Friday 25th April

Welcome back Year 2 and I hope everyone had a great holiday. What a glorious spring we are having! We have had a great first week back and started our new science topic on Animal Survival. We learnt about invertebrates and their categories (arachnids •crustaceans •insects •molluscs •myriapods and worms). We started by reading the lovely book 'Yucky worms' and then looked at characteristics of these animals. Today we did some art based on our science; the children could choose half an image of an invertebrate and then had to carefully draw then paint the other half. The results are amazing and I will send a photo once the display is up but you can see the process in the photos below. We are also excited to have got tadpoles (see the photo.) Mrs Skinner kindly provided them for us and they are set up on our topic table, hopefully they'll still be swimming on monday!! The children also started to learn about Habitats in Forest School.

In maths we have continued with fractions and next week will learn how to find the fraction of an amount e.g. 3/4 of 12. We will also be revising all the topics we have so far learnt. The last major maths topic to cover is telling the time. In preparation for this please do talk to your child about time, get them to read the time to o'clock and half past, think about how long things take, e.g. brush your teeth for 2 minutes, count in steps of 5 around the clock face. Thank you for the maths homework from the holiday, I am so impressed with them all.

Homework: No maths but practise counting in 3s. We have learnt to do this by singing them to the tune of twinkle little star, 3, 6, 9, 12 etc up to 30. Ask your child to sing it to you. They might need the numbers written down at first but soon they should be able to sing it through without an aid. 

NO reading books this weekend BUT instead I have sent home the comprehension books. please do the next TWO comprehensions and bring back by Thursday. Those with the larger books you can do more than 2 pages if you would like.

Spelling: In year 2 children are expected to be able to spell the days of the week. Having done a quick assessment of this it was clear that some children still do not. Please can the children learn them and I will test them next Friday. The capital letter at the beginning is important, we have been learning about proper nouns this week.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Congratulations Herbie, Annie, Clara and Robin.

We look forward to seeing many of you next Friday for the May day afternoon. We will be singing a song.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 4th April

What a fantastic end to the term! It seems so long ago that we were all shivering at playtimes, today felt like summer! The children ALL looked magnificent in their creations. I know it has been a busy week for you all with the gardens and bonnets but hopefully the children have enjoyed it all.

Thank you Mrs Silander for organising and running the egg rolling. I was glad I could pop out to see it and it looked very fun! 

This week we have finished our DT project on Push and Pull and the results are your Easter cards. They have been designed using a linkage mechanism (very fancy for a card I hear you say!) The children are very proud of them. We have also continued with the tricky concept of fractions, looking at halves, quarters and thirds of shapes. We will continue with fractions of numbers after the holidays. 

I have put 2 maths papers in their bags which I would recommend they attempt over the holidays. At the end of term 5 the children will have assessments which are similar in style to these so it's good to get them used to it. However, I stress that we have still not covered all of the curriculum so there might be questions the children can not answer e.g. fractions of numbers and time and some of the concepts might be rusty as they were taught months ago - we will be revising next term. You can help them work through it, encouraging working out (chips and peas, column addition/subtraction, 'hoops for groups', rulers as number lines ect) Questions get progressively harder so even if your child can just attempt the first few that would be great. Please return them by Friday of week 1 back (answers are at the back!) With the reasoning paper you read the first few questions to them.

Please do continue reading, 2 books have come come. 

We get through a lot of glue sticks in year 2 and the ones we have at school run out very quickly and are not always looked after as they should be. If your child would like to bring in their own, named, glue stick just for them to use that would be fine!!

Next term our main topic is Animal and Plant survival/ Habitats. See below for the curriculum information on these.

Congratulations to Archie G and Zoe for getting the head teacher awards for this term.

Have a wonderful Easter holidays

Mrs Cheshire 

In the Animal Survival project, your child will revisit prior learning about habitats. They will learn about invertebrates and their characteristics. They will learn about microhabitats and go outside to identify and observe living things in various microhabitats. They will identify and research what an observed animal needs to survive and will construct simple food chains, learning the terms ‘producer’ and ‘consumer.' They will explore how humans can harm and help animals’ habitats and visit the school grounds to look at ways habitats are already being supported and potential improvements. Children will learn about the offspring of different animal groups, matching parents to their offspring. They will order the stages in animals’ life cycles and investigate the life cycle of an insect, observing it over time. They will revisit learning about the four seasons and explore how animals’ behaviour changes across the seasons and how this links to their life cycles. Children will plan and make habitat improvements within the school grounds, evaluating the success of their habitat improvements by collecting firsthand data.

