Dear grown-ups,

In English, we finished our unit on ‘Dear Juno’ by writing a diary entry. The children worked very hard and produced some very lively diary entries.

In Maths, we finished our unit on ‘statistics’. The children really enjoyed using tally charts and bar graphs to read and represent data. However, the children are still finding reading the time on an analogue clock. Please continue to practise with them using quarter to, quarter past and the time in five minute intervals.

In Computing, we moved onto the ‘advanced’ mode on JIT to program our sprites.

In RHE, it was all about looking after our teeth!

We had a double RE this week where we looked at the significance of the puja and Diwali to Hindus. We finished off with an end of unit test.

In Geography, we created our own Lego towns and finished off the unit with a test.

In Science, it was all about animals in their natural habitats and comparing each one.

Great news for you all… we have sent home some more SATS papers.

Just a reminder…the papers are:

1. Reading
2. GPS
3. Reasoning (there is a paper stapled to the front of this test that you will need to read for the first five questions).

You can read the questions in the GPS and reasoning paper to your children but cannot read the reading paper.

Please return these on the 3rd June and ensure your child’s name is written on the front of each.

Next term, the children will be reciting a poem off by heart during a morning assembly. We have sent home the poem in the homework books. We have also uploaded it on the side of the blog in case you misplace it. Please practise the poem with your child over the half term.

Don’t forget about our trips on the first week back!

Have a great half term!

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Hello!

In Maths, we started our unit on ‘Time’. The children have worked hard but it is tricky for them to read the time on an analogue clock. Please practise telling the time at home with the children especially in five minute intervals.

In English, we have had a busy week using the story ‘Dear Juno’ to look at different word classes and the past and present tenses. We also started our end of term test in English.

In Science, we started our unit on ‘Living things in their Habitats’. We grouped things in living, non-living and dead categories.

In RE, we were busy learning about what is in a Hindu Mandir.

In Computing, we created a programme for two sprites.

Today, we celebrated Zambia and Zimbabwe. We enjoyed an assembly with Elizabeth where we got to hear all about the history, the culture and some famous landmark. We also enjoyed a delicious lunch. The children all looked great in their green, yellow and red clothing.

Don’t forget to do the homework!

Have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

Our Swanage trip….

On Bank Holiday Monday, our young explorers set off from their school with eager anticipation, their backpacks brimming with essentials and hearts full of curiosity. As they journeyed south through the rolling hills of the English countryside, they caught glimpses of verdant pastures and quaint villages, and they felt the excitement build as they approached their coastal destination.

Upon arrival in Swanage, the lush landscapes of the Purbeck Hills and the refreshing coastal breeze from the English Channel welcomed them to days filled with adventure. The picturesque Swanage Bay, with its golden sandy beaches framed by dramatic cliffs, set the perfect backdrop for exploration.

Beachcombing along the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Jurassic Coast, they discovered fascinating fossils and intriguing shells. Followed by splashing in the sea and paddling through the shallows with big smiles and sandy toes. After drying off, they tucked into some well-earned chips, giggling and dodging the ever-watchful seagulls who had their eyes on every bite. It was a joyful day full of laughter, seaside fun, and salty fingers!

Bright and early on Tuesday morning, our eager explorers delved into a variety of activities. They navigated nature trails through Durlston Country Park, identifying local flora such as wild thyme and spotting fauna. While in Durlston Park, the children went fossil hunting. They loved learning about the area’s rich geological history, including tales of ancient marine reptiles and ammonites embedded in the limestone cliffs of nearby Lulworth Cove. The explorers worked together to master new skills against the scenic backdrop of Old Harry Rocks, chalk formations that marked the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast.

This memorable journey not only broadened their horizons geographically and emotionally but also instilled a sense of confidence and camaraderie. Our Year 2 explorers returned home with cherished memories, tales of Dorset’s coastal wonders, and a newfound appreciation for the natural world.

No rest for the wicked, we hit the ground running in class after our trip..

In Maths this week, we have been busy finding 1/4 and 1/3 of shapes and numbers. We have now finished our unit on ‘fractions’ and we will be moving on to ‘time’ next week.

In English we were busy answering comprehension questions and using coordinating and subordinating conjunctions to form sentences from the story ‘Dear Juno’.

For Victory in Europe Day yesterday, we joined the Great Big Live Assembly to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day. We heard about the people who helped bring peace and to said thank you to all who were brave during the war.

In RE we continued our learning on Hinduism by looking at what at the heart of the religion.

In Science, we were busy learning about germination.

In Computing, we created problems for our partners to ‘debug’.

In Geography, we created maps of our route from home to school focusing on some of the main features we walk by. Then, we created a key to represent each feature.

Another successful Grandparent’s Day today. It was lovely to meet so many grandparents and special people.

Don’t forget about the Heritage Museum next weekend, check your ParentMail from Mr Schumm for more details!

Don’t forget to do the homework!

Have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

On Wednesday, both Year 2 classes had lots of fun completing their park run. The children showed amazing determination and sportsmanship during the event. Thank you to everyone who came to support them!

In English, we started our unit on ‘Dear Juno’.

In Computing, we continued our learning on debugging games.

In Maths, we completed our unit on measure and started our unit on fractions. Please practise finding halves and quarters of objects at home with your children.

In RE, we started our second unit on Hinduism. We took a closer look at Brahman.

In RHE, we were busy talking about how we can stop spreading germs.

We have started dance rehearsals for the end of summer production. Every child in Year 2 was given a copy of the song lyrics for our song for the production. Please practise them at home!

There is no homework this weekend. We have a busy few days ahead so it’s important the children have time to rest and prepare themselves.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly and Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

What a busy few days back we have had!

In RHE, we started our unit on ‘Being my Best’. Our lesson was on ‘how do we learn’ where we had lots of fun working as a team and in pairs to play different games.

On Science, we are finishing off our unit on plants. We had fun looking at all the different types of seed dispersal.

In English, we started our unit on homophones where we have been enjoying the book ‘Dear Deer’ by Gene Barretta.

In Maths, we have been very busy on our ‘Measure’ unit. We have been looking at mass, capacity and volume and trying really hard to remember to write the correct units of measure in our answers.

