Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a grammar exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this wee and Mathletics has been set.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we have been answering comprehension questions about a letter written by the Queen in ‘La Princesa and the Pea and writing a letter as the Queen.

In Maths, we have been measuring in kilograms and grams and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division calculations within measure.

In R.E, we have been retelling the Easter story.

In History, we have been learning about the life of Mary Seacole and how her experiences were different from Florence Nightingale.

In Relationships and Health Education, we have been thinking about how we can feel safe.

In Computing, we have been charting some data and asking simple questions.

In DT, we made our Ferris wheels. We had to make a sturdy structure and pods.

Have an amazing weekend!

Miss Whiting

What a fantastic World Book Day we had on Thursday. So many amazing costumes!

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a reading comprehension exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this wee and Mathletics has been set.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we started the week by retelling the story ‘The Pea and the Princess’ in our own words. We then read a new story by Susan Middleton Elya based in Peru, called ‘La Princesa and the Pea’. Some of the words in the story are in Spanish which is the ‘first language’ in Peru. We used a glossary to translate the Spanish words into English and then they reread the story to each other. We have also been using the –ful and –less suffixes in sentences. To finish the week we thought about and wrote how the characters in ‘La Princesa and the Pea’ and what they might be feeling.

In Maths, we have been using our four operations (adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing) within measure. We have been comparing amounts and testing our knowledge or centimeters and meters.

In R.E, we have been looking at the symbols of the Easter story and their meaning.

In Science, we have been finding out about how seeds disperse and germination.

In History, we have been finding out about Florence Nightingale’s later life.

In Relationships and Health Education, we have been understanding that people have choices about what they do with their money and these choices will make us feel different emotions.

In Computing, we have been understanding that we leave a digital trail when we are on the internet. We have also been charting some data and ask simple questions.

Have an amazing weekend!

Miss Whiting

What a fantastic World Book Day we had on Thursday. So many amazing costumes!

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a grammar exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this wee and Mathletics has been set.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we have started to learn about contractions (could not becomes couldn’t). It would be amazing if you could recap this with your children at home. We read through an exemplar of the story ‘The Pea and the Princess’ rewritten. We had to identify verbs in the past tense, adjectives and contractions. Finally, we wrote our own versions of ‘The Pea and the Princess’. We have also been doing some grammar, punctuation and reading SATS practice.

In Maths, we started the week with a multiplication and division test. We then moved onto measure. Firstly, we measured in centimeters. We then moved on to measuring in meters.

In R.E, we have been continuing our work on Saint by recognising what we can learn from Saint Stephen and think about how we can use this in our lives.

In Science, we have been looking into the life cycle of a plant.

In History, we have been finding out why Florence Nightingale went to Scutari and what the hospital conditions were like when she got there.

In Relationships and Health Education, we read the book ‘My Mouth is a Volcano’ by Julia Cook. We read about how a child who sometimes finds it hard to control he emotions; angry, excited or cross and shouts out when he shouldn’t. We shared experiences of this feeling. In a volcano, we wrote ideas for things we can do to help us stop feeling like we might erupt.

In Computing, we revisited the website www.dkfindout.com/uk and researched some of the return searches that weren’t relevant and see why they appeared in the search.

In DT, we have been planning and selecting appropriate materials for our Ferris wheels.

Have an amazing weekend!

Miss Whiting

A shoutout for egg boxes, yogurt tubs and cardboard please for our DT project which will be the week commencing 6^th March.

Please can we ensure children are bringing in their library books to be changed on a Monday. Thanks so much!

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a reading comprehension which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this wee and Mathletics has been set.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we started the week by reading ‘The Princess and the Pea’ by Hans Christian Anderson. We answered ‘VIPERS’ questions about this book (vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve, sequence). We recapped our understanding of a sentence. We remembered that all sentences need a subject and a verb and that most of them have an object. We practiced making sentences from scrabbled words and editing text to make it into coherent sentences. We then read ‘The Pea and the Princess’ by Mini Grey. We talked about the similarities and differences between this version of the story and the traditional version by Hans Christian Andersen. We discussed perspective and thought about how the story changed when it was told by the Pea and we analysed the vocabulary that the author used. At the end of the week, we retold the story ‘The Pea and the Princess’ ensure we are using the past tense.

In Maths, we have been dividing in 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s by sharing to make equal groups using one to one correspondence. We had to answer the following questions: How many counters do you have to begin with? How many equal groups are you sharing between? How many counters are in each group? How do you know that you have shared the counters equally? We then moved onto solving word problems using division. On Thursday, we looked at division with remainders and on Friday we found multiples of twos, fives and tens on a one hundred square and identified odd and even numbers.

In R.E, we have been identify what a Saint is and looking at the Saint of our school.

In Science, we learnt all about seeds. We looked at where they come from and what we can do with them. Then we talked about what they would need in order to grow. We then planted our own seeds. We then made predictions about what we thought would happen if we didn’t give the plants all the things that they need. We thought about how we could conduct a fair experiment to find out.

In History, we have been finding out who Florence Nightingale was and when she lived.