In the Plant Survival project, your child will learn the names of the different parts of a plant and how they grow. They observe how the seasonal changes affect how plants grow. They will learn how new plants can grow from seeds and bulbs and what they need to germinate. They will use their observational skills to find out where plants like to grow and investigate what plants need to grow and stay healthy. Your child will then use their research skills to find out about some unusual plants.

In the Habitats project, your child will learn what a habitat provides for the plants and animals that live there and that habitats contain both living and non-living things. They will identify living things using the seven life processes and sort the non-living things into those that have lived and those that have never lived. They will use spotting sheets to identify plants and animals from a woodland habitat by carefully observing their physical characteristics. They will research how a woodland habitat provides the things necessary for the survival of the animals that live there. Your child will learn about food chains and construct their own food chains for the woodland habitat. They will investigate the different ways prey animals avoid being eaten and conduct an investigation into animal camouflage. They will also look at the different methods plants use to avoid being eaten and group them according to how they defend themselves. Your child will then use the skills they have learned in the project to investigate the living things, food chains and adaptations in a mystery habitat.

Friday 28th March 

We started the week with our fabulous trip to Hastings. I'm sure your child has filled you in but I attach lots of photos and this is what we did: we started by taking the mini-train to the RNLI (they open especially for us!) and then we had a very interesting tour of the RNLI. We saw the inshore and all weather life boats and learnt about what they do. The children then enjoyed spending their money in the gift shop, it was a great opportunity to see how money works in practice. Then we had our picnic lunch on the beach.  We were lucky with the weather. The children loved finding shells, drift wood and smooth pebbles - some of which probably came home in pockets! Then we walked to a super little park and also stopped at a friendly fishmonger who kindly showed the children the morning catch including dog fish, skate and a very inky cuttlefish. Our final stop was the Shipwreck museum where 3 very enthusiastic guides took the children through some of the nautical history of the area. The children behaved really well, listening to the guides and asking lots of inquisitive questions. Thank you to the parent helpers who came.

On Tuesday the children did a recount of the trip using the sequencing adverbs: First, Next, After that, Then, Finally. I was very impressed with their recollections and lovely writing.

In maths we have started a new topic learning about fractions. We have learnt that fractions are equal parts of a whole and did lots of folding of paper and looking at how we can share objects such as pizza, apples, cake into equal parts. 2 equal parts is halves, 3 equal parts is thirds and 4 equal parts is quarters. (In year 2 they learn halves, quarters and thirds.) I attach a video I showed the children (although as it is american they say 'fourths' rather than quarters.)

We have been busy in DT making different mechanisms out of card, today we made a jack-in-the-box model using a linkage mechanism.

It was lovely to see you at parents evening. I hope that you found it, and the reports, useful. 

Congratulations to Lucy, Isaac, Ralph and Lilly.

Homework: Only reading this week. I'm sure you are busy enough with the bonnets and Easter garden. I know the letter says bring in on Monday but I will say you can bring in on Monday OR Tuesday.

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the ball if you are going!

Mrs Cheshire  

Friday 21st March

What a lovely taste of spring this week! A sure sign of the good weather is the discarded coats and jumpers all around school!!

We have continued our Coastlines theme in English by reading the Katie Morag stories. We planned and wrote a post card to Granny Mainland about our holiday on Struay. I am so impressed with the language the children are using and varied vocabulary and punctuation. In our spelling unit we have been looking at how the grapheme /a/ makes an /o/ sound after the letters w and qu e.g. want, squash and the digraph /ar/ makes an /or/ sound after the w and qu e.g. warm, award. Do keep an eye out for these in reading.

In maths we have continued with money and looked at counting on to find change. I told them that change is what is left over after you have paid, it is the difference between the total cost and the money given. They have learnt that you need to subtract to find the change. Today we also attempted some tricky 2 step money word problems which challenged many of them! I'm hoping in the RNLI shop they can experience 1st hand how this process works.

We started our DT project on 'Push and Pull' learning about machines and how they help us. We started by making a sliding mechanism out of card and finding out that it goes side to side or up and down. 

I sent home their super Whitby posters which they made to advertise the lovely seaside town that we are learning about in our topic. We also sent home the words for our Easter song. The class are split into 2 halves, they know who they are and which parts they need to learn, please do have a look.

