Year 2 Blog
15th November 2024
What a fantastic start to the week Year 2 had! Their trip to RAF Hendon was a huge success! Their faces lit up when they were met with the exciting planes and their behaviour on the trip was outstanding! The children were a real credit to us.
This week has been assessment week and the children have shown fantastic resilience when completing their tests. They have worked extremely hard and taken these very seriously.
Next week in Literacy we are going to be exploring the features of a non-chronological report and in Maths we are going to be learning how to subtract two 2 digit numbers which include exchanging.
In RE, the children have learnt about Christmas around the world and discussed each other's Christmas traditions. The children were very interested in listening to other people's traditions.
Can we please ask for donations of white bedsheets or pillowcases for our Art lessons?
Thank you for your continued support
Year 2 team
8th November 2024
Welcome back!
It was lovely to see all the children back on Monday.
This week in Maths we have been adding 2 digit numbers and in Literacy we have been introduced to a non-fictional text about Supertato. In computing we looked at old and new ways of taking photographs. We then went into the Discovery Garden to explore taking photos using the chromebooks. The children really enjoyed this activity.
Some reminders ahead of our school trip on Monday 11th
- please ensure you arrive to school on time
- children to be in school uniform- please make sure children are wearing comfortable footwear
- send appropriate clothes for the weather
- send your child with a packed lunch and water bottle, preferable in a small backpack so it is easier for them to carry
- we are due back at school for normal collection time
Thank you, we are all looking forward to it.
In addition next week we have Odd Sock Day on Tuesday and 'Children in Need' on Friday which is a non-uniform day.
Have a lovely weekend
Year 2 Team.
25th October 2024
Wow! What an amazing first half term in year 2, The children have worked so hard this past half term and we are very proud of them.
This week in Maths we have looked at subtraction and in Literacy we have had fun exploring poetry linked to Halloween.
We have celebrated Diwali with the children making lanterns and drawing Rangoli patterns.
Just a reminder that our trip to RAF Hendon is the second week back after half term, which is incredibly exciting!
Thank you for all your support.
Have a great half term holiday, see you Monday 4th November 2024
Year 2 Team.
18th October 2024
It was lovely to see so many of you this week at Parents Evening and share the positive learning that is happening in year 2. I know the children were equally proud to show off their work.
This week in Maths we have looked at addition and next week we will be moving on to subtraction. In Literacy we have planned and written our own invented super hero story remembering to include the ‘Power of 3’, Onomatopoeia and using adverbs to describe how the character is moving!
To celebrate Black History Month We have learnt about Mary Seacole, a British-Jamaican nurse in the 1800s, who’s leadership and courage paved the way for diversity in nursing in the UK after she cared for wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War.
Just a reminder that next Friday (25th October) is come dressed as a rockstar day to get us all excited about times tables and TT Rockstars.
Have a great weekend
Year 2 Team.
11th October
It was wonderful to see the children wearing yellow on Thursday for World Mental Health Day! The children in Year 2 are lucky to have Mrs Mortimer, our mindfullness coach, every Thursday this half term for a session. This week, the children spent time creating doodles in yellow whilst discussing their emotions.
In Literacy, we have been astounded by their writing! They have worked extremely hard on their innnovated texts based on Supertato and have impressed us by their creativity and enthusiasm to write. Next week, we will be inventing our own story based in a habitat. This will include animals instead of vegetables.
In Maths, the children have continued to practise songs involving their 5 times table as they found this challenging. The children have also looked at related facts and fact families. They have learnt that if 2 + 5 = 7 then 20 + 50 = 70. Next week, the children will be continuing to extend their knowledge of adding.
In Computing, we had some very important conversations about how to use computers safely. This focused specifically on online safety which is vital for children. We discussed that if anyone is unkind to them online that they must report it to an adult which is the same if they see anything online which worries them. They were very open about the rules which they have at home online and how they followed them to ensure they are safe.
Thank you to everyone for their donations this week and their continued support. A reminder that Parents Evening is next week and we are looking forward to sharing your child's learning with you.
Year 2 team
4th October
What a busy week it has been in Year 2!
The children have worked extremely hard learning their 2s, 5s and 10s in Maths. They then completed number tracks to show their understanding. We will revisit counting in 5s soon as they found this challenging. If you want to practice these at home then here are some links to songs we used to support this learning:
2 times table song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C4EN7mFHCk
5 times table song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lti2YOzplw
10 times table song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWgo3dVTCl4
In Literacy the children have boxed up their innovated version of Supertato. This was the first time the children had boxed up and we were impressed with how well they completed this. Next week the children will be writing their own version.
In Science, we classified animals into their type. The children were extremely confident when classifying and drew some fantastic observational drawings.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 2 team
27th September 2024
Yet another busy week for year 2, which the children are now taking in their stride.
In Literacy, the children have continued to use the’ power of 3’ to describe Supertato and Evil Pea. We explored using adverbs to describe how they both moved for example ‘Supertato silently checked all the cheese’. Next week we will be introducing our own changes and planning an innovated version.
In Maths we have been comparing numbers using ‘greater than’ and ‘less than’. We have also ordered two digit numbers. Next week we will be looking at 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s.
Have a lovely weekend!
The Year 2 team :)
20th September
What a busy week it has been in Year 2!
In Literacy, the children amazed us with their use of adjectives to describe villains and heroes. This led us to creating our own Supertatos which the children thoroughly enjoyed. The children have begun learning Supertato with the support of our story map. Next week, we will be introducing onomatopoeia.
In Maths, the children have been working hard using number lines. This began with looking at how to count in 10s on a number line and this then developed into identifying specific numbers on a number line. Next week, we will be looking at ordering and comparing numbers.
