Moving in the correct direction!

Dear Parents/Carers

Apologies that this blog post is a few days late. I was unwell on Friday and unable to post it. Spellings have now been set and the children have come home today with their book bags. If the children read the books they’ve been given over the next few days and are ready for new ones, then they can be brought back in on the normal days of Wednesday or Thursday. If the children would like to continue reading their book, they can keep their book bag at home for this week and bring it in next Wednesday. I forgot to remind Mrs Wheatly on Friday to send the book bags home, sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

Last week in maths, we started learning about position and direction. The children became more secure on their left and rights and gave each other instructions to move around blindfolded.  In English we started the week with some publishing, in which the children wrote up a fiction and non-fiction piece of writing that we have completed previously after editing it (and in their best handwriting!). We finished the week by looking at poetry. The children performed a couple of poems in groups excellently. In Guided Reading, we continued reading Esio Trot, nearing the end of the story. Mr Hoppy had managed to trick Mrs Silver into believing that Alfie had grown bigger himself.

In art, the children drew their famous woman they had been researching on a bigger piece of paper and coloured them in using oil pastels. In science, we learnt about micro-habitats, exploring different areas around the school to see what mini-beasts we could find. In PE, the children practised different football skills before applying them in a game.

This week we are thinking about describing turns and comparing direction and position between two or more objects in Maths. In English, we are planning and writing our shape poems about Junko Tabei. In History we will be learning more about Florence Nightingale and the impact she has had on modern nursing. In RE, we are continuing our study of Buddhism. In Guided Reading, we are finishing the story of Esio Trot and writing book reviews for it.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend,

Mr Stocking, Mrs Killy and Mrs Fenwick

Esio Trot, Esio Trot!

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had another week of hard work and enthusiasm from the children. Spelling Shed spellings have been set. There will be two lists on Spelling Shed over the weekend, the children’s list they will be tested on and the common exception words I posted on Monday. The children have also brought home a small booklet focusing on common exception words. This is to practise at home and can be completed over the course of the term. Common exception words are words that aren’t spelt phonetically, the children also know them as tricky words.

This week we finished our learning on length and height, we wrote diary entries from the perspective of Alfie the tortoise. The children have enjoyed reading Esio Trot, we are starting to discover Mr Hoppy’s plan and Alfie doesn’t seem too pleased about it! In RE the children learnt about the story of the Buddha and drew storyboards to display their understanding. In ICT and Art the children researched an inspirational women, copy and pasted a picture to then draw in their sketch books. In our history lesson, we learnt about our first famous woman; Florence Nightingale and her impact on hospitals and modern nursing.

Next week, we are looking at position and direction in maths, we will be publishing our diaries and moving on to narrative writing in English. We will be learning about Mary Seacole and how she overcame adversity to help others. We will be learning about the Sangha in our RE lesson and the children will be adding colour using oil pastels to their famous women portraits.

I hope you all have a lovely long weekend!

Mr Stocking and Mrs Killy

Looking forward to the Summer Term

Dear Parents/Carers

Last week the children hit the ground running with their return to school for the summer term. They all showed excellent enthusiasm for their learning and all seemed happy to be back amongst their friends. As the country opens up, we can hopefully return to some normality at St. Matthew’s this term.

For spellings this week, I haven’t set any specific spelling lists, but rather posted the common exception words that all of the children need to try to know by the end of Year 2. From Friday I will be starting our Spelling Shed properly, similar to how it was in the Autumn term, with the children having a spelling test the following Friday.

Last week, we began to look at length and height in maths, recapped on some of our grammar learning in English, thought about life processes in science and started to learn about Buddhism in RE. Our topic this term is ‘Famous Women throughout History’, in which we will learn about various pioneering women who had significant impacts on the lives of people during their times, as well as the lasting impact we still feel today. The children will be learning about Rosa Parks, Florence Nightingale, Emmeline Pankhurst, Queen Elizabeth II, Mary Seacole and Junko Tabei, amongst other famous women. To start our topic, the children have been thinking about significant women in their own lives. In Guided Reaidng, the children have started to read Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot.

This week, we will be continuing to look at length in maths, we will be writing diaries from the perspective of Alfie the Tortoise in English and learning about microhabitats in Science. In history we will be learning about Florence Nightingale and her impact on nursing, and in RE the children will be looking at the story of Buddha in greater detail.

These blogs will be going out on Friday again from this week, I hope you all had a lovely weekend,

Mr Stocking, Mrs Killy and Mrs Fenwick

Pepys, Planting and Perilous adventures!

Dear Parents and Carers

We have had an excellent week in year 2. The children had a special visitor from Samuel Pepys and had the chance to ask him lots of questions about his life. We finished our experiment on planting, exploring what happens to plants without water, light or soil. The children have brought home their cress they have been growing today. Some of the cress didn’t grow as well as we hoped and so we have replanted them. If your child’s cress is looking a bit sorry for itself, it most likely has some new seeds in it.

In maths, the children have been learning about fractions, looking at the equivalence of 2/4 and 1/2, how we can find 3/4 and the difference between unit and non-unit fractions. in English, we have been preparing to write a non-chronological report on the Great Fire of London. We will write this report next week. In our Guided reading lessons, we have now finished our story ‘The Great Fire: A City in Flames’. The children found the adventure of Sam and André very exciting and were pleased that the story had a happy ending.

An email has been sent out detailing our classroom picnic, a treat that the children have earned over the 3 weeks they have been back at school. It was lovely to see all of your at parents evening this week, the parents evening notes have been sent home with the children today.

Have a lovely weekend,

Kind Regards

Mr Stocking

Back to School!