An email has gone out with information about the legendary year 2 easter garden and egg rolling competitions! Mrs Silander will be running the egg rolling. As the letter states the gardens are not compulsory but I wont set homework for that week so your child has more time to do the garden. It links very well with our RE learning about Salvation and the Easter story. There are many examples online to help, simple is often more effective....

We are all very excited about our trip to Hastings on Monday. Please check the letter for details and check the weather before too. Sadly I don't think we'll have the glorious weather of late but currently it's looking dry and overcast. Please be in school in good time with red caps, £5, snack, water, in school uniform with coats and bags. 

It was lovely to see many of you on Wednesday for the parent consultations and I look forward to seeing the rest of you next Wednesday evening. 

Homework: Maths in green books in on Tuesday

Reading books and comprehensions Thursday/Friday if needed.

Congratulations to our stars of the week and kind heart awards today: Annie, Jonty, Jojo and Robyn.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire 

Friday 14th March

I believe the children had a lovely day today with Mrs Carey while I was on an RE course. I'm sure I'll hear all about it on Monday. 

This week we have been looking at the RNLI and the amazing work that they do. We learnt many facts about the charity including the different boats they have, how they are funded, what they do. We also talked about staying safe at the coast, looking at the different coloured flags, always being with an adult, watching the tide and not going on inflatables in the sea if its windy. The class have planned and today wrote their own RNLI leaflet. We are even more excited now to go to see the lifeboat station in Hastings! We also learnt about the  hospital ship SS. Rohilla which was shipwrecked off the coast of Whitby in 1914 which fascinated the children, do ask them about it and why it was important for the RNLI.

We have also spent this week looking at coastline/sea related poetry which the class have really taken to. We read, recited and listened to a wide range of themed poems then wrote a pyramid poem which follows a particular structure ( in the shape of a triangle.) These are stuck in the English books and will be lovely to read when you see their books at a later date.

We have started learning our Easter song for the service at the end of term.

In Maths we have continued with money, looking at exchanging amounts e.g. 5 x 10p = 1 x 50p. Money continues to be quite a challenge for some so I have attached a good Topmarks money game which I recommend and of course counting their own pocket money will help them. The class are identifying the counts much better, next week we will be calculating change.

The children made fabulous lighthouses in forest school, some of which are on display in our classroom.

Homework: Maths in books back Tuesday

Comprehension: back Thursday

Reading books: please return with yellow book written in on Thursday, not before, (Friday latest).

Congratulations to our stars and kind heart award winners: Ivar, Emily, Archie B and Clem. Sorry no photo as ipad at school, I'm not!

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 7th March

Firstly thank you so much to the parents who came and helped on WBD, especially the two mummies who gave up their lunchtime to help set up, I could not have got the reading classroom/den ready without your help. Thanks also for all the lovely tents and bean bags/cushions. The children loved having so many parents popping in to read and it was a joyous afternoon celebrating reading.  The pictures give a good idea of the afternoon.

The children all looked magnificent in their costumes! Mrs Haysom came and read a story, our choice, and we chose a very sneaky book called 'The book with no pictures.' THe children loved it and I highly recommend it. We also did a live sessions with the author Laura Baker and her new fun book, 'The full stop that got away' which we all enjoyed. It will hopefully remind us to use full stops.

Other news, we did a coastal erosion experiment on monday as part of our coastlines topic and have done some descriptive writing about the sea side using adjectives. This afternoon the children painted waves having been inspired by the famous wave painting by Hokusai.

We are continuing with money and with Mrs Silander the children are now working on 2D and 3D shapes.

Reading: Due to PAG meetings and WBD we didn't manage as many reading groups as usual so some groups have a book which we had in school. Please return books on Thursday.

Comprehension books by Thursday.

Maths in on Tuesday please.

Please check that all jumpers are clearly named, now the weather is nicer we end up with discarded jumpers and cardigans all over the place and they are hard to reunite if unnamed!

The Hastings trip initial letter came out yesterday, I think that we still have availability for 2 more parents if you are able to come along please let the office know. Thank you to those who have volunteered I will be in touch to confirm next week. More information on that later next week including the cost.

Please ensure that you have signed up for parents evening too.

Congratulations to Herbie, Rose, Eva and Hattie our kind hearts and star of the week winners.