In Computing, we were busy looking at the importance of ‘debugging’

In Geography, we started our unit on ‘Mapmakers’. We had fun looking at a compass rose, using compasses in class as well as creating our own pirate maps.

Today, Year 2 were extremely lucky to have a real life coral scientist come to visit us. Arthur’s aunty Daisy kindly came to visit us on her trip to London. The children loved listening to Daisy share her vast knowledge with them on coral reefs. The children really enjoyed watching Daisy’s scuba diving videos and try to spot their favourite sea animals. The children got to handle some real coral and ask Daisy lots of questions. A huge ‘thank you’ to Daisy for taking the time to come and visit us.

Don’t forget to check your ParentMail about a reminder email regarding Swanage, not long now until our big trip!

Next Wednesday, is our first of the St. Stephen’s 2km sponsored walk. The children will need to come to school in their PE kits. Check your ParentMails for more information from the team in charge.

Don’t forget to do the homework. As the SATS are approaching you can always do some extra work with your child. There are lots of Year 2 appropriate resources available online by searching Google and in the local library.

This afternoon, Year2 were invited to the Year 6 WWII exhibition. The children in Year 2 had lots of fun looking at all of the children’s projects and asking lots of questions.

The children were back at the school library today so they have all taken home new books to enjoy.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

The blog is a day early but…we made it to the Easter break! Only the Summer Term left to go in Year 2 when we come back after the holidays. Time flies when you’re having fun!

This week, we have been busy with completing our end of term tests in Maths (arithmetic and reasoning) and English (spelling, grammar and punctuation and reading). The results of the test will help us to monitor the children’s learning.

We also completed our end of unit tests in RE, History and RHE.

A message from the Science team….

To top off the children’s hard work during last week’s Science Week, we found out that our school has been selected as one of the recipients of the Plastic Clever Schools Action Fund! This funding will enable us to purchase refillable whiteboard pens and glue sticks to reduce our plastic usage. Well done us!

If you’re looking for some more (and free) local Science fun over the holidays, we can recommend Imperial’s family workshops. More info here –

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/white-city-campus/community/events/

It was lovely to see so many of you at the Easter Bonnet Parade on Tuesday. The children’s bonnets were all amazing. Congratulations to our winners.

Homework is a little different for the Easter. Over Easter we would like the children to complete three 2022 SATS papers. We will send the papers home today (Thursday) with the children.

The papers are:

1. Reading
2. GPS
3. Reasoning (there is a paper stapled to the front of this test that you will need to read for the first five questions).

You can read the questions in the GPS and reasoning paper to your children but cannot read the reading paper. Please return these on the first day back and ensure your child’s name is written on the front of each.

Please check your ParentMail about the upcoming St. Stephen’s Got Talent Children’s Edition and the St. Stephen’s 2K BBC Park Run that we will be happening next half term.

Have a great Easter break and we will see you all on the 22nd April.

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

In English this week, we were busy with the story ‘A Hippy Hoppy Toad’ by Peggy Archer and Anne Wilsdorf. We had lots of fun with all the rhyming and repetition in the story.

In Maths this week, it was all about measuring the mass of a variety of objects.

This week was Science Week. We kicked off the week with an assembly all about our oceans by the organisation Common Seas, the Plastic Clever Schools initiative who also joined us in our classroom for a Q&A session. We had fun litter picking in the big playground this morning. We finished off Science Week with Natalia who spoke to us all about sustainability as she works with satellite data to monitor thermal changes and their environmental impact.

In RHE, we discussed how we spend our money on things that’s are either ‘needs’ or ‘wants’.

In DT, we finally used all the recycling everyone donated and made our Ferris Wheels. On Wednesday, we were busy listening, drawing, measuring, cutting, sticking, choosing, piercing, spinning and helping each other to make our masterpieces. We hope you enjoy them at home as much as we enjoyed making them in school.

In Science, we planted our French bean seeds.

In RE, we looked at the importance of water in the Easter story.

We returned our library books today. Please contact Ms Pereira directly if you have any problems with library books or fines.

Next Tuesday is the Easter Bonnet parade, don’t forget to work on your bonnet over the weekend.

Don’t forget to do the homework!

Have a great weekend and happy ‘Mother’s Day’ to all the amazing women out there!

Miss Kelly and Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make our Open Classroom. It was lovely to see so many of you enjoying your children’s hard work. They are very proud of their school books! It was also lovely to speak to most of you on parents evening too.

In English, we were busy having lots of fun with our unit on rhyme and repetition. We worked with our partners to come up with our own version of the poem ‘Dare’ by Lorna Gutierrez/ Polly Noakes. We also added some actions to our poems and preformed them to the class!

In Maths, we started our new unit on Measure. Please practise using a ruler and measuring objects around the house with your children.

In RE, we look at the importance of the cross in the Easter story.

In DT, we finished off planning our Ferris Wheels so that we are ready to hit the ground running next week when it comes to building them!

In RHE, we looked at the importance of saving money.

We finished off some of our Art Day activities from last week. The Arts Cafe will be on next Friday the 28th.

A message from the Science team about Science week next week…

It’s Science Week at St Stephens from 24th-28th March. This year, our focus is Sustainability to tie in with the Great British School Clean campaign and our new school Climate Action Plan.

https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-big-school-clean

Each year group has chosen a different focus for the week to tie in with our overall theme including plastic pollution and water scarcity.

H & F Council have kindly lent us litter picks to help us keep the school and local area clean and log how much rubbish we collect during the week.

Sustainable speakers will be popping into classrooms including some of our amazing parents. We also have sessions from Common Seas, the Plastic Clever Schools initiative, ecoactive and an old friend – Linda (previously our Scientist-in-Residence and now Engagement Officer at Imperial College).

The library reading focus for Science Week will tie in with our theme with lots of green reading materials. Our School Councillors are monitoring food wastage and water usage throughout the week. We will also going meat-free all week at lunchtimes and switching off both the heating and photocopiers to save energy and resources. 

Homework this weekend ties in with this theme with children logging water usage at home – Miss Bill has sent an email on this activity.

