Year 2

Friday 10th January 

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a happy, healthy and restful (!) Christmas.

It was lovely to see the children after the holidays, they were very excited to tell me all about their holidays and what they were given. We did a little writing about it and it seemed they had a great time.

bother...I just did a very long entry to this webpage which subsequently was lost into the ether so I'm going to re-do it more briefly I'm afraid!

I attach 2 phonic videos about the spellings rules that we have been looking at this week. They are very useful and your child might want to talk about them with you. Next week is assessment week in the school. We will be doing 2 reading papers and a GPS paper. This will be quite a challenge for some children but I will try to ensure that it is not stressful and it is just for us to see where the gaps are to allow us to plan for the rest of the year.

To support your child, when reading with them if you could look for punctuation (full stops, commas, exclamation marks, question marks) as they are expected to identify and use these appropriately in Year 2, that would help them. I also attach a very annoying (!) video I found online about parts of speech, again the children need to be able to identify nouns (PPT - Person, place or thing, a naming word) verbs (doing words) adjectives and adverbs. PLease get your child to watch.

In maths we have continued with multiplication of 5 and 10. Next week we move onto division. PLease practise counting in steps of 5 with your child if they are not confident.

We started our topic on Movers and Shakers with a local person, Winston Churchill. We learnt about where he lived, what he did and why he is remembered. We will be learning about explorers, activists, artists and inventors. If you have any books that might lend themselves to this topic please do bring in.

HOMEWORK:

Comprehension: Test 3. Please do not do more than the test asked as we might go through them in class together. Please return by next Thursday so they can be marked before Friday. Remember that you can read the text and questions to your child if they will struggle with this but if they can have a go at reading just a few sentences that would help them.

Maths: In on Tuesday

Optional Spellings: I don't want to give the children too much homework but if you want to work on some spellings I am continuing with the Year 2 Common Exception Words so you might want to practise these. I will not test them officially but we will look at them together.

most, only, both, old, cold, gold, hold, told.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire

Thursday 19th December

Even though it has been a long term it also seems to have flown by! The class have been amazing, rising to every challenge, taking on new tasks, learning lots of things and growing in confidence and ability. Today they will bring home their super Bag Tags which may not withstand an international flight but are none to less to be very proud of. Please take note of their careful running stitch, thoughtful embellishments and colour choices. They are rightly all very proud of their handy work. Thanks again to all the parents who came in to support with this project.

We have taken down our topic board and are ready for next term. Below is the information about our History topic:

In the Movers and Shakers project, they will study the life and impact of a significant person in the locality and of other significant individuals from around the world. They will complete in-depth studies of significant explorers Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong, and significant activists Emmeline Pankhurst and Rosa Parks and think carefully about the impact of their actions. The children will also carry out an independent study of a significant person from the past and learn about people who are significant today. They will also learn how significant people are commemorated and design a memorial for a person they have studied.

We will also be doing a topic on Still Life drawing in art.

Over the holidays the most useful thing to do will be to keep reading with your children and discussing what is being read to develop their comprehension skills. Ensure your child is confident at counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10 and if they are do they know these can they say them out of order e.g. 3 x 5 . Some children might be able to move on to counting in 3s and 4s. I have attached an optional Christmas arrays sheet if your child is super keen!

I have also attached a common exception word mat which might be usful as a guide for the words children should be able to read fluently and spell by the end of year 2.

Please return the comprehension books in first week back.

Most importantly the children all need to have magical Christmas and break from school! 

Thank you so much for my lovely gifts, so generous of you and they will be much enjoyed. I am really enjoying teaching this class.

Congratulations to Jonty and Tabitha for getting this term's Head Teacher Awards.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas. See you in 2025!

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 13th December

First of all I have to say that I could not be prouder of all the children for their brilliant performances in our Nativity. I do hope that you all enjoyed watching it. The children have all worked so hard on the singing, learning words, stage directions and I think it showed. Everyone was confident, could be heard and seemed to be having a lovely time. It certainly got me into the Christmas spirit. Thank you for coming to watch, it meant so much to the children.

