P.O.W.S.A Blog

P.O.W.S.A (The Prince of Wales School Association), now has it’s own section of the school website which includes a blog detailing all their latest news and events. To access the P.O.W.S.A page simply click the link labelled ‘POWSA’, at the top of any page within  the school website.

Spellings

Just a short note to say that children should have bought home their spelling sheets tonight, if your child missed their copy (there was alot going on with Harvest Cafe), then please see me on Monday. The spellings are on a Look/Cover/Write/Check sheet which has been explained to the children. They can then practise their spellings at home before being tested on a Friday morning. However, the tests are carried out in a very light hearted way and the message that we give is that it doesn’t matter if mistakes are made – that’s how we learn! I would certainly not like any of the children to worry about these spellings. They are simply a way of encouraging the children to use their sound knowledge to practise spellings and to prepare them for the homework they will get in Year 3 and beyond. If the children remember to bring their completed spelling sheets in before the test each week, they get a hot point!

WORLD CUP HOME LEARNING - WOW!

WOW! What a fantastic time we had in Year 2 today, sharing in the wonderful, creative, artistic and frankly BRILLIANT World Cup home learning projects that each child completed. Every child confidently shared their work which included a didjeridoo solo, Afrikaans lesson, a collection of traditional artifacts, beautiful illustrations, colourful flags, photographs from holidays, posters, booklets, banners and so much more! May I say a big thank-you to the pupils for all their hard work and to you as parents for your continued support. I think each and every one of them deserves a reward for their efforts and I will be producing a special certificate which they will each take home as well as making sure lots of stones go into our party jar. Well done again children, each and every one of of you should be proud of your work. Mr. Spracklen

Reminder - World Cup Homework

Just a short reminder that the children will have an opportunity tomorrow (30/09/11) to share their World Cup Home Learning project with the whole class. In previous years, pupils engaged in similar projects have made posters, booklets or PowerPoint presentations about their country to share with the class. We look forward to seeing all the pupil's home learning projects tomorrow. Mr. Spracklen on behalf of the Year 2 Team.

Have you shared a joke?

In I.C.T we have been learning how to access SWGfL Merlin discussions within the Year 2 area. Some pupils have carried this on at home by adding to discussions with either text, a drawing or a video. In particular, we have a good joke board developing and I would encourage everyone to add to this for two reasons. The first is that it will help us all develop our I.C.T skills and the second is that we all enjoy a good joke!

Harvest Festival reminder...

Just to remind all of our community that Harvest Festival is taking place this Friday (30^th Sept) in the school hall. KS 1 begins at 9.15am with produce sold afterwards. Then KS2 begins at 9.50am again with produce being sold afterwards. All produce for Harvest please take to the Servery in the morning; we will be awaiting you to begin placing onto our display areas.

If you are bringing in cakes, etc for the Harvest Café please take this to the classrooms; we will then collect this later on in the day when the hall is prepared for the afternoon. Harvest Café is open to parents, friends from 2.30pm and will close at 4pm, this is so hopefully pre-school children and parents can come over and join us. Children will be able to buy two cakes and a drink for 20p.

We very much look forward to seeing you, thank you for your help and support.

Mrs Mewett

Drawastickman.com

As part of my weekly augmented reality club (Monday lunchtimes) which some children in Year 2 attend we had a little look at a website called ‘drawastickman.com’. All the children were fascinated by this website which allows you to draw a stickman and see him or her come to life on your screen. I promised them that I would share the link to the blog so they could all access this at home and include it below for your convenience: http://www.drawastickman.com/.  Enjoy!

This week in Literacy - W/C: 26/09/11

This week we will begin our first week of work on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. We will explore the story this week through lots of reading and acting. On Monday we will take pictures of friends acting out the story which we will use later on in the week to sequence the story using Microsoft PowerPoint. Help your child in their learning this week by encouraging them to recall the story at home. Can they sequence the events correctly? Maybe you would like to photograph your own version or create a film to share with the class?

This week in Numeracy - W/C: 26/09/11

This week in Maths we will be adding and subtracting two-digit numbers mentally, e.g. calculate 36 + 19, 63 + 26, and complements to 100 such as 100 - 24. We will also be using mental recall of addition and subtraction facts to 10, e.g. use addition/subtraction facts to 10 and place value to add or subtract multiples of 10, e.g. know3+7=10 and use place value to derive 30 + 70 = 100. Why not explore some similar examples at how this week? We are always pleased to see Maths work completed at home and have some special certificates to give to pupils who share good home learning.