Have a lovely weekend
Mrs Cheshire 

Friday 28th February

What an exciting week we have had! Obviously the highlight was reaching our 100th day in school for our 100 day maths day party. The anticipation was high in the run up and thankfully we had so much fun. I have attached lots of photos but here is a rundown:

Made 100 day hats, 10 strips with 10 things on each strip.

100 day jigsaws - fill in the missing numbers on the 100 square then cut up and get your friend to do the puzzle

What can you build with 100 paper cups

What can you build with 100 pieces of lego or multilink

100 day sheet - what would you do with £100 etc

Race to 100 - beat your friend by being the first to 100 using 2 dice.

How many things can you do in 100 seconds

100 exercises

Keepy-uppy with a balloon to 100

Make a picture using the number 100

We read a book called 'the centipede's 100 shoes' and finally

We ate 100 sweets and shared a delicious (thank you Mrs Leschallas) 100 day cake...and had a dance!

Most importantly all of this has strengthened the children's idea of number to 100 and helped them to see that maths can be fun!

We started our new topic on coastlines, looking at the seas surrounding the UK and talking about what a coastline is. We read 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch' and talked about the setting and characters.

In maths we started money, looking at the denominations of coins and notes. If you do have any change and notes at home (I know we are pretty much cashless now) please do take the time to show your children the different coins and amounts.

Next week is World Book Day! In the afternoon I will be doing a reading den in my classroom. I did this last year and it was a big success. I turn the whole classroom into a reading camp with dens and comfy areas and we read and share our favourite books. To make this happen I would be grateful if anyone has any beanbags/large cushions/teepee tents/fairy lights, large soft blankets that we could borrow for that day. Nothing precious and please name any lights so they can be returned. If you do, please could they be brought in by Wednesday. Please can your child also bring in a favourite picture book (again nothing super precious and please name). It would be lovely if a few  parents would like to come in a read to the class or be a part of the reading den so if you might be interested in this please can you email the office with preferred timings. I'm not 100% sure of the timetabling of the day yet so it might not be possible but we can try!

Congratulations to our stars of week and kind heart awards; Amelie, Zoe, Oliver and Max.

Homework: Maths in for Tuesday

Comprehension: In by THursday 

Reading books: please return by thursday with yellow book completed. 

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 14th February

Wow, it’s the end of another term which seems to have flown by.

This week we have completed our Movers and Shakers topic learning about pioneering surgeon, Joseph Lister. We have also revisited Rosa Parks, writing a newspaper article about the day she didn’t give up her seat. The children have been so engaged with her amazing story.

In GPS we have learnt about the apostrophe for omission e.g. do not = don’t. I attach a little video the children enjoyed. Now they have learnt both types of apostrophe, look out for them in books and their writing.

In Maths we have been doing addition and subtraction word problems. The children are getting good at recognising which operation to choose and we have been practising our different strategies for working out the answer. We are getting close to our 100 day maths day (Thursday after half term.) On this day we will have a full day of 100 themed fun! The children are very excited as we have literally been counting down since day 1.

Today in computing we were using ipads to take photos around the school. The children learnt how to hold the ipad, find the object, choose landscape or portrait and took a range of fun photos. Pics attached.

Homework: I have sent home 1 reading book this week as I know many of you are away and probably don’t want to be lugging reading books around.

No comprehension

Maths in Tuesday after half term please. If you want extra to do then the Topmarks website is excellent with a wide range of fun maths games. Number bonds to 10 and 20, counting in 2, 5 and 10 and doubles to 20 are also hugely useful mental maths skills that would be great to keep practising.

I have also sent home a Year 1 and Year 2 common exception word spelling test we did on Monday. These are the words that most children are expected to be able to read and spell by the end of Year 2. We have marked them and highlighted the mistakes so you can see the words your child would benefit from learning. The list of spellings is also attached. I do not expect you to get your child to learn all of these at once but perhaps you could pick a few a week and try to encourage your child to learn them over the rest of Year 2. I often write words on post-its and put them by their bed or on the fridge to read and write then remove when secure and put another one. These are ‘tricky’ words where phonics aren’t as useful so need to be learnt by sight.

CHANGE TO MORNING ROUTINE: After half term the children can remain in the playground until the bell goes at 8.45, rather than coming into the classroom. I will collect them from the playground. This is what happens in Key Stage 2 so is a small preparation for that transition.

Congratulations to our Term 3 Head Teacher Award Winners, Clara and Isaac. 