In Relationships and Health Education, we started the lesson by thinking about things that we can do to help us calm ourselves down in school when we are feeling emotional. We came up with strategies such as counting to ten, reading a book, taking some deep breaths and getting some fresh air. Next, we read a story about Derek, Kiki and Harold. During the story, the children had to think about how best to navigate and resolve the issues that took place during an art lesson. We talked about the need to communicate with each other, work as a team, share resources and be patient.

In Computing, we talked about how to research topics on the internet. We thought about how to navigate our way around a website and how to use the search engine on a website to find the information we’re looking for. We discussed different websites and the children understood that not all website are appropriate for 6 and 7 year old. They agreed that if they came across a website that wasn’t relevant, they would leave it immediately and if they came across content which made them worried or frightened, they would tell a trusted adult. Finally, the children researched computers. They were given the website URL www.dkfindout.com/uk and asked to use the search bar to search for information about the history of computers. From the returned search on the word ‘computers’, they had to find the most appropriate one and then use the content to write down some interesting facts to share with the class.

In DT, we have been exploring wheel mechanisms and designing a ferris wheel.

Have an amazing weekend!

Miss Whiting

Next Friday 3rd March Daunt Books are coming to St Stephens. The book sale will pop up in various locations throughout the day. At morning drop-off the book sale will be located in the early years playground for parents to browse. Throughout the day each Key Stage 2 class will visit the sale. If you would like them to purchase a book by one of our visiting myth and fairy tale authors (Xanthe Gresham Knight and HS Norup​) or purchase another book of their choice (there will be many new titles, myths, fairy tales etc..), then please provide them with money on the day. Children will also be provided with £1 book vouchers for World Book Day which they can use at the sale. The book sale will then reappear at the main entrance of the school at then end of the say for any parents who may wish to purchase a book then. As always Daunt Books have agreed to give 20% of their profits back to the school to help with regular restocking  of the Library. 

We have had such an amazing Spring 1! So much has been learnt with lots of smiles and lots of fun!

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a grammar exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. You will have received an email today explaining our new spelling system. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we have been reading the book ‘How To Find Gold’ and written some amazing descriptive texts inspired by this book. We have been using similes, suffixes and expanded noun phrases.

In Maths, we have been answering multiplication word problems.

In R.E, we have been discussing how Christians believe the Lord’s Prayer helps them with “What Would Jesus Do”.

In Science, we have been identifying different products that can be made from wood and their features and purposes as well as identifying different materials used for the same product.

In Geography, we have been using compass points to navigate around a map.

In Relationships and Health Education, we have been discussing if something is fun or not and what to do if someone is doing something that we don’t like.

In Art, we have been creating collages.

Have an amazing half term!

Miss Whiting

What an incredibly talented class I have! They were truly amazing in their class assembly and I was extremely proud of each and everyone of them. I hope you all enjoyed watching what your children have been working so hard on. They are all super stars! A massive thank you to you all for all the work you put in with them at home as well!

We had a fantastic visit today from Geraldine telling us all about what nurses do. Thank you so much Geraldine from all of Year 2!

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a comprehension exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. You will have received an email today explaining our new spelling system. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, working hard on our information texts all about bees and coming up with some extremely interesting facts. We have also been look at the homophones there, their and they’re. It would be really helpful if you could practice these at home with your child.

In Maths, we have been continuing our work on multiplication using arrays to help us find our answers.

In R.E, we continued to discuss the importance of forgiving and being forgiven.

In Science, we have been identifying objects made from plastic and metal and understand some of the advantages and disadvantages of their properties

In Geography, we have been exploring the animals of Kenya.

In Computing, we put our skills to the test in ‘hour of code’.

In Relationships and Health Education, we talked about how our private parts of private. The children learnt the PANTS rule. Finally, they wrote down the names of five trusted adults that they could go to if they were worried about something.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

Dear Parents and Carers

We celebrated Luna New Year today with a fantastic assembly arranged by parents and including a dragon dance (led by Mr Schumm) and a ribbon dance. Later, the children had a go at performing themselves during a dance workshop.

In English, the children planned an information text about bees.  They are all mini experts and next week they will use their chosen heading and subheading to write a fabulous text full of interesting facts.  Following that, we will start a new book called How to find Gold by Viviane Schwarz.

In Maths, we have moved on to multiplication. The children have been learning that multiplication is repeated addition of groups of equal size. The Maths homework this week will help to consolidate that understanding.

In RE, we talked about the importance of forgiving and being forgiven. We watched the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant and thought about who the king and the servant might represent in the story. Finally, the children applied their learning to the line in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.’

In Art, the children experimented with texture while in Relationships and Health, we read an interactive story where the children had to decide whether a situation was safe, unsafe or needed adult approval. You will be delighted to hear that they all knew how to keep themselves safe!

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Whiting

Homework

Your child’s main homework for this weekend is to practise their assembly lines, dances and songs.

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a comprehension exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. You will have received an email today explaining our new spelling system. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

We are full swing into our class assembly rehearsals. Please could you practise lots at home this weekend. Thanks so much!

In English, we have been writing information text all about how to make honey. We have also been looking at the homophones their, there and they’re and thinking about when we should use each one.

In Maths, we have been finding different ways for coins to add up to an amount and finding the total amount of items when added together. Yesterday, we used subtraction to work out how much change we needed.