I was a very popular teacher on Thursday morning...as a 'well done' for the Nativity we did Children's Choice. The children loved playing together and it was lovely to see their creativity and imaginations. Pics attached.

We have also made excellent progress with our bag tags for DT. Thank you so much to parent helpers who have come in to support this project, they are looking fabulous, just some final embellishments to go. The children have really enjoyed sitting quietly perfecting their running stitch and persevering with what can be a frustrating task. 

Today the children enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner with crackers and festive music and decorated Christmas trees.

Homework: Reading, please return on Monday along with any class sharing books. No class sharing books should come home today. 

I think it is a very busy time of year so no other homework!

Congratulations to Clara, Max, Lilly and Hattie!

Lost property: there are several items of unnamed clothing after nativity: 2 red PE t shirts, 3 pairs of black tracksuit bottoms/leggins, long sleeved white vest, and a PE jumper. They are in the classroom. 

Have a good weekend

Mrs Cheshire 

Friday 6th December

We have had a busy week with final preparations for our Nativity. The children really have risen to the challenge and you are in for a treat! I am so proud of them all. There have been so many lines/songs to learn and things to remember, we have quite the class or thespians! Thankyou for the costumes and lights that have come in. Please bring in final parts on Monday and if anyone wants to bring in a bauble for the class tree please do, we had some beautiful ones today (all will be returned.)

We have started our new maths topic, multiplication and division. We started by learning that multiplication is repeated addition of equal groups eg. 3 + 3 + 3 + 3. I told them that the sign means 'groups of'  e.g. 4 groups of 3 = 12, and that it can be done in either order. I have attached the video we watched in class. Please do practise counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10. If your children are confident in this then they can also work on 3s and 4s. (see photos attached of our maths this week)

In English today we wrote instructions for how to do a running stitch. We had a checklist for what to remember, this included: Title saying 'How to,' What we need, numbered instructions, bossy verbs and clear instructions with correct punctuation. They did a great job and I think it was abit of a shock to the system to do proper writing after so much focus on our nativity rehearsals!

Our DT project continues to progress. At the start of the week we learnt to do a running stitch. The children all concentrated so well and overcame any frustrations quickly. They put this new skill into action by using a running stitch to attach fabric (applique) and sewed on a button. They also added a repeated block pattern and glued some sequins. (see photos attached) This is all preparation for the making of their bag tags. Thank you so much parents helpers, we could not have done it without you. I will be asking for more volunteers next week, probably Thursday and Friday afternoons, so if you think you might be free to help please could you let the office know. I will confirm exact times but usually we start about 1.45.

Homework: Reading and maths (by Tuesday please)

Congratulations to our stars of the week and kind heart award winners, Robin K, Archie G, Betty and Jonty.

We look forward to seeing you at the Nativity on Wednesday for the matinee or evening performance. Please see the letter that came from school for all the details.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 29th November

Nativity rehearsals have ramped up! Costumes have been tried on (please check the email to see what your child requires), songs are being sung on rotation and lines have been learnt. Please continue to practise lines with your child, focusing on volume, slow pace and expression. Please also help your child to learn the song lyrics to Come and Worship. It is a lovely song but has lots of verses! We had our first run through today and the children are doing really well.

In English we have been looking at verbs. We learnt a little expression to help us remember the job of a verb in a sentence: a verb is a word is doing word. We played two verb games; verb charades - children picked a card e.g. sleeping, crying and had to act it out for class to guess and also verb relays in the playground. Children had to run from each word and do the action for a minute (this was also part of our Active 60) - see photos. We also learnt the 'flossy rule' (see website attached) when you double the letter of a single syllable word ends in l, f, z, or s after a short vowel sound e.g. miss, fizz, sniff, fall. 

In maths we have finished the chapter on addition and subtraction. Over the course of the term the children have learnt how to draw the tens and ones (chips and peas), use a number line, partition and column addition/subtraction methods. We added 3 numbers e.g. 3 + 6 + 7 or 4 + 2 + 4 and looked for quick ways to add. In these cases it would be to spot the number bonds or doubles then add the 3rd number. Some children's number bonds knowledge is still not as secure as it could be so please continue to practise this. 