Next term’s main topic, Geography: In the Coastline project, your child will use maps to learn about the location of the world’s seas and oceans and keys to learn about map symbols. They will also find out about the directions on a compass. They 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. They will have the opportunity to learn about

the work of the RNLI, what happened to the SS Rohilla and about the coastal town of Whitby, including how Captain Cook is linked to the town. They will research the tourism industry and consider what features make a place a successful tourist destination. We will also have a trip to Hastings!

I hope that you all have a wonderful half term.

Mrs C

Friday 7th February

I have added lots of photos to show you what we have been up to!

English: We learnt about the (singular) possessive apostrophe e.g. The cat's bowl. I've added a youtube clip we watched. The children went around the classroom labeling objects with the apostrophe 's to show ownership and have been finding them in their reading books. We also changed sentences like this:

The car belongs to the Mum.

The mum's car.

We continued to look at the spelling rule of doubling the final letter of a word when adding suffixes unless the word ends in a digraph e.g. knit - knitting, knitter, knitted or gnash, gnasher, gnashed (we also revised the silent letters.)

In Maths we have done 2 assessments. I was really impressed with the children, who showed that they have really remembered what has been learnt this year.  A few sticky areas but generally I was really pleased with the results. We also looked at pictograms and odd and even numbers.

In history we looked at the life of activist Rosa Parks. We watched some videos about her life, read her story and talked about the impact she had on her community, country and the world. She is quite the inspiration. We re-enacted the story as a whole class and talked about how the characters might have felt.

In art and history we have learnt about Van Gogh. This afternoon we studied his fabulous painting 'Starry night' and then, using the painting as inspiration, created out own versions using tin foil as our canvas and cotton buds as paint brushes. Each child's is unique and beautiful. I hope they feel inspired to learn more about artists such as Van Gogh and Cezanne.

Homework: Maths in green books back on Tuesday please.

Comprehension: Books back Thursday please, do next one in book. If you have the newer, the larger books feel free to do more than one (you know who you are.)

Reading: Thank you for your support with this, all books were returned on Thursday which makes my life easier so the same again please. Your child has 2 books to read over the week, please read each more than once and record in the yellow books how your child got on. These are all checked. Their reading is really coming along, little super stars!

Congratulations to Margot, Eva, Tabitha and Archie. Well deserved.

I hope the children enjoy the disco, they were all very excited!

1 week to go....

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 31st January

We ended the week with a lovely art lesson. This week we have been studying the lives of Paul Cezanne and Vincent Van Gogh as part of our topic on Movers and Shakers. We have talked about still life drawing and looked at many different examples. Today we created our own drawings and then used pastels to colour. We thought carefully about the composition, arranging the objects infront of us, colour, shape and form. Mrs Clare and Mrs Haysom come in to see and were very impressed with the level of art (and concentration.)The results are fabulous and I'll photograph the display once they are all up. Pics attached of the session.

In Maths we have been learning about Fact Families (as seen in the homework.) It is so helpful for children to see the relationship between the 3 numbers and be able to use the inverse operations to check answers using fact families e.g. if 5 x 10 = 50, 50 divided by 10 = 5. See video attached which nicely explains it all.

In English we have been learning about the silent letters wr, gn and kn. The children found it fun to spell the words saying the silent letters e.g. k-nee, g-nome, w-rong. Look out for these in reading! We have also had fun looking at lots of different versions of the traditional tale the 3 little pigs and writing character descriptions of the wolves or pig. 

We had a good session on the computers, learning how to re-size and print out work. We also thought about how technology is used in school to help us.

Homework: Reading books. I have emailed with more information but to clarify please bring in both books, read, with yellow book signed on Thursday.

Comprehension books: Also in for Thursday please.

Maths: In for Tuesday.

eeek...glad I'm not a parent in year 2, don't think i'd be able to keep up with this!!! sorry, hopefully it will all be worth it!?!

Congratulations Star of weeks and Kind heart award winners, Lucy, Robin. Tatty and Jojo.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire 

Friday 24th January

...Break the rules day so as I'm really living on the edge I've changed the colour and font of this update!!!...

The children had a great time in their home clothes with painted nails, tattoos, funky hair and very yummy snacks! I hope they enjoyed their day and thank you for your donations.