In R.E, we have discussing what Jesus meant when he asked his disciples to pray ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’

In Science, we have been discussing and investigating how some materials can change shape by squashing, bending, stretching, twisting and others can’t.

In Georgraphy, we have been finding out about the climate in Kenya.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

Today your child took home their script for our class assembly. Their part is written on the front page and their speaking part highlighted. Please prioritise learning this for homework over the weekend. If your child is unsure of their part, please email me. The script is attached to this email.

Please start singing through the songs so the children become familiar with the lyrics. Dance moves to come next week!

Homework

Your child’s homework is to learn their class assembly lines.

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a grammar exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. You will have received an email today explaining our new spelling system. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we have been continuing our information text work on bees. We have been learning how to use apostrophes in our writing as well as how to write a glossary. Today we have been added conjunctions to sentences.

In Maths, we have starting working on money. We have been counting different amounts in pence and pounds.

In Relationships and Health, we discussed how we and others can keep us safe.

In Computing, we discussed what we should do if someone tries to talk to us online and should we answer them. We thought about if the people we meet online are strangers or friends. We also discussed how we should not post private information online. Our key vocabulary for today was trusted adult, online safety and helpline. For our task we had to think about what we would do if we felt worried about something online, thinking about some trusted adults and what a helpline is.

In R.E, we have been thinking about what we think God’s Kingdom on earth would look like.

In Science, we have been identifying which materials are natural and which are man-made.

In Geography, we labelled the seven continents and five oceans and located England and Kenya on a world map.

Artist Workshops

​As part of enriching our Art learning, we are looking for any parents, carers or even grandparents who are Artists or work in an artistic career, such as architecture, who would be willing to run an Art workshop with the classes. It can be linked to to the curriculum or a stand alone lesson in the year group of your choice. If you would be interested in volunteering your time with us, please get in touch with Mrs Allen (e.allen@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk).

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break! A huge thank you again for my extremely generous voucher and gifts!

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a comprehension exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. You will have received an email today explaining our new spelling system. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we wrote a Christmas recount using adverbs expanded noun phrases and conjunctions. I loved hearing all about what the children got up to over the holidays. We then moved on to information texts which is all about bees.

In Maths, we have started our work on 2-D and 3-D shapes. Today we looked at all of the properties of 3-D shapes and yesterday we thought about what 2-D shapes make up the faces of 3-D shapes.

In Relationships and Health, we were thinking about how we should look after ourselves when we get ill and how to get better quickly.

In Computing, we had a mission to complete. Our beebot had to visit each object / tower to deliver or pick-up something. The beebot couldn’t knock the objects / towers over. This meant that we had to be very precise with our instructions. They had the travel from the start to the finish without touching any obstacles.

In R.E, we talked about prayer and why Christians pray. We thought about why we like talking to our friends and the importance that friendships and relationships have in our lives. Then we compared our relationship with our close friends and family to a Christian’s relationship with God. We read the Lord’s Prayer and we thought about the significance of starting it with ‘Our Father’. Finally, we created a mind map. We wrote down all the names of people that look after us in society including family and friends. Then we wrote down the characteristics that they have such as patience and kindness and we finished by listing the things that they do for us.

In Science, we identified a variety of materials and sorted them into groups.

In Art, we have been developing our knowledge of colour by mixing.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

I am completely and utterly blown away by your incredible children. I gave them so much to think about in the Nativity and they were truly amazing and such professionals! From their incredible dancing and singing to their fantastic acting. They all really shone and showed abundance of confidence. I think their smiles showed how much they were enjoying themselves and having fun with their friends. They are all super stars! Thank you so much for all of your support with this. What a wonderful start to Christmas and a memory the cherish forever.

Homework

The children have been working so hard so we thought we would give them a break from their grammar and reading comprehension homework. This week it is just their spelling, Maths homework and Mathletics. We will be tested the spellings on Thursday next week due to the school trip.

What have we been up to?

This week we made some delicious ginger bread biscuits to sell at the Christmas Fair. The children really enjoyed doing this.

In R.E, we made a Christingle and discussed what each part represented. We reflected on how light makes us feel. Afterwards, we discussed how Christians believe that Jesus is ‘the light of the world’.

In English, we have been using conjunctions and adverbs in our sentences.

In Maths, we have been continuing to work on the inverse showing that the inverse of addition and subtraction and vice versa. We then moved on to adding and subtracting three one and two digit numbers.

In History, we have been finding out how we know so much about the Great Fire of London.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

Less than a week until the Nativity! The children have worked extraordinarily hard this week and it’s going to be fantastic. Could you please have one final push this weekend to make sure that they know all of their lines and when to say them as well as the lyrics for all the songs. We have a dress rehearsal on Tuesday so can they please have their costumes in school by then.

Next week is busy. As well as the Nativity, we have Christmas lunch on Wednesday when the children can incorporate a Christmas jumper into their school uniform. Then, on Thursday the children are allowed to come to school in their own clothes in return for providing something for the Tombola. Please leave your offering (wine, spirits, beauty products or a jar full of goodies such as hair clips, marbles, crafts, toys or sweets) in Reception or in Mr Schumm’s office. Remember no nuts or seeds!