Dates for your diary!

As stated in our class newsletter: Our joint Harvest celebration with Reception and Year 1 will be on Friday 8^th October at 9:15 in the school hall. Our late Parents Evening will be Tuesday 18^th October at 17:00 and Early Parents Evening – Wednesday 19^th October at 15:30. Our class assembly is Friday 7^th October. All parents are very welcome to come along to support us. This year class assembles will continue to be at 9:20. Finally our India Day will be on Monday 5^th October.

Maiden Castle Farm - 27/09/11

Year 2 will be visiting Maiden Castle Farm on the morning of Tuesday 27th September, 2011. The children will need to wear old jeans/trousers with their school Polo shirt and Sweatshirt, a jacket or waterproof coast if rain is forecast, and bring Wellington boots. Thank-you

Fantastic Indian Dance!

Thank-you to all those who came along and joined us for our Indian Dance assembly this morning. Sunjita (our dance teacher) was very impressed with the children's enthusiasm and commitment. I think we will all sleep well tonight following our energetic dance routine!

India Day - Wednesday 5th October

This term we have been learning about India and Hinduism in our Geography and RE topics. We will be reading some traditional Indian stories in Literacy and hopefully making some lovely displays. On Wednesday 5th October we are going to have an ‘India Day’ where the adults and children dress up in traditional Indian clothes. Here are some suggestions as to what the children could wear: Girls - Any patterned fabric that could be draped over them in the fashion of a Sari, with a plain t-shirt and trousers underneath. Boys - Plain trousers and shirt worn loose over the top. Please feel free to come and have a chat with me if you have trouble thinking of an outfit for your child. Hopefully we will have an informative and enjoyable day.

SWGfL Discussions - CHALLENGE!

In I.C.T we have been learning how to access SWGfL Merlin discussions within the Year 2 area. We have had a great discussion about our favourite colour and shared reading this as a class. Tonight (21/09/11), I set the pupils a challenge to add at home to one of three new discussions I created in class. I wonder if anyone will manage to do this?

Reminder - India Dance Workshop and Assembly

On Friday (23/09/11) we are having a visit from Wise Moves who will be leading a dance workshop with Year 2 in the hall from 10.00-11.30. This will culminate in an assembly at 11.30 - 12:00 for the whole school which you as parents are very welcome to attend.

This week in Literacy - W/C: 19/09/11

This week in Literacy we will be working with superheros!!! We will be thinking of adjectives and similes to describe our visitors appearance and actions, this will include some drama work in the hall. On Thursday we will be writing our own superhero poem based on a poem written by Jared Novak. You can read this poem here: http://www.helium.com/items/698004-poetry-poems-for-children.Encourage your child in their learning this week by considering adjectives and similes to describe everyday objects around the home. E.g. The yellow kettle is like the burning sun.

This week in Numeracy - W/C: 19/09/11

This week in Numeracy we will be continuing to explore number  and consider our understanding of place value in numbers to 1000. We will be exploring how some numbers can be represented as different arrays and use our understanding of place value to multiply/divide whole numbers by 10 (whole number answers). Why not explore this at home with your child by playing with a calculator. What happens when we times any number by 10? Is there a pattern? What about when we divide a number by 10?

Look what we've grown!

Mrs. Webb and C.S Lewis group did some harvesting in Food for Life work today. They are all very pleased with their crop, all of which came from the Year 2 allotment! Well done Year 2!

Missed this morning? Watch online!

Thank-you for all those who attended our Year 2 Parent Information Session this morning. If you missed the session and would like to catch up on all that was covered you can watch my talk online at: http://www.princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk/The_Prince_of_Wales_First_School/Year_2_Parent_Information_Session.html. Please be aware that the video is a very large file and may take a while to download/play.

Performance Poetry

Today in Literacy we explored a range of poems and used the voting handsets to decide which poem was our favourite. We then explored performing our favourite poem, 'Song of the Kite' independently, in pairs and finally as a whole class. We have made a recording of our work which you can listen to by visiting the school website and clicking parents and then Year 2. We hope you enjoy our performance.

Mathletics

You may have heard that we are using Mathletics in class to support our work in Maths. I have had lots of requests already for pupils to have their Mathletics login details to use at home - which we encourage. It has always been planned to send these home at the end of this week (16/09/11) when I have had the opportunity to share with you (parents) in the Parent Information Session (14/09/11) what Mathletics is and how it can be used most effectively at home to improve your child's Maths.

