trolley, chimney. Challenge words: valley, trolley. Remember to use joined handwriting when you are practising these words at home. Perhaps you might like to practise one or two of them in sentences using either expanded noun phrases or subordinate conjunctions?

WELCOME BACK 

Friday 23rd April - Week 1

We do hope you had a wonderful Easter break and managed to enjoy the sunshine and some lockdown restrictions being lifted. 

Many thanks to those that brought in their homework this week, if you haven't already done so, please send in by Monday 26th April. 

This week, we have been getting stuck into our topic of Movers and Shakers by looking at the life of Prince Philip. The children have read about his life and then created mini-biographies on his life. The children really enjoyed thinking about what they would like to be when they grow up. I have loved the suggestions: from astronauts to popstars! In Literacy this week, we have enjoyed exploring the features of biographies: both the content and the way it is written. It has tied in really nicely to our topic work and the children already seem enthused. 

In Numeracy, we have been looking at pictographs and exploring what Year 2's favourite country/colour/animal/pet/sport. It has been great to see the children working together on this and has generated a lot of teamwork. I have mentioned to the class about practising their arithmetic at home to keep it in top shape! This is very much a suggestion and not compulsory but may help the children to gain confidence in their mental calculations. Many bookstores or online shops have great arithmetic books that you can get. Please note, 10-15 minutes a day is all that is needed - little and often is key.
 

Times tables have changed slightly for this term. Whilst we will still be revisiting 2x/5x/10x table, we will be doing it in a slightly different format. It will be in the form of a grid and I have attached the grid we will be using below in case you'd like to practice at home. For those that find this easy, they can aim for speed! 

Spellings for Week 2: other, nothing, mother, Monday, cover, brother, money

Finally, we have had a great time making Holy Spirit pictures in RE this week. The Holy Spirit is normally shown through wind or fire in the Bible so we used our own wind - breath - and straws to create fire pictures. Please see the photos below. 

Thanks as always for your support,

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

31/3/21 The Easter Holidays

Well, Year 2, here we are at the end of Term 4 and following this afternoon's Easter celebrations we are now at the beginning of a lovely break of over a fortnight.

You've worked so hard and settled back in so well; Mrs Ralph and I are terribly proud of you all.

We have put a photocopy of your latest piece of totally independent writing (an alternative ending to the much-loved tale of Jack and the Beanstalk) in your book bags so that you can take these home and show your families what you have been getting up to and how well you're coming along. We had great fun marking these and absolutely loved your wonderful and original ideas.

Even though this term is only just coming to its finish, we are already looking forward to your return and next term our topic will be Movers and Shakers. This project teaches children about historically significant people who have had a major impact on the world. We will learn to use timelines, stories and historical sources to find out about the people featured and use historical models to explore their significance. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

In the meantime, we wish you and your families a very happy Easter.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

Hopefully you all still have your logins for The Oxford Owl ebook library which were sent out during lockdown, and so we thought, in preparation for next term, you might like to have a look at Meet a Genius. This non-fiction book is all about three geniuses of maths, science and music who have made a difference to people's lives through their work: Amadeus Mozart, Marie Curie and Srinivasa Ramanujan.

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/api/interactives/33253.html

Perhaps you would like to choose one of these fascinating people and write a few sentences in your best handwriting on the one that you find the most interesting. You could always add an illustration to accompany it too - if you felt like it. Please bring this to school for the start of next term.

Please also continue to enjoy a variety of books over the break, be they story books, fact books, audio books, comics - whatever takes your fancy! 

We have already gone through this together with the class today, but this will certainly be useful for parents too!

To help inspire you all with your egg creations for Monday, please watch this short clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjHeWTqPgT8

We cannot wait to see all of your fabulous ideas  

Spellings:

all

ball

call

wall

talk

Challenge Words: 

always

small

Friday 27th March

Well done to all the children who have worked so hard on their assessments this week. It has been a busy week and we have tried not to go cross-eyed! The children have learnt about Palm Sunday in RE time and we have enjoyed observing how our sunflowers and cress are growing. The warm staffroom is helping! Please do see the photos attached at the bottom of this page. 

We have started to really practise our Easter song for the service next week. It is called Easter Jubilation and I would be grateful if you could practise with your child at home. The link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx1VV2DrN1Q 

Dates for the diary: 

MONDAY 29TH MARCH 
We have our EASTER EGG ROLLING COMPETITION 

A zoom invitation will be sent to you via email.

The children need to bring in a decorated (hard boiled) egg as well as their Easter Garden. Please see letter that was sent last week, attached at the bottom of this website entry.   