In English, we learnt about sentence structure and conjunctions. All sentences need a subject and a verb and most sentences also have an object. The children have been practicing writing sentences about the character Rocket using coordinating conjunctions such as ‘and’ and ‘but’. Some of them also tried using subordinating conjunctions such as ‘although’ and ‘when’.

In Maths, we have been focusing on using the inverse to check our calculations. This is not easy and the children have worked really hard to understand how to lay out their sums so that their working proves that their original calculation is correct (or not).

In RE, the children learnt about the significance of a Christingle and the light it provides at Christmas.

In Computing, we have been continuing our work on algorithms using the program Peril Path on Busy Things. We had to help the chicken collect the shapes in the order displayed on the panel by using the button panel on the screen to program a path for the chicken to follow. If we made a mistake, we would need to debug.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Whiting

With the Nativity only being a week and a half away, please could you have a massive push of line learning, dance practise and lyric learning this weekend. Thanks so much!

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a reading comprehension. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. Mathletics has been set. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we have been continuing our work on the story ‘Look Up!’ by Nathan Bryon. We started the week by learning all about adverbs and writing them in sentences. We then thought of adjectives, verbs and adverbs that we could use in sentences based on a meteor shower. At the end of the week, we wrote some interesting paragraphs about meteor showers.

In Maths, we have been continuing our work on subtraction. This week we started by subtracting two two-digit numbers that cross through ten. We used our concrete method using by using the tens and ones and then moved onto our pictorial method by drawing the tens and ones on a place value chart. To finish the week, we had a mixture of subtraction questions and had to use our prior knowledge of exchanging to answer them.

In Relationships and Health, we have been discussing why some people feel left out and what we can do to stop this happening. We started the lesson by playing ‘stuck in the mud’. We then came back to the carpet and thought about how we cooperated when we were playing the game, why we needed to cooperate, how we felt when we were ‘caught’, how we managed those feelings, how it felt to be freed, if anyone felt left out and how that felt or, if nobody felt left out, how it might have felt.

In Computing, we each had to build a tower. As a team, we worked together to decide what instructions to give to the beebot to knock over all the towers. On a piece of paper, we had to write down the algorithms for our beebot. We had to think about if we need to debug our instructions.

In R.E, we have been learning about how the Christingle symbolises The Light of Christmas.

In Science, we started our lesson by looking at the variation in animal groups. We looked at amphibians, reptiles, mammals, fish, insects and birds and what defines an animal to be in that specific group. In threes, we had to sort a variety of animals into the correct group.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week!

Please can you prioritise practicing your child’s Nativity speaking part and songs the week, so they feel confident when coming into rehearsals. Thanks so much!

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a grammar exercise. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Math homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. Mathletics has been set. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today, please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we read our new story ‘Look Up!’ by Nathan Bryon. We used our sequencing skills to order the pictures and then retold the story. We have been thinking about ways to use question marks and exclamation marks to make a story more interesting. To finish the week, we discussed metaphors and looked at the way Nathan Bryon uses them to make his story more vivid.

In Maths, we have been working on our subtracting skills. We started off the week subtracting but not crossing ten. We then moved on to subtracting one and two 2-digit numbers crossing through 10. We used our knowledge of exchanging to see if we had to exchange a ten for ten ones in order for the calculation to work. From this, we calculated the answer.

In Relationships and Health, we have been talking about the people who are important in our lives (our special people). These people could be family, friends, people at school, from faith groups or out-of-school clubs. We thought about how special people can help us and how we can help them.

In Computing, we learnt about bee bots and thought about the instructions that we would need to give them to make them move in a certain way. We talked about some key vocabulary such as debug, forwards, backwards, quarter turn clockwise and anticlockwise. We had to program the bee bots to knock over various objects. If the instructions didn’t work in the way intended, they then debugged the bee bots by pressing reset and tried again.

In R.E, we have started our new unit ‘The Light of Christmas’. In the lesson we have been talking about how Christians believe that Jesus is the light of the world.

In History, we thought about the similarities and differences between houses in the 1600s and houses today. In the 1660s, houses in London were made out of wood and straw. Wooden posts made the frame of the buildings. Panels of wattle and daub were placed in between the wooden frame. The wattle is criss-crossed twigs which is then filled in with daub which is a mixture of mud, manure, hair and straw. Finally, the roof is made out of straw. This is called a thatched roof.

In DT, we have been making baby bears chair out of all of the recyclable materials that were brought in as well as using straws and pipe cleaners.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

I really enjoyed talking to lots of you at Parents’ Evening!

A few of you asked for some reading suggestions. Here is link to The Book Trust with lots of age appropriate ideas.

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/1/100-best-books-6-8/

A massive thank you to Mr Vessey who invited Year 2 to Bute House for an Art Workshop. We took the first group this morning and they had a fantastic time. After learning to use a saw, a heat gun and a mallet, the children all came back to school with a beautiful dream catcher. The second group will go next Friday.