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back everyone! It is has been great having the children back in school learning and spending time with each other. There has been lots of big smiles on faces as everybody has enjoyed a small slice of normality.

This week we finished our learning on shapes and started looking at fractions, having learnt about halves and quarters. Next week we will be finding how to find quarters of an amount, how to identify thirds and the children will be introduced to unit and non-unit fractions. In English, we have been revising some of our work from home learning, refining our poems and sharing with each other how the first week has been. We also finished the Hodgeheg and the children wrote book reviews to share their thoughts on the story. Next week, we will be starting our new story, set during the Great Fire of London. We will be reading the story in guided reading and writing about it in our English lessons.

On Monday, the children planted individual plants that we will monitor over the next few weeks. The children have also enjoyed various team building games and activities. On Tuesday, they took part in some parachute games with Mrs Warner and today we did team athletics in PE. In art, the children created silhouette pieces based on the Great Fire. In RE, we learnt about Mother’s Day and it’s significance.

There will be no spellings set this week, but both maths shed and spelling shed can still be accessed if you would like to complete some home work. Set spellings will start up again from next Friday.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Stocking and Mrs Killy

Year 2 Home Learning for Friday 5th March 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

Below is the lesson overview and resources needed for today’s learning. Lots of today’s activities are continuations of yesterday’s World Book Day activities. I will be available to contact between 10am and 12pm if you have any questions about the learning. There will be some videos on Class Dojo for today’s lessons.

Today is the final day of home learning. Thank you for the hard work and support the children have received at home to continue their education while we couldn’t be in the classroom. We will work hard to identify and close any gaps that might have been caused due to this time away from school.

Have a lovely weekend, and we will see everyone on Monday!

Mr Stocking and Mrs Killy

Lesson Overview

Friday 5th March Lesson Overview

Friday 5th March Lesson Overview (PDF)

Maths

Properties of Shape Assessment

Properties of Shape Assessment Answers

Properties of Shape Assessment 2 (Answers at the end)

Writing

Friendship Poem

My True Friend Poem

Reading

Art

Marvellous hat examples

Music

https://vle.mmf.org.uk/yumu

PE

Year 2 Home Learning for Thursday 4th March 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

Below is the lesson overview and resources needed for today’s learning. I will be available to contact between 10am and 12pm if you have any questions about the learning. There will be two Class Dojo Videos for today’s lessons. As today is World Book Day, the reading, writing and art activities are to do with this.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mr Stocking and Mrs Killy

Lesson Overview

Thursday 4th March Lesson Overview

Thursday 4th March Lesson Overview (PDF)

Maths

Make patterns using 3D shapes

Make patterns using 3D shapes (PDF)

Video on Class Dojo

Writing

World Book Day

World Book Day (PDF)

If I Were a Hawk

If Pigs could fly

The Dark

Video on Class Dojo

Reading

Millie’s Marvellous Hat

Millie’s Marvellous Hat (PDF)

Miss Luetchford reading the story will be posted to our Class Dojo

Art

Marvellous hat examples

Marvellous hat examples (PDF)

Year 2 Home Learning for Wednesday 3rd March 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

Below is the lesson overview and resources needed for today’s learning.  I will be available to contact between 10am and 12pm if you have any questions about the learning. There will be two class dojo video for today.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mr Stocking and Mrs Killy

Lesson Overview

Wednesday 3rd March Lesson Overview

Wednesday 3rd March Lesson Overview (PDF)

Maths

Sorting 3D Shapes

Sorting 3D Shapes (PDF)

Writing

Video on Class Dojo

Letter Template

Reading

Inference PowerPoint

Inference PowerPoint (PDF)

RE

R.E. Easter Story

R.E. Easter Story (PDF)

Year 2 Home Learning for Tuesday 2nd March 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

Below is the lesson overview and resources needed for today’s learning. I will be available to contact between 10am and 12pm if you have any questions about the learning. There will be two Class Dojo videos for the maths and writing lessons. Tuesday is our no screen afternoon at St. Matthew’s so the history/art activity follows that.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mr Stocking and Mrs Killy

Lesson Overview

Tuesday 2nd March Lesson Overview

Tuesday 2nd March Lesson Overview (PDF)

Maths

Vertices of a 3D shape

Vertices of a 3D shape (PDF)

Video on Class Dojo

Writing

Letter Planning

Letter Planning (PDF)

Video on Class Dojo

Reading

The Hodgeheg Chapter 8 Comprehension Questions

The Hodgeheg Chapter 8 Comprehension Questions (PDF)

The Hodgeheg Chapter 8 Comprehension Answers

The Hodgeheg Chapter 8 Comprehension Answers (PDF)

History/Art (Off Screen)

Great Fire Art Ideas

Great Fire Art Ideas (PDF)

Great Fire building cutout for art

Year 2 Home Learning for Monday 1st March 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

Below is the lesson overview and resources needed for today’s learning. I will be available between 10 am and 12pm if you have any questions about the learning. There will class Dojo videos for the maths, reading and writing lessons today.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mr Stocking

Lesson Overview

Monday 1st March Lesson Overview

Monday 1st March Lesson Overview (PDF)

Maths

Counting edges on 3D shapes

Counting edges on 3D shapes (PDF)

Video on Class Dojo

Writing

Informal Letter Writing

Informal Letter Writing (PDF)

Postcard Template

Postcard Template (PDF)

Video on Class Dojo

Reading

Video on Class Dojo

Science

Science Life Cycles of a plant

Science Life Cycles of a plant (PDF)

Life Cycle worksheet

Life Cycle worksheet (PDF)