In Science, we classified animals in to alive, dead and never alive and the children were very good at using the correct vocabulary to describe these.
Can we just remind you that if your child is unable to take their earrings out themselves then you need to tape them before they come into school.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 2 team
13th September
What a busy first full week we have had! It was lovely to meet all of you after school on Wednesday and we look forward to working with you throughout the year.
In Maths this week we have been looking at how to partition numbers to 100. For this we have been using part whole models and base 10 resources. The children have engaged with this extremely well. Next week we will be exploring flexible partitioning and how to use number lines.
In Literacy, we have been practising WOW writing. For this we generated a variety of adjectives and then used these to describe a setting. Next week, we will be starting our unit on Supertato. For this we kindly ask that you bring a potato in on Monday.
In Art, we have looked at how to blend watercolours and the children amazed us with their colour wheel knowledge. We will be building on this throughout our Art unit.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 2 team
September 2024
6th September
Hello everybody and welcome back to school! It has been a pleasure to welcome the children in to Year 2 and have been very impressed with their learning attitudes and behaviour already.
In Literacy, we have been looking at what makes ‘WOW’ writing and have been showcasing all of our knowledge so well. We have been using red and green pencils to signal the beginning and end of sentences whilst using our imagination to create silly sentences. Next week we are going to continue practicing our sentence skills.
In Maths, we have been using base 10 to build numbers and then challenged ourselves to represent this learning in our books. Next week we will be looking at how to use place value charts and part whole models to demonstrate our understanding.
In Theme, we went on an adventure on aeroplanes! The children had their boarding passes, passports and luggage at the ready to make their way through Jupiter Airways airport. They then watched a plane simulator and had their ‘in-flight’ snacks onboard. This will start our Theme learning which will all be about aircrafts.
Moving forwards our PE will be on a Wednesday afternoon with the PE coach.
We just wanted to say a huge well done for the first week and are looking forward to working with you this year.
Year 2 team
8th - 12th July 2024
What a busy week - School trip, Art Day, England winning their Semi-final match and Transition Day!
On Tuesday we had a super day at Ruislip Lido. The children were well mannered, respectful and did not let the rain dampen their day! They enjoyed our train journey, bingo cards and a lovely playtime on the ‘beach’ and pirate ship.
The children have handled the changes to timetable really well. It was lovely to hear the feedback from staff members about their engagement in art day and how much the children enjoyed it. The children made some wonderful Olympic torches, carefully drew their own Olympic rings and even made salt dough medals! See if your child can tell you something they learnt!
In literacy, the children have been working hard to write their own non - chronological reports on a superhero of their choice. On transition day the children spent the day in Year 3 and we had such positive from both children and Miss Young and Mrs Paros.
Finally, I know lots of us are looking forward to Sunday evening and we may have some tired children and staff on Monday, but best of luck to the England players. It’s coming home!
Have a lovely weekend!
The Year 2 team :)
24th - 28th June 2024
This week the children have enjoyed the beautiful warm weather! We had an exciting start to the week as the children prepared for a super sports day on Thursday. We are very proud of all the children who happily took part in all the activities and are very impressed with the great sportsmanship and kindness shown towards each other. In maths we have been looking back at our times tables, grouping and money.
Please remember our trip to Ruislip Lido is on Tuesday 9th July.
Have a lovely weekend!
The Year 2 team :)
17th - 21st June 2024
This week we have been very lucky with the weather and the children have really enjoyed taking their learning outside.
We continued with our non chronological report writing on ‘Supertato’. In maths we had a look at movement and direction and the children took part in different activities giving instructions.
As a reminder our PE sessions are now Wednesday morning and Sports day is next Thursday.
Please do regular checks on the children’s hair, as we have had a few cases of nits across the year group. Thank you to those who are already on top of this!
Have a lovely weekend!
The Year 2 team :)
10th - 14th June 2024
This week the children took part in their Summer term assessments. They all worked super hard and should be really proud of themselves! On Wednesday the children took part in a transition afternoon where they met their new Year 3 teacher and classroom and they really enjoyed this. Next week the children will be looking at Supertato in literacy and position and direction in maths.
Reminders
- Year 2 PE has now moved to a Wednesday morning for both classes.
- Please bring in any trip slips that have not been returned, if you have ticked the consent box on parent pay you do not need to sign a hard copy.
Have a lovely weekend!
The Year 2 team :)
3rd - 7th June 2024
This week the children have started on a new Supertato story in literacy. In maths we have been looking at 2s, 5s and 10s and fractions as a recap. The children have been working hard with their guided reading sessions and this is really helping their reading. Please continue to read with your children at home as this will positively support their reading progress.
Have a lovely weekend!
The Year 2 team :)
20th - 24th May 2024
This week the children have been having a go at some poetry in literacy. The children have written some fantastic acrostic poems. In maths we have started to look at statistics including tally charts, bar graphs and tables. The children enjoyed taking this learning outside during a science lesson and taking part in a mini beast microhabitat lesson and using tally charts to keep count of what they found. It has been a super half term and we are looking forward to see what the last term of Year 2 brings!
A little reminder:
- Suncream needs to go through the office with a letter signed
- PE days are Wednesday afternoon
- All items of clothing including sun hats need to be named
- PE tops are a white T-shirt/polo shirt of the colour of your child’s sport house (red, blue, yellow and green)
PSHE news
Dear Parent and Carer,
Year 2 will be teaching the RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) unit to your child’s class during the week beginning 3rd June for Summer term 2. Please be aware that all content is age appropriate for the year group in which it is being taught. Please clink on the following link to view the content on our school website
https://www.jupiter.herts.sch.uk/130/pshe-relationships-and-sex-education
Have a lovely half term,
The year 2 team :)
13th – 17th May 2024
This week the children took part in their final forest school session. They really enjoyed making nature name labels and worked really hard to do so. The children have completed their stories in literacy and have worked hard typing these up on the chromebooks. In maths we made some super clocks.