This week in Numeracy - W/C: 12/09/11

This week in Numeracy we will be looking for the pairs of numbers that add to any number up to 10 that children know and can recall. To support your child in their learning at home, look for your child using known facts and place value to add or subtract multiples of ten, e.g. using 2 + 5 = 7 to derive 20 + 50 = 70. Notice if children are beginning to use these addition facts when they add and subtract a one-digit number. For example, look for children knowing the distance from their start number to the appropriate tens boundary and then how many more to add or subtract.

This week in Literacy - W/C: 10/09/12

This week in Literacy we will be learning all about the wonders of poetry. We will be reading, writing and reciting poetry thinking carefully about what makes a good poem taking account of punctuation, sound patterns and different forms of presentation. We will be using simple poetry structures to make a substitute for our own ideas - by this doing this will create our own poetry. To support your child in their learning at home, why not have a go at this? Find a poem either in a book or on the Internet and change a few of the words around... it doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense - it is all about exploring language and having fun! Can you think of a better adjective to describe what the poet is seeing?

Date for your diary!

On Friday 23rd September we are having a visit from Wise Moves who will be leading a dance workshop with Year 2 in the hall from 10.00-11.30. This will culminate in an assembly at 11.30 - 12:00 for the whole school which you as parents are very welcome to attend.

Rugby World Cup Home Learning Project

As you may, or may not know the Rugby World Cup 2011 kicks off tomorrow morning in New Zealand. As a class we will be using the Rugby World Cup to support our work in Maths and other subjects across the curriculum. 

As with previous classes during the Football World Cup children in Year 2 have each been given a nation to follow/support during the tournament. Due to the smaller number of teams that take part in a Rugby World Cup compared to a Football World Cup each nation will have two pupils following/supporting them. While proving to be great fun, I also hope that this will encourage our pupil’s global awareness and geographical understanding. You should now have received a letter with this information in as well as details of your child's nation. If you haven't then please see me or Mrs. Webb. As well as following/supporting their nation, I have encouraged the class to complete some home learning on their nation during the next couple of weeks and will provide an opportunity for pupils to share their learning in a special session on Friday 30th September. In previous years, pupils engaged in similar projects have made posters, booklets or PowerPoint presentations about their country to share with the class. We look forward to seeing all the pupil's home learning projects. Mr. Spracklen on behalf of the Year 2 Team.

Year 2 Class Assembly

Friday 7th October, 2011 - 9.20am - will be the date and time for our first Year 2 class assembly. All are welcome to come along and hear what Year 2 have been learning in the first few weeks of the term. More information to follow soon.

Parent Information Session

Wednesday 14th September, 2011 - 9.00am - Year 2 Parent Information Session. Please come along and hear all about what lies ahead for Year 2 this year with particular emphasis on what is happening in the Autumn term.

First Day

We have had a wonderful first day back in Year 2! In Literacy we discussed our Rights and Responsibilities and each wrote our own Class Charter - a big copy of this will soon be shown on our 'Club Sandwich Class Charter', next to Mr. Spracklen's cupboard. After break, we had a PE session with Mrs. Hibberd and had our first taste of Mathletics. In the afternoon, we changed our reading books and all selected our first library book. We therefore should all have two reading books and one library book in our book bags to read at home. We ended our first day in Year 2 with another go on Mathletics in the ICT suite - we are all already big fans of Mathletics and can't wait for tomorrow!

Welcome to Year 2!

Mr. Spracklen and Mrs. Webb would like to say a big welcome to all our new pupils and their parents in Year 2. We have a very exciting year ahead and on this class blog you can keep up with all the latest news, events and activities in Year 2. You can access this blog every morning on the class interactive whiteboard, through our school website at: www.princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk, via our SWGfL Merlin pages or via our school's iPhone App which is available in iTunes. Alternatively, you can use our RSS feed with any compatible program or device which is: http://pow-year2.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Parent helpers always welcome!

We are always keen to have parent helpers in Year 2! If you are free and willing of a morning or afternoon to help in class you will always be welcome. If you cannot commit to a regular time but would still like to help then please see Mrs. Webb or myself who will try to arrange times that are convenient. All helpers must be CRB checked before working with pupils - please speak to the Office team if you need any further information about this process.