Welcome to the Year 2 class page.

The children in Year 2 had a fantastic time visiting the childhood homes of Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

They also visited the Beatles Story at the Albert Dock. It was a day full of fun and laughter and such a joy to hear the staff at the Beatles Story comment so highly on the children's behaviour and participation during their time there.

To top it off the children sang  'Imagine', A cappella, in the Lennon room, which was truly breathtaking.

Squishy Circuits Workshop 

Scientists from Inspiring Science conducted a wonderful workshop, exploring squishy circuits for a whole day at the end of January. 

During the workshop the children:

• Were introduced to the concepts of electrical circuits using Cambridge Electronic kits
• Used salt dough to create electrical circuits - lit up LED lights and set up buzzers
• Used conductors and insulators to create a salt dough circuit incorporating lights
• Took part in a quiz to test their knowledge

The workshop was a hands-on day which the children loved we photographed their wonderful models for our corridor display.Throughout the day the children worked through a booklet, testing out different circuits, making predictions and explaining their findings. 

Samuel Pepys and The Great Fire of London

Year 2 had a wonderful time with our visit from Fugit Tempest to deliver a lively and inspiring drama workshop to really bring this historical story alive.  They captured the children's imagination through acting, drama, song and dance and finally the children  were invited to ask some thought provoking questions to discuss further back at class.  

The children got to  meet Samuel Pepys who gave them an eyewitness account of The Great Fire of London, giving an understanding of how and where the fire broke out and the correct sequence of events. Samuel also told us about his life and his job giving us some insight into life in London at the time (1660's during the Restoration). Some children dressed up in costume of the period to represent a variety of characters from this famous story.

The children described the workshop as ' a blazing success' which was quite fitting to the theme.

Learning visit to Cheshire Reindeer Lodge

To celebrate 'the most wonderful time of the year' and help us to learn more about reindeer, Year 2 visited Cheshire Reindeer Lodge. 

It was a fun filled visit and we all returned full of the Christmas spirit. Our first activity was to learn some fun facts about reindeer from Elf Candy. We even got to practise how they go to the toilet with their legs wide apart so the wee doesn't freeze on their thick hairy coats. Feeding the reindeer was a big hit, because it felt so tickly. 

We had a chance to sketch the reindeer, so we observed them closely, especially those amazing antlers! While we were sketching, we had our photo taken in groups inside Santa's sleigh with a big reindeer called Ambrose.

More fun awaited us inside when we met Elf Bernard and Elf Trixie who led the Christmas show. It was just like a pantomime and we had some great laughs. Ms Duffy led the Elf Band on electic guitar and was swept off her feet by Elf Bernard! When Father Christmas arrived we sang some songs for him and he was so impressed with our fantastic singing, he gave us all a present. 

We walked through the toy workshop to Father Christmas waved to us as we left. We all enjoyed talking about our favourite parts of the day while we ate lunch in the Village Hall. 

Our visit was a great start to the festive season and we hope you enjoy looking at the photos of the day.

Dates for your diary

Operation Christmas Child show boxes to be returned to school on Friday 18th November.

Learning visit to Cheshire Reindeer Lodge on Wednesday 30th November.

Parents' Evenings on Monday 5th and Wednesday 7th December.

School Christmas Fair on Saturday 26th November.

Infant Christmas Performances on Wednesday 14th December at 2 p.m. and Thursday 15th December at 2 p.m.

Mike Amaat Christmas show on Tuesday 20th December in the morning.

Class Christmas parties on Tuesday 20th December in the afternoon. 

School closes for Christmas holidays on Wednesday 21st December at 1.30 p.m.

School re-opens for spring term on Wednesday 4th January 2017. 

Snot and Sneezes Workshop 18th October 2016

What a fun and action packed day we had! Our first investigation was to find out how far mucous (snot) travels and we were amazed to find it travelled 7m 50 cm. We experimented and found it was better to use a tissue than our hand when we sneeze to prevent germs travelling.

We found out how germs travel by moving to the 'journey of a germ' song. In class we investigated this by using a squirt of water and observing how these 'germs' travelled. 

We investigated how best to wash our hands to get the germs off and we found that 'water, soap and rub' got more germs off. We drew the 'germs' that were left on our hands after washing on our investigation sheet. 

In the afternoon we made mucous (snot) with glue, water, starch and food colouring to discover how gloopy it is. It was fun trying to make it as stretchy as we could.

Finally we learned how small germs are and what they look like under a microscope. We looked carefully at photographs of different germs, named them and made models of them using modelling clay, pipe cleaners and different types of wool. 

Look at the photos on our slide show to see our activities on the day.

Topic Letter September 2016

Dear Parents,

We would like to warmly welcome you and your child to Year 2.

We are very pleased with how well the children are settling into their new Year group.

This letter will provide some useful information regarding routines and the curriculum. 

Classrooms

You will notice that the cloakrooms have doors in Year 2, unlike Year 1. There are also doors onto the corridor from classrooms. The children are working in a quieter and more contained environment and  they are adjusting well to this change and to the change in routines.

Morning / Hometime Arrangements

Morning: Children may enter the classroom from the infant playground from 8.50 a.m. The official starting time is 8.55 a.m. so please ensure your child is in class by this time.

On wet days we open the door at the earlier time of 8.45 a.m. 