WEDNESDAY 31ST MARCH

The school will have their socially distanced Easter service 1:30pm followed by the Easter Bonnet Parade. So remember to bring in bonnets then!

Times tables will be the 2x table

Spellings for next week are: all, ball, call, walk, talk, always, small. 

Thanks for your continued support at home, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 19th March

Well, we're at the end of our second week back, Year 2, and we're all still very much enjoying being together again.

To start the week, we developed our understanding of how plants grow and had great fun planting cress seeds in eggshells. The good thing about cress, for those of us who aren't terribly patient, is that it doesn't take too long to grow. Egg and cress sandwich anyone?

 We have shared a startlingly original and beautifully illustrated picture book by Linda Sarah and Fiona Lumbers The Secret Sky Garden, which has worked very well with this term's topic. It is all about a little girl who creates a garden on a disused car park rooftop. I have found a reading of it on YouTube for any of you who fancy listening to it again this weekend:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2b340yOQfI

Elsewhere in literacy, we have begun to look at fables with Mrs Ralph and also started to successfully use subordination in our writing.

In maths, we have finished our topic on mass and have now moved to measuring temperature. We will learn how to read a thermometer as well as recognise the difference between hot and cold temperatures. Hopefully, with spring approaching fast, we will see the mercury begin to rise!

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Homework

Reading, as usual. Maybe see if you can spot any subordinating conjunctions in your reading books or anything that you're having read to you. This week we looked at when, because and if.

Spellings: 

patting

patted

humming

hummed

dropping

Challenge words: 

sadder

saddest

Times tables: 5x

WELCOME BACK 

Friday 12th March

It has been SO wonderful to see the children again - what a noticeable difference to their height and length of their hair! It has been a really successful week welcoming them back and they have coped so well with the adjustment from remote learning to school learning. 

We have got gently back into the swing of things this week:-

- In Numeracy, we have continued our theme of Measures but looked at Mass this week. The children enjoyed feeling different weights (and realising how heavy 1kg is!) before then estimating and measuring different classroom objects. Their times tables have been amazing, I have really noticed an improvement so well done home school 

- In Literacy, we have dived into the world of Fables and explored a well known one, The Hare and The Tortoise. The children, again, have impressed me with their stamina for writing. They all managed to retell the fable in their own words. My Haysom has enjoyed using drama for his work with The Enormous Turnip story.  

- In Topic, we have enjoyed exploring our senses and what plants have a smell. The children have enjoyed making scented playdough and Mother's Day Cards with a topic-related design. Hopefully, you mums will be impressed! The children also enjoyed finding what seeds could have been picked up from their wellies at a super Forest school session, led by Mrs Woodhouse.

- In RE, the children have enjoyed using drama to look at the different parts of the Easter story. 

Times tables will be 5x next week - please practise them mixed for both x and /

Overall, it has been a really successful week and has felt like welcoming back family. We are so grateful for our lovely bottles of fizz too - you know us well! Thank you so much for all your support. 

Have a great weekend, albeit with some very tired children I expect!

Mrs Ralph and Mrs Haysom 

END OF TERM 

WELL DONE Class 2, you have made it to the end of term and finishing on such a high too. I hope you enjoyed watching the Nativity - the children did so well. Having to act out in the freezing cold, with microphones, following stage directions at only the age of 6/7 is a massive achievement. Their hard work has paid off!

This week has been full of Christmas fun, from Nativity themed Christmas cards to peppermint creams, the children have enjoyed it. 

Over the holidays, please could the children complete either a Book Review or a Film Review. I imagine films will be a popular choice! 

Otherwise, do recap the 10x and 2x table in fun ways - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Thank you to you all for your support for the school and all the learning.

Have a very well deserved rest over the holidays and see you in 2021!

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom  

Friday 11th December 2020

Almost there, Year 2 - only three and a half days to go until the end of term. Goodness, you've all worked so hard this term!

We have continued the preparations for next Wednesday's nativity and will be keeping our fingers crossed for favourable weather.

In the classroom, we have worked on how to make a plan before writing and then used this to produce some very polite letters to Santa.   

Maths has involved solving word problems using multiplication facts from the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. E.g. There are 5 toy cars. Each toy car has four wheels. How many wheels are there all together? 

Homework

Week 6: silent 'w' words write, written, wrote, wrap and wrong.
 
Challenge word: gold​

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Friday 4th December

Year 2 have continued to practise the Nativity....outside! Their learning of lines is evident so thank you for all your support at home. We have been exploring the 2, 5, 10 times tables in Numeracy this week, using arrays to help us picture them. Do see photos below as well as on our school instagram page. The children really enjoyed this and you can do it easily at home e.g. baking cakes in a 3x4 cupcake tin, egg boxes, ice trays and so on.

