Day one in Year 2
We’ve had a great first day in Year 2. It was good to see the children and hear all about their adventures over the holidays. Thank you for all the postcards we have received!
We’re looking forward to lots of exciting learning starting with our geography-themed mini-topic, Where in the world? Linked to this topic, ask your child what is the name of their table group.
To find out about our learning, please keep looking at the class news pages.
There has been a lot of information about new routines in Year 2 for the children today.
Here are a few key points to note:
- PE days are Tuesday and Thursday – earrings must be removed for PE.
- Children need to have a water bottle in school every day.
- Reading books will be sent home this week. These should be read and discussed with an adult at home. Please comment/sign the reading record book to show this has been read. It’s the children’s responsibility to put their book in the basket when they need it changing.
Finally, please do come and see us (Mrs Taylor – Monday and Tuesday and Mr Wilks – Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) if there’s anything you would like to check or ask.
Welcome back: I can greet someone politely
Hello all and welcome back.
Our new Year 6s had a great first day of their final year at primary school. It was calm, focused and relaxed – an atmosphere I’m confident we can maintain throughout the year.
Our first Living and Learning statement of the year, ‘I can greet someone politely’, was put to the test having not seen many people for six weeks. There were a number of lovely greetings and lots of discussions about each other’s holidays.
Talk to your child at home about how they greet people:
- Do they greet everybody in the same way?
- What are different nice ways of greeting people?
- Do they know how to greet someone in a different language?
When your child comes in in the morning, remind them to greet the adult at the gate, other children in the playground and the members of staff in their class when they go inside.
A great start!
What a great start!
The children returned to school today excited and ready to learn. We were impressed by just how quickly the class settled into a new routine.
It’s set to be a busy term full of exciting learning. We like to keep you up to date with what’s going on in class so please check this class news page regularly.
We begin with a mini-topic, ‘Where in the world?’
This will be a Geography-themed topic. The children will be learning to use an atlas, map and globe. We’ll study, name and locate countries and major cities around the world. As well as using ‘old fashioned’ methods to navigate, the class will look closely at modern technology (Google Earth) and how this has impacted on the way we can now easily locate places around the globe.
Place value, rounding numbers and comparing numbers are all on our maths agenda. Alongside this, there will be daily counting and times tables practise.
A lot of our reading activities will cross over and link to our topics. On a Wednesday, the children will have a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ session. Each group will be heard read from a guided book, focusing each week on a different skill necessary to aid comprehension and fluency. It is very important that your child has read to the given target page each week. During this session, we encourage the children to bring in a book from home. They’re welcome to keep this in the reading area for others to enjoy should they wish to.
Mr Owen and I are both around most of the time so please feel free to pop in if you’ve any questions or queries relating to your child or their learning.
Living and Learning
As we return to school, we begin our Living and Learning theme with a focus on manners: I can greet someone politely.
We’ll then continue by thinking about the ‘8 Rs for learning’. This theme is about promoting good learning behaviour for your child.
Each week, we’ll focus on two different ‘Rs’. We use an animal to symbolise each ‘R’, which might help your child remember all eight – can your child remember which animal matches the correct ‘R’?
You can support your child at home – we’ve listed a few ideas to help you below. Ask us if you’ve any questions or comments.
Download top tips for promoting the 8Rs for good learning behaviour.
I can show I am ready to learn.
Make sure your child is at school for a prompt start of 08:50.
Make sure your child has had plenty of sleep so they are alert and ready to learn at all times.
Encourage your child to ask lots of questions – that shows they want to learn!
I respond to feedback.
Ask your child if they remember their ‘stars’ and ‘steps’ in English and Maths.
I take a safe risk.
Talk about the difference between a safe and unsafe risk. At school, we want your child to take a safe risk by having a go at answering, even if unsure; trying something new and attempting harder learning.
I take responsibility for my own learning.
Provide time and space at home so your child is able to organise themselves: their PE kit, reading book, homework, spellings and tables… Don’t organise everything for them!
Make a link between rights and responsibilities: your child has the right to a great education, but needs to be responsible for their own learning.
I am resourceful.
Encourage your child to be organised so they can play with a range of different toys.
Encourage your child to try new ways to solve a tricky problem.
I am resilient.
Encourage your child to keep going! Set a tricky challenge or puzzle for your child to do.
Encourage your child to think of different ways of doing things.
Don’t let your child win when they play a game – they need to experience losing, too!
Celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn – be happy that your child found some learning hard and encourage them to ‘bounce back’ and learn from the experience.
I remember.
Make sure they have time to learn spellings, number bonds and times tables – a little practice daily is best.
Play memory games:
Kim’s game: show them objects for 30 seconds… can they remember all the objects?
Can they build up the sequence, ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple and a bike.’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a bike and a cucumber.’ etc … Take turns!
I reflect about my learning.
Talk with your child about what they’ve learnt, asking questions about:
how they learnt
why they learnt it
when they’ll use their learning
how they would teach this to someone else
what learning might link with what they’ve learnt today etc
As well as covering the 8Rs for learning, pupils will also learn about their rights and responsibilities.
