Good afternoon everyone,

Can you believe our final week in Year 2 is over? It has been a year in which we have watched 27 little people grow more and more into themselves (physically and academically, but most importantly, emotionally!) and I am so grateful to have been a part of this wonderful journey! This year has been tough again but you have all risen to the continuous challenges we have faced and overcome obstacle after obstacle and you should all be so proud of yourselves.

Mrs Bowdell and I are incredibly sad to see you moving into the juniors but are also so excited for you to move up into Year 3 where we know you will have the most amazing time! We are always just down the stairs for a chat and a catch up if ever you need it.

Continue to make us all proud with your love, kindness and care for others. You are all superstars!

This week…

In English, we continued to write our frog life cycle explanations. Unfortunately we were unable to fully complete these but what I have seen so far has been fantastic!

In Maths, we finished our topic on fractions by exploring non-unit fractions, finding 2/3s and finding 3/4s of amounts. This was really tricky but we were so impressed by how well the children did!

In Science, we completed our bridges. There were plenty of different designs and it was interesting to see the children testing their ideas in practice.

We finally managed to do our class sports day! I am terribly sorry to those of you who sadly missed this but hopefully next year’s sports day will be much more normal! There are some pictures of us in action at the bottom of this blog.

We also had our class party on Thursday. We danced, ate treats and had a fantastic celebration of all our hard work.

Monday was a very exciting day where we had a visit from Gemma and Alice of Little Zoo To You. We got to touch and learn about lots of different mini (and not so mini!) beasts. It was fab! Pictures at the bottom of the blog.

We also had our teddy bear’s picnic on Friday. A lovely end to a challenging year!

Award Winners

Golden Award of the Year - Grace - for demonstrating great resilience and perseverance in all her work this year. But, most importantly, for being such a kind, caring and polite young lady who does all she can to help and support others.

Golden Award - Alexander - for his perseverance and positive response towards challenges.

Golden Award - Teddy - for his lovely, warm and caring attitude towards others. He always shines his light in Year 2.

Maths Award - James - for his resilience and perseverance when challenged in his Maths work.

Maths Award - Harriet - for always wanting to grow her Maths brain more!

Writing Award - Connie - for a lovely explanation text about frogs.

Writing Award - Lilly C - for listening much more carefully and never giving up.

From both of us in Year 2, we hope you all have the most lovely summer holiday and we cannot wait to see you in Year 3 next year!

Stay safe and keep smiling,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

Little Zoo Visit Gallery

Sports Day Gallery

PostedJuly 16, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon everyone,

It is lovely to be back with you all once again and to know that we are all safe and well. Thank you to those of you who managed to complete and submit the home learning tasks. The effort and time you have put into supporting your children’s learning is very much appreciated.

This week we have been picking up where we left off!

In English we have been continued with our Read Write Inc groups and looking at explanation texts. We have planned and begun to write our life cycle of a frog explanation text.

In Maths, we continue with fractions where we have looked at unit and non-unit fractions, doing lots of practical work to help us to identify these and solve problems involving them.

In Science, we have explored useful and useless materials to create everyday objects from. We’ve used the properties of these materials to explain why and suggested alternatives.

In RE, we have discussed the Holy Spirit and how it helps Christians in their everyday life. We thought about ways in which the Holy Spirit helps us and how we can share this with others.

In Geography, we have explored Sydney and some of the things we could do there if we visited. We compared Sydney with Blackpool and were surprised to find there were many more similarities than we first thought!

To celebrate England’s victory in the Euro 2020 semi final, we had an England-based arts and crafts afternoon where we made flags, posters and bunting to decorate ready for the final. Come on England!

Upcoming Events

Monday 12th July - ‘Little Zoo To You’ is coming into school for our end of year treat.

Friday 16th July - Teddy Bear’s Picnic on the school field. Please return letters if you have not yet done so.

Homework

I will not be setting any homework as we move into our last week of school. Instead, please continue to read as regularly as possible

Award Winners

Golden Award - Oscar - for his absolutely impeccable manners. What a polite boy you are, Oscar!

Golden Award - Dominic - for his hard work with his morning Maths.

Writing Award - Lola Mae - for her fantastic use of vocabulary in her writing.

Writing Award - Olivia S - for working so hard to sound out and write tricky words.

Maths Award - Emilia - for always explaining her reasoning so clearly.

Maths Award - Darcy - for her positive attitude and super Maths explanations.

We hope you have a lovely weekend, and remember…

Take care,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedJuly 9, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon everyone,

This Sunday’s gospel story is one we are very familiar with in Year 2. It is one of the stories of Jesus’ amazing miracles. The story of how he brought Jairus’ young daughter back to life. In this story, Jesus reminds us not to be afraid but, instead, to follow and believe in Him. When we believe in Jesus, He can help us in even the most challenging of times.

This week, Year 2 have been very busy and working hard as we prepare ourselves for the next step of our journey up to Key Stage 2.

In English, we have been learning about explanation texts. We have identified explanation text features, created glossaries of technical language, considered vocabulary we can use to sequence and link sentences and began to plan our own explanation text.

In Maths, we have explored quarters, thirds and unit fractions. Finding fractions of shapes and quantities. We have been very impressed by how well the children have grasped what can be quite a tricky subject. We will continue or fractions unit of work next week.

In Science, we considered why certain materials are suitable or unsuitable for a range of jobs and have began to consider other materials which have properties that make them perhaps more suitable. We have also begun a D&T investigation to explore the properties of a variety of papers by designing and buidling our own paper bridges and testing how much weight they can hold. We will continue this next week.

