Year 2 - Waiting for Santa - 24th December 2017

I hope you are all having a fantastic and relaxing Christmas break and are ready for the big day tomorrow.  Whatever you are doing I hope you have a lovely time.  Can I take this opportunity on behalf of all of the year 2 team to thank you for the kind gifts that you gave us at the end of term?  Many thanks and believe me they will be very much appreciated over Christmas and beyond!  I have purposefully set no home learning over the Christmas break to ensure everyone has time to rest, relax and unwind after a very busy and exciting term.  (Reading is a great way to relax and unwind though, so don't forget to write down what you have been reading over the holidays for extra superhero points when we return).
Tonight we had our annual read of "A night before Christmas", to get us ready for our Christmas visitor (fingers crossed).  Enjoy tomorrow and the rest of your holiday and I'll see you in 2018 with a new member of the year 2 team!!!

Year 2 - Awards - 14th December 2017

Congratulations all who received awards in today's celebration assembly.  We regret that there are a few trophies missing.  Replacements have been ordered and we will ensure that each child will have their photo taken with the new trophies when they arrive.

Year 2 - Christmas holidays almost here - 14th December 2017

Well done year 2 for your amazing performances this week, you were real stars with super confidence, resilience and you performed with such enthusiasm.  In total you earned 62 marbles and filled the jar, you have certainly earned your party tomorrow!  Please remember to bring your food with you and wear your non-uniform / Christmas Jumper.  We will be having party games including create a life sized snowman, bingo and musical statues!  There will be Carols in the school hall from 3pm and don't forget the secret about our special visitor tomorrow!
#Christmasstartshere

Year 2 -Award trophies - 13th December 2017

Apologies for the short notice:  Please could Alyce, Kurtis, Phillippa, Jacob, Tilly and Sam all return their awards trophies to school for tomorrow, 14th December 2017?

Year 2 - Reindeer sighted - 12th December 2017

As well as putting on a marvelous Christmas Nativity play this morning, year 2 have been busy tracking down some reindeer who have been dancing around the school!  We have managed to capture video footage of them dancing in various locations.  Some children are taking their detective work further by taking pencils and clipboards out to play to make notes of any evidence they find.  The reindeer were last seen dancing in the ICT suite - keep your eyes peeled!

Year 2 - Technology Day - 7th December 2017

Tomorrow is our annual Christmas Technology Day where the children will be heading off to different classrooms to make and create wonderful Christmas craft work.  During the day they will take part in three exciting activities and they will be bringing all of their creations home.  Please provide your child with a bag in which to carry their work.  

It is also POWSA's Christmas fair, the children are invited to attend school in non-school uniform in exchange for various items for the tombola, teddy bear stall, etc.  Please drop your donations off in the classroom and we will ensure that POWSA collect it.

At the end of the day POWSA will be using the year 2 classroom as part of the Christmas fair, so please pick your child up from the year 3 classroom door, just at the end of the building, next to year 2.

Year 2 - Christmas play's a corker! - 7th December 2017

The children have been busily practicing for the Christmas play, they have learned their lines beautifully and today's singing rehearsal with the piano was brilliant.  What a great effort from everyone!  We will be performing "A Little Bird Told Me" on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week and if you've got tickets you are in for a real treat!
Our next rehearsal will be on Monday and as it is a dress rehearsal we need your white shirts!
A quick reminder of a previous blog:
 
For our Christmas production the children will require a white shirt with a collar.  Please bring your child's shirt in a named plastic bag by Friday 8th December.
Many Thanks

Year 2 - Christmas Party Food - 6th December 2017

There is now a list in the classroom where you can sign up for which food you could provide for the children's Christmas party.  The party will be on the afternoon of Friday 15th December.  Please provide the food on the day and join us later on the same day for Carols in the school hall from 3pm.