Have a lovely weekend
The Year 2 team
6th - 10th May 2024
This week the children have been looking at time in maths. In literacy, the children were innovating their own stories based on 'Supertato', they have written some super stories! This week the children were lucky enough to have a visit from the RNLI, where they learnt and discussed the risks at the coast and how people can help us. Be sure to ask them what they found out!
The children took part in two forest school sessions on Tuesday where they had a go at having log dogs and building a house in the morning. They also had a walk of the school grounds, they discussed what plants and bushes we have at our school and what animals may like them. In the afternoon, the children took part in a stick hunt where they worked in their house groups, and they then in teams together to build dens and make these as camoflauged as possible. They were fabulous!
Reminder: PE kits need to be in school for Wednesday and earrings need to be able to be removed.
Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sun!
The Year 2 team
29th - 3rd May 2024
This week the children took part in their first forest school session. They really enjoyed learning outdoors. They will have another two sessions next week and the following week, so remember forest school clothes are to be worn into school on Tuesday!
In literacy the children have been working hard at innovating their Supertato stories. In maths we continued to look at fractions and will be moving onto learning about time next week.
Have a lovely bank holiday weekend!
The Year 2 team :)
29th April - 3rd May 2024
This week the children have had a go at innovating their Supertato stories. They have planned the story and changed some of the characters involved and they are starting to come together nicely. In maths we have been focusing on
Have a lovely weekend.
The Year 2 team :)
22nd - 26th April 2024
This week the children had the exciting opportunity to take part in a scootability training. The children had fun and enjoyed learning how to be on their scooters safely. In literacy we looked at the story ‘Supertato’ and the children did some great drawings of the characters as well as coming up with some super adverbs that can describe how a superhero is moving. For example, Supertato steadily crept up behind the evil pea.
In maths we have been looking at thirds and quarters and the children have been working super hard at finding the third and finding the quarter of a number.
Have a lovely weekend.
The Year 2 team :)
16th - 19th April 2024
Welcome back to the summer term, we hope you had a restful break!
This week we have started a new text in literacy 'Supertato' - whilst reading the text we discovered some shocking news and the children composed a warning message for you.....
Dear parents,
I am afraid I have some shocking news a pea has escaped from the freezer in Budgens unfortunately a teacher accidentally let it in the front door of Jupiter! He has scribbled on Mrs Armstrong's work with a marker and tore up some childrens paintings, leaving trails of paper in KS2.
The pea has been making rumbling noises around school so we have set up traps in order to catch him, but in the meantime, be careful and keep an eye out for a small, green, evil pea!
Year 2
In maths we have started looking at finding a half of shapes and amounts.
Have a fabulous weekend
Year 2 Team.
25th - 28th March 2024
This week in literacy we used all the skill we have learnt about creating a factfile and chose our own animal, we used the chrome books to complete some independent resarch and created attractive factfiles. In maths we continued looking at scales this time using temepreture to complet calculations.
Wishing you all a wonderful break.
Year 2 Team.
18th - 23rd March 2024
In maths this week we have begun to look at capacity, using the vocabulary full/ half full/ nearly full and empty. We also looked at reading scales when measuring in mililitres and litres. In literacy we continued with the factfile on meerkats, doing some independent research for new and unusual facts.
Year 2 Team.
11th - 15th March 2024
This week in literacy we have continued looking at meerkats and creating a factfile around all the facts we have found out about them. In Maths we have been comparing mass in both grams and kilograms. Every afternoon this week, we conducted an experiment as part of 'Science Week'. We hoped you enjoyed seeing all of our great work during the open classroom.
Year 2 Team.
4th - 8th March 2024
This week the children have been working really hard with their reading, writing and maths assessments, they were super and all should be proud of themselves. We have been focusing a lot on kindness and respect in class and have had some great discussions with the children surrounding this. We are looking forward to Science week next week!
Have a lovely weekend,
The Year 2 team :)
26th - 1st March 2024
What a first week back! The children have shown some super behaviour this week. They loved our theme day and looked fabulous dressed up as monarchs, knights and royal figures and produced some great writing work.
In maths we have been looking at measuring length and height in centimetres and metres. In literacy we are starting to look at non chronological reports on meerkats. The children have shown a clear understanding of descriptive sentences in their writing this week. This Friday the children took part in a wild west drama workshop and really engaged in the role play of being in the wild west. `
Have a lovely weekend.
The Year 2 team :)
12th - 16th February 2024
This week we have been focusing on the book ‘Traction Man’. The children have done some super comic strips and character descriptions, they loved using onomatopoeia. In maths we have used our 2, 5 and 10 times tables to complete division and multiplication calculations. The children were super at their baking of biscuits and really enjoyed decorating them.
Have a lovely half term. See you soon.
The Year 2 team :)
5th - 9th February 2024
This week the children have been writing their own journey tale, having been inspired by our literacy book ‘meerkat mail’. They have been working really hard remembering what needs to be included and some great stories have been produced. In maths, the children were practising their times tables and dividing by 2. Even with it being tricky, they persevered well.
On Thursday 8th February, the children took part in a wellbeing workshop and were superstars remembering all things they had discussed and learnt about in their weekly mindfulness sessions from before Christmas.