And if that wasn’t enough it’s also Earth Hour this Saturday evening at 8.30pm (although surely children will be in bed by then!). Join in by switching off non-essential lights and dedicating 60 minutes to Give an hour for Earth.

https://www.earthhour.org/

Don’t forget to do the homework!

Have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

What a week!

Year 2 embarked on an exciting trip to Gunnersbury Park on Wednesday, where they had the unique opportunity to attend a Florence Nightingale workshop. This experience aligned perfectly with the National curriculum, offering a hands-on approach to learning about the life and contributions of the ‘Lady with the Lamp’. The children were thrilled to engage in various activities, role-playing hospital scenes of the Crimean War. The workshop not only deepened their understanding of historical events but also helped in developing empathy and teamwork skills.
Overall, the trip was a resounding success, leaving the children inspired by Florence Nightingale’s legacy and eager to bring their newfound knowledge into their classroom discussions.

Some of the pupils shared their thoughts:
“I never knew helping people could be so interesting!”
“I liked learning about the old hospitals and how they took care of the soldiers.”
“Florence Nightingale was really brave! Maybe I’ll be a nurse one day.”

We also enjoyed spending time in Gunnersbury Park and the playground! A big ‘thank you’ to our trip helpers.

In English, we were busy writing our final writes which we are super excited for you to read through next week.

In RE, we look at the meaning if the bread and wine in the Last Supper.

In Maths, we were busy doing division with remainders. Please remember to practise your timetables with your children as it really helps them when it comes to thinking of the inverse for division.

Today, was Arts Day. We kicked off the day with a very colourful assembly with the illustrator Clair Rossiter. In our classroom we had fun learning about Stephen Stephen Wiltshire and tried to draw the London skyline from memory, just like Stephen. The results were amazing. Next, we looked at Tower Bridge in detail and at lots of different paintings of Tower Bridge. We sketched our own versions of Tower Bridge and then used watercolours to create our masterpieces. We had fun creating our own London Guards with oil pastels. We finished off the day with an art workshop with Clair Rossiter.

Don’t forget that the children have Library on Friday’s. Please make sure the children have their library books with him.

Don’t forget about the homework too.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Whiting

What an incredible class assembly! Your children were truly amazing and I felt so proud. Their confidence shone through and we really hope you enjoyed it as much as they did!

Yesterday was World Book Day, which was celebrated in schools across the UK. The theme this year was ‘Read Your Way’ and the children made every effort to impress the audience of our school parade with their fantastic outfits.

We took part in a ‘Readathon’, where we participated in reading for pleasure sessions across the week.

We completed some World Book Day related activities where we created our own book covers, designed ourselves as characters and completed word searches all on the theme of reading. We had lots of fun discussing our favourite characters and favourite books.

On Monday, we were very lucky to have a morning assembly and an afternoon Q&A session with the children’s author and illustrator Hannah Peck. Hannah spoke to the children about her love of books and how that influenced her to start writing and illustrating. The children really enjoyed listening to Hannah and asked her some very interesting questions.

In English, we thought about lots of describing words and worked on writing in the past tense.

In Maths we continued our work on division.

In Computing, this week, we were busy recapping how to stay safe online and learning about our digital footprints!

In RHE, we continued our work on how we manage our emotions. This week was all about what we can do when we feel like erupting like a volcano.

We are going on our History trip next week and we have a lot of children without permission, this means we will be unable to take them on the trip. Please check your ParentMail for the trip details as we don’t have the time to contact families individually!

There will be no spelling or Mathletics homework this week. Instead, we ask that you spend some time this weekend participating in the Usborne Sponsored Reading Challenge.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

Please refer to parent mail for information regarding our class assembly homework and costumes.

What a busy first week of Spring 2 that was!

In English, we continued with our unit on famous story’ The Princess and the Pea’.

In Maths, we started our work on division. We looked at the key vocabulary and revisited our learning on multiplication. We had lots of fun with our partners working out some division problems.

In RE, we finished our learning on the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ with a lesson on ‘temptation’. We started our new unit on ‘St. Stephen’s.

In DT this term it’s all about making a Ferris Wheel. We had fun designing our own Ferris Wheel!

Have a great weekend!

Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

Homework for half term is assembly rehearsals.

I wanted to inform you that our class assembly has been rescheduled to Friday 7th March at 9:00 am. As the children would only have three days after half term to prepare, I felt it would be unfair to expect them to get everything together in such a short time.

To help them feel confident and ready, please encourage your child to practise their dances over half term. The only dances they do not yet know are Thriller and I Got This Feeling. Videos for all dances have been shared in your class WhatsApp group, along with the tracks.

Additionally, it is important that the children know their lyrics and lines by the day they return to school. Your support in ensuring they are well-prepared is greatly appreciated.

For costumes, each child will need to bring the following:

• Black leggings
• Black socks
• Black shoes or black trainers
• A long-sleeved black top
• An umbrella (as a prop)
• A rain mac or raincoat

We continued to work on multiplication in Maths. There are lots of really good multiplication videos on YouTube by Hopscotch and Numberock that the children enjoy listening to and are really educational. You could always listen to a few of their ‘hits’ over there half term!

In English, we continued our work on The Princess and the Pea as well as spending more time on practising our contractions.

Today, we had lots of fun using clay. I hope you all enjoy the clay masterpieces that the children made as much as they enjoyed making them!

Just a reminder that the class registers close at 8.55am. The door at the top of the Year 2 stairs will be locked at 8.55am by staff and children will have to go around to the  school office to be marked in.

Have a lovely half term!

Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

In English this week, we started our new unit on the famous fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen ‘The Princess and the Pea’. We hot seated and role played the characters. We preformed the story with our partner for our peers, which was lots of fun! We answered some comprehension questions on the story and made up some of our own questions for our peers. We also took on the role of the princess in the story and thought about how she was feeling and what she was thinking in different parts of the story.

In Maths, we started our unit on Multiplication. We started using arrays, repeated addition and writing multiplication sentences. Multiplication is proving to be very popular, please practise with your child at home as all the extra practise really helps them especially with their mental arithmetic.

