Year 2 weekly blog Friday 6th September: What a wonderful start to the year!

We’ve had a wonderful start to the new year. Friends have been reunited and everyone has dived into each new lesson!

Coming together as a family is so special. Together we have reflected on what it means to be part of the class and our wider community. Alongside the whole school we explored what it means to be an Our Lady STAR. We discovered that together we are STRIVING, THRIVING, ASPIRING and being RESPECTFUL and RESPONSIBLE. To help us understand further Mrs Gregan shared role models with us in assembly, people who are always striving and aspiring to be the best they can be. Ultimately, to do this with love is what Jesus asks of us and I know we will all be STARS in Year 2. Alongside this challenge to be a STAR we have learned about the STAR CHARTER - Mrs Gregan has challenged us to do the following:

Plan a worship for our class partners in Year 4

Read a special book about Catholic Life

Raise money for something close to our hearts

Connect with the Parish

Laudaio Si - do something for our common home

Then there is the extra challenge - we are trying to attend the special school and family masses which are set throughout the year (I’ll blog a reminder) and to do something beyond school that shows a sustained commitment to others.

I’m sure we will be able to work together throughout this coming year to help the children to achieve all of the above. We will be twinkling stars within our special community.


MAGIC MOMENTS - LOVING LEARNING

First weeks are always full of exciting new experiences. We now have pencil cases, trays and chair pockets all utilised to make us more independent in class. In addition to this, we were introduced to the new play zones on the playground. We have had a little play in the first zones to be introduced - we scootered, built a den, made marks on the playground (very artistic) and we chilled in the art hut! These zones go live next Monday. We also have new playground buddies -Year 6 are now eating and playing with us! In art we explored more mark making this time with charcoal - I did have to clean some faces. We discovered that charcoal is made from burnt willow twigs and we used the leaves of the willow tree as part of our observational science lesson. Here we used magnifiers in class and then spilled out into the garden to continue exploring. In maths Miss Lavelle (teaching every Wednesday) explored polygons and Mrs Hotchkiss jumped straight into groups of ten. In English we have focused this week on spelling. We are part of a new spelling pilot. These lessons build on all our phonic knowledge gained in reception and Year 1 and challenges us to apply this when spelling. This week we explored all the graphemes that make the phoneme “ee”. Finally, we completed our annual Kidsafe session 1. These are essential safeguarding lessons. The sessions teach the children how to keep themselves safe. Below is a link to the parents letter explaining this first lesson and how you may reinforce and support at home.


TAKING THE LEARNING DEEPER AT HOME

We explored POLYGONS. Polygons are 2d shapes with straight sides that meet at a point (vertices). Can you look for shapes around your home and classify them as polygons and not polygons. Take pictures and send to Mrs Hotchkiss - she loves to share learning beyond the classroom. True of False - a circle is a polygon.


LET’S CELEBRATE

No certificates this week as we are all just settling in! Next week you may get a text message on Thursday to secretly invite you to the celebration assembly if your child has received the award. This too is an exciting new change!


IMPORTANT NOTICES:

Induction evening will take place on Wednesday 18th September. There are two sessions, one after school:

3:45-4:30pm

4:45-5:30pm

During this session in the Year 2 classroom, I will be sharing key information about the year to come. It is an opportunity to speak to everyone at once and answer any generic questions you may have. It is great for you to meet the team and for us to start our working relationship face to face. Please complete the following annual online forms for our information:

HOMEWORK: I will post homework on Monday night next week. This weekend I have given the children their homework book to cover and decorate - have fun making this beautiful and personal. The children have completed their STAR reader assessment and their books will match their new ZPD code when they come home next week. I will be going over homework expectation at induction evening.

GATES - pick up is now 3:25pm and the gates open in the morning at 8:45am - you may come in either gate. Gates close at 8:55am.

SNACKS please make sure your child has a healthy snack some sugary biscuits have appeared this week and we have chatted about the benefits of fresh fruit with the children. Of course we have free fruit in class - which is delicious - I’ve eaten several carrots this week!

PLEASE make sure names are on bottles, snack boxes and in jumpers.

No photos this week - just waiting on your parental permission- see forms above


Have a wonderful sunny weekend - form the whole Year 2 team.