Dates to remember;
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Wednesday 14th February, PJ day and bedtime stories from 4-5
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Friday 16th February, book character dress up day
Have a lovely weekend,
The Year 2 team :)
22nd - 26th January 2024
This week we have been focusing on our book ‘meerkat mail’, looking at alliteration and expanded noun phrases to describe the setting. In maths we have been looking at equal groups. In science we have been looking at different materials and we had a go at predicting and feeling these to see which ones we could squash, stretch and snap.
The children have been working really hard in their work and we hope to see this continue as the term goes on.
Thank you,
The Year 2 team :)
8th - 12th January 2024
Happy New Year!
What a lovely first week back, we have enjoyed hearing about what the children got up to over the Christmas period. In literacy we have started to look at the adventure ‘Meerkat Mail’, focusing on the description of the different settings in the books. The children have been working really hard at using adjectives and nouns to do this.
In maths we have been looking at money, counting in pence and pounds and recognising what coins and notes have more or less value than others.Our Science topic this half term is based around materials and their properties and our history topic is on ‘Magnificent Monarchs’ over time and their lives.
As the temperature is dropping again, please can you ensure ALL hats, gloves and scarves have names on clearly.
Thank you,
The year 2 team :)
18th - 20th December 2023
This week we continued our festivities with many number, word and craft activities. The children have enjoyed a final three days of term celebrating in their classes for Christmas.
We have had the Christmas fair, Christmas lunch and jumper day and a super whole school carol singing service.
The children have thoroughly enjoyed this half term and been Year 2 superstars!As we finish our Autumn term we would like to say a big thank you to the children and you for all your generosity, it is greatly appreciated! We hope you have a lovely Christmas period and look forward to hearing all about it fro the children.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Year 2 team :)
11th - 15th December 2023
This week we continued our learning with shapes. In literacy the children have been working hard writing reports on Father Christmas, they enjoyed researching and making up facts to use in their writing. We also enjoyed welcoming parents into our classroom for our Humanities afternoon.
4th - 8th December 2023
This week started off with a festive afternoon on Monday when we made our christingles and decorated our classrooms. On Tuesday as part of our Re curriculum the children walked to St Paul’s church in Highfield. The children asked many interesting questions and had the opportunity to explore the church and become familiar with christian artefacts. In maths we have been looking at 3D shapes and their properties.
20th - 27th November 2023
This week the children have been looking at 2D shapes and the number of sides and vertices they have. They have also been working really hard with their report writing and learning facts about Neil Armstrong. In geography we have started to look at ‘the world around us’, and this week the children explored compasses and how these can be used effectively to help with directions.
Just a reminder;
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Orange reading records and books need to be kept in the children’s bookbags.
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PE days are Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Toys are not to be brought into school.
Year 2 Team
13th - 17th November 2023
This week started with ‘Odd Sock Day’ to mark the start of Anti-bullying week and to raise awareness of this.
This week also saw the children sit some assessments which they approached with a positive attitude and perseverance. Mrs Sanders and Miss Vincett are so impressed by this and want to say how proud they both are of all the children in year 2.
The week finished with a non-uniform day to support ‘Children in Need’.
Have a restful weekend, the children deserve it!
Year 2 Team
6th - 10th November 2023
This week in Maths we have continued to look at both addition and subtraction, using base 10 to help us to work out the calculation.
In Literacy we have continued to look at non-chronological reports this time using Rosa Parks as our inspiration.
On Friday we celebrated both Armistice Day and Diwali. For Armistice day we gathered on the MUGA with our class, made wreaths and held a minutes silence. For Diwali the lovely Miss Fredericks held an assembly to share her knowledge of Diwali- which was fabulous, Thank you Miss Fredericks.
Year 2 Team.
30th October - 3rd November
Welcome back!
We hope that you had a wonderful half term break and are ready to face the busy term ahead.
In Literacy, we have begun to look at non-fiction texts and how best to create a Non- chronological report. This week we have been researching Greta Thumberg, we then used this information to write our first report.
In maths, we have been looking at adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers. The children have been working really hard on this!
This week the children brought in some pumpkins and the children celebrated the start of Autumn by decorating these. The children used paint, leaves, glitter and many more resources to create some fabulous artwork on their pumpkins!
Reminders
PE days are Tuesday and Wednesday - All jewellery to be removed at home. Thank you.
Reading books and reading records should be in school daily.
Year 2 Team
16th - 20th October
This week we have taken inspiration for our learning from our ‘significant people day’,
In literacy we have written an account of the activities we took part in and written an explanation of why we chose our particular significant person.
In history we have been exploring different significant people in the categories of activists, explorers, scientists, monarchs and more. We looked further into protests and why these happen. The children were superstars and worked together to make protest signs and as a year group they took to the school grounds chanting their demands!
The children have worked really hard in their first half term and we hope to see this continue and grow when we are back. Enjoy your break!
Year 2 Team
9th - 13th October
In Literacy the children have been writing their own traditional tales, remembering to use an exciting setting and introducing both their good and bad characters. In computing the children then got to use Google Classroom to publish the first paragraph of their story which they really enjoyed. In Maths the children have been using their number bonds when adding three digit numbers to make the process more efficient.
Example) 8 +3 +2 First adding the 8 + 2 =10 then adding the 3 to equal 13.
The following link is for some maths games that will help the children become secure in number bonds.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=number+bonds+to+10
Year 2 Team
2nd October - 6th October
This week the children have been looking at using noun phrases to describe a setting in our literacy lessons. In maths we have been looking at our number bonds to 10 and number bonds to 20. For example, 4 + 6 = 10, 14 + 6 = 20.
