Scientific Snakes

Scientific Snakes!

Spring 2 Newsletter 

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope you have enjoyed your half term despite it being VERY wet and windy. This half term we are pleased to welcome back Mrs. Furniss who will be returning to work on Fridays up until the 19^th March and then will resume her normal Thursday/Friday. We are also pleased to welcome Miss Eakins, who is joining us as a final year teaching student. She will be teaching the class in many subjects for the half term and I know you will make her feel very welcome.

This half term our main topic is St. Lucia and we will start this off with a trip to the Deep. As many of you like to know what we are learning about at school so that you can help your child, we are sending home a topic web for your information. It really is beneficial to the children if you can support and reinforce their learning at home. If your child has any books or artefacts that support our topic and they would like to bring them into school then that would be wonderful.

Reading & Spelling

Reading & spelling is a crucial part of children’s learning at this age and your child should be reading for at least 10 minutes a day at home. Thank you to all of you that are reading regularly at home. Spellings are given out every Friday ready for a test the following Friday. Again, please try to support your child in learning these as it impacts on their reading & writing attainment.

We are continuing the Reading Reward Jar in order to encourage regular reading at home. If your child has read 5 times at home during the week, they will receive a marble to pop into the jar. We check every Friday morning and will write RR (Reading Reward) at the bottom of the last comment from home so that it is easier to count the following week.

Please make sure your child has their reading book and reading record diary in school daily. Our red, school reading folders are much easier to accommodate in the classroom than large rucksacks so where possible please encourage your child to bring one of these if they have one.

Science

Each half term your child will be working on specific science targets that go with their current unit of work. Our science targets this half term are:

Homework

Homework will always be set on a Friday and must be returned by the following Wednesday. Homework should be completed in pencil and should be of an acceptable standard.

The children will receive maths homework in their CGP maths workbooks or reading homework. We have recently purchased CGP reading workbooks for each child. Mrs Furniss has one at home for Henry (also in Y2) and has been really impressed by the content. More information will follow when they arrive in school.

Homework Timetable:

Occasionally some children may bring home some extra work from the homework outlined above. This may be because they are working in an intervention group and need some extra practice at something or it may simply be that your child needs a little extra work on something they have not understood.

Passport statements

This term we will be working on:

• Supporting charities
• Trying our best
• Looking after our equipment

Further information:

Our P.E lessons will be on Mondays and Wednesdays. Please can you ensure your child has their P.E kit in school on these days as we have limited spare kit? Please send PE kits in a drawstring bag where possible, as large rucksacks are very difficult to store in the limited space in our cloakrooms. Children should also not be wearing any jewellery on PE days. If your child is not able to take out their earrings you must send them to school with earrings taped up on these days or provide tape that they can put on themselves.

Please also note that due to the success of children coming in independently children will continue to come into school, without parents, through the main door at the front of school. This will help to build their independence and allow us to start our day promptly.

I hope you have found this letter informative. If you have any questions about any of the above or any other queries please do not hesitate in coming and speaking to us.

Thank you

Mrs Furniss and Miss Edwards

Y2 Class Teachers

Scientific Snakes!

Spring 1 Newsletter 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to 2020! It is so lovely to see the children excited and ready to learn. Although Mrs Furniss is not here this term we are pleased to have Mrs. Webster join the Year 2 team.

This half term our main topic is ‘Fire! Fire!’. This will follow on from our London topic last half term and will focus on The Great Fire of London. We will look at historical evidence and the reasons the fire spread so quickly. As many of you like to know what we are learning about at school so that you can help your child, we are sending home a topic web for your information. It really is beneficial to the children if you can support and reinforce their learning at home. If your child has any books or artefacts that support our topic and they would like to bring them into school then that would be wonderful.

Reading & Spelling

Reading & spelling is a crucial part of children’s learning at this age and your child should be reading for at least 10 minutes a day at home. Thank you to all of you that are reading regularly at home. Whilst we endeavour to hear children read as often as possible, if your child has not had chance to change their book, then please feel free to do so yourself before or after school. Spellings are given out every Friday ready for a test the following Friday. Again, please try to support your child in learning these as it impacts on their reading & writing attainment.