In RE, we have explored the fruits of the Holy Spirit that we recieve as disciples of Jesus and considered the ways in which we can apply these fruits to help others at school.

In Geography, we have learned about a range of important physical landmarks in Australia and have identified and labelled them on maps, creating our own map key and symbols to represent this.

In PE, we continue our athletics unit of work, which links in well with our practice for our upcoming sports day.

Illness and Covid

May I please ask, if you have not already, could you read my Class Dojo class story regarding school protocols for illness. It is incredibly important that we take the right precautions to limit the spread of Covid 19, including staying at home if demonstrating symptoms (cough, fever, weariness, loss of taste/smell, sneezing, runny noses and sickness/diarrhea) until a negative PCR test result has been confirmed. I hope you all appreciate that this helps to keep all our families safe. I know this can be a huge inconvenience for you all but it is so important and I thank you for your understanding.

Sports Day

Sports Day this year is slightly different. Due to Covid restrictions, we are unable to have a whole school Sports Day and are unable to allow parents to attend. Therefore, to ensure the children still get the opportunity to engage, each class is holding their own Sports Day whose results will contribute to the overall score for each house team.

Year 2’s Sports Day will take place on Monday (28th June) in the afternoon. Mrs Bowdell and Mr Whetnall will be guiding and assisting the children and will take photos which will be uploaded onto next week’s class blog for you all to see.

Again, I know it is disappointing that we are unable to come to school to cheer on our children but let us hope for a more positive situation next year.

Reports

End of Year Reports will be sent home on Friday 9th July. The reports have been adapted to account for missed learning during school closures and will give a picture of exactly where your child is now, rather than where they would be at this time in a normal school year. It is important to consider that the last 18 months have been incredibly disruptive and we are working hard to move the children’s learning along. Unfortunately, this is not always a quick and linear process for all and may take some time, as children all learn and develop at different paces so please do not feel disheartened if your child is not exactly where you would have liked them to be academically at this time.

Homework

Homework for this week is on the homework tab of our Year 2 section. Next week’s homework will be the last I set for this year as I prepare for the end of the school year.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Rosanna - for being a real role model in Year 2 and for always shining her light brightly.

Writing Award - Tommy - for working so hard on his handwriting and spelling.

Maths Award - Lily T - for really challenging herself in her fractions work.

Have a lovely weekend and stay safe,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedJune 25, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon all,

This week’s gospel story is of how Jesus calmly stopped the violent storm. It teaches us to have faith in Jesus and allow Him to calm the storms which may be stirring up in and around us.

This Week…

In English this week we have written our stories about a bully in a school, with a special focus on a suitable ending which links back to the beginning. I have been very impressed by the effort all the children have put into these stories and have really enjoyed reading them.

In Maths, we have continued to look at fractions and quarters. We learned how to find quarters of amounts and even began to explore 2/4 and 3/4 as well!

In Science, we thought about materials we would use for very specific purposes and explained the properties they have which makes them so useful for this!

In Geography, we have been looking at the cardinal directions: North, East, South and West and used these to describe the locations of key Australian cities which we had found and labelled on a map.

In RE, we continued our work on Pentecost and made stained glass flames to symbolise the tongues of fire which appeared above the disciple’s heads during Pentecost.

In PE, we have been practicing for sports day. Year 2 will be having their sports day event on Monday 28th June. Unfortunately we are unable to invite parents to attend this year but we will upload pictures of the events afterwards.

Rainbow Day

Thank you all for your participation in our rainbow day. It was lovely to see such a colourful classroom. Below is a picture of the children.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Connie - For always working so hard in all that she does.

Writing Award - Ronnie - For a huge effort and focus on his writing work and a wonderful story.

Maths Award - Isaac - for being more confident to have a go with Maths, even when he finds it tricky.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedJune 18, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you all had a lovely half term break and are ready for our final half term in Year 2.

This Week

In English, we have planned and written recounts about the things we had done over the half term break. We thought about time phrases, conjunctions and adding enough detail to keep our readers engaged. I have enjoyed reading these and finding out about all the exciting things the children got up to!

In Maths, we have finished our division topic and have now moved onto fractions. Fractions can be a little tricky to understand so we are taking it slow and building up with our small steps. We have learned all about finding halves and fractions which are equivalent to halves, such as 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 6/12 etc.

In Science, we continued to explore the function and suitability of materials and have been describing useful properties which each material has and why they might be useful.

In RE, we have been learning about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. We begun to make a craft for this but unfortunately it didn’t quite work so Mr Whetnall will be having a think about how we can change this!

In Geography, we have begun our Australia topic by finding the country on a world map, making predictions about temperature and conditions there and have labelled the states and territories of Australia.

Homework

As I was unable to get homework to you before half term, this week’s spelling homework will be the same as before half term (I will send this home tomorrow). Please check the homework section for more tasks.

Dress Like A Rainbow Day

Next Friday (18th June) will be an own clothes day. We are asking the children to dress up in colourful clothes and to please bring in £1 to raise money for school gardening equipment.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Henry - For always putting 100% effort into all he does.

Writing Award - Elsie - For a lovely, detailed ‘familiar setting’ story opening.

Maths Award - Zahra - For really trying hard with challenging work.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedJune 11, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon,

Even though it’s been a short week it has been another busy one!