This week, St Stephen’s celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week. On Tuesday, we came together as a school to take part in The Great Big Live Assembly. The assembly discussed this year’s theme, ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself’ and talked about how the creative arts, like art and poetry, can be powerful ways to spread empathy and compassion.

Our RHE lesson was a little bit different this week. This morning we joined a zoom held by Primary Futures. The zoom meeting as about helping us to understand that the skills we learn in school help us in our everyday lives and will help our future selves.

We also took part in ‘Wear Your Scarf to School Day’ to support Children’s Mental Health Week. We came in wearing a scarf of our choice. We used our voice to share how our scarf says something special about us.

Your child would have taken home their class assembly script yesterday. Please can  they start to learn their lines and the songs. We will be in full rehearsal mode next week. Costume information to follow so please do not worry about that yet.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Kelly and Miss Whiting

Hello!

Today, for Lunar New Year we enjoyed a Lunar New Year inspired Collective Worship. After that, the Year 2s all enjoyed a Long Fan and Ribbon Dance. We enjoyed a very tasty lunch, explored Japan and carried out a variety of Lunar New Year and Japan inspired activities.

Our Geography focus this week was on the country Japan as we were exploring it as part of the Lunar New Year Festivities.

In Science, we identified different materials that are used for the same product and their suitability.

In RE, we looked at the importance of forgiving and being forgiven.

As it was Coding Week this week, our Computing lesson was an unplugged lesson and related to the topic of how well we know people online and offline.

In English, we wrote our end of unit piece. Everyone worked hard to make sure they included lots of interesting facts.

In Maths, we had lots of fun role playing ‘shop’ and giving our friends the correct change.

For RHE this week, Year 2 had a visit from Sarah Greenwood who delivers LifeBus sessions on behalf of CORAM Education. Our session was focused on: The Brain. Sarah discussed the different sections of our brain and how they determine how we respond to different situations or events. The children discussed how different people make them feel and how to deal with different situations. They sat on a special ‘Thankful Throne’ and gave thanks to their friends for all the different ways they enhance their lives.

Don’t forget to do the homework.

Miss Kelly and Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups!

In Maths this week, we have continued our unit on ‘Money’. We had lots of fun adding up our pretend money to buy lots of different toys! Please continue to practise with your child at home as counting with money is always tricky.

In English, we are still learning lots of facts about bees. We have been busing learning about different types of sentences, using the correct punctuation and using apostrophes to show possession.
We also had another highly requested book club lesson.

In RE, we were buying reflecting in the different things we pray to God for and deciding if they were ‘needs or wants’.

In Geography, we used compass points to navigate around a map.

In Science, we had fun finding lots of different items around the classroom that were made from wood, plastic, glass and metal.

In RHE, we identified situations in which we might need to say ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘I’ll ask’, or ‘I’ll tell’, in relation to keeping ourselves and others safe.

Don’t forget to do the homework.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

In Maths, we started our new unit on ‘Money’. Please practise counting different values of money with your children at home.

In English, we started our information unit all about ‘Bees’. We have been busy listening to stories and facts about bees, answering comprehension questions, sequencing and creating our own questions about the texts we have read. Our GPS lesson was on conjunctions again.

In Geography, we compared the climate in the UK and Kenya as well as looking at all the animals that live in Kenya.

In Science, we were busy experimenting with different materials.

In RE, we explored the idea of God’s kingdom on earth.

In RHE, how we can keep ourselves and others safe.

Today, we were very lucky to have a visit from a member of The London Fire Brigade. The firefighter talked us through all the different ways we can keep safe and what to do in the event of a fire. He spoke to the children about the importance of dialling 999 (not 911 as loads of the children thought) for the emergency services in the event of an emergency. He reminded them about the importance of knowing their door number and street name in the event of a fire and their postcode too. He also encouraged the children, along with their adults to check the fire alarms in their homes over the weekend. The children all really enjoyed the visit and asked lots of interesting questions, some even left the firefighter speechless.

Don’t forget to do the homework!

Have a nice weekend!

Miss Kelly and Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

Welcome back and a happy 2025 to everyone!

Thanks again for all the kind words, our vouchers and gifts at Christmas, we really appreciate them!

We have hit the ground running this week…

In English this week, we had lots of fun on our short unit all about ‘London’s Burning’. We had lots of fun singling along with the song and creating our own poems to the tune. We preformed them to our peers, adding in some very unique actions to add to the performance! Our grammar focus this week was to use the progressive form of verbs in the present and past tense to show that something is in progress. We also started our new handwriting unit and our class ‘book groups’!

In Maths, we started our unit in shapes. We had lots of fun with 2D shapes but the 3D shapes were proving trickier to learn so the fun continues next week.

In RE, we started our new unit on ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.

In Geography, we were busy locating the continents and oceans as well as the UK and Kenya.

In Science, we started our new unit on ‘Materials’ where we were busy sorting materials into different categories.

In Computing, we were busy looking at how to use technology safely to find digital content.

In RHE, we had to think about how we should look after ourselves when we get ill and how to get better quickly.

The children were back at the library today. If the children still have unpaid fines on their accounts they will not be able to take out books until the fines are paid. Please see the email from Mrs Pereira for more information.

The homework and this term’s poem can be found on the sidebar.

Don’t forget, reading books are to be read, signed and returned by Friday at the latest. Books brought in on Monday won’t be changed as we don’t have any extra time to change them.

We have to make some adjustments to our timetables for this term so we have uploaded the new ones in the sidebar.

A reminder from Mrs Allen…

Before Christmas we officially launched competition to take a photo of your child reading in the most exciting place they can think of. We will be using these pictures to then decorate our KS1 Outdoor Library area. Some of our current entries include reading to a horse, on Santa’s sleigh and even on top of a bin! If you have not yet entered the competition, fear not- there is still time and there are still plenty of house points up for grabs!

Please email your photographs to Mrs Allen (e.allen@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk) by Friday 23rd January.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

What a week!

We made it through the autumn!

Thank you all very much for your very generous Christmas vouchers and gifts as well as kind words. We all really appreciate it.