In history we have been exploring significant people, this week our focus was on activists such as Emmeline Pankhurst and Martin Luther King.
PE days have changed to Tuesday and Wednesday. Please make sure the children have their PE kits in school ready for Tuesday and that ALL jewellery is removed on PE days. Children can not take part in PE if they have earrings in. Uniform slips will be sent home from next week if earrings are in on PE day.
Reading books are still being handed out, please keep these and the orange reading records in the children’s book bags everyday! Please ensure to comment in the reading record when you listen to your child read, we expect this to be happening every day at home. Thank you.
25th - 29th September 2023
This week in Maths we have been comparing numbers by using the language 'greater than', 'less than' and 'equal to'. In Literacy we continued using 'Jack and the Beanstalk' as our stimulus, making changes and introducing our own characters.
This week some children have been bringing toys into school, particularly Pokemon cards, which if lost can be quite upsetting. Please remind your child that toys are not to be brought into school. Thank you.
Dont forget to book your childs parents evening - the portal is now open.
https://jupitercfs.schoolcloud.co.uk/
18th - 22nd September 2023
This week we have been looking at number lines in maths. The children have worked really hard with plotting and estimating numbers to complete these. In literacy we have been reading the story 'Jim and the beanstalk'. The children have written some super character descriptions on Jim and the giant and have been working hard using conjunctions to join their sentences.
A lot of children have been asking about bringing in their wellies. If this is something you would like to do, please make sure they are named and we will put them on the shelf.
11th - 15th September 2023
What a super week. The children have been working really hard in their literacy lessons, focusing on adjectives and how we can use these to make our sentences more interesting. In maths we have been looking at partitioning numbers to 100 using a part, part whole method (cherry diagram).
4th - 8th September
Welcome back!
What a super first week back! The children have worked superbly at settling into Year 2 and should be very proud of themselves. Despite the weather everyone has tried their hardest and it has been great to see all their happy faces back at school.
PE days are Monday and Wednesday. Please make sure the children have their kits including;
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White T-Shirt or T-shirt in their house colour (Red, blue, green or yellow).
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Black shorts
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Black plimsolls or trainers.
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Black tracksuit or black sports joggers and jumper
3rd - 7th July
The children were so creative on Monday and came up with a new creature based on two actual animals. They drew some brilliant pictures to help with their writing and then spent the next day planning their report by grouping facts into sub-headings. Next week, the children will write their text and then type them up on the Chrome Books to be published. In Maths, we are revisiting some basic conceptions in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and encouraging the children to write dates and present their work like our Key Stage 2 children do. This week the children have been taking part in our Design and Technology topic 'Cut, Stitch & Sew' each afternoon. They have been learning how to complete four different stitches including running stitch, back stitch, cross stitch and whip stitch. All of the children showed great perseverance as this was not an easy activity but everyone showed such a brilliant 'can do' attitude. They have designed their very own bag tag and will be bringing these home next week once the project is complete. We can't wait for you to see them!
26th - 30th June
This week, the children wrote an innovated version of 'The Vampire Dragon' text where they had changed the text to be about a new mythical creature with magic powers. Next week, we will be inventing our own animal and children will draw their creature before planning their very own report to apply the skills they have been learning in this topic. We want the children to type up their report using the Chrome Books! We are so impressed with how focussed the children have been during our handwriting sessions, we are having regular handwriting sessions ready for Year 3 and can already see big improvements in writing across all of their books! In Science, the children were learning about how humans impact the planet and the four main ideas for how we can help our planet. As a class, we spoke about ideas on what we could do in school i.e. encourage our kitchen staff to buy food locally, start a vegetable patch to eat seasonal vegetables, run a weekly community clean up and also encourage once a week meat free lunches. The children had to then use these ideas to write a persuasive letter to Mrs Armstrong to persuade her to take on some of their ideas. The children had another afternoon visiting their new classroom when they move into Year 3 and enjoyed getting to know their new teachers. Unfortunately due to rain, Sports Day was postponed but we hope it can go ahead on Wednesday 5th July and look forward to seeing you all there.
19th - 23rd June
The whole school have been carrying out assessments this week, however, in Year 2 due to SATs we only took part in a whole school writing activity. All of the children across the school were shown the same picture of a young girl on top of a dragon and had to use their imagination to create a story. The children worked really hard to complete their stories over a couple of days and were able to independently show off their brilliant writing skills. On Wednesday the children met their new teacher as they got to spend an afternoon in their new classroom! We hope this transition afternoon will continue until the end of term so the children become really familiar with the changes. In our science lesson, the children really enjoyed creating art work to represent a food chain, they were so creative with their designs and had to concentrate when cutting out the mouth hole to ensure their art work would all fit together.
12th - 16th June
This week we have continued to explore different aspects of information texts, we have spoken about what the writer has to do to ensure the reader finds a text engaging and useful. The children have been working on using different conjunctions in their sentences, as well as varying the lengths of their sentences when linking facts together. In maths this week we have enjoyed revisiting tally charts and block diagrams, the children collected data in groups and then had to work as a team to represent their data using a tally and a block diagram. We wil continue to explore data and move onto statistics next week using pictograms. The children have been working well in partners to research King Charles III and then use the information to create a report about him. In history next week we will be ordering events on a timeline, thinking about events that happened before the children were born as well as important events that have happened in their life time. We will be exploring food chains in science and will be using what we know to create some art work! We hope you have a great weekend. Please do remember to send children in with suncream on, sun hats and water in bottles!