In English, we’ve been continuing with our poetry theme. This week, we have been thinking about rhythm and repetition and we based our work around the song London’s Burning. We spent the first part of the week analysing the structure of the song and then on Thursday, the children wrote their own version. I asked them to include a progressive verb in line one, an imperative verb in line two and/or four and repetition in line three. They also had to think about the rhythm and make sure they could sing their lyrics to the tune.

In Maths, we have moved on to subtraction. I am very proud of my Maths class who have all mastered the art of exchanging. It’s not an easy concept and they have all worked hard to achieve this. Please keep practicing with them at home!

In Science, we talked about the importance of eating a balanced diet in order to stay healthy. We learnt about the different food groups discussing which ones we should eat the most of and which one we should try to resist!

Please help your children to learn their lines for the Nativity. It makes rehearsing much more fun if the children can scrap the script and focus on their acting!

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Whiting

What a wonderful week back! Please check your parent mail for an email regarding our school trip and our new spelling homework.

Our timetable has changed slightly with an additional Math lesson on Fridays. You can find our timetable on our class page.

It would be amazing if your child could continue to practise their Nativity lines at home.

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a grammar exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Math’s homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. You will have received an email today explaining our new spelling system. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today, please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we started the week by reading three different poems about autumn. We compared the poems, thinking about how they made us feel and how the poet used language to bring the poems to life for the reader. We worked in groups of three to practice and then perform a poem to the rest of the class. We then added adjectives and the progressive form of verbs in the present tense to describe autumn leaves. To finish the week, we wrote our own versions of the poem ‘I’m a Tree’ by adding lots of exciting adjectives and progressive verbs.

In Maths, we used tens and ones dienes to help us add a 2-digit and 1-digit number. We also learnt that when we have ten ones, we can exchange this for a ten. We then added 2-digit numbers to a multiple of ten using the concrete and pictorial method. We worked on adding 2-digit numbers to 1 and 2-digit numbers. For each question, we had to make the sum using tens and ones and we also had to draw the sum. We then compared our answers with the person next to us to see if we were correct. If we had a different answer to our partner, we looked at the physical and pictorial sum to address any misconceptions. For this lesson, we used our prior knowledge to exchange ten ones for one ten. Following this, we challenged ourselves by adding two 2-digit numbers together. We finished the week by adding a 1-digit and 2-digit number crossing 10. We had to use exchanging for this (exchanging a ten for ten ones). We also added a two 2-digit numbers not crossing ten.

In Relationships and Health, we talked about what makes us who we are. We started our relationships and Health Education lesson by thinking about:

• What was different about our appearance.
• What was similar about our appearance.
• The different things we like / do not like.
• Some things that we have in common with each other.

We understood that we are all special because there is no-one else exactly like us on this planet – there never has been and there never will be again!

We are all unique.

We then decorated a ‘patch’ with the things that we think make us special. The children added people in their lives, languages they can speak, the things they like doing and the things that they are good at and so much more.

In Computing, we have been naming some common digital devices from the world around us and to create a step-by-step algorithm of how to use some digital devices. We discussed that a ‘digital devices’ is an object with a ‘computer’ in them. We looked at how a range of digital devices worked by thinking about their input (buttons, switches and levels) and output (things move, things light up and things play). The key words we used were ‘input → process→ output’. We then thought about digital devices in the world around us and how they work for example, traffic lights and our interactive white board at school. To finish our lesson, we wrote algorithms for different devices.

In R.E, we spoke about The Bible story where Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. We thought about rules and why we need them and about how we would feel in a world without rules. We watched a video introducing the Ten Commandments and then discussed each one in more depth. We compared the Commandments to the values that we learnt about in Hinduism last term and noticed lots of similarities. Finally, the children choose one of the Ten Commandments to draw.

In History, we started our new History topic ‘The Great Fire of London’. Before we began thinking about London in the 1600s, we learned how to ‘read’ a date and how to place periods in history in chronological order. We started with Roman Britain and placed historical periods in order all the way up to today! We then learned about London in the 1600s, we looked at some drawings and maps to help us. We then created our own ‘tile’ to add to our timeline. These were so brilliant that we added them to our classroom timeline to refer to in our next History lesson.

In Science, we have been looking at which foods belong to which food groups (carbohydrates, fats and sugars, vegetables and fruits, protein and dairy. We put foods into the correct category in a food sorting plate.

In Art, we have been exploring the concept and features of structures and the stability of different shapes. To start our lesson we made a sphere, cuboid, pyramid a cylinder with playdough. After that, we placed the shape on one end of the whiteboard. Keeping the opposite end of the whiteboard on the table, slowly tilted upwards the end of the whiteboard with the shape on it. At some point the shape toppled over and at this point, we had to hold the tilted whiteboard steady and measure the distance between the tabletop and the end of the tilted whiteboard. We then record our findings in centimeters. We then completed a product analysis of chairs. We looked closely at each of the features of the chairs and consider their shape. We thought about what 3D shape they are, how many legs they have and what we have learned about this during our experiment earlier.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

We’ve had a fabulous time celebrating Black Voices Week. Our English this week was based on a beautiful book called Black is a Rainbow Colour by Angela Joy. On Monday, we listened to the book being read online by Angela Joy. I asked the children what they liked about the book and they picked out the illustrations and the rhyme. Then, the children drew their own interpretation of a rainbow which included the colour black. On Tuesday, we discussed the meaning of the book which is full of history. We talked about the meaning of the word culture and then focused in particular on the reference to Martin Luther King. We learnt a little bit about him and I read them parts of his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. The children then wrote their own speeches about their dreams for a better world. On Thursday, we looked at rhyme and then on Friday the children wrote a poem in the style of Black is a Rainbow Colour. I read some wonderful speeches and poems!