This week we were very busy doing English comprehension, grammar and punctuation and spelling tests.

In Maths we completed our end of unit test in Addition and Subtraction as well as our arithmetic and reasoning end of term tests.

In RE we completed our end of unit test on The Light of Christmas.

In DT we had lots of fun with pipe cleaners, paper straws and masking tape where we made strong, sturdy chairs suitable for baby bear.

On Wednesday we thoroughly enjoyed the production ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ performed by the Wizard Theatre Company. The children laughed all the way through and enjoyed meeting all of the different characters.

Yesterday, we had our very own Year 2 Christmas party where we had some tasty treats and lots of fun party games. Lots of fun was had!

In RHE we looked at all of the special people in our lives.

On Tuesday, we had a special assembly where we said goodbye to Miss Rachel.

We finished off the week with a lovely Christmas church service this morning and a day of Christmas crafts.

A message from Mrs Allen..

After a positive initial introduction this term, we’d like to give our outdoor library in the Key Stage One Playground a bit love. We have decided to create a new and exciting display to decorate the area! We would like as many photos of the children reading a book in the most exciting place they can think of, for example: under the bed, in a tree, inside a wardrobe! The winning entries will be displayed outside in our library area (and there may even be some House Points for grabs!).

Please email your entries directly to Mrs Allen: e.allen@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk

Good luck and happy reading!

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you all on the 6th January.

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

What a week!

We have to start off this week’s blog by saying how proud we are of all of our Nativity stars. They were all amazing! What a busy few weeks it has been rehearsing but it defiantly paid off. We hope you all enjoyed the show as much as we did. The new grey hairs were worth it!

In Computing we were busy learning all about copyright and ownership. We worked together to create our own ‘Save the Bees’ poster.

In RE, we recognised and discussed the light in the Christmas Story as well as discussing who our ‘guiding lights’ are and how they lead us.

We returned our library books today so Mrs Pereira will be in touch with you if any fines need to be paid.

In Science, we looked at the importance of exercise for our bodies and completed our end of unit quiz.

In History, we discussed the impact of the Great Fire of London on the people and on the city. We also completed our end of unit quiz.

A message from Mrs Pereira..

STORY COMPETITION

It may make for nice Christmas project? The local story competition run by Daunt Books is back again, with every child who enters getting a £5 book voucher. Most years, we have a winner at St Stephen’s who receive a voucher and the glory of seeing their stories published – so a good success rate. Click on the link

https://www.ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk/teaching-and-learning/library-corner/ and check out the info in the sidebar.

Management have said there will be no homework or reading books for the last week of the term. Shepherd’s Bush Library is still open for the children to enjoy lots of their books!

Have a good weekend,

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

In English this week, it was all about acting, planning and writing the story from Jamal’s perspective. The children were very creative and used lots of interesting detail in their work

In Maths, we were busy subtracting 3 one digit numbers as well as working on The Commutative Law.

In Science, it was all about eating a healthy balanced diet. We created our own healthy meals and meal plans. The children produced some very interesting dishes and meal plans.

In History, we began to use different historical sources.

In RE, we were busy learning all about the way Christingle signifies the Light of Christmas.

As per Ms Pereira’s email, today was the last day that the children could borrow books from the school library. All library books will need to be returned by Friday 13^th December.

On Wednesday afternoon we also got to enjoy the Reception Nativity dress rehearsal. It was lots of fun, some of our children could even remember their own line from when they performed in the Reception Nativity.

One last reminder for the costumes to be sent in by Monday.

Don’t forget to check your ParentMail for all the information about the Nativity shows on Thursday 12^th December.

No homework again this week but we need the children to really focus on all of their lines, songs and dances. Please continue to practise with them, it’s the final countdown to big show.

Have a great weekend,

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

Another busy week of rehearsing but we did manage to squeeze in some learning!

In History, we continued our learning on the Great Fire of London where we compared houses from 1666 and modern day houses.

In RE, we started our new unit on ‘The light of Christmas’. Our first lesson was all about finding the light of God all around us.

In English, we were busy editing sentences and spotting and using conjunctions in sentences.

In Maths, we had lots of fun adding 3 one digit numbers. Please continue practising adding and subtracting at home.

In DT we were busy making lots of different 3D shapes with plasticine.

Please remember to send in your child’s library book on a Friday. It is the only Library slot we have and some children are missing out taking out books every week.

There is no homework again this weekend. Instead we really need the children to practise their nativity lines, songs and dances. If they have misplaced their script, they can be found on the website along with the song lyrics. Dance videos were sent out via WhatsApp to both classes so everyone has access to them.

If you haven’t done already, please send in your child’s nativity costumes in a labelled bag. We will be having a dress rehearsal next week.

Have a great weekend,

Miss Kelly and Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

Another busy week in Year 2!

In History, we continued with our learning on ‘The Great Fire of London’.

In RE, we finished our unit on the Ten Commandments with an end of unit test.

In English, we were very busy all week writing about meteor showers using exciting adjectives, verbs, adverbs and expanded noun phrases. We also tried hard to use the correct punctuation.

In Maths, we were busy working on inverse operations. This was proving very tricky for some children so please practise with your child at home. We were working with two and three digit numbers.

In Science, we were busy looking at suitable habitats for animals to thrive in.

In RHE, it was all about valuing differences and highlighting what makes us all unique.

We have also been very busy with nativity rehearsals this week.

There is no homework this weekend. Instead we need the children to practise their nativity lines, songs and dances. Every child was given their lines. If they have misplaced them, they can be found on the website along with the song lyrics. Ms Whiting sent out some dance videos via WhatsApp to both classes so everyone has access to them.

Don’t forget to send in your child’s nativity costumes in a labelled bag. The list was sent out via ParentMail along with all the performance information.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly & Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

This week, we celebrated Anti-Bullying Week at school. This year, the theme was ‘Choose Respect’. On Tuesday, we had Odd Socks Day. This gave the children the chance to show their individuality and celebrate differences.

Our focus for RHE this week was all about Anti bullying.