In English, we have been working on looking at characters in our stories. We have thought about how certain events can be viewed differently from different character’s perspectives and have written letters to an Agony Aunt from a suffering character.

In Maths, we have continued to look at our division facts. We have learned that we can use multiplication facts to solve division problems and have learned this is called finding the inverse. We have also been looking at dividing by 2 and have learned this is the same as finding half.

In Science, we have finished our work on plants and have learned that some plants don’t need soil to grow, so long as they have lots of sunlight and water.

In RE, we have learned about when Jesus told his friends He would soon leave them and would send the Holy Spirit. We discussed how the disiciples feelings changed throughout the story.

In Geography, we identified and described the functions of features found on an island. We also began to discuss whether certain features are human or physical features.

Awards

Golden Award - Hallie - For her wonderful attitude towards her learning and for always taking on a challenge.

Writing Award - Oscar - For super Read Write Inc work.

Maths Award - Alexander - For working hard to concentrate and focus.

A New Member of Staff in Year 2

We will be joined by Miss England next week until the end of term who is training to become a teacher. She will be taking groups and delivering some lessons. We will welcome her warmly!

Thank you and have a great weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedMay 7, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Afternoon all,

Our little classroom is beginning to look a bit like a jungle with all the growing of plants we have been doing over the past few weeks. It has been lovely to see the children’s interest and amazement in these miracles of God and nature and we can’t wait to see what happens next every week.

In English this week we have been revisiting character descriptions through our Sister for Sale book and have also been trying to ‘paint a picture’ of someone demonstrating an emotion, rather than just saying ‘they felt sad’. The children have done so well with this and know that this will improve their story writing.

In Maths, we have moved away from division by sharing and have looked at division by grouping. This helps enhance our understanding of how to solve division word problems effectively. We have also explored the inverse relationship between multiplication and division and have developed or understanding of how knowing our times table facts can make division very easy!

In Science, we completed two investigations in which we looked at the needs of plants to grow. We discovered that plants with water and sun were healthiest and that cress seeds grown in a warm place grew better than those in colder places. We also had a fun afternoon exploring plants we eat and sorted them into the parts of a plant we thought they came from. (see below) This was harder than we first thought!

In RE, we thought about and described the symbolism of the paschal candles which we made last week.

In Geography, we looked at some features and objects you would find on an island. We then used a map of the Isle of Struay to label these accurately.

We had another lovely music lesson this week with Miss Benson and the children really enjoyed this!

Homework

Please check the homework tab for this week’s tasks.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Olivia W - for being a real role model in Year 2 who can always be relied upon to do the right thing.

Writing Award - Corben - for his super ideas and enthusiasm in his writing.

Maths Award - Grace - for the amazing progress she has made in all her Maths work.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedApril 30, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Well, what a week of wonderful weather we’ve had!

It has been lovely to watch the children playing together outdoors and enjoying our fabulous school grounds. Let’s hope for many more sunny days to come.

We have been very busy again this week growing our brains and building our confidence.

In English, we are settled into our Read Write Inc groups. Mr Whetnall’s groups have been looking at character descriptions through the story of Sister For Sale. Mrs Bowdell’s group have been looking at the story Playdays.

In Maths, we have been learning about division through sharing. We know how to identify how many groups we need to share between and that these have to be equal. I have loved seeing the children’s confidence growing in this area. We have also discussed how division is the inverse (or opposite) of multiplication.

In Science, we have discovered that beans can grow with water and sun and don’t necessarily need soil! We also learned about plant habitats around the world and how plants are suited to these habitats.

In RE, we heard the story of the Jesus appearing to his disciples on the shores of Tiberias and we also learned about the paschal candle, making our own with its individual symbols.

In Geography. we learned how continental, volcanic and coral island are formed and created diagrams to explain this,

Award Winners

Golden Award - Isaac - for a superb piece of RE writing.

Writing Award - Mia - for working so hard on her handwriting.

Maths Award - Dominic - for fabulous division by sharing.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedApril 23, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon all and welcome back!

It has been lovely to see the weather beginning to improve and the sun starting to shine more and more. However, it is still quite cold at times so could I please ask that all children bring a suitable coat or jacket with them into school in case they need it.

This week’s learning…

In English, we have gotten back into our Read Write Inc Groups. Mr Whetnall’s group are beginning their work on stories with a familiar setting and Mrs Bowdell’s group are beginning their next stage of Read Write Inc stories.

In Maths, we have continued our work on times tables and have looked closely at both the ten and three times tables. The children blew us away with their knowledge of the ten times table but have struggled a little more with the 3s. I have also noticed that lots of us are still find the five times tables challenging. Therefore, I will be setting the 5 times tables again as next week’s times tables test.

In Science, we have continued to observe our plants as they have grown and thought about the important needs they have to grow well.

In Geography, we have used atlases to find places and have identified if they are islands, what oceans surround them, which countries border them and which continent they belong to. The children have really enjoyed this!

In RE, we have looked at the roles of a parish priest and other important people in the church, including Father Jim, Bishop Paul and Pope Francis.

Our music lessons have also started up again this week and the children have really enjoyed them.

In PE, we have continued our work on team games and also developed our fundamental movement skills.

Homework

Go to our homework page to see this week’s homework tasks.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Tommy - for his super concentration and effort this week.

Writing Award - Rosanna - for her beautiful handwriting in her final draft of her instruction writing.

Maths Award - Olivia S - for trying so hard with her multiplication work.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedApril 16, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon everyone and happy Easter to you all!