Finally, we end the half term learning about democracy (one of the British Values). All children have the opportunity to experience democracy in our annual School Council elections. More details to follow.
Our full Living and Learning long term plan is available on the health pages and you can keep up to date with our weekly Living and Learning statements on the parent noticeboard in the playground and also on the school calendar.
Goodbye Year 4
All the staff in Year 4 would like to wish the class a fond farewell and lots of luck in Year 5. We have been so impressed by the children’s learning attitudes and desire to strive and do their best.
Each and every child has developed in more ways than I could list! They should all feel very proud of their achievements this year.
Thank you for all your support and the end of term gifts.
Enjoy the summer break! 
Mrs Freeman, Mr Owen, Mrs Charlesworth and Mrs Pearson
Goodbye Year 2
What a busy year of learning! Well done to all of Year 2 for all their efforts and achievements over this year.
We’ve reflected on our time in Year 2 and looked forward to moving to Year 3. Good luck to all the children in Key Stage 2.
We wish all the class and their families a happy, healthy and safe summer holidays.
Holiday activities
Here are some more ideas for keeping active over the summer holiday.
Triathlon opportunities
Brownlee Centre Sessions
The Brownlee Foundation are also hosting bike and run sessions at The Brownlee Centre. Open to children aged 8 to 14 of any ability and delivered by friendly, qualified coaches.
Location: The Brownlee Centre, Bodington Way, Leeds, LS16 8NA
Time: Wednesdays 5.30pm – 6.30pm
Contact: 07878 187742 or contact@thebrownleefoundation.org
Junior Triathlon with Active Leeds
The Brownlee Foundation have teamed up with Active Leeds to give young people the chance to get into triathlon. A great opportunity if you’re aged between 10 and 14 to try out all three elements of triathlon and develop your skills in a fun-packed session.
Weekly Sessions
Location: Leeds Urban Bike Park (bike and run session)
Time: Mondays 4.15-5.45pm
Contact: 0113 277 2413
Location: Rothwell Leisure Centre
Time: Tuesdays 3.30-5.30pm
Contact: 0113 336 7530
Location: Armley Leisure Centre
Time: Tuesdays 6-7.45pm
Contact: 0113 336 7880
Location: Fearnville Leisure Centre
Time: Wednesdays 5-7pm
Contact: 0113 378 1260
Holiday Camps
Junior Triathlon holiday camps are also held at leisure centres across Leeds including John Charles, John Smeaton, Armley, Rothwell and Fearnville. Each holiday camp runs for two hours and includes swimming, static cycling and running apart from John Charles which runs a three-hour camp including swimming, cycling and running where participants need to bring their own bike/helmet. Children aged 9 – 15 are able to attend and further information such as dates and times can be found through under the tab ‘Triathlon Specific Training’
Go TRI events
Go TRI events are a fun introduction for juniors who are discovering triathlon and they are a great way to get further involved with the sport. Keep an eye on the website for upcoming events in your area.
Make-A-Wish skipping challenge
At the end of the Being Healthy themed week, we wore blue for our Make-A-Wish skipping challenge day.
There was some fantastic skipping on the day with many children challenging themselves with new skipping skills or improving the number of skips individually or with a partner.
Thank you for all the donations for our school charity.
We raised £196 for Make-A-Wish.
It’s been a great year…
A is for Albie
Who’s loyal like Blue
B is for Brave,
Yusayrah’s tough and true
C is for Copeland
(Or should we call him Name?)
D is for Dancer
Musa’s moves will bring him fame
E is for Emily
The kindest soul around
F is for Felix
The coolest to be found
G is for Gold
On sports day Liam zoomed
H is for Happy
Jess’ smile brightens up the room
I is for Isabella
A brilliant friend to all
J is for Jasraj
With his mates he’s had a ball
K is for Kashif
Who’s funny and always smiling
L is for Leo
Who never gives up trying
M is for Mighty
Pollyanna’s brave and strong
N is for Nryan
He’s been fantastic all year long
O is for Oscars
Rayn would win one for Old Darwin
P is for Parth
At Moortown it feels like he’s always been!
Q is for Quiet
Sakina gets on and doesn’t fuss
R is for Respectful
Phoebe we can always trust
R is for Roos
His stories will be best-seller
S is for Stupendous
Jemima’s writing is also stellar
S is for Sami
He’s ready quicker than the rest
T is for Talha
Any sport he tries his best
U is for Unbelievable
Priya’s times tables will wow you!
U is for Underwater
Emma’s swimming is awesome, too!
V is for Voice
Will can sing a lovely(?) tune
W is for Whieldon
He’s a funny, caring loon!
X is for Xtremely cool
It oozes from Harris’ bones
Y is for Yes
Safiya-Mishal lives in the ‘can do’ zone
Y is for Yelling
For the football, Ethan’s always calling
Z is for Zero
For the times Hifza has stopped trying
I have loved teaching each and every one of your children and getting to know them. They have made my first year of teaching very special. I will miss teaching them next year so much!
Love from,
Miss Wilson