In class, we watched Newsround across the week. Newsround highlighted the importance of Anti Bullying Week. We watched the BBC live Lesson for Anti-Bullying Week 2024 where Shanequa Paris, Rhys Stephenson and Dr Radha Modgil. The children helped Hacker to put on the ultimate sports day and learnt how to play fair, work together, and show respect.

We went through a very informative PowerPoint all about Anti Bullying. We discussed different scenarios and came up some great solutions to problems. We created posters to highlight different ways we can show respect. As always we emphasised the importance of always talking to our trusted adults whenever we are feeling unsure about a situation.

In English we started our new book ‘Look Up’ by Nathan Bryan. We sequenced the story, answered comprehension questions on the story and came up with lots of adverbs to describe the characters and their actions throughout the story.

In History, we started our unit on The Great Fire of London

In RE, we contributes to learn about the Ten Commandments.

Remember to practise your child’s Nativity lines, songs and dance with them. Hopefully, you should all be able to access them in the class WhatsApp groups soon. The lyrics and script are also on the sidebar just in case you need them!

The children all had their individual and sibling photos today and they all looked lovely.

It was lovely to see so many of you at our ‘Open Classrooms’ and Parents Evenings.
Thank you to the people who took the time to give the Year 2 team positive comments and feedback we really appreciate it!

The homework and comprehension can be found in the sidebar.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Kelly and Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups,

What a first week back, I think we could all do with another few days off!

Today, we had lots of fun celebrating Hispanic Day. The children all looked amazing in their traditional dresses and Costa Rican colours. We started the day with a very lively assembly where we got to watch some amazing flamenco dancing, listen to some beautiful singing and learn some fact about different Hispanic countries.

In class, we had lots of fun learning all about Costa Rica and placing it on a map using Google Earth (our favourite thing to do in Year 2). We created some beautiful art work using oil pastels inspired by all the amazing nature and wildlife that Costa Rica has to offer.  We enjoyed a lovely Spanish story ‘Salrage’ read to us by Carrie. Thank you for popping in to read to us Carrie and reading to the whole of Year 2.

We participated in an amazing flamenco inspired workshop, and we finished off the day with a mariachi band in the main hall. What a day!

In English this week, we were busy finishing off our unit on poetry. We recapped on our learning before half term, planned and wrote our own autumn poems. We added autumnal illustrations to match our words. Finally, we finished off the week by preforming our poems to our peers with actions included. Our budding poets put on a great show for everyone.

We had no library session this week as Library was in use for Hispanic Day workshops.

In Science, we continued on with our unit Animals including Humans. We were busy learning about what animals and humans need to survive.

In RE, we were very busy learning all about The Ten Commandments and reflecting on which ones we think are the most important.

In Maths this week, we have been busy recapping on our learning from last half term of adding one and two digit numbers crossing 10. We have moved on to subtracting but not crossing 10

Our Year 2s loved their road safety workshop on Wednesday learning all about the green cross code! They loved singing the ‘stop, look and listen’ song. They even met some furry, fun friends on the way.

Please practise the Nativity lines that we sent home with your children.

The homework can be found in the sidebar. Don’t forget it’s due in by Wednesday!

Have a great weekend,

Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

We made it to half-term!

This week we have been busy celebrating Black Voices Week.

We kick-started Black Voices Week with a ‘Hidden Figures’ assembly by Bigfoot Education. The children went on a journey throughout history learning of significant black figures, whose actions have made a positive impact on the world we live in today. We learnt about: Emperor Septimius Severus, John Blanke, Mary Prince, Lilian Bader and Paul Stephenson.

In Year 2, on the topic of ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ we explored Amanda Gorman. Amanda is a poet who read one of her own poems at Joe Biden’s inauguration as president of the United States in 2021. Amanda’s poem, “The Hill We Climb,” is about hope, unity, and justice. Based on Amanda’s poem, we shared our hopes for the future with each other. We worked with our partners to complete a comprehension all about Amanda. We also enjoyed listening to Amanda recite her poem at the inauguration.

On Wednesday, both Year 2 classes were lucky to have Seun (Gabrielle’s mum) come to visit and tell us all about the life of Ruby Bridges. The children really enjoyed listening to Ruby’s life and the brave choices she made and the positive changes that came as a result.

We also enjoyed to the amazing story ‘Sulwe’ read by the book’s fantastic author Lupita Nyong’o.

In Maths this week, it was all about adding two digit numbers and two digit numbers. We will continue to work on this after half term.

In English we were very busy writing ‘Book Reviews’ based on some of our favourite books. The children’s amazing book reviews are on display in the book corner for everyone to enjoy.

We had an extra Geography lesson this week based on ‘Our World’. We were very busy exploring the different flags from around the world and thinking about countries and places we have links to or have visited.

In Computing, we continued working on algorithms. We worked with our partners to deliver clear instructions for the ‘bots’ to follow.

In Science, we explored how our bodies change from babies to adults. Our activity was lots of fun. We had to measure our partners using metre sticks. Following that, we worked in our groups to order ourselves from tallest to shortest.

In Art, we finished our unit with a very messy lesson all about printmaking. The children’s hard work is all on display in the classroom for everyone to enjoy.

Great news, there is no homework over half-term!

Have a lovely half term!

Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

What a week!

In Maths this week, it was all about adding two digit numbers and one digit numbers. We worked hard at using our dienes to help us. It was tricky so we will continue to work on it next week.

In English, we were busy this week completing end of unit tests . We completed spelling, grammar and punctuation and non-fiction comprehension tests. We also continued to work on our poetry unit. We worked with our partners and created our own poems with rhyming pairs. We also worked hard at coming up with ideas on how to ‘uplevel’ our autumnal poems.

In RHE, we finished our unit on ‘Me and My Relationships’ where we discussed the difference between teasing and bullying. We ended the unit thinking all the different ways that we are good friends.

In RE, we finished off our unit on Hinduism by recapping on our learning and writing our own code on how to be a good Hindu. We also completed an end of unit test.

In Computing, we were busy learning all about algorithms. We worked collaboratively on an unplugged activity to sequence the steps of a muffin recipe.