It has been a fun but busy week in Year 2 and the children have continued to work hard right up to the end. We are still a little giddy and loud but are gradually settling back into our school routines.

In English, we have been following instructions closely. We made crafts based on instruction texts (see below pictures), wrote instructions for how to make a cup of tea and began to write our own instructions for how to make our very own marvellous medicine. Hopefully we will be able to make these!

In Maths, we have continued to focus upon times tables and have been looking at solving problems with the 2, 5 and 10 times tables by drawing arrays or pictures of equal groups.

In Science, we have been doing lots of planting and growing! We have looked at how seeds can be spread from different plants in different ways and have also set up an investigation with a bean to see whether they can grow without soil.

In RE, we have finished our work on the order of the Mass and wrote the key things that happen at each part.

We have also done some Easter arts and crafts activities and have looked at the Easter story.

Homework

Over half term, I don’t give homework as I feel the break is very important for children’s well-being. However, we will send home two reading books so that children can continue to practice this most vital skill.

You could also continue to practice your 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables if you wish!

Age-inappropriate Computer Games

Recently, there seems to have been an increase in conversations about adult-orientated computer games. On a few occasions now, I have heard children discussing ‘Fortnite’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto’. These sorts of games are aimed for teenagers and adults and not young children. The content of them is violent and hugely inappropriate for Year 2s. Please could I ask that you check on which games your child is playing and which videos they are accessing on YouTube as it is hugely detrimental for children to be accessing this type of inappropriate content. Thank you.

Awards

Golden Award - Peter - for working hard and concentrating on his Easter art work.

Writing Award -James - for a lovely opening paragraph to his medicine instructions.

Maths Award - Ronnie - for always working so hard in Maths.

We hope you have a wonderful, restful Easter and come back raring to go for our final term in Year 2.

Take care,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell.

PostedApril 1, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon,

We are at the end of another busy week in Year 2. This week we have been trying something new (check out the pictures at the bottom of this page to see exactly what that was!).

In English, we have been looking at writing instructions, such as recipes. This is linked into our focus on George’s Marvellous Medicine. We have focused on Grandma’s requests for a cup of tea from George and noticed that she wasn’t very specific with these instructions. We followed instructions to make and drink our own cup of tea - there were mixed results on what it tasted like!

In Maths, we continued our work on times tables with a focus on the two times table. We have been becoming fluent in recalling two times table facts and in applying these facts to solve more challenging word problems. We have also been engaging in daily morning arithmetic practice.

In Science, we have observed our plants (they are growing well!), wrote about the life cycle of a flowering plant and have set up another investigation to see exactly what things plants need to grow well. We will observe this over time.

In RE, we have looked at the command at the end of Mass, thought about what we are being asked to do and suggested practical ways we can do this. I was very impressed by the children’s thoughtful responses.

In Geography we have begun our new topic on islands. We learned about what islands are, how they are formed and how they differ from one to the next. We then used atlases to identify and label islands in the UK. We really enjoyed this!

In PE, we continue our ball games and team games skills.

Holy Week

Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday. We will explore a part of the Easter story each day next week.

As well as this, each class has been given the task of making two pieces of art based on the stations of the cross. We are busy at work preparing for this!

Reading

We have been carrying out reading assessments this week and have been busy amending children’s book levels as a result of this. Therefore, you may find that the difficulty of your child’s book may have increased or decreased depending on their current reading level.

I strongly request that you try to read at home as regularly as possible. Reading underpins everything we do and after such a stop-start year, reading has never been as important as it is now.

Homework

In regards to queries about homework, you do not need to send me evidence that this has been completed. The tasks are set for extra practice for your child. Likewise, the homework set does not necessarily reflect the work being done in class, most tasks set for homework at the moment are more basic revision tasks. The children are working incredibly hard at school and I think it is important to rebuild that home-school divide to promote their well being.

Lip Balm

We appear to have a large majority of children bringing in lip balms to school at the moment. I appreciate that the children get chapped lips when it is cold and may need this but now that the weather is changing could I ask you to only send your child in with lip balm if they have a problem with their lips. The reason for this is because we are losing learning time with children applying the balm after break and we have also noticed children eating their own lip balm! Also, some children have been seen sharing lip balm which of course is a a huge health and safety concern during Covid 19 times. Thank you for this.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Kurt - for working so hard with his reading and writing.

Writing Award - Emilia - for a wonderfully descriptive piece about George.

Maths Award - Henry - for trying so hard with multiplication.

Have a peaceful weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell.

PostedMarch 26, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon all,

It has been another busy week in Year 2 as we continue to readapt to our full time routine. The children have been enthusiastic and it is lovely to see them enjoying being with their friends so much.

In English this week, we have taken everything right back to basics. Some of us are finding lengthier writing a little challenging and are working to rebuild our stamina and motivation which has understandably dwindled over the past few weeks. We have been going back to remembering our full stops and capital letters, which is something we seem to be forgetting at the moment. Through George’s Marvellous Medicine we have written character descriptions and have been supported in saying our ideas out loud as sentences before we try to write them. We have also been discussing our rule of and - this is a rule I have put in place which says only two sentences at a time can be joined by and to ensure our writing doesn’t sound like a list. We have also worked on using the conjunctions when, which and that to improve our character descriptions.

Spelling - Our spelling has taken a little step back due to all that has happened this year so I would just like to ask that if you have a spare moment, please continue to practice spelling (and reading) the Year 1 and 2 Common Exception Words (which can be found here). It is so vital that the children can use these accurately in their writing.