Today, we wore red in support of the anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card. There was an assembly for Key Stage 1 explaining racism in very simple terms and focusing on how racist behaviour makes people feel. Later in the day, we talked about how we are all different and then we looked at some specific examples of racist behaviour explaining why that behaviour is unacceptable and how it affects people.

In Maths, we have moved on to addition and subtraction and the focus this week has been number bonds to 10, to 20 and for some to 100.

In RE, we talked about pilgrimage and learnt specifically about the Kumbh Mela festival which takes place every 12 years in India where the Ganges and the River Yamuna meet.

Art was fun but messy. We were making stained glass windows based on our map that we drew of our journey to school.

Homework for half term is to learn speaking parts for the Nativity. These have been sent home today.

Have a wonderful and restful break and see you in a week.

Miss Whiting

We have had a fantastic week with lots of fun and learning.

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a reading comprehension exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today, please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we started the week by making a London guard using a set of instructions to help us. We then had a set of instructions that we had to put in the correct order. To finish this English, unit we wrote our very own exciting instructions all about how to make a London guard using lots of amazing adjective, imperative verbs and time connectives. To finish the week, we did a grammar lesson on singular and plural nouns.

In Maths, we have been looking at multiples of 10 below and above any 2-digit number. We have been ordering and positioning numbers on different number lines. As well as that, we have been recognising odd and even numbers and continuing number sequences. To finish the week, we have been revising our place value knowledge of everything we have completed so work in this unit.

In Relationships and Health, we looked at the difference between bullying and teasing. We talked about how bullying is a repeated and deliberate behavior whereas teasing is just a one off. After sharing lots of examples for each one, the children then had to draw a picture to show either teasing or bullying. We also looked at what would make someone a good friend. We started with a friendship song. In a circle we then talked about what we like to do with our friends. We then worked through a sheet of scenarios to decide whether the ‘action’ or scenario is someone being a ‘good friend’, a ‘bad friend’ or if we were ‘not sure’.

In computing, we talked about how a recipe is a set of instructions which we have to follow. Another word for a set of instructions is an algorithm. We then had to rearrange a mixed-up recipe to make apple, carrot and sultana muffins.

In R.E, we discussed how the senses used in a Mandir. We looked at which object or activity belonged to each sense.

In Humanities, we have been planning a trip to London. We interviewed each other to find out about all of the exciting things that we could do and would like to do in London.

In Science, we have been discussing how to eat a healthy, balanced diet. We came up with some deliciously healthy meals.

In Art, we have been investigating maps as a stimulus for drawing. Using oil pastels, we drew our route to school and what we see on the way. As well as this, we discussed what felt is and how it is made from fibres that have been placed in different directions and then squeezed together. It is often made with wool but can be made using man-made fibres. We compared ‘Face it// 6’ (2021)’ by Maggie Scott and ‘Dove Boy’ by Kim Soon Im.

We then moved onto making our own felt with a partner. We learnt that layers of different directions to help them stick together and we need at least 4 layers to make a base. We also learnt that the small detail should be on the top surface layer and that once you have laid the netting over your wool fibres you must pour some hot water in the middle of the felt and add some soap flakes.

For the squashing process we pushed the water outwards from the middle then rub, quite hard, in small circles. We then rolled the felt up in the bubble wrap and rolled it on the table, pushing down hard to make the wool fibres stick together.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

What an incredible Hispanic day we have had! Thank you so much to Dorothee for teaching a wonderful lesson to the children. They have loved learning all about Mexico and studying Frida Kahlo as well as having a super fun dance workshop!

A massive thank you for Priyanka for teaching Year 2 R.E. this week! They absolutely loved hearing all about Hindu Gods.

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a grammar exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we started our new topic based on the King’s Guard. We looked at lots of pictures and then read a text with some interesting facts and lots of history about the King’s Guard. Finally, we worked in pairs to answer some comprehension questions. We had a copy of the text in front of them and had to retrieve the answers and then write them down in full sentences remembering to use capital letters and full stops. Later in the week, we had to make command sentences using imperative verbs (bossy verbs). To finish the week, we read through a text and have to identify any imperative verbs and time connectives.

In Maths, we have starting to count in threes using number lines to help us and lots of Maths games such as ‘ping pong’. We have also been continuing to count in twos, fives and tens. Counting in twos, threes, fives and tens would be a fantastic thing for you to work on at home together.