Reading rewards will be given if your child has read 5 times in the week. These will be checked on Fridays and if your child has done this they will be rewarded with a marble for the jar which will then go towards a class  reward when the jar is full.

Please make sure your child has their reading book and reading record diary in school daily. Our red, school reading folders are much easier to accommodate in the classroom than large rucksacks so where possible please encourage your child to bring one of these if they have one.

Science

Each half term your child will be working on specific science targets that go with their current unit of work. Our science targets this half term are:

Homework

Homework will always be set on a Friday and must be returned by the following Wednesday. Homework should be completed in pencil and should be of an acceptable standard.

The paper based maths activity may be a page in your child’s own maths book or sometimes a worksheet. The paper based English activity will be a grammar exercise, punctuation activity or something linked to a genre like finding out facts ready to write a report.

Homework Timetable:

Occasionally some children may bring home some extra work from the homework outlined above. This may be because they are working in an intervention group and need some extra practice at something or it may simply be that your child needs a little extra work on something they have not understood.

Passport statements

This term we will be working on:

• Supporting charities
• Challenging gender stereotypes
• Persevering when things get difficult

Further information:

Our P.E lessons will be on Mondays and Tuesdays. Please can you ensure your child has their P.E kit in school on these days as we have limited spare kit? Please send PE kits in a drawstring bag where possible, as large rucksacks are very difficult to store in the limited space in our cloakrooms. Children should also not be wearing any jewellery on PE days. If your child is not able to take out their earrings you must send them to school with earrings taped up on these days or provide tape that they can put on themselves.

Please also note that due to the success of children coming in independently in Year 1 this will be rolled out into Year 2. So as of January, Children will come into school, without parents, through the main door at the front of school. This will help to build their independence and allow us to start our day promptly.

I hope you have found this letter informative. If you have any questions about any of the above or any other queries please do not hesitate in coming and speaking to us.

Thank you

Mrs Webster and Miss Edwards

Y2 Class Teachers

Scientific Snakes!

Autumn 2 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back we hope you have had a lovely half term break. We had a fantastic first half term getting to know your children and we are looking forward to a busy but exciting time in the run up to Christmas.

This half term our main topic is ‘A London Adventure’. This will mainly focus on comparing the countryside with the city and naming many of the famous landmarks. As many of you like to know what we are learning about at school so that you can help your child, we are sending home a topic web for your information. It really is beneficial to the children if you can support and reinforce their learning at home. If your child has any books or artefacts that support our topic and they would like to bring them into school then that would be wonderful.

Reading & Spelling

Reading & spelling is a crucial part of children’s learning at this age and your child should be reading for at least 10 minutes a day at home. Thank you to all of you who are reading regularly at home. As parents ourselves, we know how hard it can be to fit everything in so we really appreciate your efforts. We are trying to encourage the children to read the same book at least twice in order to improve fluency and aid understanding of what they have read. Ideally, the children should take home two books and keep them for at least a week. Whilst we endeavour to hear children read as often as possible, if your child has not had chance to change their book and needs to, then please feel free to do so yourself before or after school.

We are continuing the Reading Reward Jar in order to encourage regular reading at home. If your child has read 5 times at home during the week they will receive a marble to pop into the jar. We check every Friday morning and will write RR (Reading Reward) at the bottom of the last comment from home so that it is easier to count the following week. Some parents are writing 1, 2, 3, 4 and sometimes up to 7 next to each reading session to record the number of times they have read each week. This is quite useful too. Mrs Furniss does this at home with Henry and Freddie and she says it helps both her and the boys to reach the five times a week target. The children will be working towards another reward this half term. They very much enjoyed their DVD, popcorn and biscuits.

Please make sure your child has their reading book and reading record diary in school daily. Our red, school book bags are much easier to accommodate in the classroom than large rucksacks so where possible please encourage your child to bring one of these if they have one.

Spellings are given out every Friday ready for a test the following Friday. Again, please try to support your child in learning these as it impacts on their reading & writing attainment. 

Science

We are continuing our work on Living Things and their Habitats. Each half term your child will be working on specific science targets that go with their current unit of work. Our science targets this half term are:

Homework

Homework will always be set on a Friday and must be returned by the following Wednesday. Homework should be completed in pencil and should be of an acceptable standard.