This week in English we have been thinking about conjunctions; and, so, or, but (I attach a fun song the children loved.) I am now encouraging them to use these little words to 'glue' parts of their sentence together, e.g. It is hot outside so I will take my hat. She has a cat but she wants a dog. We are enjoying our class text 'The boy who grew dragons' about a boy who finds himself with a pet dragon!

In maths we continued with division looking at division by grouping and sharing into 2, 5 and 10. This is a hard concept but the children have coped well, we kept it very practical and used our times tables to test our answers using the inverse.

In History we have learnt about 2 very different explorers, Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong. We are lucky that Mrs Carey is spending some of her teacher training time in Year 2 and taught the children a very engaging lesson about the astronaut including a 'moon walk' on the astro!

In RE we have learnt about The Golden Rule. This is a principle shared by all major world religions and world views and it is: TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED. The children each drew a little scene to show this and we made it into a lovely piece of art work (picture attached.) 

Reading books: I have had several emails from parents requesting that their children have more than one book sent home to read. As we are trying to increase their fluency, prosody and comprehension skills I have decided to send home 2 new books today for you to read with your child over the week. Please can you note in the diary when they have been read and return them by Thursday at the latest so they can be changed for the following week. If you have read them before they can come in sooner. If this works and children and parents are happy with this then I will continue to do this but as I said PLEASE DO NOTE IN THE YELLOW DIARY THAT THE BOOK HAS BEEN READ WITH A COMMENT ABOUT HOW YOUR CHILD HAS MANAGED. We will continue to do reading groups in school when they will be heard by an adult. This book will not be sent home. Sorry to change the way we are doing this but it is an organic process and requires flexibility. 

Congratulations star of the week and kind heart award winners Ralph, Raffy, Amelie and Blake.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Cheshire

Friday 17th January

This has been assessment week in school and the children have had to do lots of concentrating! We have done 2 reading papers, spelling and GPS. The reading papers in particular were very challenging for many children but we must remember that they were set end of Year 2 SAT papers! They did so well considering this and I am very proud of their perseverance. It's also very helpful for me to see the areas to work on. As a result of the reading papers I have decided to slightly change the way we send home reading books. Starting from today, the reading book that your child has brought home is a new book for them. It is not the same book that they have read in reading groups this week. Hopefully this will add another level of engagement and will show you a true picture of how they can manage a new text. If your child is still on a phased book (not coloured band) it would be most beneficial if they can read the book twice and have time to look through the vocabulary on the front page. In school we always read these key words, sounds, vocabulary together, discuss the cover and only then will be read the book. At the end we do comprehension and think about how we can make the reading more expressive. If you do not have time to read the book thoroughly at home and would like to keep it for a bit longer that it fine, as long as it is returned by the following Friday, otherwise it can be returned on Monday like before. Some of the books will have been read in year 1 but I think they are now much more suited for their reading abilities and should be fairly fluent. As always, please do note anything relevant in their yellow books.

In maths we have started division (see photos below). We have kept it very practical, first looking at dividing by grouping and today we started to look at dividing by sharing. I will attach 2 links to show the difference between the two. With dividing I have talked about the sign meaning 'shared into' and that 'when we share it must be fair.' Any practical support at home is always useful, e.g. can you share out the biscuits into groups of 2 or into 2 groups.

We started computing today...sadly not with computers! but instead looked at what information technology is. The children were excellent at thinking of all the different uses of computers.

In history we have been thinking about different types of important people: activists, artists, explorers, inventors. Next week we will really start to look at individuals who have made a real difference in these areas.

Snacks: Please can children come into school with smaller snack boxes and less snacks. I have noticed snack boxes getting increasingly large and they need to fit into their desks. A small snack is all that is needed, some fruit (with grapes cut up long ways), crackers, yoghurt etc. They only have 5-10 minutes to eat it and children are struggling to get through it. If they want some for afternoon snack perhaps 2 smaller boxes rather than one large on. Many thanks. 

Homework: Maths in green books back on tuesday please, it is on a loose sheet in book (apologies last week's was not marked)

Reading books (see above)

Comprehension: please do the next test, Test 4, back in by Thursday please. Always read the question first, then the text. Use the key words in the questions as signposts to the answers in the text. Underline these then copy answers. Don't guess! Read the questions carefully, lots of mistakes were made by misreading the question in the assessments.

No spellings!

Congratulations to our Kind heart award winners Emily and Ivar and Star of the week winners Herbie and Isaac.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cheshire 

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