5th - 9th June 2023
What a fantastic first week back from half term, with weather to make it even better! This week we have been doing different art activities with it being art week. Each year group was partnered with another and they spent Monday to Thursday, painting portraits, designing flipbooks, making suncatchers and crowns. The children were superstars and have really enjoyed their afternoons of arts and crafts. In maths we have been looking at time and telling it to five minutes. In literacy we have been looking at the 'vampire dragon' and focussing on describing features of the dragon. The children have produced some amazing drawings of dragons to label and discuss.
22nd - 26th May 2023
It has been a fantastic week and the sunshine really has helped, let’s hope it’s here to stay. The children have really impressed us with their amazing story ideas and how they have all used fantastic description within their own stories this week. The children have been focusing on editing their work, a really important skill that we will continue to work on next half term! They should feel really proud of themselves, we have a lot of future authors! In maths, we have been learning to tell the time at fifteen minute intervals, the children are still finding reading and writing quarter to and quarter past quite challenging so please try to talk about time both on an analogue and digital clock over half term! It has been a great week to get outside and build a big hotel, Year 2 worked so well as a team to build different layers of the hotel and they have been excited to see how many insects have checked into the hotel! Next term, we will continue our learning about magnificent monarchs by plotting events on a timeline and creating a report all about our new King. We will have a busy final few weeks with art week, music week and sports days so keep your eyes peeled for dates on the newsletter! We hope you all have a fantastic half term! Wear your suncream and stay hydrated!
12th - 19th May 2023
What a busy week we have had! The children have had a super week as Secret Agents in training and we are really proud of how hard they have worked with their different tasks and papers. Everyday the children have come into school smiling and ready, and it has been great to see. Now that the week is over I am sure they would love to share what "secret" training activities they have taken part in. This week we have been promoting 'walk to school week'. On Thursday, Year 2 took part in a meeting at the community centre and walking to school together, it was great to see a number of the children take part. In science we have been looking at microhabitats, this week the children explored these and in groups we went around the school grounds to look for the different animals we may find. As well as this we have started some gardening on the playground, the children worked superbly as a team, weeding, moving the worms and snails into a new home, and clearing nettles and leaves. The children are very keen to continue looking after our outdoor area and it would be super if they could continue to put their newfound skills to use at home! The children were very lucky this week to have a visit from Mr Golding who taught us all about portraits and gave us lots of tips on how to sketch these step by step. They then had a go at sketching their own portraits of Prince William and they look great!
8th - 12th May 2023
This week the children have really got to grips with fractions, they have been working to figure out unit and non-init fractions of amounts i.e. finding 2/3 of 12. Next week we will be revisiting all topics covered so far in Year 2 in preparation for the Secret Agent Tasks. Please do find some time over the weekend working with your child on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division - we enjoy using Topmarks maths or TT rockstars. The children have been fantastic authors this week, writing the beginning of their very own warning tale. The writer's toolkit included using similes, expanded noun phrases and interesting verbs to describe characters and the setting. We can't wait to continue these over the next two weeks. As you may already know, next week the children will be taking part in Secret Agent Tasks, remember they can bring healthy fruit snacks for the morning. A final reminder, children were sent home with forms to be signed by parents and children, please return these next week.
1st - 5th May 2023
Although a short week, it has been fun filled! Year 2 enjoyed their trip to the Roald Dahl museum and we hope to share some photos on social media very soon. The children were so well behaved and enjoyed explore the museum and learning lots of interesting facts about Roald and how he was inspired to write his stories. We have continued to explore fractions, finding a fraction of an amount i.e. 1/3 of 15. We do this by making three equal groups. In litracy, the children are becoming fantastic at using adjectives, similes and writing sentences with the grammar pattern - adjective, noun, (ing)verb i.e. a majestic dragon sleeping. In school, they wrote a recount of their trip and had to remember to include interesting detail. We are glad the weather held for our coronation picnic and nobody got wet! We hope you enjoyed the singing and continue to celebrate over the weekend. Enjoy another long weekend and we look forward to seeing the children next week when we will be introducing the Secret Agent Training!
18th - 28th April 2023
What a fun start back to the final term in Year 2. Our new topic for Summer is 'Magnificent Monarchs', how fitting! The children will be learning about the English and British monarchy and learning about our current monarch. In art, children will be learnig about portraits, looking at portraits of monarchs through time and will be creating their own. We are looking forward to a workshop by Mr Golding all about how to draw the perfect portrait! As I am sure you all have heard by now, Year 2 found evidence of a dragon on the school grounds. This has inspired some fantastic descriptive writing while we learn the story of Kassim and the Greedy Dragon! We hope to share some brilliant stories with you soon, before we use our knowlegde of dragons to then create a non-fiction report. In maths, we have started to learn about fractions. In Year 2 we aim to recognise halves, quarters and thirds of shapes and progress to finding a half or a quarter of an amount, linking nicely with our division facts. Please continue to support your child with learning to tell the time at home using o'clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past.
Year 2 trip - Wednesday 3rd May - Roald Dahl Museum
Please send your child to school in uniform, with a coat and with comfortable shoes. Trainers are fine! Please send them in with a lunch in a bag we can then put in the bin before we leave. We will aim to leave before 9:00 so please make sure you are on time to school!