In Maths, we have continued to explore multiplication and have been looking at how multiplication can be done in either order (see if your child can remember the name for this - it begins with a c). This means that 4x5 is the same as 5x4, etc and is key to solving multiplication problems. We have drawn arrays to demonstrate this.

In Science, we have looked at plants again and have discussed the life cycle of a flowering plant.

In History, we have been using venn diagrams to compare the nurses we have learned about.

In RE, we have focused on the Liturgy of the Eucharist and have learned about both the Offertory and the Consecration.

In PE, we continue to develop our ball game skills.

Reading

Please do continue to read daily where possible - this is so important to rebuild the children’s confidence and independence, both for reading and writing.

Homework

This week’s homework pages are on the Year 2 Homework tab of our website.

Friday Finish

Just a reminder that our Friday finish time 1.15pm.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Lola Mae - for working so hard and showing excellent focus.

Writing Award - Darcy - for fabulous speaking and listening ideas.

Maths Award - Dominic - for working hard on his multiplication tasks.

Have a lovely weekend!

PostedMarch 19, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

What a lovely week it has been! It has been wonderful to see all of our friends and get back to a little bit of normality. The children have settled in really well, have worked hard and have really enjoyed being back in our little bubble! We just need to remember to keep our voices down in class and not talk when somebody else is talking!

This week has been a settling back in week. We have been working to re-acclimate ourselves to the classroom environment and get back into our routines. We have tried really hard with this!

In English, we have been looking at George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl. We have made predictions about what we think will happen and have used conjunctions and evidence from the blurb to explain our reasons for thinking this. We have also been focusing upon character descriptions and have begun to plan and write a description all about Grandma.

In Maths, we have started our work on multiplication. We have been looking at finding, making and adding equal groups and have begun to build number sentences using the multiplication symbol.

In Science, we have finally begun our topic on plants. We have looked at the main parts of a plant and explained what their job is. We have also started an investigation to observe the growth of different plants by planting a gladioli bulb and a sunflower seed. We will be monitoring their growth weekly and recording what we notice.

In History, we have learned all about Edith Cavell and written fact files about her life and why she is significant.

In RE, we have been looking at the offertory and what invisible gifts we can offer to Jesus to make the perfect thank you symbol for God.

We have also continued our spelling units and have been focusing upon the ‘o’ sound spelled with the letter ‘a’ after w, wh and qu.

It has been a very busy week but the children are settling back in well. We have worked very hard!

Homework

Rather than preparing lots of sheets of homework, I will be sending home a work booklet and will set pages to be completed from this at home. This will make setting homework much more manageable and will safe endless streams of paper. I will set one maths tasks and one english task weekly (this will be set on the ‘Year 2 -> homework’ page of our school website) so please check this page weekly to see what has been set for that week. I will also send home a weekly spellings practice sheet as normal for our spelling tests on Friday. I may also at times send other homework if there are specific tasks that the children would benefit from doing.

Mrs Bowdell has also prepared some more times table lists for the children to take home. These are the same ones that were sent home earlier this academic year but many children have said they have lost them. Please practice your times tables regularly as we will be having weekly times tables tests as well. It is also important to explain that if we know, for example, that 8 x 3 = 24 then we also know that 3 x 8 = 24 too. Times tables rockstars is also a great place to practice!

Please do not complete the whole booklet in one go or there will be no other homework for you to do at home.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Lily T - for always giving her all in everything she does. She is a real Year 2 role model!

Writing Award - Harriet - for a wonderfully written Edith Cavell fact file in History.

Maths Award - James - for his hard work in our morning/afternoon mental maths revision sessions.

Photos

Here are some photos from our planting.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedMarch 12, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Today marks our last day of remote learning as we all prepare for our return on Monday. I hope you are all as excited to return as we are to welcome you back!

Once more, I would like to thank you all for your support at home in what I know is a difficult and challenging task. You have all worked so hard and helped us to keep the children’s learning going throughout these past 8 weeks.

Arrangements and Important Information For Our Return

School Start and Finish Times

Year 2 Family Bubbles (children with siblings; you will know if this applies to you) will continue to come into school at 8.40am and will be collected at 3.15pm from Monday to Thursday.

The majority of Year 2 pupils will begin the school day at 9.00am and will be collected at 3.30pm from Monday to Thursday.

On Fridays, just as before we had to close, children will need to be collected at 1.15pm (or the slightly earlier time of 1.05pm for the family bubble).

PE Days

Our Year 2 PE days will continue to be on Monday and Friday. Please continue to come into school in PE kit on these days.

Water Bottles

Before lockdown, Year 2 water bottles remained in school. However, we feel it would be much more beneficial for them to be taken home at the end of every school day so that they can be washed ready for the next day. You are welcome to bring your own water bottle but make sure this is labelled with your child’s name. If you don’t want to bring your own water bottle, we have our school bottles, however, if this goes home and is not returned, we will not have any others for the children to drink from in class so please ensure it returns to school daily.

Reading Bookmarks

I know lots of you have been busy reading at home and will be needing lots of stickers/new bookmarks and certificates. As I’m sure you will appreciate, this will be an enormous job for our wonderful TAs to undertake after 8 weeks worth of reading at home and so it would be incredibly helpful if you could count up the total number of times your child has read since December 18th and write this number in your reading record so we can give out certificates more effectively. There is a maximum total of 86 days worth of stickers you may have (we only issue 1 sticker per day of reading, even if you read more than once on that day).