Year 2 - Victorian Adventure - 6th December 2017

Year 2 had a fantastic day at the Priest House Museum, Wimborne yesterday.  The children were motivated, interested, polite and well behaved.  Some fantastic learning took place and the staff at the museum were really impressed with the children's costumes and their knowledge of Victorian Christmas even though we have only just begun our topic!  The children experienced baking in a Victorian Kitchen; making peg dolls and exploring Victorian toys; playing Victorian games and visiting the Victorian stationer's shop which was originally where the museum stands in the Victorian era where they made their own Christmas cards.  Many thanks to the parents who bravely volunteered to come along for the day.

Everyone looked amazing!  Please keep hold of the costumes for next term, we will be having a Victorian Day and our class assembly.

 

Year 2 - Spelling Roll Over - 1st December 2017

This week we have had a spelling roll over!  Due to our Big Write and busily rehearsing for our Christmas play, outside PE and a very well earned Golden Time there are just not enough hours in the day!  We will be checking these spellings next Thursday, as Friday is our Technology Day.  I have ensured everyone has their spelling list back and they can also be found on this blog.
Keep practicing! 

Year 2 - Homelearning - 1st December 2017

Home Learning 1^st December 2017

This week we have been preparing for our big write and today the children wrote their letters.  We have been so pleased with the results!  Now it is over to you!  Your child will bring home a copy of the letter they wrote today along with a couple of envelopes, one self addressed and the other to post your letter in.  Most children have also got a flat version of themselves to post along with the letter.  (We read a book called Flat Stanley and thought it would be a good idea to send a flat version of ourselves with our letters). 

For home learning we would like you to help your child address their envelope and post the letter.  We will have to wait and see if we get any replies in the new-year.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Year2 - Fancy a Victorian Christmas? - 30th November 2017

We would have loved to go here for our Victorian Christmas Topic:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/max-gate
They have the house especially decorated for a Victorian Christmas and are doing craft activities with the children.  If you are looking for something to do locally, why not go and have a look?

Year 2 - The Priest House Museum - 30th November for Tuesday 5th December

Next Tuesday (5th December) we will be visiting the Priest House Museum.  Please can you ensure you have completed your permission form and returned it to the school office?  Many thanks to the parents who have said that they can attend, we look forward to seeing you on the day.  Please get the children to wear their costumes to school with plenty of layers if it is as cold as today!  Parents we invite you to dress up as well to entertain the people of Wimborne as we walk down the street to the museum!

Year 2 - Amazing Sandwiches - 28th November 2017

The children have been working hard to complete their sandwich design project in DT over the last couple of days.  Each child will be bringing home their sandwich which they have designed, costed, made the box for, examined fat content for and made!  Please help your child to have a taste and write up the evaluation and return it to school for a Superhero point.  Well done everyone, the sandwiches look fantastic, very professional!

Year 2 - PE on Friday - 28th November 2017

This Friday we will be doing PE outside!  Brrrrrr!  You are welcome to pack extra warm tracksuits, socks and jumpers.  The reason for this is that we now have the stage in the school hall and still need to get the children fit and active!  Please bring them in a named plastic bag and hang them on your child's peg.  Many Thanks!

Year 2 - Entries for Premier Writing Stars Competiting - 24th November 2017

We have had some amazing entries to the Premier League competition so far.  The children have surprised me with their amazing poetry writing skills.  What a high standard!  There is still time to bring in your entries so please bring them to school as soon as possible.

Year 2 - Costume Reminder - 24th November 2017

Another reminder.  We need a couple of costumes for the next couple of weeks: We will be going to the priest house museum on Tuesday 5th December, the children will need a Victorian costume for this day.  Please ensure that the children have a few layers to put on so that they don't get cold.  We will reuse this costume during the Spring Term for our Victorian's day and our class assembly for the spring term.
For our Christmas production the children will require a white shirt with a collar.  Please bring your child's shirt in a named plastic bag by Friday 8th December.
Many Thanks

Year 2 - Spellings - 24th November 2017

The spellings for this week are as follows:
Red Group:  Using the apostrophe for contractions - I've, can't, don't, haven't, they're, you're, weren't
Orange Group: Different ways of spelling the oa sound - goes, heroes, float, alone, those, explode
Yellow and Green Group: The "ai" and "air" sound - air, fair, pain, paint
We were extremely pleased with how many children this week managed to get full marks in their spelling check - well done year 2 - a marble in the jar!
These spellings will be checked next Friday 1st December.