In DT we started looking at products found in the home that use fabric e.g. tea towel, pillow case, pillow, eye mask, shower cap, purse, wash bag. We explored the types of fabric, how the product is made, how we could improve the design. This in preparation for our bag tag that we will be making. If you have any spare buttons (biggish ones) or nice fabric you could donate that we could use to decorate our luggage labels please can the children bring in next week. 

Homework: Reading, practising doubles and number bonds and learn lines to Come and Worship and Bumpy Journey.

Congratulations to Blake, Tatty, Archie B and Annie.

I look forward to seeing many of you are the Christmas fair.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 22nd November

Nativity rehearsals have started in earnest which is exciting! We are starting to learn the songs and children have been having sessions with Ms Comfort (an actress in her previous life!) to go through their words and practise how to project, stand and get into character. Please can children learn their lines this weekend (as best as possible) as this will really help the process (not narrators who just need to be able to read them fluently). As I said before, volume, not rushing, confidence etc are all things to work on. 

In maths we have continued with subtracting a one digit number from a 2 digit number, renaming/exchanging the tens for ones. e.g. 35 - 8. The strategies we have been practising are using a number line, counting back using fingers or heads (if children are confident with number bonds to 10 this will be easier), drawing the tens and ones and then exchanging and some children are beginning to use column subtraction. I attach a video which shows how we do this although it is a step ahead of what we have done in class as we have not yet subtracted a 2 digit number from a 2 digit number. It does give a good idea of how we teach this using tens and ones (chips and peas or base 10).

Today we have looked at the story of the strongest man in the world. This is a Nigerian folk story. The children had fun acting out the story and thinking of an alternative ending. We have continued to think about Expanded Noun Phrases e.g. The big, red ball. Please point out adjectives in the children's reading books as in Year 2 they need to be able to identify the 4 parts of speech: noun, adjective, verb and adverb. Identifying them regularly through reading at home will really help this process and encourage them to write more interesting vocabulary. 

In Geography we started the week looking at globes, identifying the equator and countries which are on or near to it. We thought about climates around the world. We also learnt the technical terms data and fieldwork: we were looking at the volume of traffic outside school and finding the safest place to cross (linking with our class book, The Hodgeheg.) I think we picked a particularly quiet time of day as we only saw a few cars (but also lots of aeroplanes!) and decided that we lived in a lovely, quiet, rural place! It didn't make for the most exciting data collection but never mind! There were some bemused tourists who offered to drive by twice for us to add to our tally!

It was lovely to see the rest of you at parents evening. I hope that you found it useful. 10 minutes is never long enough so as always if you have any issues please do get in contact.

Congratulations to our star of the week winners Ivar and Robyn and Kind Heart Awards Oliver and Lucy!  

Homework: Reading and learn nativity lines please.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 15th November 

We have had a productive week in Year 2. We started the week looking at compass points in Geography and played a fun game in the playground where the children had to run to the correct place (N, E, S, W.) We revised the phrase Naughty Elephants Squirt Water as a way to remember the directions. We then spent time looking at maps and keys to maps. If you go to any places that have maps (e.g. Hever, National Trust etc) maybe have a look at find a compass and any key.

In maths we have started doing subtracting. I have talked a lot about how with subtracting we start with the bigger number and take away a smaller number. We do not swap the numbers around (as we can for addition) as this will change the answer. Subtraction is the inverse (opposite) of addition. Today we started the slightly more complex task of subtraction with renaming, e.g. 25 - 8. As there are not enough ones to take away in the ones column we need to exchange a ten into 10 ones. I attach a video although we have NOT started on column subtraction yet, we have used dienes and drawing method. Children's ability to add and subtract within 10 is a huge help when doing this maths and 'crossing the ten' barrier as they can manipulate the numbers more easily in their heads so please keep practising these.

In English we have continued to work through our Bridge to Spelling programme with Little Wandle and I have gone through the spellings with the class. Today we wrote sentences to describe places (topic link) using Expanded Noun Phrases. So if the children saw a beach, they would 'expand' the sentence by adding an adjective or two e.g. I can see a hot beach. If they add more than one adjective they must add a comma e.g. I can see a hot, sandy beach.