Bookbags

Please continue not to bring school bookbags in as this saves potential home-school transmission. All your child will need is their plastic zippy wallet with their reading book and reading record inside.

World Book Day Bookmark Competition

I have loved seeing your fantastic bookmark designs you have completed both in school and at home. For those of you who have designed one at home, please could you bring this in on Monday with your name and year group clearly written on it. Winners will be picked and announced during the week.

Homework

Homework will continue to be set on a Friday. I am going to trial sending home a Year 2 work booklet to work from and setting weekly tasks from this, rather than preparing new sheets every week. I may also send extra copies home of any tasks the children found tricky and may need some extra practice with. However, spelling words will be sent weekly or fortnightly (depending on timetables in school) and this half term I will send home times tables packs for the 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables. Please practice these as I aim for us to have weekly or fortnightly times tables tests too.

Home-School Communication

Class Dojo will remain as the primary contact medium when we return to school so if there are any questions, concerns or notices you need to tell me about, please use this to do so. If there any immediate concerns, you can always speak to me during pick up at the end of the day as well.

Can I also ask that any absences or appointments are reported to the school office, rather than/as well as to myself.

Self-Isolation and Remote Learning

If you need to self-isolate for any period once we return, please let me know as soon as possible so I can send some home learning tasks for you to complete. The Home Learning Google Drive will not be updated until I get notice that someone is needing to isolate. It will also be less detailed due to time restrictions once we return full time but will still cover the basic learning being taught in school for that period.

Award Winners

I will give out awards when we all return on Monday and will update this post with the winners when this has happened. It will be lovely to have an award assembly as a whole class again!

After this, we will return to our usual weekly golden, writing and maths awards given out on a Friday.

World Book Day Gallery

FInally, here are some pictures of our wonderful costumes from World Book Day. The children looked amazing!

Have a lovely weekend and see you all on Monday,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

PostedMarch 5, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

A very apt quote for a very fitting time. We have all certainly ‘weathered the storm’ this past 12 months but it seems that we may (hopefully) be coming out of the other end. So long as we continue to practise caution and care.

I cannot begin to express my delight that all children will be able to return to school on the 8th March and that my little classroom will be full again! I am looking forward to hearing your stories and sharing the joy we will all feel in seeing sorely-missed friends! It is WONDERFUL!

Once again, I have been so grateful for the hard work from those of you at home who have kept your children’s learning going through this difficult time. Our return is nearly here but please don’t give up yet! I still need to see your home learning work and it is still so important to complete the tasks as much as physically possible. Please keep going for one last push!

I am certain the children in school are also delighted to be welcoming back their friends and I want to extend a thank you to all those children who have been in school who’ve also continued to work so hard under these most challenging circumstances.

Upcoming Dates

World Book Day is next Thursday (4th March). With the school not yet fully open, it will be an unusual Book Day this year. However, those critical worker children are welcome to come into school dressed as a book character (if they can manage this) or even decorate a teddy, spoon, egg etc as their favourite book character. Please keep loose items to a minimum though to avoid damage, loss or extra risk of covid.

Those at home are also welcome to dress up as their favourite book character and send me pictures of yourself in your costume. Again, if you prefer you can dress up your teddy, spoon, egg as your favourite book character instead.

Competition - There will be a design a bookmark competition on World Book Day. Copies of these will be included in next week’s home learning folder and we ask you to complete them on Thursday 4th, in line with World Book Day. THere will be a winner from each class but also a KS1 and KS2 winner. These two children will have their bookmark published to use. Those in school will decorate their bookmark on Thursday 4th as well.

Reading -I have also uploaded a video of me reading a story and the link to this will be included in next week’s home learning folder.

Home Learning

Due to our full reopening on March 8th, after next week our Home Learning Google Drive folder will be scaled down. Therefore, I will not be recording lesson videos or included as much work. The children will all be back at school and the home learning folder will return to its function as an emergency education tool in the event of self-isolation being necessary. Thanks for your understanding.

Award Winners

School Learner Award - Peter - for fabulous money work and an improved attitude towards his learning.

Busy Bee Award - Mia - for working so hard both in school and at home (especially in trying to improve her handwriting!)

Home Learner Award - Lola Mae - For continuing to give her all, even when she has found things challenging.

Shining Light Award - Teddy - for always helping others to smile and shine with his kind and cheerful nature.

Have a lovely weekend and we can’t wait to see you all again in just over a week’s time.

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Gibbons.

PostedFebruary 26, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Well, Team Year 2, we’ve made it!…

It’s been another rather unusual half term in our small school lives so far but we’ve got through hopefully the largest part of it. You have all worked so hard at home and I have been consistently overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of all the work the majority of you have been completing and sending through to me. It has been an absolute pleasure to look through and I am incredibly reassured that our lovely children have maintained and continued to excel at their learning at a time of sweeping newspaper headlines about ‘falling behind’.

On that note, I implore each and every one of you to ENJOY your half term break. Spend quality time as a family, go out for exciting exercise trips, play games and enjoy talking to each other. Please do not worry about the headlines. As long as your child has been doing something, they are continuing to grow their brains. My only hope is that we can return to school soon. Not to ‘catch up’ on work, but rather to catch up with friends and enjoy being children! The rest will come together in the end.

I will not be sending any work home during the school break and I ask only that you continue to read. Whether this be books, websites, comics, magazines I do not mind but this is the most important thing for every child: reading for enjoyment!

