Year 2
Miss Taffs is our Year 2 class teacher and Miss Smith is our teaching assistant.
Our Pilgrim vision is the driving force behind everything we do as we explore together the two fundamental questions of,
'Who are we?' and 'How do we live?'
This term we will focus on the key question: ‘Was the Great Fire of London really that great?'
Our Class Book
This term, we will be reading a variety of topic and story books from Rochester Library all about The Great Fire of London, and different materials and their properties. Our class book for this term is Vlad and The Great Fire of London, written by Kate Cunningham and illustrated by Sam Cunningham.
What will we be learning in Term 2?
Please see below an outline of our planning for Term 2, however, this is subject to change.
Forest School
Please see below the Forest School dates for Term 2:
Thursday 9th November
Thursday 23rd November
Thursday 7th December
Homework
It is our aim to provide regular homework, which prepares your child for an activity, reinforces work in class or gives the opportunity to develop essential skills through open-ended exploration on a particular theme. It will also give you the opportunity to see what your child is currently learning in school and become involved in this.
Homework is set on a THURSDAY and is due in the following TUESDAY. Our homework will be set in our homework book each week for your child to complete and bring to school to be marked.
Our favourite reads scrapbook!
Each week, usually on a Friday, a different child is chosen to take home our favourite reads scrapbook to complete their page. They get to choose their favourite book and write all about it. When they return to school, the children are given the opportunity to share their page with the class, and tell their peers why they recommend this book! Take a look at some of the pages from our scrapbook below. Have you read any of these books? Year 2 definitely recommend these books!
Home Reading
Pupils are expected to read at least 3 times a week. Each child will choose 3 reading books for pleasure on a FRIDAY and these are to be returned the following FRIDAY to be changed. Also, your child's current book being read in their guided reading session will be 'allocated' on the Collins e-book website. This book is based on your child's phonic ability. (If you need the login details again, please feel free to see me!).
All reads should be recorded in your child's reading record and please write any comments about how your child has read or about the book they are currently reading. These reads will count towards their reading rewards, where they will be celebrated each time they reach a certain number of reads.
We have a Reading Café which runs twice a week during lunchtime at school. This provides children the opportunity to gain more reads, along with having a nice milkshake and biscuit! We are also very fortunate to have a volunteer who comes in twice a week to listen to the children read. This gives the children the chance to read with someone new, as well as gain more reads!
Children are also able to visit the Story Tent to share stories in a different environment or snuggle up on the daybed to enjoy promote their love of reading!
Timetable
P.E. is on a FRIDAY. Children are to come to school in their P.E. kits and remain in them throughout the day. P.E lessons are often outside, so please make sure that pupils have the appropriate clothing!
Forest School is alternate THURSDAYS, starting on Thursday 7th September. Children are to come to school in their Forest School clothes (but normal shoes) and remain in them all day. Please ensure the children are wearing old jeans and a long-sleeved top and have named wellies in a bag to change into.
Please see below our class timetable, however please note that it is subject to change!
Phonics
Supporting children at home
Please see below for some guidance on how to support your children with different areas of the curriculum at home.
SATs
The KS1 SATs are taken by all children towards the end of Y2 and test their knowledge of reading, writing and mathematics. This is a snapshot of the child’s attainment at this point and the SATs results are taken into account alongside Teacher Assessment to give an overall judgement at the end of Y2 on the child's attainment.
We do not make the children aware of these tests, instead, we turn them into Secret Agents! The children will receive a letter from the Secret Agent Training Society asking them to complete a few quizzes to help them become Secret Agents! Each child will make their own Secret Agent badge to help them in their quest. We do this to minimise the pressure on the children so they can just try their best!
The children are taken out in small groups to complete the 4 tests (2 reading papers, 1 arithmetic and 1 reasoning) and these are completed in a familiar environment to them.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Useful Websites:
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
https://www.busythings.co.uk/lgfl-login/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary
https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/
OUR CLASS BLOG
Tuesday 28th November
Year 2 had another exciting day today. We had a visit from Mr Wadlow, a fire engineer. He told us all about fire extinguishers and how fires are put out today. We even got to use some fire extinguishers full of water and foam on the playground. Thank you Mr Wadlow.
Monday 27th November
In Design Technology this afternoon we turned our classroom into Thomas Fariner’s bakery. We used the skills of mixing, kneading and shaping to create bread rolls. We learnt about yeast and what this did to our bread! Take a look at our kneading skills below!
Tuesday 21st November
In Science today, we looked at sorting objects into the materials they are made from. We worked well as team and had good conversations about some of the properties of these materials.
Tuesday 14th November
For homework this week, Year 2 were tasked with a mini D.T project to create a Tudor house to add to Pudding Lane in the corridor outside. We are so impressed with all of your houses and the detail you included - well done Year 2. We loved listening to you talk about how you made your houses too!
Monday 13th November
In PE today we started to explore dancing around the world, starting with Bhangra dancing. We learnt a few different dance moves and practised these to the beat of the music. We then choreographed our own routine in groups, identifying which moves we wanted to use, in what order and how many. Take a look at the photos below of us working together to choreograph our Bhangra inspired routines.
Thursday 9th November
It was a wet and damp trip to Forest school for year 2 today but we had great fun making birthday cakes in the mud kitchen and collecting insects!
Friday 3rd November
In maths today, we reviewed our existing knowledge of number bonds to 10. We used rekenreks to help us complete bar models and part whole models for number bonds to 10.
Friday 6th October
In PE today, we explored shooting. We looked at what part of the foot to use to score and where the ball should be when you score.
Thursday 5th October
We are adventurous! We had great fun in forest school today whittling, making bud hotels, cooking up delicious food in the mud kitchen and even making telescopes. We worked on showing respect to our environment by picking up litter today!
Tuesday 3rd October
We are explorers! Today was a very exciting day in year 2, we went to the Amazon rainforest. Using our new now press play equipment, we were able to enjoy an interactive story where we travelled to the rainforest. We met lots of wonderful people in the rainforest including a girl called Tatui who saved us when we were bitten by a snake. Unfortunately we felt a little sad in the rainforest, as we learnt all about deforestation and the impact of humans cutting down the trees!
Tuesday 20th September
We are investigators! In Science today, we set up an experiment to see what plants need to grow. We planted cress seeds and have placed them in different locations, some without water, some without sunlight, some are even in the fridge!
Monday 19th September
We are mathematicians. In maths today, we used base 10 to help us with flexibly partitioning numbers to 100!
Thursday 14th September
We are artists! In Art today, we explored mixing shades and tones. We experimented with adding white to make lighter tones and adding black to make darker shades.
Tuesday 12th September
We are explorers. In Geography today, we started to explore our world. We used maps and atlases to locate and name the 7 continents. We had great fun spotting the Amazon rainforest in our atlases too!
Thursday 7th September
We are adventurous and respectful! Our first forest school session of Year 2 was great fun! We used ropes to tie different knots, made pies and cakes in the mud kitchen and went on a bug hunt with magnifying glasses. We showed respect by looking after our environment.
Tuesday 5th September
We are mathematicians! In maths today, we used rekenreks to review our understanding of numbers to 20!
