Good afternoon everyone,

It was so lovely to welcome all of our wonderful new Year 2 children on Tuesday and we have had a great week getting to know each other and learning our new routines. All big changes take a while to adjust to and there is certainly an increased workload and need for independence in Year 2, but I know every single one of us is up to the job!

We have tried to gently ease the children in this week but they may find things a little trickier in the next few weeks as the challenges increase. Please give it time as the children will get used to their new expectations.

English - This week we have been focusing on the changing emotions we might be feeling as we move into our new surroundings. We have been looking at The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas and have been exploring the vocabulary of feelings and writing sentences and speech for characters in the story.

Maths - In Maths we began with some counting and the importance of grouping into tens to make counting more speedy. We learned different ways to represent numbers and grew our confidence in drawing tens and ones to represent problems.

Science - In Science we learned about animal babies, matching baby animals to their adult counterparts. We also discussed and wrote sentences to explain how some animals change as they grow.

RE - We explored the Bible and how it is split into different sections, known as the Old and New Testaments. We sorted stories from the Bible by which section they appeared in.

PE - In our outdoor PE we worked on Piggy in the Middle. We learned different ways of throwing a ball with two hands and how we need to move to collect a pass In our indoor PE, we explored dance through travelling like different vehicles.

Other Tasks

Spelling Test

I have sent home some Year 1 common exception word spellings to practise for a test next week. This is revision work to see where the children are at.

There is also a handwriting sheet for these words.

Maths

Representing numbers by drawing tens and ones.

Extra

A sheet to support counting in 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s. Please practise this every week and it is so important for work we will do later.

A sheet with Year 1 and 2 common exception words. These are words the children must know how to read and correctly spell by the end of Year 2. Again, please regularly practise both reading and writing these words.

Golden Award -

Writing Award -

Maths Award -

Year 2 PE lessons will take place on Wednesday and Friday. Please come to school in PE kit on these days.

Water bottles - all the children were given a new school bottle. This will come home each night to be cleaned and re-filled. Please only use the school bottles and ensure your child brings theirs each day. Lost water bottles can be replaced at the school office, but I am afraid you will have to pay for those. Year 2 have green tops.

I will not be in class on a Thursday afternoon, as it is my release time. This will be covered by Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Gilheaney and is also when the children will have Music with Mrs Watson.

Party Invitations - I am afraid that Mrs Bowdell and I will not be able to give out party invitations in class. Please do not send your child into class with them for them to give out - it creates upset and fuss about something that takes place outside of school.Thank-you for your understanding with this matter.

Key Rings - please do not put key rings onto your child’s school bag, it creates fuss in class and then upset if they are lost.

School bags - please continue to use the red book bag that your child was given in Reception, we don’t not have the room to store large bags. Many thanks for your help with this matter.