I also kindly request that no work is submitted via Class Dojo after today until we begin the next lot of work on our return in a week’s time. Any work that is sent during the half term period I will not respond to and it will simply be approved. Many thanks for your understanding.

Home Learning

I will upload the work for after half term to the Google Drive before we break up today but please do not complete this over the holidays. I know some parents have said it is helpful to see the work a day or so before starting it to prepare what they need and so this will be uploaded simply to aid that

Dates for the Diary

Just a reminder that World Book Day 2021 is scheduled for Thursday 4th March. Children, whether at home or school, are encouraged to dress as a book character (those in school, please do not bring loose parts of costumes as we are trying to limit transmission from home to school and visa-versa) and we will also be running a bookmark competition (more information later for this). Class teachers are also hoping to record a story reading for those both at school and home to enjoy on the day.

Music With Mrs Benson

Here is this week’s message from Mrs Benson…

Award Winners

Home Learner Award - Emilia - for beautiful home learning and amazing Safer Internet Day Research.

Busy Bee Award - Harriet - for always giving her all and trying so hard with every task she undertakes.

School Learner Award - Lily T - for a fabulous attitude towards ALL her learning and for always brightening the classroom with her kindness.

Shining Light Award - Hallie - for helping other children without being asked whenever they struggle with their Maths

Special Golden Award - all of the Year 2 parents - for your amazing hard work and commitment to your children’s learning. I cannot thank you enough.

Have a happy half term and I look forward to hearing about what you’ve all been doing to relax.

Take care,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Gibbons.

PostedFebruary 12, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon everyone!

It is the end of another week, which means it is another week we are closer to a little more normality. I know things can seem very boring at the moment so it is important to find some joy in each day. I have loved hearing about all the exercise and fun outdoor activities you’ve all been taking part in and I’ve been glad you have all been keeping yourselves busy. Keep searching for your ‘small joys’ in life and ask God to help give you the strength to find those joys wherever you can. The title phrase here sums it all up well ‘The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease to be able to do it forever.’ So keep flying high, Year 2, because you are all stars.

Learning This Week

We’ve had another busy week both in school and at home and everyone has been working so hard.

In English we have looked at the story of Sam’s Duck by Michael Morpurgo and have produced wonderful writing work.

In Maths, we have focused upon column addition and subtraction and I’ve been blown away with the children’s confidence in this.

In Science, we have learned about the importance of exercise and how this improves and helps our bodies (and minds).

In RE, we’ve looked at the Gospel and Jesus’ Good News. We learned how Jesus brings this Good News and also that we can follow this example to continue Jesus’ work.

In History, we have explored and compared modern hospitals with those of the Victorian era. It has been amazing to find out just how much they have changed!

In Grammar and Punctuation, we have looked at exclamation sentences and thought about the specific features they need to have.

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday 9th February is Safer Internet Day. I have set an activity for next week’s home learning on Tuesday to reflect this so each afternoon lesson will be moved forward one day to accomodate this. This year’s focus is upon building a trustworthy internet and teaches the importance of fact-checking knowledged gained online.

Thursday 4th March is World Book Day. Obviously this will be different than other years with school being closed to some children but we will be organising an activity for this day. There will hopefully be a story reading by class teachers as well as a competition. Whether at home or at school, it would also be lovely for the children to dress as a book character (however if in school, please limit to a simple costume with as few ‘loose’ items as possible).

Music with Mrs Benson

Here is this week’s message from Mrs Benson…

This week I would like you to start by listening to ‘I Saw Her Standing There by The Beatles. Work through the questions under the ‘questions’ tab. Click ‘next’ to see each question. There are 4 questions to answer. The Beatles were a British rock group in the 1960s.

Click on “About Song” to learn more.

Next we are going to learn to sign “I Wanna Play in a Band.” Watch the video and copy the actions. Have lots of fun dancing in the middle!

Oddizzi Geography Sheet

Here is this week’s extra Geography task.

Award Winners

Home Learner Award - Isaac - for his beautifully presented, wonderfully written and carefully thought-out work at home.

Busy Bee Award - Elsie - for working so hard in all her learning, both in school an at home.

School Learner Award - Grace - for her enthusiasm towards her learning and her lovely progress during this lockdown period.

Shining Light Award - Olivia W - for being such a kind, caring and warm-hearted member of our class who always puts others before herself.

A big well done to all those too who have worked hard both at school and at home. You are all superstar!.

Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing all your learning again next week,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Gibbons and Mrs Bowdell.

PostedFebruary 5, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Well, it’s the end of yet another week of blended learning, Year 2! It’s also another week where you have continued to make us all incredibly proud of you. You embrace every challenge that is presented to you and excel every time. Even though we are not all together, your growth and maturity is clear to see.

Feast of Candlemas

This coming Tuesday (2nd February) is The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (or Candlemas) and Fr. Jim has asked all those in school to create some exciting candles and lanterns to celebrate when Jesus was first presented to God. We remember the story of Simeon who was promised that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s son and how he was granted his peace upon seeing Jesus. If those at home would like to create your own candle or lantern please feel free to do so! The more light we can bring to this special occasion, the better! Fr. Jim will be displaying those made in school in the church next week.

Home Learning

I have been very impressed as always with the quantity and quality of the home learning being completed. You are alll working incredibly hard and it makes me very happy to be inundated with so many of the children’s amazing work so regularly.