Year 2 - Literacy Learning - Week Beginning 20th November 2017

This week we have been practicing our letter writing skills.  We have been perfecting the letter lay out that we will be using for our big write next Friday.  (Please see home learning activity).  We have looked at address writing and even written out our own self addressed envelope.  We have read the Jolly Postman and even Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, who ends up being sent through the post in an envelope!  The children will be sending their own Flat versions of themselves when they complete their letters in next week's big write.

Year 2 - Maths Learning - Week Beginning 20th November

This week we have continued to look at measures.  The children have used kg and g to estimate, compare and measure the weight of objects in the classroom.  We have practiced recording our measures and reasoning about them.  Why not do some baking this weekend and get the children to measure the ingredients in g and kg?

Year 2 - Home Learning - 24th November 2017

Next week we will be having our second Big Write of the year.  We have decided to send letters to important people, friends and family or maybe even Farther Christmas!  For home learning the children have bought home their planning sheets, they have decided who to send their letters to, but need your help in finishing off their plans.  Firstly the children need to find the address of the person to whom they with to write and write it on the sheet.  Also you could help your child draft out what they would like to write by using the lined paper on the back of the sheet.  We will be writing next Friday morning, so there is a whole week to think about what to write.

Year 2 - Christmas Play Lines - 17th November 2017

Today we have sent some of the lines for the Christmas Play home.  This is a reading task and I would like everyone to have a go at reading them at home until they are really confident.  This is only part of the performance, there are a few other lines and lots of song words to learn as well.  Narrating the story is all about quality of speech no matter how many lines you have, so practice, practice, practice!  3 weeks to go until the performance!

Year 2 - A big well done - Week Beginning 13th November

A big well done go to Jasper and Phillippa for representing the school at Multiskills this week.  Overall with year 1 as well they came second in the competition.  What a great effort!  It was brilliant to see how Indi-Rose and Jason have been raising money for Children In Need by reading lots of books and landing bottle flips!  Everyone got into the spirit of Children In Need by wearing fantastic costumes to school today.  Lots of children have been extending their learning at school into learning at home, fantastic to see how inspired to learn you all are!  It was also amazing to see Florence visiting a book signing and having her own original portrait drawn by the artist!  Well done everyone for rising to the challenge!

Year 2 - Spelling - Week Beginning 13th November

This week's spellings are as follows:
Red Phonics Group - More Prefixes: re, bi, tri, pre
return, rerun, bicycle, tricycle, misbehave, prehistoric, preheat.
Orange Phonics Group - Common words / wh
when, what, where, why, which, white.
Green and Yellow Phonics group - ear
ear, dear, clear, beard

Year 2 - Maths Learning - Week Beginning 13th November 2017

This week we have been measuring in cm and m.  We have learned about standard units of measurement and used tape measures, trundle wheels, metre rulers as well as scales to measure length and weight.  The children have used their understanding of more than (greater than) and less than to compare these lengths and weights.   At home why not use a tape measure to measure different objects?
How tall are you?

Year 2 - Literacy Learning - Week Beginning 13th November 2017

This week we have been practicing our letter writing skills.  Inspired by the Lighthouse keeper's Lunch stories we helped Mr Grinling find Hamish and rescue him from the pirates by writing letters to help him in his search, it all started with a message in a bottle, which turned out to be a map!  The children have become confident in laying their letter out.  They have been writing using their sentence punctuation and have used their questioning skills.  Some super progress has also been made as the children used purple pen to improve their work.  Later in the term the children will be writing letters for their second Big Write.  These letters will be sent off, so the children will need to be able to write their address in the proper format.  At home why not get the children to practice writing your address.  Bring it into school for a superhero point.

