This week’s poem – The Gruffalo
This week our poem was The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. We were all very familiar with this poem so enjoyed focusing on our prosody and actions.
Our focus words were: knobbly, poisonous and prickles.
Living & Learning: manners
This week, our L&L statement is: I can use good manners.
Manners are words and actions that we can do to help us be kind and respectful to others. Good manners help us to get on well with others.
As a class, we thought about some examples of how we use good manners…
We read this poem about manners to reinforce this important aspect of Living and Learning.
Help at home: remind your children to use good manners at home as well as at school. Encourage your child to greet the adults on the gate as they arrive at school.
Also, have a go at this manners quiz to check your child’s understanding.
History: similarities and differences
In History, we began exploring what houses were like in London in the 1600s before the Great Fire of London. We looked carefully at pictures of London and discussed how we could tell that they were from the past.
There are no cars but there’s lots of cars now so I know it’s from the past.
There weren’t any iPads or tablets or phones so they had to draw pictures not take photos.
The houses have lots of wood on them.
Working in groups, your children compared houses from the 1600s with houses today, identifying similarities and differences. They shared their ideas and annotated photographs to show what they had discovered.
Help at home: What are the similarities and differences between London today and London in the 1600s?
Autumn term after school clubs
This week’s poem – Goldilocks
This week our poem was called Goldilocks by Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt. It’s a poem inspired by the famous fairy tale. This week, there was no new vocabulary so we focused on our prosody – the expression we use when reading aloud.
How can you help with learning at home?
This week, your child will come home with their new e-book login and a reminder of their Numbots login (same login as Year 1). These can always be found inside their reading record book.
Reading
At the end of each week, your child will be set the book they have been reading in school. This can be accessed on the Collins e-book app. Please ensure this book is read at home and a comment is added to your child’s reading record book. Reading record books should be brought back to school by Thursday of the following week.
Numbots
The children do use Numbots in school but should spend regular short periods of time spent on this at home to support their addition and subtraction knowledge across the year.
Spellings
Each week, the children will be given eight spellings and these will be tested the following Friday. The spellings can always be found on the Year 2 spellings page. They’ll be a mixture of words from our phonics learning and also some tricky words. This spelling guide gives you some ideas for how to learn these spellings with your child. They’ll know their weekly score so please ask them how they’ve got on.
Handwriting
This year, the children will be practising their cursive handwriting daily following the letter sequence in our handwriting guide. This will support the children when we start to join our letters. Please use this at home to practise handwriting so the children can apply this in their writing at school.
Thank you for your support with your child’s learning at home and if you have any questions, please do come and ask!
Leeds Rhinos ticket offer
Here’s an offer for tickets for the final Leeds Rhinos home match of the season against Hull FC on Friday 11th September.
Junior tickets can be purchased for just £5 in all standing areas of the stadium. Up to two £5 junior tickets can be purchased per adult.
Living & Learning: rules
This week, we’ve been learning about the importance of rules at home, at school and in our community.
In particular, we’ve been thinking about our three school rules and how they might look when we’re in the classroom and around school.
We’re respectful:
- We use our manners.
- We let people join our games at break time.
- We listen when somebody else is talking.
We’re ready:
- We use positive body language.
- We focus on the speaker.
- We follow 3, 2, 1 stop.
We’re safe:
- We walk around school.
- We keep the four legs of our chairs on the floor at all times.
- We always use safe hands and feet.
Following our school rules will make our school a happy and healthy place to learn.
Help at home: think about our three school rules and talk with your child about what they might look like or sound like. Compare them with your rules at home. Are they similar? Are they different?
This week’s poem – First Day
Each week, Year 2 will be exploring a poem. We’ll discuss some of the new vocabulary, practise reading it and maybe even add some actions. By the end of the week, we’ll perform our poem and post it on here for you to see!
This week our poem was called First Day and was all about starting a new year in school. We learnt the new word: awaits.
Welcome to Year 2!
Hello!
Your children have had a fantastic start to Year 2 today and settled in brilliantly. It’s been great to see how well they’ve adapted to the new routines and new teachers. We’re really looking forward to an exciting and successful year!
The children will read 4 times per week in school and we encourage you to read with your child daily at home. Their books will be uploaded to Collins Hub each week so you can access them at home.
Important dates:
- PE – Wednesday and Friday
- Library – Thursday
- Spelling test – Friday
Any questions, please ask!