In-Class KW Learners

Likewise, those critical workers attending school have also been working incredibly hard with myself, Mrs Gibbons and Mrs Bowdell. We are proud of you all!

In-class this week, we have been very busy.

In English, we have learned about quest stories and have explored The Way Home and Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.

In Maths, we have continued to work on addition and subtraction and have learned how to find the difference and calculate the answers to word problems.

In Science, we have looked at the needs of humans for survival. We have realsied that humans need more than their 4 basic needs to be truly happy.

In RE we have learned about The Feeding of the 5000 and have considered the ways we can be more like Jesus and show our Christianity by helping others.

In History, we have looked at significant people and have written about those who are significant to us, as well as globally.

Our SPAG focus has been upon using apostrophes for contractions.

A Message from Mrs Benson

Mrs Benson, our music teacher, has also been very impressed with how hard all the children have been working on their lockdown music lessons on Yuma/Charanga. She wanted to pass on to me how happy she has been with the engagement level.

She pointed out to me Emilia, Oscar, Harriet and Mia as her Music Stars of the Week for last week for their continuous hard work on Yuma/Charanga. Well done to these children, I will add 5 dojo points for each of you.

This week’s Music Stars of the Week are Elsie, Henry, Isaac and Mia. Well done to you all and I will add 5 dojo points each for you.

Children’s Mental Health Week

Next week marks the beginning of Children’s Mental Health Week and there has never been a more important time to focus upon supporting the mental wellness of our children. On this website are links to assemblies and resources which can be completed and looked at at home to support resilience and mental health discussions. Please take a look.

Addtional Work

Here is this week’s additional Oddizzi geography activity if you would like it.

Award Winners

I will give out certificate each week to children both at home and at school in celebration of all the amazing things they are doing. Here are this week’s winners.

Home Learning Award - Darcy - for consistently working so hard on all her home learning, for welcoming a challenge and for always presenting her work beautifully.

Busy Bee Effort Award - Oscar - for his consistent hard work, perseverance and independence at home and for never giving up.

School Learner Award - Corben - for the incredible effort and focus he has put into all his Maths work.

Shining Light Award - Zahra - for thinking carefully about her work and never giving up.

I hope you have a lovely weekend. Stay positive and try to do something you enjoy together.

Take care,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Gibbons.

PostedJanuary 29, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Afternoon Year 2,

We’ve come to the end of our third week of blended learning and I have continued to be blown away by all the work you have been doing at home. Thank you once again for taking on every challenge you have been faced with. I am very proud of you all, Year 2.

Home Learning

Just a reminder that we need to see the work you have been completing at home every week. Please send me your English, Maths and afternoon work set from our Home Learning Google Drive via Class Dojo Portfolio. This allows us to keep track of how everyone is learning, give some feedback and identify any areas for further development where necessary. I know most of you have been doing this daily and I thank you for this (uploading work daily really helps me to keep on top of seeing everything).

Just an additional reminder in case anyone isn’t aware, for every lesson there is a lesson video which introduces the task or story which will be completed. Access the ‘plan’ word file in each week’s home learning and this gives you the structure of the day, plus links to the teaching videos.

Extra Home Learning Packs

Last week, I prepared two extra work booklets to be used as ADDITIONAL activities at home. Some of you were sent a text message to collect these from the school office, those of you in school will have been given them to take home and Mrs Wilson will have dropped off the others.

Just a reminder, these are not to be done INSTEAD OF the daily tasks on our Home Learning Google Drive, but rather they are there as ADDITIONAL activities if your child finishes the set tasks early. I do not need you to send me pictures of any completed work from these booklets. Please reminded the Google Drive tasks should be completed before doing the additional booklets.

Critical/Key Workers

If you child is attending school as a critical worker but is not attending full time please can you ensure that you access the home learning on the days they are at home. The learning is planned over the week (or longer) and so any missed tasks will lead to gaps in the children’s knowledge.

Additional Work

Here is this week’s extra Oddizzi Geography work.

PE with Joe is back on the Joe Wicks Youtube Channel.

Learners of the Week

Here is this week’s gallery of home learners. Keep up the excellent work, Year 2.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Gibbons and Mrs Bowdell

PostedJanuary 22, 2021

AuthorLiam Whetnall

Good afternoon everyone,

We’re at the end of our second week of this most unusual of times in education. It has been tough for children, parents and school staff alike and I have loved seeing that this difficult time has made us stronger as a community, rather than dividing us.

I would like to say just how overwhelmingly proud I am of all those children working from home. You have all been amazing. I have loved seeing all of your hard work and the pride you have taken in it. Mums, dads, nanas, grandads, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters… Thank you! You have been amazing support and I know you are all working whilst trying to manage child care and education. This is not easy!

It has been great to hear from so many families and working together to develop the children’s learning. Thank you for keeping at home and helping us all to remain safer. We do still have a large quantity of key worker children in school, particularly in Key Stage 1 and I urge parents to read Miss Haggerty’s website post regarding this. Thank you for helping us keep each other safe.

Additional Tasks

Attached here is an additional Oddizzi activity for those wanting a little more work.

Other additional tasks can be found at the bottom of next week’s home learning plan document or by clicking on the ‘Home Learning’ link on the Year 2 page.

There isn’t a lot more to say this week, other than keep up the hard work and let’s pray to God that this period of fear and uncertainty is resolved as soon as possible and we can welcome everyone back to school.

Learning of the Week

Here is a gallery of some of the learning we have received from those at home this week. We are proud of all of you.