The paper based maths activity will usually be a few pages from the Year 2 Maths Work Book. The paper based English activity will be a grammar exercise, punctuation activity or something linked to a genre like finding out facts ready to write a report.

We often alternate maths one week then English the next but we will send homework home which best suits the needs of the class that week. We will always send the work home then follow up with a message on Dojo.

Occasionally some children may bring home some extra work. This may be because they are working in an intervention group and need some extra practice at something or it may simply be that your child needs a little extra work on something they have not understood.

Passport statements

This half term we will continue working on:

• Always following the classroom rules
• Looking after our own equipment
• Persevering when things get difficult

Further information:

Our P.E lessons will continue to be on Mondays and Tuesdays. Please can you ensure your child has their P.E kit in school on these days as we have limited spare kit. Please send PE kits in a drawstring bag where possible, as large rucksacks are very difficult to store in the limited space in our cloakrooms. Children should also not be wearing any jewellery on PE days. If your child is not able to take out their earrings you must send them to school with earrings taped up on these days or provide tape that they can put on themselves.

Please note that as the weather becomes colder, hats, gloves, warmer jackets and trainers may be more appropriate for the outdoor PE slot.

I hope you have found this letter informative. If you have any questions about any of the above or any other queries please do not hesitate in coming and speaking to us.

Thank you

Mrs Furniss and Miss Edwards

Y2 Class Teachers

Scientific Snakes!

Autumn 1 Newsletter

 Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back to the start of a new academic year. It is so lovely to see the children excited and ready to learn. This half term our main topic is ‘Scrumdiddlyumptious’. This will mainly focus on looking at the work of Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll. We will compare some of their stories as well as what their lives would’ve been like. As many of you like to know what we are learning about at school so that you can help your child, we are sending home a topic web for your information. It really is beneficial to the children if you can support and reinforce their learning at home. If your child has any books or artefacts that support our topic and they would like to bring them into school then that would be wonderful.

Reading & Spelling

Reading & spelling is a crucial part of children’s learning at this age and your child should be reading for at least 10 minutes a day at home. Thank you to all of you that are reading regularly at home. Whilst we endeavour to hear children read as often as possible, if your child has not had chance to change their book, then please feel free to do so yourself before or after school. Spellings are given out every Friday ready for a test the following Friday. Again, please try to support your child in learning these as it impacts on their reading & writing attainment.

To encourage your child to read at home, we have introduced a class reading reward. The children need to read at home at least five times per week. It is important that an adult or older family member makes a note in the child’s Reading Diary after they have read. The diaries will be check on a Friday morning and if your child has read five times, they will receive a marble to pop in our Reading Reward Jar. When the jar is full, the class will receive a reward as chosen by them.  

Please make sure your child has their reading book and reading record diary in school daily. Our red, school reading folders are much easier to accommodate in the classroom than large rucksacks so where possible please encourage your child to bring one of these if they have one.

Science

Each half term your child will be working on specific science targets linked to their current unit of work. Our science targets this half term are:

Homework

Homework will always be set on a Friday and must be returned by the following Wednesday. Homework should be completed in pencil and should be of an acceptable standard.

The paper based maths activity may be a page in your child’s own maths book or sometimes a worksheet. The paper based English activity will be a grammar exercise, punctuation activity or something linked to a genre like finding out facts ready to write a report.

 Homework Timetable: 

Occasionally some children may bring home some extra work from the homework outlined above. This may be because they are working in an intervention group and need some extra practice at something or it may simply be that your child needs a little extra work on something they have not understood.

Passport statements

This half term we will be working on:

• Always following the classroom rules
• Looking after our own equipment
• Persevering when things get difficult 

Further information:

Our P.E lessons will be on Mondays and Tuesdays. Please can you ensure your child has their P.E kit in school on these days as we have limited spare kit. Please send PE kits in a drawstring bag where possible, as large rucksacks are very difficult to store in the limited space in our cloakrooms. Children should also not be wearing any jewellery on PE days. If your child is not able to take out their earrings you must send them to school with earrings taped up on these days or provide tape that they can put on themselves. 

I hope you have found this letter informative. If you have any questions about any of the above or any other queries please do not hesitate in coming and speaking to us.

Thank you

Mrs Furniss and Miss Edwards

Y2 Class Teachers