In Geography, we had fun with our last lesson in the unit where we busy planning trips for tourist visiting London. We then ‘interviewed’ the tourist to see how they enjoyed their trip to London. We finished off the lesson with an end of unit quiz.

Don’t forget this week’s homework!

We were also very lucky this week and had double gymnastics.

Today, we participated in ‘Show Racism The Red Card’. Mr Schumm led a Collective Worship all about celebrating differences. We watched a very informative video by The Show Racism the Red Card charity about racism and the importance of reporting any racist behaviour.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

Yesterday, St Stephen’s celebrated World Mental Health Day by supporting the ‘Hello Yellow’ initiative by YoungMinds. The children came to school in their favourite yellow clothing and in return, they made a small donation towards the charity, YoungMinds. We began by gathering together for a special Collective Worship to discuss what it means by mental health: there are days when all of us struggle with how we are feeling, things can get tough and it can be difficult knowing how to cope but talking to those trusted adults around us can really help.

We also were treated to a song by our school choir, providing a ray of sunshine to begin our day!

Our RHE lesson was focused on discussing the importance of positive mental health as well as physical health. We also focused on developing strategies to support our mental health. We created badges to show the positive things we are good at as well as doodled all of our favourite things.

In English, we have been busy with our new unit on poetry. We have been busy exploring the poem ‘I’m a Tree’ by Tony Bradman.. We preformed the poem with our partners, answered some comprehension questions and wrote some amazing descriptive sentences about the poem.

Yesterday, we also enjoyed a Live English lesson hosted by The British Library. We had a special livestream lesson hosted by the British Library where we joined JT Williams (Lizzie and Belle Mysteries) and Maisie Chan (Keep Dancing Lizzie Chu) to celebrate representation & to inspire us to become the stars of our own stories. We tried to create concertina books and write stories about ourselves. There were also some special additional steps, looking at stories from the past and thinking about heritage and identity.

In Computing, we created a blog with inspiration from our recent English unit ‘The Lion in the Meadow’. We were very creative and we even ‘published’ our work.

We are now in our new Maths groups! We have streamed into our Maths groups to give the children the right support for them. The groups are not fixed and the children can move between the groups if needed. This week, we have been busy finishing off our unit on place value and completing an end of unit quiz.

In RE, we were busy leaving about the Hindu’s place of worship, a mandir.

In Geography, we were busy exploring London throughout the seasons. We had fun thinking about all the different activities tourists could do when they visit our capital city.

In Science, we explored the different ways in which animals reproduce.

In Art, we had lots of fun creating stained glass (plastic wallets) maps.

Don’t forget to do this week’s homework.

Have a great weekend,

Miss Whiting

Dear grown-ups, 

In RHE, it was all about our feelings this week. We worked collaboratively to come up with synonyms for a variety of different emotions. We had lots of fun with our peers acting out the different emotions. We also referred to the ‘zone of regulations’ posters we have on display in our classroom to help us to regulations our emotions throughout the school day. 

In English, we had a busy week recapping on how to use question marks and commas, using alliteration and writing noun phrases. As well as, planned and started to write our own stories based on our text ‘The Lion in the Meadow’.

We have been very busy in Maths this week. We counted in 3s while recapping counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. We were busy finding 10 more or 10 less than a number and ordering and positioning numbers on a number line. 

In Geography, we continued working on learning about, describing and locating geographical features in London.

In RE, we explored the word ‘pilgrimage’. We looked at the importance of the pilgrimage to The River Ganges for Hindus. We discussed pilgrimages in other religions. The children enjoyed looking at some pictures of the pilgrimages up Croagh Patrick in county Mayo. We taught about our own special pilgrimages we have been on. 

On Wednesday we enjoyed a lovely Harvest Festival church service. Thank you to everyone that was able to donate food and attend the church service. 

In Art today, we enjoyed printing using rollers.

Don’t forget to do your homework and grammar and punctuation this week. 

Have a lovely weekend, 

Miss Whiting 

Hello grown-ups,

In English, we started our unit on ‘The Lion in the Meadow’ by Margaret Mahy. We had lots of fun acting out the story, answering comprehension questions and describing the characters in the story using adjectives.

In Maths, we worked super hard this week! We were busy counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. We worked with our partners to complete some tasks, we answered lots of tricky problems and even completed a Maths quiz!

In Geography, we had lots of fun identifying lots of geographical features in London.

In RE, we looked at the meaning of Karma and how it makes people behave. We also enjoyed the story ‘My Hindi Faith’.

In Art, we continued to work hard on our unit ‘Map it Out’.

In Computing, we continued our unit on ‘say no graffiti’ by creating some online eye catching posters.

We attached the children’s reading cloud log in, inside the front cover of the children’s reading record. You will be able to access the children’s reading cloud from home as Ms Pereira spoke about in the Key Stage 1 Maths and Reading meeting last week.

Don’t forget to do your homework (on the side bar) and Mathletics.

Have a great weekend,

Miss Whiting

Today, we celebrated the Ethiopian and Eritrean new year. Our very own Ms Hana worked very hard in the kitchen over the last few days to make sure the children and adults of St. Stephen’s got to enjoy a delicious meal full of lots of flavour.

In English this week, we continued to work on our instructions unit. We had lots of fun looking at imperative ‘bossy’ verbs which the children were very good at using! We finished the week by working really hard at writing our own instructions making sure we used time connectives and lots of bossy verbs.

In Maths, it was another busy week of partitioning numbers into tens and ones and writing number sentences to match. Some of the children are still finding partitioning really hard so please try and practise at home. E.g 46= 4 tens and 6 ones 40+6 = 46. Don’t forget there is always the White Rose app and ‘Maths with Michael’ on White Rose that are free to access and linked below.

https://whiteroseeducation.com/parent-pupil-resources/maths/maths-with-michael

https://whiteroseeducation.com/1-minute-maths

In computing we tried our hand at creating some virtual street art.

In Science, we looked at different types of animals and their offspring.

In Geography, we had fun trying to give our partners directions to different famous landmarks in London. We tried really hard to use our key vocabulary of ‘north, south, east and west’.