In Literacy, we have started to look at settings in our class book, The Hodgeheg. As mentioned, this is a book that we enjoy as much as the children! We have also been really thinking about the punctuation in a sentence, especially noticing the difference between when we use a full stop and when we use an exclammation mark. Not as easy as we think!

Finally, the children enjoyed a super panto on The Wizard of Oz at the beginning of the week which was then followed by our own pianists in class. Please see photos below.  

Spellings: rice    ice    sell   city  fancy   challenge word: Christmas

Times Tables:  2x table. Please make sure children practise the division as well as the multiplication element. 

Dates for you to know...

Wednesday 9th December - dress rehearsal for Nativity

Wednesday 16th December - recorded performance (outside so please ensure children have vests on!)

Thanks for all your support, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom  

Friday 27th November

In Literacy this week we have worked on making sure we know exactly where we should be placing a full stop in our writing. Voicing sentences aloud before putting them down on paper really helps with this and if you fancy doing a little extra practice of this at home it would certainly be useful. We have also worked on predicting what come next in a text from the details stated and implied. We used our class book The Hodgheg - a story that I, for one, am very much enjoying!

Maths - we have covered multiplication as repeated addition. This week, we have been focusing on using this for our two times tables. Furthermore, we have also learned that there is more than one way of grouping our times tables. E.g. 5 x 2 is that same is 2 x 5.

Finally, as part of our topic, we have been learning about Queen Victoria and the impact of her reign. 

Spellings:

jacket

jar

jog

join

adjust

Challenge word: after.

Do keep reading at home and letting us know what you've read and how you're getting on by completing your reading diaries.

Keep going over your 2x table facts making sure that you know them both ways 3 x 2 =6 so 2 x 3 =6.

Thank you

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Friday 20th November 2020

Another successful week by Year 2 with craft and drama thrown in! The children are really doing well with their 10 times tables, not only are they quicker but they are managing to do the inverse (opposite) more successfully. We will be doing this for another week to really secure our knowledge of them. Next week there will be a few challenge questions (word problems) as this will allow them to go into a 'mastery' level of their Maths. i.e. where they have to show not only secure understanding but secure reasoning too. 

In Literacy, we are regularly incorporating editing and proof reading into lesson time. This is a vital skill as ensures they read through what they have written and, more importantly, correct it for grammatical or spelling errors. The children do love the purple pens! They have also explored predicting what happens next in a book and creating their own ending to a story. 'Horrid Henry meets the Queen' was a good book choice to engage the class. We have some very funny endings of what happens to 'Perfect Peter' when he meets the queen. 

In RE, we have had a fun week understanding the characters and exploring the emotions they felt. Please see the photos attached of the character they chose to make out of playdough, before then using drama to 'hot seat' the characters emotions. 

In Topic, we are using our ICT skills to research facts about the different royal residences in the UK. Over the next couple of weeks, we will start to make a leaflet on a chosen residence. 

Spellings: gem giant magic giraffe energy. Challenge word: clothes 

Times tables: 10x (both x and /) 

Thank you as always for your support at home,

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 13th November 2020
 

The children did well on their first times tables test this week. They had both multiplication and division number sentences. It was very noticeable that the children knew their x but ÷ not quite so well. We will be sticking to the 10x table for next couple of weeks. Please do practise using the inverse (÷) as well as mixed up. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button is great for a quick recall of their times tables facts.

We have also begun to work on column subtraction - we know that if the numbers are too high or too difficult to subtract in our heads, then we should write them down in columns. To help us, we separate the numbers into ones, tens, hundreds and thousands. We then list the numbers in a column and always start with the ones first. We have also begun looking at exchanging eg 36 -19 would mean we would need to take a ten from the tens column and exchange it for ten ones to help us complete the calculation.

In literacy we have worked on where to use both exclamation marks and question marks (look out for both in your reading books this weekend) and have also completed a 'Hodgeheg' (our class book this term) comprehension that required us to develop our information retrieval skills. 

We all enjoyed the topic work, which involved finding out about William the Conqueror. We then sequenced the order of events, putting them in chronological order.

Homework

Keep up the good work with your reading, Class 2.

Spellings: -ge words age, huge, change, charge. The challenge word: village. Challenge is also a -ge word. Did you notice?

Tables: 10x (see above)

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Friday 6th November

Welcome back!

It has been great to see all the children this week and hear what they have been up to over half term.