It was lovely to see many of you at parents evening last week and I look forward to seeing the rest of you next Wednesday.

Nativity! Do not fear, Mrs Cheshire has not forgotten about this festive event. Due to SIAMS last week I had to postpone the start of this process. Next week we will start in earnest learning the songs and any lines which is exciting. All children will have a part and at least one line and sing all the songs so I hope no one is disappointed by their part, I told them I was a camel once and a mince pie in another nativity! 

Starts of the week Ralph and Clara and Kind Heart Awards go to Eva and Margot. Congratulations!

Reading as usual and maths homework. Last week unfortunately the sheets were stuck in the wrong way so the explanation for the sums was on the page after the work! Never mind...onto subtraction this week.

Spellings: find, kind, mind, behind, child, children, climb, Autumn, school 

Again I will not test formally but during the week we will be looking at them so please have a go at them at home. THey are part of the words year 2 children are expected to be able to read and spell.

Have a lovely weekend.

I think it is getting very cold next week and we have quite a few poorly children around so please do send children in with jumpers and coats.

Mrs Cheshire 

Friday 8th November

Welcome back! Hope you had a lovely half term. We have had a busy week and have fitted lots in...

Maths: We continued with our addition strategy of column method. Please do not worry if your child finds this abstract method difficult, it is just one of many different written methods the children can use. Some children love it and take to it quickly while other do not. The most important thing is for children to have a firm understanding of number and the properties of number such as how to make 10, and partitioning into 10s and ones. 

In English we have done lots of writing this week! Firstly the children have produced excellent acrostic poems about Fireworks. These will be on display in the classroom alongside their paintings of fireworks which are beautiful. I encouraged the class to try and use alliteration (when 2 or more words start with the same letter eg. The small, slimy snail.) 

On Thursday we had an excellent visit to Hever Castle. It was great to revisit our Magnificent Monarch topic and I was so impressed by the knowledge of the children, as were the guides! One groundsman who is related to a member of Chidd staff said our class was very well behaved and polite! Yay. We learnt about the structure of Tudor society, what different people would have worn and eaten and the games the children in those days might have played. The playground and gift shop were obvious highlights but hopefully it was a memorable day for all...especially the fun of having a stranded mini bus!! Thank you for your patience and if anyone finds a steering lock key on the floor at Hever it probably belongs to the red minibus!....

Thank you to our parents helpers, we couldnt have done it without you.

We started our new topic, Let's Explore the World and used Atlases to answer questions about the world. We recapped on continents, oceans and where the UK is on the map. I attach a fun song which links nicely to the topic.

Congratulations Kind Heart Award winners Herbie and Lilly and our Star of the Weeks were Jojo and Max.

Due to the busy nature of this week; Hever, Pupil action group meetings and my absence on Tuesday, reading groups have not taken place. This means that most of the children have not read the book they have brought home. Please go through the sounds at the beginning of the book before reading and if possible read the book twice (not at the same time), with the second reading focused more on prosody and comprehension (questions are at the back.)

Homework: Reading and Maths

Spelling: I am going to start sending a few spellings home each week. For now these will be Year 2 Common Exception Words, ie words which don't usually follow any spelling rule and the children are expected at this age to be able to read and write and I will also add words I notice many children are spelling incorrectly. Obviously some children will find this harder than others but I would still like all children to have a go. If all 8 is too many just focus on the ones in bold. I will not be testing these in a formal way but will be getting the children to write them independently through the week so please do have a look at them. I suggest printing them off and sticking them up somewhere they can be seen regularly, maybe working on one a day. If your child knows them can they put the word into a sentence. This week the words are:

door, floor, very, said, when, went, want, because

I look forward to seeing some of you at parents evening next week.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 18th October

This term seems to have flown past and hopefully this afternoon you will have seen how much work the children have done since starting Year 2. Thank you so much for coming, it was great to see the children excitedly talking about their time in Year 2 so far and I was very proud of their performance of the poem and their groups.