If your child arrives later than 8.55 a.m. please go directly to the office to be admitted and not to the classroom door. For reasons of health and safety, children are not permitted to open the cloakroom door.

Afternoon: Children are collected from the Year 2 door and are handed to their parents or carers directly. If different people pick up your child in the course of the week please let us know of such arrangements. 

Items for school

Please send P.E. kits and homework bags into school as soon as possible. Please send payments for Morning and After School Club on Thursdays only, in an envelope marked with your child’s name, class and the amount.

Any medications (including inhalers) that need to be administered for long term conditions should be given to Mrs. Hope in the school office with instructions for use and your consent for their use. If your child uses an inhaler at home it is essential that we have one in school, even if your child requires it rarely. 

P.E.

P.E. for both classes will be on Wednesday.

Please ensure all kit is labelled with your child’s name. 

Snack and water bottles

Please label your child’s breakfast bar or fruit with their name. Snacks are placed in a snack box as the children enter in the mornings, so it is very helpful if they are to hand and not in a lunchbox/pocket so that this can happen as smoothly as possible.

Children receive fruit during morning play and we encourage them to take a water bottle to school so that they can drink regularly as needed. We request that you send a sports bottle and not open bottles or flasks which can easily spill.

Kindly label all bottles so that they can be returned to you each evening.

If your child does not drink milk they may take a carton of juice for snack time (no bottles or flasks please). Kindly note that flavoured water is counted as juice and cannot be drunk throughout the day, but only at snack time. 

Labeling belongings

Thank you for all the efforts you have made to label your child’s clothing clearly. This is much appreciated. Please ensure your child’s lunchbox is also clearly labeled on the outside if they have a packed lunch. 

Topic

Our topic this half term is Super-fit Me!

In history we will look at the life of Florence Nightingale and her role as a nurse along with her influence on nursing traditions in this country. We will compare her life with that of local war hero, Noel Chavasse, and explore similarities and differences between them.

 In Science the children will have opportunities to consider ways in which science is relevant to their personal health and to relate science to aspects of their everyday life (food, exercise and medicines). Experimental work focuses on making and recording observations and comparisons. The specialist sports coach the children will work with this year will reinforce what we are learning in science.

We are pleased to announce an exciting workshop with Inspiring Science that explores the science of how germs are spread and also includes making mucus and germ models. The workshop facilitates the children to explore the cause and effect of poor hygiene. The children are provided with opportunities to see how their actions can prevent the spread of the germs that cause colds and stomach bugs and related illnesses.

We have organised for the Absolutely Catering Company to visit both classes to learn basic food preparation techniques and ways of combining ingredients to create simple snacks. We will consider the taste, appearance and texture of food to create healthy sandwiches. 

Literacy

In the first half term we will be helping the children to read and write stories. Our focus will be on stories with a familiar setting and different stories by the same author (Traction Man books by Mini Grey). The children will develop their knowledge and understanding of characters, settings and planning and structuring stories.

We will continue to consolidate the children’s knowledge of phonemes in our Letters and Sounds teaching and to develop strategies for spelling. There will also be a big emphasis on punctuation and grammar this year. 

Maths

There will be a focus on developing an understanding of place value and a knowledge of number sequences (2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s). The children will order two-digit numbers and place them on a number line. They will estimate and round numbers to the nearest ten. They will develop strategies to work out addition and subtraction problems. 

R.E.

We will be looking at Beginnings, including thinking about the beginnings the children have experienced and exploring scripture, including the story of Creation and a selection of psalms. 

Computing

This half term we will find out about algorithms and coding. The children will make their own apps using Espresso Coding software.

Show & Tell

Some children like to bring in objects to show the class and talk about e.g. swimming certificates, holiday items, special books etc. Children can bring in objects on their birthday or for a special event but not on a regular basis, please! We may also request specific items to link with our topics on some weeks.

Homework

Your child will receive 3 books weekly.

1. A reader from the phonic reading scheme in line with the phase they are learning in school.
2. A book banded book from the home reading scheme
3. A book by a popular author they choose themselves (This book is for sharing and reading together)

Each week your child should:

1. Read the books to you or with you and discuss story/information.
2. Fill in one section of pink reading record book.
3. Complete a literacy or topic related activity. 
4. Complete a maths activity, game or sheet.
5. Learn spellings with the ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’ method.

If you have any queries about homework, please come and speak to us or send a note with your query in writing. We will meet with parents on Wednesday 21^st September to explain routines and homework in more detail.

Please return all homework on WEDNESDAYS.

Homework will be sent home on FRIDAYS

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to come and see us. We look forward to meeting those of you who can attend the meeting on Wednesday 21^st September at 5.00 p.m. in the school hall. If you cannot make the meeting and would like a copy of the PowerPoint, please let us know.

We are currently looking for volunteer parent helpers in Year 2. If any of you are available to help please come and see us????????

We look forward to a happy half term with the children and thank you for all your support and co-operation.

Yours sincerely

Ms Trish Duffy                                                  Miss Tracey Martin

Year 2 Class Teacher                                      Year 2 Class Teacher

Our Special Objects

In Literacy lessons, we have been reading 'Dogger'.  This is a story about a little boy, Dave, who loses his favourite toy, but, luckily, gets his 'Dogger' back. 

The children were invited to bring their own special object to school. They wrote about it and why it is important to them.