This week we have started our RE learning by comparing Christmas cards and if they portray the true meaning of Christmas. We then created crowns with Christian symbols on as we thought about Jesus as a King (please see the photos below). In our topic learning we have started off our topic - Mighty Monarchs. This week we looked at all the royal residences in the UK. We will have to try a virtual tour of Buckingham Palace rather than a school trip for the time being sadly!

In Literacy, we have started our class book, 'The Hodgeheg' by Dick king Smith and will use this for some long pieces of writing. We're also going to be making leaflets linking with our topic learning. This will be a great way to extend our understanding of non-fiction texts and their features. In Maths, we are learning about subtraction and the various methods that we can use. 

Please note, we will now have a times tables test EVERY TUESDAY. Please could you practise them at home with your child. For next week it is the 10x table. An extra challenge will be to work out the corresponding division number sentence. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button - is a great website to use. 

Times Tables: 10x table

Spellings: badge edge bridge dodge fudge. Challenge word: people

Many thanks for your continued support,

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 16th October

Half term is finally here, Year 2, and you have all worked so hard that you certainly deserve a lovely break. Mrs Ralph and I have really enjoyed catching up with your parents over the last two weeks and telling them of all your successes. 

In literacy this week, we have completed some Fantastic Mr Fox character profiles and also worked on using our inference skills on a text about the beach. Here we looked for clues about what was going on such as where the narrator might be from the setting details e.g. sand, sea, towels etc and how he was feeling about being there without him actually spelling it out for us. Practice of this at home when you’re reading would be useful. In maths, we have worked on column addition and are now carrying across columns. For example, if we were to have the calculation 35 + 16, we would add the 5 and 6 units to make 11 and rename as 10 and 1 to help with the rest of the sum. 

Next term, we are looking forward to our new topic ‘Magnificent Monarchs’ which will teach us all about the English and British monarchy from AD 871 to the present day. Using timelines, information about royal palaces, portraits and other historical sources, we will build up an understanding of the monarchs and also research six of the most significant sovereigns. Sounds great! 

Homework 

Please keep reading over the holidays - it doesn’t always have to be a school book. This is a chance to read some of your own books from home or perhaps visit the library if your local one is open. Do record anything you read in your diaries.

Spellings: ‘oi’ words - choice, coin, noise, spoil, voice. Challenge word: everybody.

We hope that you have a happy and restful break.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Friday 9th October

It has been great to meet many of you at our parent consultations this week. We so enjoyed getting the chance to chat about your lovely children. Thank you for attending and we look forward to seeing the rest of you next Wednesday.

This week the children have been learning about using expanded noun phrases to ensure they add detail and 'spice' to their writing. Their Fantastic Mr Fox descriptions have been great and those purple pens have been used to edit those pesky spelling errors or grammatical sentences. We also completed a book review of the text. Some of the children requested the template for this task to take home. Just to make it clear this is an optional activity  - but we were thrilled with their enthusiasm.

In Maths, we have been learning about simple addition as well as number sequences. Using manipulatives, such as the diennes equipment, has really helped their understanding. It was wonderful to see the Y2 baby photos and compare them with baby minibeasts in our topic lesson on Tuesday. Do you know what a baby earwig is called? Ask your child! 

Apologies that the book raffle wasn't pulled today. We will make sure this happens on Monday. Do keep reading!

Finally, the children sang so well at the Harvest service on Wednesday. It was such a special and moving service, being able to come together as a school in our socially distanced bubbles. 

Spellings: misses, glasses, dresses, classes, foxes, boxes.

Challenge word: predators

Many thanks as always for your support,

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 2/10/20

Another successful week, Year 2. We have enjoyed using purple pens to assist with our proof reading and editing skills in our literacy books (see pic below) and have also used clues from a very sweet picture of a mouse (curled up in bed having a bedtime story) to help us write about what the character must be like. This has helped to develop our inference skills, and will be very useful when it comes to tackling reading comprehensions. 

In maths, we have worked on identify sequences and also adding to them e.g. 2, 4, 6, 8 ? ? or 13, 11, 9, 7, ? ? Having a go at a few of these at home would be useful consolidation.

Next week we will begin a class reading raffle. This involves you reading a minimum of five times each week aloud to an adult and asking them to record these sessions in your reading diaries. Everyone who does this, will receive a raffle ticket and be entered into the class draw to win a book. The draw will take place on a Friday so be sure to have your reading diary in school and ready for checking. We will announce the winners on the class page.

Wednesday 7th will be our Harvest Festival. It will be a little bit different this year, of course, as we can’t all be together in St Mary’s as we would normally do. However, we hope that every bubble can gather on the AstroTurf and enjoy the service outside - please keep your fingers crossed for dry weather! 