We have really enjoyed our Magnificent Monarchs topic and it is nice to know we still have our trip to look forward to in the first week back which will be a good chance to revise some of our learning. The children have worked hard on their monarch presentations which I'm sure you found interesting. They used their History work books, i-pads, the topic display and history books from the display shelf to work in groups to find out information.

In Maths we have started the tricky job of addition with rename/regrouping. When the ones column becomes more than 9 we have to regroup the ten ones into one ten and move it to the tens column, I have attached a video to explain. We have also done this by drawing our tens and ones.

We continue with our 100 day maths, today was day 33 in school!

In English we have continued with our curly caterpillar letters and phonics revision from Year 1. The children are now very good at listening to the dictated sentence and writing it neatly in their GPS books. I am pleased to see some children now having a go at joining some letters. 

In Art the children used pastels and collage to create fabulous art works of the Tudor monarchs. I think you will be very impressed by the attention to detail when you see them.

Congratulations to our Head Teacher Awards winners Robin and Lucy and Kind heart awards for Hattie and Robyn.

Next term's topic is Let's explore the world:

In the Let's Explore the World project, your child will learn to use an atlas to find out about the world's continents. They will revisit the four cardinal compass points, and use a key to read a map. Your child will locate the equator, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and the North and South Poles. They will learn that hot places are closer to the equator and cold areas are further away. Your child will know the term temperate and identify areas of the world with a temperate climate. They will learn about the characteristics of the four countries in the United Kingdom and compare England to Somalia in Africa to find similarities and differences. They will take part in fieldwork activities, collecting data about the number of vehicles that pass school and the use of local human features.

In Forest School they will cover our Science topic Uses of Materials.

And of course, Term 2 brings the Nativity!...

Homework as usual: Reading and Maths.

Have a super half term

Mrs Cheshire 

Friday 11th October

So many photos today! We have had a varied, busy, fun week!

In maths we have started column addition (without renaming.) I attach a video which shows how we teach it in school. I have focused on how important it is to line the numbers up in columns and when using a book with boxes make sure each digit/symbol has its own box. I have also told the children that you can do it in any order but must add the ones column first. We started by adding just 10s numbers but have moved onto numbers such as 45 + 24. I showed them how to draw the tens and ones (chips and peas) as another method if they didn't want to do column addition.  Next week we will start with renaming, when the ones column goes over 9 e.g. 45 + 28. This is much more tricky but I will teach it very practically with dienes and drawings to show how it works. I tend to find this takes quite a few lessons to get the hang of but once 'got' is a very popular way of adding.

Many children are still not secure with their number bonds to 10 and 20 and counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10 so please continue these at home.

In English we have been learning about statements (a type of sentence.) A statement tells you something and must have a full stop. e.g. The cat was sitting on the wall. We wrote statements about London after reading the lovely book, Katie in London. We also started to practise how to join the 'Curly Caterpillar Letters' (c, a, o, d, g, q, e, s, f).

We were all very excited to have a special royal visitor on Thursday. Queen Elizabeth 1st came to answer the questions the children had written and she was very impressed with them all. Questions included, Did you feel guilty about killing your cousin? Why did you wear poisonous white powder on your face? Why did you never marry? Why did you brush your teeth with sugar?How did you set the ships on fire at the Spanish Armada?

Today we have swiftly moved onto our next monarch, Queen Victoria. A very impressive woman! As part of our work on Portraits and Poses today we all watched a Rob BIddulph Yoyutube tutorial about self portraits. We have made them all look like us and they look great! see pics

On Thursday we had a visit from West End in schools which the children enjoyed. We had great fun acting out parts of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. See pictures.

Today's great excitement was the visit of a fire engine and 3 firemen who did a very interesting Act of Worship and then Year 2 were lucky enough to have a sit inside the engine and even use the hose! See pics.

Homework: Reading books back on Monday, signed please.

Maths in by Wednesday (Tuesday is a great help if possible as gives me more time to mark!) 

