Year 2 Class News

Living & Learning: Being safe

Being safe is a key part of our Living and Learning curriculum and we took part in the NSPCC Speak out Stay Safe online assembly.

During the assembly, we heard about Sam and some things that were upsetting Sam.

Thankfully, Sam told a teacher about her worries. We thought about which grown-ups would be good to talk to in school and out of school (start telling other people). Brothers, sisters and friends would also be good to talk to and discuss feelings but telling a grown-up (over 18) would be the best thing to do to get help.

You could speak to safe adults at school like the safeguarding team.

Be brave and speak out – it will get better.

Our Living and Learning box, in the classroom, is another way the children can speak out and write down any worries.

We also heard about Childline – ask your child to show you the way to remember the number.

Help at home: Buddy Zone, on the Childline website, has some games and activities for the children to do.

PE

Summer term after-school clubs

Rhinos Rugbees

Times Tables Rock Stars

This week, we have talked through how the children can access and use Times Tables Rock Stars. Login details are the same as for Numbots.

In Year 2, the children learn the two, five and ten times tables and these are the tables that have been assigned to the children. There will be division questions related to those times tables too.

Soundcheck is used in Key Stage 2 to check all the times table facts up to x12 so this isn’t recommended in Year 2 as the children haven’t learned these other times tables yet.

We encourage the children to continue to use Numbots too to help to secure their addition and subtraction number facts.

Another resource to support times tables and other number facts is Hit the Button. This is a great, fast-paced game and children can choose which times tables or number facts to work on during each game. This game is free to play online.

If you have any further questions regarding the resources mentioned, do not hesitate to contact us.

English, Maths and Topic

We’ve had a fantastic start to the summer term. In English, we’ve begun exploring our new class text, Where the Wild Things Are  by Maurice Sendak. So far, we’ve really enjoyed listening to the story, sequencing key events and discussing statements about the text to decide whether they are true or false. 

In Maths, we’re continuing to develop our multiplication skills. Our focus has been on the 2 times tables and we’ll soon be moving on to the 10 times tables.

In Topic, we have started our Geography Explorers unit. We’ve begun by revisiting the seven continents and five oceans . The children have enjoyed using atlases to locate these, as well as learning through fun and engaging songs.

(Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.)

How you can help at home:

• Please practise the 2 and 10 times tables.
• Can your child name the seven continents and the five oceans?
• Do they remember which ocean is the largest?

Roundhay tennis opportunities

This week, we welcome Paul from Roundhay Tennis Club who will be running a taster tennis session for Reception and Year 1 classes, giving children the opportunity to try tennis and inspire them to pick up a racket.

Living & Learning: healthy eating

Our latest Living and Learning theme has been all about healthy eating.

This video helps to explain the importance of healthy eating as part of living healthily.

First of all, we thought about the 5 a day message. Having at least 5 (ideally different) portions of fruit and vegetables keeps us healthy. These could be different types of fruit and vegetables.

  A portion is about a handful.

Here are some tips for achieving your 5 a day.

You could have some banana on your cereal.

If you put some cucumber in your sandwich, that would be an extra portion.

You could add some sweetcorn or peas to your pasta for tea.

Have some fruit or vegetable sticks when you get home from school.

The Eatwell Guide is a key document to show how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet. The bigger the section the more food from that group we should eat. The balance of foods from each group does not need to be achieved with every meal but we should aim for the balance over a day or even a week. We had a go at sorting different foods into the different sections.

Our latest Design and Technology: food and nutrition preparation of our fruit salad linked well to this learning.

Help at home look at the Eatwell guide together and think about any improvements that could be made. This may be having an extra vegetable a day, trying a new fruit or vegetable, switching to brown bread or pasta or having a healthier snack after school.

More healthy eating ideas can be found by signing up to these Healthy Steps emails from Better Health (formally Change4Life).

Design & Technology Food and Nutrition: fruit salad

This week, Year 2 have been using their food preparation skills to create their latest product, fruit salad.

This forms part of our Design and Technology food learning which involves following a recipe to create a product each term.

First, we got ready to cook.

Here are some of the skills we used.

Draining

Peeling and segmenting

Bridge hold and claw grip (for chopping)

We also used measuring skills and mixing too.

Finally, the children got to enjoy their finished product.

I tried kiwi and I really liked it.

Next time, I would make it without raspberries.

I liked the yogurt with the fruit salad because when I stirred it together it turned pink and it tasted good.

I tried raspberries and I liked them with the yogurt.

I wanted even more as it was delicious!

I tried grapes and I would have them again.

I want to eat this every day because it is healthy and tasty.

We had 2 of our 5 a day.

We always evaluated our product afterwards to see how it could be changed it next time.

Well done to all the children who worked safely and sensibly with Mrs Simpson and Mrs Rothery.

Help at home: your child has taken this recipe home. Can they demonstrate some of their food preparation skills by making this again at home.

Topic Drop Down Morning

Today, we’ve had a busy morning re-visiting some learning from Year 1.

The children impressed us with their excellent recall of key facts about the Great Fire of London, as well as their strong knowledge of the continents, oceans, and the countries of the UK and their capital cities. We finished the morning by exploring artwork by George Seurat and Bridget Riley, where the children demonstrated excellent oracy skills as they thoughtfully discussed their likes and dislikes.