Year 2 - Home Learning - 17th November 2017

Year 2 - Home learning – 17^th November 2017

This week Mrs Johnson and Mr Gibson have launched The Premier League Stars Writing Challenge and I would like you to have a go.  You will need to write a poem about resilience!  Think about focusing, being determined, managing distractions and perseverance,   Maybe Rodney could appear in your poem. 

Also we are beginning to read parts for our Christmas Play.  Please read the  words together at home.  They don’t need to be memorized, but need to be read with a great deal of fluency just like we did for our class assembly.

Also check out the Maths and Literacy learning pages with some tips about what we’ve been learning this week.

Year 2 - Literacy Learning - Week Beginning 6th November 2017

This week we have been focusing on retelling stories using super vocabulary, great punctuation and connectives to write more complete and interesting sentences.  We have heard and acted out the story of The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch, this had given us lots of ideas for our writing.  We have written our own versions of the story using a story board.  Some great focus during this week's work.  Well done Year 2.

Year 2 - Spellings - 10th November 2017

This week's spellings to learn for Friday 17th November 2017.
Red Phonics Group: (Looking at prefixes)
unhappy, unlock, unfair, undo, unload, dislike, disbelieve
Orange Phonics Group: (Revising ph)
elephant, dolphin, sphinx, graph, sphere, phone
Green and Yellow Phonics group: (The oi sound)
coin, oil, soil, foil, boil

Year 2 - Costume Requests - Advanced warning 9th November 2017

This half term we will need you to find a Victorian costume for your child to wear for our trip to The Priest House Museum on Tuesday 5th December.  For boys shorts or trousers, a shirt, knitted jumper and cap (or variations on these).  For girls a dress or skirt and shirt with maybe a shawl, apron or mob cap.  It can be cold at the Priest House Museum, so please wrap up in layers under or over costume. 
If you are finding it tricky, we do have a few bits of Victorian costume in our collection at school. 

Also for our Christmas Play each child needs a white shirt with a collar, this could be short or long sleeved, we will provide everything else!  Please provide the shirt in a named bag by Monday 4th December.

Year 2 - Marble Jar Reward - 9th November 2017

The children have decided on a football and film party.  The children will have a choice of either playing football outside or in the hall depending on the weather or snuggling up and watching a film.  For which ever activity your child chooses they are welcome either to bring in their football kit or a pair of PJs and their favourite teddy.  Half-time fruit, popcorn and hot-chocolate will be available!  We will be having our party on Friday 17th November from 2:30pm-3:30pm.  Please provide your child's clothes for the afternoon in a named plastic bag.
UPDATE AS IT IS CHILDREN IN NEED DAY ON FRIDAY 17TH AND YEAR 1 HAVE AN ASSEMBLY IN THE AFTERNOON WE HAVE CHANGED THE DAY TO THURSDAY 16TH!  PLEASE SHARE WITH EVERYONE!

Year 2 - Spellings - 3rd November 2017

Spellings this week are:
Red Phonics Group (suffixes): friendly, darkness, badly, beautiful, careless, coldness, cheerful.
Orange Phonics Group (aw grapheme, wh words): yawn, shawl, drawer, which, where, whistle.
Yellow and Green Phonics Groups (ow as in cow): cow, how, bow, down, brown, crown.
Spellings will be checked next Friday 10th November.

Year 2 - Maths Learning - 3rd November 2017

This week we have been subtracting!  We have looked at three methods for subtracting two-digit and one digit numbers. 
1.  Counting backwards, either with objects or on a number line:

2.  Partitioning to subtract:

3. The vertical method:

The next step is to be able to use these methods when solving problems to help speed up the process.  A quick game to play at home.  Start with 20 (or more) counters each.  Take it in turn to role a dice, you take that number away from your pile.  The first to zero wins.  You have to say how many counters you have left after each turn.