We look forward to welcoming you to our open afternoon at 3pm next Friday. We will be sharing with you some of our history learning and you will be able to see the children's work up to this point. If you are unable to attend please could you let me know so that I can make sure myself or another member of staff spends time with your child, or perhaps arrange for another parent to also speak with your child. 

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week and Kind Heart Awards, Raffy, Eva, Annie, Isaac.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 4th October

This term is certainly flying by, we are now well on our way with our Magnificent Monarchs history topic. So far we have learnt about Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror and this week Henry 8th. We have been thinking about whether he was a 'good' or 'bad' king and made posters about his characteristics. We have also started to look at Royal Portraits.

In maths we have started looking at addition. We started with adding a single digit number to a 2 digit number (without renaming) e.g. 45 + 4. I told the children to start by adding the ones and the tens didn't change, I have also told the children that adding can be done in any order. Then we looked at the relationship between adding ones and tens e.g. if 4 + 3 = 7, 40 + 30 = 70. We kept this pattern going up to the millions which they enjoyed! We have also started a programme of maths mastery using a clever device called a rekenrek (like an abacus). This is to really cement the children's understanding of number and is taught separately to our regular maths lessons.

In English we continue with our Phase 5 phonics review and have also looked more at adjectives. The children wrote character descriptions of either Mr Fox or Mr Bean from our class text, Fantastic Mr Fox. I was very impressed with their ambitious use of words. It was national poetry day on Thursday and the class read out the poem we had all written last week, to the whole school in AofW (see photo.) We also had a visit from Mrs Haysom who read a few funny poems to the class.

In PSHE with Mrs Silander, the children played some team games and had lots of fun working together (See photos.) 

Congratulations to our stars of the week and kind heart awards: Hughie, Tatty, Jojo, Amelie.

Homework:

Reading books to come back in on Monday please. It is essential that you write in it that it has been read (or if it hasn't please let us know and we will endeavor to read it in school.)

Class sharing books can be returned by next Friday but can come in before. If a child wants to keep the book that's fine too.

Maths homework: Many thanks for all returning them by Wednesday. PLease return again by wednesday. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cheshire 

Friday 27th September

We have had a busy week. We have continued our phonics revision, recapping the phase 5 sounds. This is challenging as, for example, the /or/ sound can be made in so many ways! (or, a, aw, au, ore, oor, al, oar, our, augh, aur.) 

We have also been learning about Adjectives. I have told the children that an adjective describes a noun (a noun is a person, place or thing, PPT) and they should 'make their writing more exciting' with adjectives. I will be looking out for them in their work and if you come across them in reading please point them out.

This morning we spent a lot of time looking at a wide range of poems and have started learning one which we will perform later this term. We have talked about how poems can be different shapes, lengths, rhyming or not, funny or serious. We also played the game 'pass the pebble' where we passed a rhyme around the circle e.g. cat, bat, sat, mat, lat, chat...Most of the children could hear the end sounds rhymed. We wrote a class kenning poem together (ask your child what that is!)

In Maths we have now finished our Place Value topic. A secure understanding of how a number is made up and the value of each number is key for moving forward with addition and subtraction and other maths areas. We recapped how to break a number into 10s and 1s and used arrow cards to secure this. I have attached a useful website which shows how to use arrow cards to practise place value. Next week we move onto addition and subtraction.

In History we started to learn about William the Conqueror. The children enjoyed learning about the Bayeux Tapestry and sequencing it. We will learn more about William next week and find out if he was a good king or not!

Homework:

Please can the maths be returned by Wednesday. Please comment if there is anything you would like me to know about how your child found the work.

I have sent home the children's reading books. They should all have read their book at least once this week in school. Please do record in the yellow reading diary that the book has been read. It should not be a challenge for the child. They should be able to read it with a good level of fluency. If the book is far too easy or far too hard please do indicate this. It might take few more weeks to get the right level but I have read with all the children and feel that the books are a good fit for their level. Decoding is only one part of the read, the children should be able to read with expression, show a good understanding of what is being read and be able to discuss it. There are questions at the back which can be useful pointers for discussion and please use the book marks I sent out to support this reading discussion.

