Year 2 Class News

List writing

Posted on Friday 14 September 2018 by Mr Wilks

This morning we’ve been writing lists using commas. Children had to create the list on slips of paper (including punctuation).

Best of British themed menu

Posted on Wednesday 12 September 2018 by Mrs Taylor

Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 04 October.

Please contact the office, by Wednesday 26 September, if your child would like a school dinner on this day.

Day one in Year 2

Posted on Tuesday 04 September 2018 by Mrs Taylor

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.

Living and Learning

Posted on Sunday 02 September 2018 by Mrs Taylor

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 2

Posted on Sunday 22 July 2018 by Mrs Taylor

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

Posted on Saturday 21 July 2018 by Mrs Taylor

Here are some more ideas for keeping active over the summer holiday.

 

Make-A-Wish skipping challenge

Posted on Saturday 21 July 2018 by Mrs Taylor

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.

 

Balance, Pedal, Go!

Posted on Friday 20 July 2018 by Mrs Taylor

This report highlights that, according to new research by Keep Britain Tidy, a third of primary school children have never been taught how to ride a bike.

We’re happy to say that following the recent Reception balance, pedal, go bike training sessions, 24 out of 30 children can now ride a pedal bike.  Two children missed their final session so the number could be even higher!  Prior to the training, four children could ride a pedal bike.

Well done to the Reception children who remained focussed through their sessions and used determination to achieve this key life skill.

These sessions were funded by our PE Premium and from the staff, parent and pupil feedback, this will be an initiative we will repeat next year too.

We hope the children will continue to develop their riding skills over the holidays – maybe going on a family bike ride; taking part in the Leeds Let’s Ride event on traffic free roads on Sunday 2 September; going along to a Let’s Ride Pop Up ride locally and most importantly using their bikes to travel to school when we return in September.

New school dinner menu

Posted on Friday 20 July 2018 by Mrs Taylor

From September, our school dinner menu will be changing.  This menu, provided by our school meals provider Catering Leeds, will be served until February half term.

Through liaison with Catering Leeds, the vegetable choices and jacket potato fillings requested by the children have been incorporated into the new menu.

As well as on our website, the three week cyclical menu is displayed in the parent/carer noticeboard for you to discuss with your child.   If you would like a printed copy, please ask at the office.

Have a look for the days ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are.  All children now make their main meal choice at the start of the day.  This ensures they get their first choice of meal.

School meals continue to be free for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. If your child is in Key Stage 2, please check for eligibility for free school meals. (It’s important to check for eligibility for younger children, too, because school receives additional funding for each child who is eligible for a free meal, even when they’re free in Reception and Year 1 and Year 2!)

If your child would like to start having school dinners, please inform the office. A combination of packed lunches and school dinners is also available.

Children are consulted on school meals through our regular School Council meetings.  Feedback may also be given by speaking to an adult in school or completing a suggestions/comments slip and posting it in their class I want to say box.  We have a few new dishes on the menu which we encourage the children to try.

Thank you to parents who also raise questions and give feedback.  We can then ensure this is passed on to the kitchen staff.

It’s gold again!

Posted on Tuesday 17 July 2018 by Mrs Taylor

At the end of each year, schools are invited to apply for their School Games Mark. The School Games Mark rewards schools for their commitment to and development of competition, school sport and physical education.

We are very proud to announce that our application has been verified and we have been awarded Gold award for the fourth year running.

Thank you to staff who have accompanied children to these events or run after-school clubs this year. Thank you also to Mrs Russell who provides excellent administration of our clubs and sporting events and competitions.

Thank you as well to all parents/carers who have helped with transport and supported at our events this year. Finally, thank you to all pupils who have tried out a new physical activity either at an after-school club or as part of a competition or participation event and to those children who have represented our school so well this year.