Homework

Spellings: ‘el’ words cancel, label, model, level, travel, towel. Challenge word: cruel. Please practise the words in sentences (using capital letters and full stops) as this will really help when it comes to class dictation.

Reading: Please aim to read a minimum of five times each week and record this in your reading diaries. Do discuss what is happening in the book to help develop your comprehension skills. See details of reading raffle above. Please continue to enjoy books from home as well as your Oxford Reading Tree Scheme titles - we are very keen for reading to be considered a pleasurable experience.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Friday 25th September

This week, the children have been finishing off their endings to the Superworm. The Wizard Lizard was sent off to space, thrown in a dump, thrown in a volcano and even put in a dungeon. It has been great to see the children's amazing imagination, it has certainly given us a chuckle. Their phonics this week has been going over some sounds and this has helped them create rhyming words, e.g. space and race (a-e split digraph). In Maths, we have started the Maths No Problem teaching and have revisited place value and number. Once this is more secure, we will set up times tables. In RE, we have enjoyed thanking God for Harvest and what that means. The children have created lovely prayers to add to our reflective corner. Finally in topic lessons, we have enjoyed doing some coding! Please see below for the photos of the children sending the bees to the nectar and back to the hive. The class had to work as a team to create a map for the beebot and ensure they had clear instructions. It was great fun as well as good learning on alogrithms!

Please do continue to read with your child at home and remind them to put their book in the basket at school. This week the spellings to learn are:

dry, dried

cry, cried

try, tried

fry, fried

challenge word: beautiful

Attached to the class page is the detailed summary of all the topics for this year - slightly changed from the original plan sent out at the curriculum meeting. 

Many thanks for your continued support and have a great weekend, 

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom 

Friday 18/9/20

What splendid fun we had making our Fantasitc Mr Foxes as part of our Roald Dahl celebrations! They turned out extremely well as I’m sure you’ll agree from looking at the photos above.

A good deal of hard work has also gone on in Literacy, where we have written instructions on how to make a Fantastic Mr Fox, and also in Numeracy, where we did a lot of practising of subtraction through ‘finding the difference’  between various items. It would be really beneficial if you would continue having a go with this at home - such as finding the difference between the number of knives and forks on the table and then writing the corresponding calculation eg There are 7 knives and 5 forks and if we count up from 5 to 7 there is a difference of 2, so the calculation would be 7- 5 = 2. This short BBC clip may be helpful:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zrmtfg8

Finally, we eagerly await the results of the head boy and girl voting, which has taken place throughout the school over the last two days, after watching their individual presentations over Zoom. Hopefully we shall know which candidates were successful by the beginning of next week. 

Homework

Please continue to read at home and record this in the reading diaries. We have worked on commas in a list this week, so if you come across any in the reading books, please do use this as an opportunity to discuss their purpose.

Spellings are ‘ow’ words: now, how, brown, down, town

And for those of you who like an extra challenge: crown, frown, flower, crowd.

Mr Haysom and Mrs Ralph

Week 2 (7-11th September 2020)

It has been great to see the children so engaged in their learning this week. They have slotted into the school routine of the day and have shown great enthusiasm for our topic, Minibeasts! This week, they have enjoyed exploring different minibeasts and their body parts using (Covid-friendly!) plastic minibeasts and a magnify glass. We have learnt new words like, antenna and abdomen. In RE, we have enjoyed making rainbows about ourselves and talking about God's creation. The children have made some lovely sunset/silhouette pictures of creation using coloured paper and black card. We're just sorry you can't see our lovely work in the flesh at the moment, however do see photos on the chiddchatblog instagram page or below. 

The children have had a few assessments this week which - well done on completing them Class 2. From next week, usual Numeracy, GPS and Literacy lessons resume using these assessments to inform our planning. 

We look forward to our zoom curriculum meeting on Wednesday 16th at 2:15-2:45pm where we can give you an overview of the year. Handouts will be sent out after the meeting. 

Please keep up the spelling practice. Week 3 spellings are the tch sound. 

match, 

catch, 

patch 

hatch

watch ( the ‘a’ makes a different sound in this one so ‘watch’ out!)

Do practise writing them in sentences at home (with capital letters at the start and a full stop at the end of the sentence), as this will be very helpful for your dictation.

Please continue to read at home: your school reading scheme book, as well as other books that you enjoy. Do remember to make a note of all that you read in your diaries, as we love to know what you’ve been reading.

Thank you for all your support at home,

Mrs Ralph and Mr Haysom