BOOKS MUST BE RETURNED ON MONDAY IN THE POUCHES WITH YELLOW READING BOOK. THIS IS ESSENTIAL AS THE BOOKS ARE PASSED ON TO CHILDREN ON MONDAY.

Apologies to some children who have a photocopy version of their book, we are in the process of building up our reading books but budgets are tight! Thank you for your understanding.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the Harvest Festival on Tuesday morning. Please bring their decorated harvest envelopes on Monday with optional donation inside ready for the service on Tuesday. 

Congratulations to our Star of the Week winners Blake and Margot and Kind Heart Award winners Jonty and Betty. Well done!

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 20th September

This week in English we have looked at the story 'Paddington at the Palace.' We wrote a diary entry about Paddington's day out, focusing on using the past tense. We planned the writing first through drawings and used this to structure the writing. One of my mantras for writing is 'say it in your head 1st.' If children can plan what they want to say, bit by bit, in their heads it can help them organise their thoughts. I always say it is easier to change words/ideas/punctuation in our heads then after it is written down!

Our phonics review continues, this week we have looked at oo/air/ur and ow.

I have not sent home reading books this weekend as we have not had a chance to start our reading groups. I have however read with all the children to get a better feel for their level. My general observation was that children were quite rusty with their reading which is not uncommon after a long holiday. One this I really like to encourage is for children to track with their fingers under the words as they read, or at least use a bookmark or ruler to help maintain focus and avoid misreading. Please do encourage this at home.

In Maths we had two assessments! The children coped well with these and it was good to see the areas we need to focus on. We continue with place value and number patterns. We talked about 'tens are our friends' and 'the friendly fives' and an ability to count in these groups and add/subtract these with ease will really help.

Thank you to those who came to the curriculum meeting either in person on online. I hope it was helpful. Everyone should have received a laminated Grow the Code chart which the children can use to help choose the correct spellings when writing.

For those unable to attend, the main takeaways are:

• My main ethos is for children to feel happy, safe and heard in Year 2. If children are worried/anxious about school or making mistakes they will not learn effectively. I try to foster a calm, positive environment to facilitate this.
• Reading books will come home on Fridays to be read over the weekend and returned on Mondays, we take a register so we know which books have not been returned. Please record when your child has read in the yellow reading record which will come home. I do check these every week and will respond to any queries. Reading books are phonetically matched to your child and should not be too challenging for them. They will have read in school so should be able to read with fluency and good comprehension when reading at home.
• Maths/spelling/comprehension will start to be sent home but not yet....when it does I will explain on this page.
• Please always check the website for my weekly updates which should appear by Friday evening, if not by Saturday. This has all the key information needed as well as photos/websites etc
• The school website also has all curriculum overviews and timetables if needed.
• Please direct any issues either via the school office or the class reps who have my direct contact and avoid big debates on the class watsapp group!
• I might be asking for helpers at certain points for example during art/DT projects. Have a look at the topics we are covering and if it's something you are an expert in please get in touch!
• Mrs Silander teaches PE, Maths and PSHE on Wednesdays. I am in school but not teaching Year 2.
• Each week I give out Star of the Week certificates and Kind Heart Awards for children I have noticed being kind and considerate.

Think that was the main things....

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week: Rose and Archie G and Kind Heart award winners Zoe and Archie B.

As you can see from one of the photos attached we have been developing our new reading area. If anyone has an old beanbag or cushions or soft small rug they might be able to donate for it please let me know so we can complete it! 

I hope everyone has now managed to log into the Times Table Rock Stars. I'd encourage having a play around on that for homework.

Have a lovely weekend.

Note for diary; Harvest Festival Tuesday 1st October 9.15.

Mrs Cheshire 

Friday 13th September

We have completed another successful week in Year 2. The children are all now used to the new routine and have settled well. We have continued to focus on place value in maths, ensuring that children know the value of each number depending on its position. e.g. 36 = 3 tens (30) and 6 ones. This is particularly important with the teen numbers as often children write them the wrong way around e.g. 61 instead of 16. If they are secure in their place value they will not make this mistake. See photos below.