In Relationships and Health, we reminded each other what the difference is between bullying and teasing. Bullying is repeated or regular and teasing is a one off unkindness. Following this, with our partners we completed the following sentences:

• It is not right to bully because …..
• Some people bully others because they …..
• If I am bullied, I can talk to ……
• If I see someone being bullied I can talk to ……
• I can look after someone being bullied by ……

In pairs, we then played the game ‘don’t do that’. In this game we had to discuss what someone could say if they were being bullied or see someone else being bullied. For example:

• It’s not kind.
• It’s not nice.
• You are being unkind.
• I will talk to the teacher about it.
• You wouldn’t like it if someone did it to you

In computing, we wrote positive comments on the work that the children completed in the previous lesson on our class blog. We discussed how it is important to leave a positive comment and to not write any personal details.

In R.E, Priyanka came in to teach us about Hindu Gods. She introduced us to some of the Gods that she worships and explained how Hindus choose their Gods. We learnt about the universal God Brahma, who is represented in many different ways including the solar system, nature and the om symbol. Then she talked about Durga who is the God of feminine power and Ganesh, the God of school and learning. Hindus choose which God to worship depending on what they are praying for. For the activity, we worked in pairs to name the pictures of the Gods and to explain what each God represents.

In Humanities, we have been exploring the seasonal weather in London. We have to draw a background for each picture so that it showed Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in each season. We then discussed what you would do in each season.

In Science, we have been exploring the environment as a factor of survival for animals, including humans. We looked at a variety of animals and decided what habitat we thought was best for them and why.

In Art, we have been looking at how to apply expressions to illustrate a character and what facial features are really important to show different expressions.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

Homework

For this week’s homework the children will need to complete a comprehension exercise which is in their homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Math homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

Please remember that reading books are due back in on Friday’s so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we have been learning about alliteration which is where two consecutive words begin with the same sound such as fantastic fox or tall tree.  The children are all very good at thinking of phrases that use alliteration and now they just need to start using it in their writing! This week the children have been preparing to write their own story based on The Lion in the Meadow. We talked about why we make a plan before we write a story and why it’s important to think about who our audience is before we start writing. We drew a storyboard for our stories making sure that we had a beginning, a middle and an end. We decided we would write our stories for 2 to 8 year old. To finish the week we used our storyboards to recount our story to a partner and write our story.

In Maths, we have been practicing counting forwards and backwards in 2s, 5s and 10s. We have also been talking about how to spot a pattern in a number sequence.

In Relationships and Health, we talked about bullying and teasing and identified the difference. The children worked in pairs to discuss a number of scenarios and decide whether the actions were of someone being a good friend or a bad friend. Then we discussed the importance of telling an adult if we see someone being mean.

In computing, we explored J2webby and looked at different class blogs. We looked at how you could write a comment on different blogs and the importance of writing something kind. We discussed why we feel it is important that a teacher reviews the comment before it is posted. Using JIT, we created pictures based on our English book ‘The Lion in the Meadow’ and learnt how to post these on our class blog through J2webby.

In R.E, we learnt about karma which means ‘action’ in Sanskrit. We found out that Hindus believe that every action has a consequence and that positive actions are met with positive reactions whereas negative actions are met with negative reactions.

In Humanities, we have been identifying geographical features in London and the countryside.

In Science, we have been finding out what things animals, including humans, need to survive such as water, food and oxygen.

In Art, we have been developing our observational drawing skills by drawing cuddly toys and using our mark-making techniques to add texture.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

Homework

In addition to the homework that we started last week (see below), we have added in a grammar exercise. This is stuck in your child’s homework book. It needs to be completed and handed in by the latest Wednesday along with the spelling/Maths homework.

On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

You will see a sticker in the front of your child’s homework book which will correlate with the amount of spellings your child need to learn.

1. Green group – 6 spellings
2. Purple group – 9 spellings
3. Blue group – 12 spellings

Yellow homework books need to be handed in by Wednesday.

Mathletics has been set. You child’s login is stuck at the front of their book. Mathletics needs to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

This week your child will have taken home two reading books. Please ensure you are working on your child’s comprehension skills by asking retrieval (answer is within the text) and inference questions (an opinion) as well as their reading skills.

Reading books were due back in today (Friday) so we can prepare them for Monday. If your child hasn’t handed them in today please send them in first thing on Monday morning.

What have we been up to?

In English, we have continued to work on The Lion in the Meadow by Jenny Williams. Our grammar focus for the week was commas in a list. We also started to look at expanded noun phrases (adjective, adjective noun) to help make our writing more interesting. If the children can find (and understand) any particularly exciting adjectives they can share them with the class next week and maybe even go on our ‘WOW Word Wall’ where we collect new vocabulary!

In Maths, we continued to work on their partitioning of two-digit numbers. We have been partitioning the same number lots of different ways and even with different part whole models. Some with more than two parts, some turned upside down and on their side etc. We finished the week by using greater than, less than and equal to symbols to compare dienes and then numbers.

In Relationships and Health, we talked about the difference between bullying and teasing. We discussed how bullying is a repeated and deliberate behaviour whereas teasing is just a one off. After sharing lots of examples for each one, the children then had to draw a picture to show either teasing or bullying.

In computing, we made a poster, using the images from the previous lesson, to encourage others to look after the environment using J2e5. We learnt how to add text, move the text around and change properties of the text. We searched for environment pictures through google safe search and important them onto our poster.

In R.E, we talked about Hindu values and how they are important. We also discussed what values are important to us.