20th - 24th March 2023
In literacy this week, all of Year 2 have planned and written a non-chronological report about a made up planet called Planet Time, this was a piece of writing that everyone in the school completed after watching a short clip to inspire ideas. They have really impressed us with their imagination and written work. A big focus moving forward will be correct letter formation and ensuring any pieces of writing have correct capital letters at the start of the sentence and correct punctuation at the end. In our theme lessons this week, we have been planning and writing an information text on the coast. The children have learnt so much over the last ten weeks and were able to recall so many fantastic facts about what you might see or do at the coast, having volunteers from the RNLI in last week was a great experience and I am sure the children have already shared their learning about how to stay safe near water with you. Remember 1 chin, 1 nose and 2 eyes if you need to call for the RNLI if you are in danger or see someone in danger and always stop and look for the RNLI flags if you are at the beach! In maths, we are beginning a unit on measure and will continue this next week. We have been looking at finding the length of an object even if it is placed against a ruler and not in line with 0. We have also been problem solving and finding the difference between two numbers such as if a glue is 15cm long and scissors are 25cm long what is the difference? The children found this concept a little challenging, and we used subtraction to find out the answer. Have a go over the weekend, you can write your own. In science we have started a bean diary, although we have not been so lucky with the sunshine, we may have to watch our beans germinate in the Summer term. Next week, Miss Gillingham will be out of class on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as she will be with the Year 6 children on PGL. Miss Plater, Miss Singfield and Mrs Sutherland will be covering the class on the final days of term. Please direct any questions or messages to them when you collect your children on those days.
13th - 17th March 2023
This week the children have been working hard to complete some assessments, these are not SATS, but help to prepare the children for Summer Term. More information will be provided soon around SATS and what to expect. On Friday, we were fortunate to have a visit from volunteer members of the RNLI to talk to our children about water safety. This was part of our Topic learning about Coasts, as the children have been learning all about the history of the RNLI and the importance of it. On Friday, the children spent some time discussing Comic Relief and how money raised is used to support a range of communities and people.
6th - 10th March 2023
In Literacy, the children wrote their own adventure tales and came up with some creative ideas for characters and wonderful setting description. In Maths, we have begun learning about the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. We will be exploring this in a range of ways such as drawing arrays, writing repeated addition, multiplication sentences, linking to division and learning about how halving and doubling. We look to initially explore ideas in a practical way using concrete resources before moving onto the abstract idea of a multiplication sentence. At home, your child can log in to Times Tables Rockstars and play games to support their learning, please only play the games where you can choose the times tables for them. Top Marks Maths is also a great site with lots of maths games too! In Art, the children have been exploring how flowers have inspired many artists to create beautiful abstract pieces from scultpures to installations, the children were impressed with how art has changed from simple paintings to larger than life pieces. In R.E, we have learnt about Losar, known as Tibetan New Year, learning about how it is celebrated as well as making prayer flags and dumplings with hidden messages.
27th - 3rd March 2023
The children thoroughly enjoyed our World Book Week activities and it was great to see so many of the children return to school for our Bedtime Stories evening. We hope you continue to read to your children daily and allow them to explore books in a range of different ways be it at the library, listening to an aduio book or your child reading to you. Year 2 enjoyed looking at the work of Roald Dahl and had a fun time creating some revoltingly delicious recipes and baking treats for the cake sale. It was great that we were able to raise so much and now we can look to spend this on a range of exciting texts to inspire our children to read. The children had great fun making their own version of 'George's Marvellous Medicine', mixing together their own chosen ingredients and writing what would happen if someone were to drink it.
20th-24th February 2023
What a great start back, it is so nice that the sunshine has started to appear. In Science, we hve started our unit on 'Plant survival' and the children enjoyed exploring the school grounds looking for signs of Spring, can you spot any daffodils or crocuses near where you live? We had some visitors in Year 2, the children said hello to two African land snails as we began our adventure tale unit based on the book 'The snail and the whale'. Children have re-told this story this week and have impressed both Year 2 teachers with their handwriting and use of adjectives. Before half term we began looking at 'groups' to support our learning of times tables and division, we have continued this by sharing and grouping amounts equally. This will help with our learning of the 2, 5 and 10 times tables and the related division facts. 'Coast' is still our topic, but over the next six weeks we look into the history of Whitby and the RNLI, the children worked hard to write some wonderful letters for us to post to the RNLI head quarters to thank them for their great work. We are also looking forward to a visit from the RNLI in a few weeks time. Remember next week is Book Week - the children will be baking on Friday 3rd March. On Tuesday the children can come to school in their pyjamas and on Friday they can dress as any book character, in Year 2 we will be exploring Roald Dahl's books across the week.
30th - 3rd February 2023
This week the children have been looking into diary writing, we worked together to create a toolkit to use when we write our own diary entries. Year 2 imagined themselves as Mr Grinling and thought about what he might do as a lighthouse keeper who lives on the coast. Next week they will be writing their own diaries about their week in school.
We all really enjoyed number day today, we did some persuasive writing based on 'how many jelly beans are too many' and created pictograms to collect and interpret data.
The children have learnt so much about maps and know how to use a key to find items on a map and use a compass to follow directions. Next week they will be using a map of the school to complete a treasure hunt and build their own 3D map of a coastal town.
23rd - 27th January 2023
The last couple of weeks we have been focusing on exploring money and using this in problem solving activities, making the same amount in different ways and counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.
We have been continuing our learning about 'defeat the monster' type narratives and the use of story mountains to help us build up to a dilemma to make our writing interesting for the reader. This week we have been focussing on speech and narratives and how we correctly use this in our writing. A rhyme to help us remember the correct way to use speech marks is ‘66, chat chat, chat, 99, who said that - “Yuk!” shouted Mr Grinling.
In Science, we have enjoyed observing and sorting materials in groups. We have learnt that objects can be the same material but have a different purpose, because of their properties. For example, a spoon and a lamp post are both made of metal. However, the metal used for a lamp post is stronger and thicker than what is used for a spoon.
We are enjoying our topic ‘Coast’ as we have been able to learn about coastal erosion and create stop motion movies to show the impact of coastal erosion over time.