There are some excellent online games if you go onto topmarks maths and some fun videos on youtube which we watched in class. I'll attach to the page.

In English we thought about how each word in a sentence has a different job and that nouns are naming words. We also talked about how they are wither a PPT - Person, Place or Thing.

We started our phonics in earnest this week. This term is all about revising the Phase 5 sounds learnt in Year 1. Reading assessments have taken place and next week I will be sorting the children's books and reading groups. I intend to 

Today the children did a big piece of writing about an imaginary castle. They planned it yesterday thinking about what it looks like, who lives there, where it is. They produces some excellent work.

In History we finished the week by putting our 6 Magnificent Monarchs into chronological order, looking at the years they reined. 

Each Friday I lay out a large selection of class library books on the carpet and give the children time to 'book talk.' This is talking about why they like the book, what it is about, pictures, setting etc. Then they can take one home to share with an adult. This book is NOT for them to read to you as it has not been phonologically matched to your child's needs, however it can be read with/to them. PLease return the book next Friday (or before if that is easier.) You do not need to record that this book has been read, it is all about enjoying a wide range of texts.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week, Emily and Oliver and our Kind Heart Awards winners, Tabitha and Clementine. 

Have a lovely weekend, thankfully I think summer might return for one last hurrah!

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 6th September

Apologies this is late in being uploaded. I always aim to upload by Friday evening. Please do read this every week as I put all the key information on here including homework, things to remember and an update on the week often including photos.

What a lovely first week we have had together, and what a gorgeous bunch they are! It has been such a treat getting to know your lovely children (again...they are all abit bigger than when I first met them on their first day of school in reception!) They all quickly settled into their new Year 2 routine and are getting used to their carpet spaces, desks, new cloakroom and teacher. 

We started the week writing a letter to their teacher about themselves; what they enjoy doing, things they like, things that worry them. I was very impressed with their writing skills and stamina after the long holiday. We did some further writing about what we would do if we were King/Queen for the day based on the book 'The cook and the King' by Julia Donaldson. This text links to our History topic, Magnificent Monarch.

Handwriting is something I will be focusing this year and it is really important that children have strong hand muscles to allow fluent writing style. Therefore I really encourage lots of activities at home that can build this strength like lego, playdoh, cutting, colouring, beading. If you google 'fine motor skills' you will find lots of ideas to support this. I will only start joining letters when I feel your child's letter formation and stamina is ready.

In maths we started our 100 day maths. This is a fun daily activity where we count down the 1st 100 days of the school year. Each day we focus on the next number doing a short activity about it. For example, Friday was day 4 so we counted 4 things, wrote the number, talked about its properties. We also do a tally and count lolly sticks. This activity is a great way to build children's understanding of number which is so key in year 2. On day 100 we will have a 100 day maths party!

In our maths lessons we have been focusing on place value. Thinking about what each digit stands for in a 2 digit number, e.g. 46 is 4 tens and 6 ones. 

We started our topic looking at what monarchy is and the 63 kings and queens that have ruled Great Britain (see photo)

We thought about the history we had learnt in year 1 (dinosaurs/the Victorians) and will link this term's learning with last year's.

If children have any things at home that can link to this topic they are welcome to bring in for show and tell and add to our topic display, it could be books, crowns, big royal jewels, capes etc. Please name.

In the Magnificent Monarchs project, your child will learn about English and British monarchs from AD 871 to the present day and consider how the power of the monarchy has changed over time. They will study six significant sovereigns; Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II. Finally, they will choose which of the sovereigns that they have studied is the most significant. 

We will visit Hever Castle in November (after half term) to round of our learning.

No homework but please practise counting in 10s to 100 up and back.

I will start reading groups next week and once I have assessed the children's book level will start to send home books on a Friday to be read over the weekend.

Please return your child's summer reading challenge certificate if you have one.

Apologies for any confusion over Forest School clothes and getting changed in school. It's always tricky having something like that on day 1 but hopefully going forward we all know what we are doing! 

Date for diary: Parent curriculum meeting Tuesday 17th September 15:00 - 15:30. More info to follow.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cheshire