School Library
Today, we visited the school library for the first time this year. We chose a book (which we will be taking home) and enjoyed relaxing and reading. Please remember that your child needs to return their library book, in good condition, every Thursday.
The Incredible Book Eating Boy art
This week, we’ve been reading a picture book: The Incredible Book Eating Boy. So far, we’ve used the book as a stimulus to learn how to justify our inferences during our reading lessons and in our writing lessons we’ve been focussing on the grammar skills needed to write a high-quality recount (next week we’ll be writing a recount as if we are Henry – The Incredible Book Eating Boy).
Today, we studied the illustrations in the book and compared them to other illustrations by Oliver Jeffers. We discovered that he has quite a specific style and then practised drawing ourselves in the style of Oliver Jeffers in our sketch books.
Here’s a few action shots:
Ruler Art
We’ve created pieces of art and practised using rulers to draw straight lines this afternoon.
Welcome back!
Welcome back to what is set to be a busy term full of exciting learning. We hope that you all enjoyed the summer break. It was great to see all the children settle so well back into school. Attitudes to learning have been impressive so far – let’s keep this up! We like to keep you up to date with what’s going on in class so please keep checking the class news page on the school website regularly.
Our focus for the next two weeks is around a book called Orion and the Dark written by Emma Yarlett.
This is a beautifully written book, with engaging illustrations that help to tell the story of a little boy’s fear of the dark. What’s unusual here is that Dark is represented as a friendly being, and the book reveals why Dark really isn’t that scary after all. This book will form most of our English and reading activities. During the two weeks, the children will design and make their own monster using clay and look closely at constellations in the night sky.
In fact, work has already started on our monsters.
Here’s a quick peek! More to follow.
Following that, jump aboard the Year 4 Discovery ship as we head out on our adventure as explorers! Throughout this Big Topic, we’ll be studying famous explorers and their expeditions, use geographical skills for map reading and direction, look closely at some of the wonders of the world and much more. We are also planning to take the children out on a trip full of adventure and exploration! More details to follow.
Linking to our big topic, the first class novel will be Robinson Crusoe written by Daniel Defoe.
This classic novel has been adapted especially for younger children and has fantastic reviews. Here is an example: “I bought two copies of this book so my grandson could have one and I the other. He is nine years old so still enjoys being read to. The book is written at his level. I would recommend this book to anyone who is eight/nine years old, or thereabouts, and parents or grandparents reading one of the classics to their offspring.”
How can you help?
Question your child about the book. What do they know about the characters? Have they learnt anything new?
What questions would you ask if you met some of the characters?
Indoor and outdoor kits are needed in school each week. PE will be twice a week (Mondays and Fridays). Please ensure your child has a full kit in school. Also, please note that there has been an addition to the uniform policy regarding earrings. Children who wear earrings will be asked to remove them prior to a PE lesson. This must be carried out by the child. If they are unable to remove or put earrings back in by themselves, they must not wear them on the day they have PE.
Maths
Place value, rounding numbers and comparing numbers are all on our maths agenda. Alongside this, there will be daily counting and times tables practice. If you need any ideas of how best to support your child with their maths, then please feel free to ask. There is also a lot of guidance on the school website.
Living and Learning
Living and Learning is our new name for SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning).
Living and Learning will continue to cover SEAL learning but will also incorporate other aspects of PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) such as keeping safe, identity, drug education, physical health, rights and responsibilities and healthy minds.
We begin our Living and Learning learning this week with a focus on manners: I can greet someone politely.
For the rest of this half-term, we’re 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
School meals
Following feedback from parents and pupils (School Council and pupil health questionnaires), and a successful trial of children selecting their main meal on Fridays, we will be extending this to every day from next week. Children will select their main meal choice at registration.
Please share the menu with your child so they are aware of the choices for each day.
A great start to Year 2
Welcome back after the summer holidays. Thank you for all the postcards you sent us; it’s been great to hear about your adventures.
We had a great first day back and it was lovely to see all the children ready for a brand new year.
There was a lot of information to take in but we are sure the children will enjoy taking more responsibility (one of our 8Rs for Learning) this year and will soon get to know the new routines.
We welcome Ms Slater who will also be supporting the class.
Here are a few things to be aware of:
- Please ensure that you complete your child’s reading record; books won’t be changed unless parents / carers have informed us that the book has been completed.
- Books are changed twice a week (Monday and Thursday). It is your child’s responsibility to put their book and reading record in the basket for changing.
- Homework and spellings will be sent home on Fridays and can also be found on the website. Homework should be returned by the following Thursday and spellings will be tested on the Friday. Spelling tests will now be done in the back of the homework books so you will be able to see your child’s results.
- PE days are Tuesday and Thursday. Please ensure all clothes (uniform and PE kit) are labelled clearly.
- In a change to our uniform policy, earrings must not be worn for PE. Therefore if children cannot take them out themselves at school, they should not be worn on Tuesday or Thursday.
- Water bottles should be in school every day.
- Henry, as named by the children on our transition afternoon, is our new class mascot. He’s looking forward to visiting all the children at home, for a weekend, over the year. Please support your child to complete some sentences and maybe a picture in his diary and return to school on a Monday.
For the first two weeks, our topic is based around the text Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers, before we begin our geography-themed Big Topic, Explorers.
Please refer to our expectations for teaching and learning to see what the children will be learning across all subjects in Year 2.
There is a lot of information on our website for supporting your child at home and you will find some key information in your child’s homework book too.
We look forward to working with you this year and if you have any questions, please do come to see us at the classroom (Mrs Taylor on Monday and Tuesday and Mr Wilks on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).
Raring to go!
The Y4 staff are looking forward to welcoming you and your child back to school on Tuesday 05 September. We hope that you have all enjoyed the summer break – we can’t wait to hear about the exciting things you’ve all been up to.
Welcome back
Just a quick welcome back to our new Year 6s. Looking forward to seeing them all on Tuesday, ready to dive straight into some brilliant learning. Our PE lessons will be on Mondays and Wednesdays so no need to bring kits on the first day back.
Keep an eye on our class news throughout the year. There’ll be a couple of posts each week, some written by me and some written by the children, which will keep you up to date on what’s going on in class. Homework will be posted every Friday, along with a sneak peak of some homework we’ve particularly admired from the previous week.
See you on Tuesday.
Leeds Children’s Mayor voting
Congratulations to Pippa who was selected as our school entry and submitted her manifesto to be considered as the new Leeds Children’s Mayor.
Out of 48 entries, unfortunately Pippa wasn’t selected as one of the finalists.
Children are invited to vote for their two favourite manifestos from the twelve candidates.
The finalist who has the most votes when voting closes on 15 September will be elected as the new Children’s Mayor of Leeds.