Happy New Year to you all! (It seems a lifetime ago now)
A big welcome back to school and after a great start back these last two weeks, everyone is very excited about all the fabulous learning we have planned for this new spring term. We enjoyed reading the wonderful Christmas recounts last week in English and had a giggle over who tried sprouts with their Christmas lunch! It was lovely to hear about the children’s experiences over the Christmas holidays but now we are back into full learning mode and steaming ahead.
You may have noticed, or your child may have told you that each Year 2 class has a trainee teacher up until the Easter holiday. They are final year students from Winchester University and have spent this week getting to know the children, working with small groups and learning how we do things in Year 2. As the weeks progress, they will be doing more and more planning, teaching and assessing, (under the class teachers’ supervision) and it is always lovely to see our students go from strength to strength in their skills set and confidence ready for them to go off and start their own careers in September.
Our termly topic for spring is Space which is always popular with children and adults alike, with a particular focus on the first moon landing and Neil Armstrong. We have already begun our history lessons which brought up a lot of new questions which we will answer over the coming weeks.
In English this week, we began a new unit based on Toys in Space by Mini Grey, it is a fabulous book and within the unit, the children complete a range of ‘mini writes’ before embarking on planning and creating their own version of Toys in Space.
In maths, we have started on the journey towards adding 2 2-digit numbers together. We begin the process by using our number knowledge to bridge to the next multiple of 10 and then beyond. Number bonds to 10 knowledge is such an important skill for this process, and actually in life if you think about mental calculation, so please help your child to have quick recall of the bonds. It can be done in the form of a game…
I say 2…….you say…. (hopefully, they will say 8!) etc etc.
Once this is fluent, you can move onto number bonds to 20.
I say 2….you say….. (18)
Things to remember:
Reading books and diaries in every day please and book change is on Monday.
PE kits should be in school now – Friday is PE day.
Please make your parents evening appointment online – see previous emails from the office.
Please reply to the choir letter as soon as possible if your child would like to be considered for the Sing from the Hart Choir. Please remember that there are only 19 spaces available and that it is a commitment that your child will be expected to attend all the rehearsals. It is a really exciting opportunity for us all and we are looking forward to getting started.
Spellings tests have resumed and they are still every Monday, please support your child in learning the words and by also listening to them read their home reading book and signing their diary.
Think that’s it for now, have a lovely weekend everyone and see you on Monday.
The Year 2 Team.