In Humanities, we have been using a compass to navigate around London landmarks using the language north, south, east and west.

In Science, we ordered pictures of humans growing up and discussed what humans can do at each stage.

In Art, we explore and experimented with mark-making to create textures. The children drew items that they had brought in (thank you) and picked different mediums to draw each item.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Whiting

The children have blown us away this week with their focus in learning. We have created a lovely, calm, happy classroom.

Homework

We are gradually setting Year 2’s homework as we don’t want them to feel overwhelmed. The most important thing is that they are settling into Year 2 life.

Your child will have been given their yellow homework book today. On the blog, you will find their homework for this week. The spellings and sentences will need to be done at the front of their book and the Mathematics at the back of their book.

Your child will have a sticker at the front of their homework book explaining which colour group they are in. This is related to the amount of spellings the will need to learn.

1. Green group – 6 spellings
2. Purple group – 9 spellings
3. Blue group – 12 spellings

These groups will be very fluid throughout the year.

Yellow homework books need to be handed in by Wednesday.

They have their mathletics login stuck at the front of their book. Each week we will set tasks on a Friday which will need to be completed by the following Friday before the next task is set.

Homework starting next week

As well as the homework set on the blog each week, the children will alternate each week between a comprehension and grammar piece of homework. This will go home with them on a Friday and will need to be handed in by the following Wednesday.

Reading books

On a Monday your child will take home two reading books. Please ensure you are working on your child’s comprehension skills by asking retrieval (answer is within the text) and inference questions (an opinion) as well as their reading skills.

Reading books need to be handed back on Friday in order for them to be changed for the following Monday.

Logins

They will have their mathletics login stuck in the front of their yellow homework book. This is for their weekly homework. The website is:

Mathletics United Kingdom | Empowering Maths Learning Online

Your child will have a long thin strip of paper stuck in. This is their login for J2e. This isn’t set homework however it is a great tool for the children to have access too. The website to login is:

USO logon for j2e

They will have a typing club login stuck in. This isn’t set homework however it is a great tool for the children to have access too. The website for this is:

Login to St Stephen's CE Primary School | edclub (typingclub.com)

Library

Library books need to be brought in on a Monday in order for the children to change our book during our Monday library session.

What have we been up to?

In English, we started reading The Lion in the Meadow by Jenny Williams. The class have really loved the adventures within this book. We had an extremely interesting discussion about if we think the lion is real or imaginary. A great opportunity for an inference question. We recalled the story and discussed the main characters. After this, we discussed the difference between a retrieval question (the answer is in the text) and an inference question (your own opinion). We worked on our comprehension skills using this text.

In Maths, the children continued to work on their partitioning of two-digit numbers. The children have been partitioning the same number lots of different ways and even with different concepts such as a part whole, place value chart and addition calculations.

In Relationships and Health, we imagined our ideal classroom – calm, happy, safe and kind. We all made a pledge for what our contribution will be to create this classroom and made a big paper chain out of our pledges which is now hanging in the classroom.

In computing, the children practised logging in and using J2e. We imported a picture to Jit5 and designed our masterpieces on top of the picture.

In R.E, the children learned about Hindu values and made comparisons between these and our own. We also discussed our class word ‘faith’ and what this means.

In Humanities, we focussed on London landmarks. The children answered multiple choice or quiz-style questions about some of the key London landmarks using an information sheet to find the answers.

In Science, the children which discussing which animals lay eggs and which give birth to live young.

In Art, we used a range of vocabulary such as wrinkles, powerful, enormous and tiny to inspire our mark making. We used charcoal as our medium.

Parent Readers Request

We are looking for regular readers to come in and help us read with the children. We would be so grateful to anyone who can spare some time on a regular basis – weekly or ideally daily to read with the children. Regular reading is a huge support to the children’s overall learning and they would all love someone else to read with. Any volunteer would need to complete a DBS check. Email me if you are interested and can spare the time.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Miss Whiting

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!

Homework

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 yellow 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. There will be a sticker at the front of their homework book that explains if they are in green group (6 spellings), red group (9 spellings) or blue group (12 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 at 9.30am as well as writing each of words 4 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 in the front of their homework book.

There will be a small Arithmetic 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 Monday.

We are very aware that we don’t want to overload the children with homework at the beginning of the term as the main thing is that they feel settled and happy within their Year 2 environment so the homework above will start on Friday 16^th September.

Information on blog

I have uploaded a copy of our red word mat on the blog, our class timetable, curriculum map and knowledge pages for Geography, R.E and Science.

What have we been up to?

On Monday, 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).

On Tuesday, 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. We had a very exciting P.E and Music lesson in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, we continued with our place value work and looked at our class poet Mary Ann Hoberman. In the afternoon, we had a computing lesson and designed our Art book front covers.

On Thursday, we had our first Gymnastics lesson in Year 2 which was very exciting! We wrote our own versions of the poem ‘Brother’. Following this we did a Science lesson finding out about the babies of different animals. We even made birthday cards for each other so when it is someone’s birthday they can chose a card from our class pile.

On Friday, we did a Geography lesson based on London and a Maths lesson on place value. We had a very exciting Drama lesson in the afternoon as well!

Have lovely weekend,

Miss Whiting