In RHE, we imagined our dream classroom and shared all of the lovely things that we would have in it. Then, we thought about all of the things that we can do to make Madan a safe and happy classroom to learn in. We wrote down our pledges and turned them into a paperchain to hang in the classroom.

This week’s homework can be found on the sidebar. There is comprehension this week too, the first one of Year 2. For your child’s comprehension homework we have put a sticker on the inside of their homework book. The sticker highlights the minimum amount of boxes on the comprehension sheet they need to complete. However, if you would like to challenge your child to complete more homework on the comprehension sheet, please do! Remember homework books at to be in by Wednesday at the latest.

A music message….

Please find details below of two singing groups run by the Tri Borough music hub.

Our First Voices choir (years 1-2) is a group for children who love singing and enjoy taking part in performances. The students learn fun songs, rounds and musical games, as well as increasing their confidence when performing and developing fundamental musical skills.

Our Junior Voices choir (years 3-6) is a non-auditioned ensemble where students learn and perform music from a range of musical styles and through various teaching styles, including notation. The students develop key musicianship and performance skills, whilst engaging in regular performance opportunities throughout the year .For more details please follow the link below.

Registration – Tri-borough Music Hub (speedadmin.dk)

You can also contact Evie directly via email (evie.asio@rbkc.gov.uk) if you would like to discuss further.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Whiting

Hello grown-ups,

What a week!

In English, we were busy finishing off our unit on our class poet Mar Ann Hobeman. We took a closer look at the poem Brother and the vocabulary Hoberman used.

In Maths, we had a busy week working on our tens and ones. We partitioned numbers, created our own part whole models and wrote our own number sentences. We finished off the week by completing some assessments which will help us provide the correct support to the children moving forward.

In Geography, we took a closer look at some of the famous landmarks around our amazing capital city, London.

In Computing, we were a little rusty at logging in to our computers so we had to take some time to practice. We then started our unit ‘Say no to Graffiti’.

In RE, we started our new unit on Hinduism. We looked at the important role that our family and friends play in our lives.

In RHE, we started our new unit on ‘Me and my Relationships’.

In Art, we started our unit called ‘Map it Out’. We were busy investigating maps and used oil pastels to map out our journey to school.

Next week for our Art lesson we will need some resources from home. Please could the children bring in an old tea towel each and some bubble wrap if you have any.

Today, we went to the Library and got the opportunity to take our first books out in Year 2. Our library slot is every Friday, so your child will need to bring their library books in each Friday in order to change them and choose a new book.

This week’s homework can be found on the top of the class page.

A spelling sticker has been put into your child’s homework book. You will notice that your child has been put in a spelling group, either blue or green. Please note that these groups are not permanent, the groups are subject to change. If your child gets their spellings right three weeks in a row they will be able to move up spelling group. If they are in the blue group and they get their spellings right three weeks in a row they will get house points.

Just a reminder… completed homework books are to be in by Wednesday each week. Signed reading books are to be in by Friday. We only have one opportunity to change books throughout the week. New books go home on a Monday so you have the week to read them.

Homework books now have the children Mathletics and London Grid For Learning log in stuck inside the front cover along with the children’s spelling groups.

Have an amazing weekend!

Miss Whiting

A massive hello!

Welcome to Year 2 and welcome to Hoberman class. Miss Karen, Miss Michelle and I have all very much enjoyed the first week back at school and we hope the children have too. What a great start to the new school year with a wonderful class! We have had such a brilliant first week of Year 2! Your children are amazing and have made me smile and giggle the whole day long! They’re an absolutely delight and I know we are going to have the most amazing year!

What have we been up to?

This week we read a lovely book called ‘Ruby’s Worries’ and discussed what to do if we have a worry. We wrote a holiday recount using lots of exciting adjectives. It sounds like everyone has a fantastic summer! As a class, we came up with our classroom rules which will help us to have a safe and calm classroom. We also analysed the poem ‘Brother’ by Mary Ann Hoberman (our class poet).

We had our first Spanish lesson in Year 2. It was very exciting! We focused on animals and colours.

In Maths, we worked on our place value knowledge using tens and ones and how to spell numbers in words.

In Geography, we learnt about our capital city. We located it on a map of the world and then placed the UK within Europe. We found out that London is the capital of the UK as well as the capital of England but we discovered that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their own capital cities. We talked about some of the most famous landmarks in London including Big Ben and the London Eye. Finally, we played a board game where we took it in turns to answer questions about London. A correct answer meant that you could roll the dice and move forward.

In Art, we have been investigating maps as a stimulus for drawing. We organised images into groups explaining our choices and then we drew a map of our journey to school making it interesting by using lots of details.

This week’s homework

The children need to design a poster that they feel expresses them on the first page of their homework book.

Homework from Friday 13^th September

Homework will be set each week on a Friday and will need to be returned by the latest on Wednesday the following week. Your child will be given a green homework book to complete their spelling homework, sentences and Maths homework in. The homework sheet will be uploaded to the class blog on a Friday which will explain all.

They will have a set of spellings to learn. They will all learn the statutory spellings (5).

There will be a sticker at the front of their homework book that explains if they are in green group (5 additional spellings) or blue group (8 additional spellings). This will be something that is fluid throughout the year. They will need to learn these spellings for a relaxed spelling test each Friday as well as writing each of words 3 times in the front of their homework book to help them remember how to spell them.

Following this, they will need to write three sentences using words from their spelling list and a grammar focus in the front of their homework book.

There will be a small Maths task set at the bottom of the homework sheet, which is to be completed at the back of their homework book.

Each Friday we will set tasks on Mathletics, which is to be completed by the following Wednesday.

Fortnightly, the children will have a comprehension exercise that you will find in their homework book.

Reading books

Two reading books will be given out on a Monday and will need to be returned on a Friday. Please ensure that your reading record is signed so we can change the books.

On Monday 9^th September the children will received a reading book based on their reading levels that have been shared with us from the previous year. Over the next few weeks, we will reassess their reading levels so this may change.

P.E and Gymnastics days for Hoberman

Hoberman has P.E on a Monday and Gymnastics on a Tuesday.

We have uploaded some useful information to our class page for you to look at.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting