Some of the things we have been learning...

In Literacy we began the half term by using Funnybones in our learning. We explored positional language and the use of speech bubbles. We wrote personal responses to the story, The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark and used simple adjectives to describe Plop the owl. This week we’ve used Kipper's Birthday to inspire writing party invitations.

In Maths we have been ordering and comparing numbers. We have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes and their properties.

In PSED we have been learning that it’s okay to be different and we should always be kind to others regardless of our differences.                                             

Some of the things the children will be learning in the coming weeks...

As part of our celebrations topic we will be writing birthday cards, letters and shopping lists.

In Maths we will be introducing time. We will be learning the days of the week and months of the year. We will look at numerals on clock faces and be reading o’clock times. We will be partitioning to create number bonds to 5, 10 and beyond.

In phonics we have revised all Phase 2 sounds and introduced Phase 3 digraphs;

ch   sh   th  ng

How to help your child at home…

• Practise recognising and naming shapes of everyday objects around home
• Practise counting, clarify the value of ten in teen numbers
• Reinforce number formation
• Practise sounds that have been introduced in class and identify them in books you share
• Write birthday cards and invitations
• Read stories online via ‘Bug Club.’ Children’s log on details were sent home last week – please let me know if you have any access issues

What’s coming up/notices/information...

Please remember to sign Reading Record books each evening so we know the children are ready for their books to be changed.

If you haven’t already - please send in any celebrations pictures you have of the children so we can all contribute to a class ‘celebrations’ album.

The children only need to wear one coat for school – either their school blazer or black school coat. Please make sure all uniform is named including scarves and gloves.

Show and tell on Friday is a highlight of the week and a wonderful opportunity for children to practice speaking and listening skills. Please ensure that what they bring to school is appropriate for sharing and that the children can talk about it with their peers.

This week in 1Q, we have been reading the book Not A Stick. We have created our own individual uses for a stick and portrayed this in our creative pictures. In Maths this week, we have been looking at teen numbers. We set up a shop to buy and sell items which were priced at teen numbers so we could put our skills into practice, which was lots of fun.

As it is also anti-bullying week this week, we spoke about bullying and how it is okay to be different. We created individual pictures and matched the pieces of the jigsaw together to show that everyone fits in!

Our PSHE lesson this week was in support of Anti-Bullying Week and in preparation for wearing odd socks on Friday. 1S shared a story together called, We Are All Different and then thought about what we could celebrate about being different and the children came up with some amazing observations! 

The children discussed how they felt about bullying behaviour and we reinforced what we should do if we needed an adult to listen and help us and revisited our network of trusted adults. We then spent time designing odd socks and discussing our sock choices ready for today!

In English this week, we have been doing an extended piece of writing. We went on a search for a magic ring and had to write a detailed letter about our journey, explaining to our parents everything we had been up to. The children had the opportunity to write in detail, building a creative piece and putting into practise all the spelling, grammar and punctuation learning we have looked at. The end results showed just how far the children have come already this year. All the children should be very proud of themselves, as am I. 

In preparation for our work on clocks and telling the time, we secured and advanced our understanding of positional language, looking at left, right, clockwise, anti-clockwise, quarter, half and full turn. We worked in small groups to programme a beebot to carry out the above instructions. We then moved to larger scale hands on maths by designing an assault course using our positional language. Lots of fun and some great learning took place.

Class 2W wrote incredible letters this week explaining to their parents why they had suddenly gone off to find a magical ring! With high levels of concentration, they were descriptive in their word choices while also remembering the detail of plausible spelling attempts, accurate punctuation and cursive letter formation.

In Design & Technology lessons, Year 2 have been designing and creating chairs for their own small toys. The pupils enjoyed the challenge of using cardboard and learnt the techniques of weaving and ribbing to make strong and stable structures.

In Make and Do last week we decorated biscuits. We thought about fireworks and the patterns they made when they exploded in the sky.  Then we ate our creations!! (That was the best bit!)

All Stars Arts and Craft Club have been very creative this term. As you can see from the photos the children enjoyed decorating Halloween Bags.