Year 2 - Literacy Learning - Week Beginning 3rd November 2017

This week we have been concentrating on our reading skills, reading and re-reading for fluency.  Reading to ourselves, to a partner and to a wider audience.  We have extended our vocabulary and challenged ourselves to read new and exciting words.  We have added expression to keep the audience interested and lastly, we proved our hard work by performing our new found reading skills in assembly today.  Great learning Year 2!

Year 2 - Reading - 3rd November 2017

Due to a busy couple of weeks and half term we have had a break in our normal group reading rota.  Although we have been doing lots of reading in class, especially with our script reading for assembly, India day and our reading assessments.  I understand that this means the children have had their current group reading books for a while now, but don't forget individual reading books, library books and books from home to supplement the group reading books.  We will be resuming our usual group reading rota this week. 

Year 2 - Mathletics Explained - 3rd November 2017

First of all well done to everyone who attempted the holiday home learning.  We managed 26 certificates between us during the holidays.  That meant 26 marbles in the Jar.  Extra superhero points were earned for big totals achieved as well.
I have had a few queries about the Mathletics points scoring system.  Points are scored by completing tasks and answering live mathletics questions.  These points are totaled on the rocket on the left of the screen.  This rocket will reset every MONDAY.  You have one week to try to earn 1000 points (you can score more, but there will only be one certificate each week).   In the half term holidays you had the opportunity to earn three certificates because you had the first weekend (1), Monday to Sunday (2) and the final Monday of the holidays.  Well done to those who managed it!
Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates are available. 

Certificates

20 consistent weeks of work = 1 Gold Certificate

Certificates are granted when a student earns 1000 points or more within one week. This encourages students to complete a healthy amount of work each week and rewards students for every week they practice. Students initially earn a Bronze Certificate, then a Silver Certificate once five Bronzes have been earned. With four Silver Certificates, a student then receives the much-coveted Gold Certificate, demonstrating their long-term commitment and developing ability.

There are some new awards that we will begin giving out next week to keep children motivated! 

 A couple of people have reported having difficulty logging on to Mathletics with the up to date version of flash player.  I will contact the Mathletics team to see if they can shed any light on this.

Year 2 - The Marble Jar is FULL!!!! - 3rd November 2017

After working hard for eight weeks Year 2 have managed to fill the marble jar!  It is actually overflowing!  A marble is given each time the class demonstrates exemplary behaviour or effort in their learning.  So now the children get to plan their reward!  We will let you know what we decide to do!
Well done year 2!

Year 2 - Well Done - 3rd November 2017

A very big well done to year 2 for their Diwali assembly this morning.  Despite not having long to rehearse, the children were fantastic.  Our learning objective and success criteria for this week were:

I think you'll agree that the children have been very successful.  I was particularly impressed with how well the children read the challenging script and used the microphone.  They were also being extremely reflective at each practice, describing how they could improve their performance and what they did well.  Seven marbles went into the jar today, well done Year 2.

Year 2 - Welcome Back - 31st October 2017

Welcome back!  We hope you have had a super week of Autumn fun.  We have lots planned this half term, not to mention the C word!  A quick reminder that it is our class assembly on Friday.  Please can the children wear their India costumes to school on Friday and bring their school uniforms in a bag to change into afterwards.  We hope to see you there!

Y2 - Autumn 1st Half Term Awards - 21st October 2017

What an amazing first half term we have had in year 2.  We have had an extremely strong start to the year, everyone without exception has made great progress towards their own targets.  Behaviour, effort and attitudes to learning have been exemplary.  Learning powers have helped us all succeed.  A special well done goes to: Phillippa, Kurtis, Alyce, Imogen, Tilly, Harlan, Jacob and Jasmine for achieving this half term's awards.

Y2 - Amazing India - 21st October 2017

A few more photos that I couldn't resist posting of our amazing India day.  Thank you everyone for your help on the day!