16th - 20th January 2023
The children are experts with coins and notes! They have a good understanding of the value of different coins and notes and think many have a career in banking!
In literacy, the children invented new versions of The Lighthouse Keeper’s lunch. They all had such brilliant ideas such as ‘The Giraffe Keeper’s lunch, The Miner’s lunch, The bird-watcher’s lunch. We can’t wait to start writing these.
In Geography we have been looking at directions using a compass and a map. Could you challenge and continue this learning at home with questions such as; Can you walk North? What direction is this? Can you point to the South?
In D&T we have been exploring how to strengthen structures using paper or cardboard and different materials. We will apply this learning to making natural and man made features for a large 3D map.
9th - 13th January 2023
Happy New Year! Welcome back!
We have jumped straight into our new theme which is Coastline, this geography based topic will teach children about natural and man made features relating to our coastlines in the United Kingdom and link a D&T project about beach huts. In Science, we enjoyed a Now Press Play about sorting materials at a recycling centre, perhaps at home you can discuss which items can be recycled and consider using less single use plastic to help the environment. The children were excited to get a package delivered from the office, only to discover it was the leftover pieces of the Lighthouse keeper's lunch and some pesky seagulls had taken it! Over the next few weeks we will be learning about 'defeat the monster' type narratives and use story mountains to help us build up to a dilemma to make our writing interesting for the reader. In maths we decided to revisit addition and subtraction and know that daily practice of adding and taking away two digit numbers would be really helpful! Please continue to do this at home too! Next week we will start to explore money and then use this in problem solving activities, counting in 2s, 5s, 10s will be really helpful!
Have a lovely weekend! We will send P.E kits home on Monday if they are not home already, so children can wear their kits to school on Tuesday morning.
P.E update
P.E days for Year 2 are now on Tuesday and Thursday. P.E starts at 8:45, your child must be in school and ready at this time. We are happy if you send your child into school on Tuesday ready for P.E and put their uniform in their bag. Please ensure earrings are taken out and warm clothing is stil packed in the bag as the children often go outside. We can send P.E kits home on a Thursday.
Thank you.
19th - 21st December 2022
Thank you!
The end of Autumn term is here! What a first term it has been for the children, with lots of new learning and experiences. We have enjoyed our last week watching year group and choir peformances, including doing our class poems to the school in an assembly. This week we have spent our time coming together before Christmas doing different creative actvities, including our christingles and the tree decorations that have come home.
All the year 2 staff want to say a huge thank you for our lovely gifts, we really appreicate your kindess and generosity, and we wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
12th - 15th December 2022
What a chilly week it has been! Despite the cold this week we have really enjoyed playing in the snow outside.
This week we have continued our learning on instruction writing with a focus on 'How to make a Christingle', after we made our own on Tuesday. We have been working really hard to make sure we included our time adverbials, for example, first, next, then and finally, as well as some "bossy" verbs. We have been learning some Christmas poetry and are very excited to recite some poems to everyone on Friday at our poetry performance.
As well as this we have been working hard practicing our carol singing for our school carol service on Monday at 2:45.
In maths we have been looking at the number of faces, edges and vertices on 3D shapes and how these are different to 2D shapes.
ANNOUNCEMENT
Year 2 would like to invite you to a poetry performance on Friday 16th at 2:30pm, we will welcome you in through the main entrance and the performance will be finished by 3:00. We will ask you to walk back round to the classroom doors to collect. We appreciate this is last minute, we do apologise, but hope to see lots of you there. If you are unable to attend we are happy to welcome Grandparents or family members including younger siblings not yet in Jupiter. This performance will be recorded and emailed out to parents.
5th - 9th December 2022
This week we have started our Christmas door decorating! Owls have a super artistic Polar express train and Puffins have a great theme of Santa’s’ workshop.
In literacy we have been focusing on instruction writing and the use of imperative verbs ‘bossy words’. For example, put that hat on your head.
With the use of our instruction writing in DT we planned and prepared instructions on how to make a healthy salad for school. We chose a pasta salad and used different kitchen utensils to prepare our vegetables, such as peelers, graters, knives and scissors. Of course this was with adult support!
In maths we have been learning about symmetry and practiced drawing 2D shapes showing their lines of symmetry, by using mirrors to help us.
Reading – all children will be heard read and given new books before we finish for Christmas, please bare with us whilst we complete reading and phonics assessments!
28th – 2nd December 2022
This week we completed our maths assessments, the children persevered well with these and should be very proud of themselves!
In RE we learnt about advent and the meaning behind the candles on a Christmas wreath. We collected leaves and branches from around school and used this to make our own Christmas wreaths. These were super!
In computing we looked at digital photography and what makes a good photo. We had a bingo sheet and in pairs took photos of the things on our list. For example, something close up and an action shot.
21st - 25th November 2022
This week we started our assessments. The children were super with their reading assessments and have written some super adventure stories on a family of meerkats.
In Geography we spent time exploring globes and learning about the equator and how the temperature of a country is determined by how close it is to the equator.
Please make sure all children have a full PE kit. Coats are needed, now that the weather has become colder.
14th - 18th November 2022
This week we visited St Pauls church. We took a rather soggy walk there and learnt about lots of things in the church. We even got to hear the bells ring!
In Literacy we have been innovating (changing) our Meerkat mail stories, where Sunny the meerkat has visited Gadebridge park, Ashridge woods and the seaside. In maths we have been doing subtraction with two, two digit numbers and exchanging. For example we know that we can not subtract 29 from 42 without exchaning from the tens.
Our theme topic this half term is Geography. We have been looking at the human and physical features in photographs and how these can be shown on a map using a key and symbols.
