Summer Week 9

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

It's been a busy week in Class 2 and the rollercoaster that is the British summer has kept us on our toes!

Firstly - Forest School open morning. 
Thank you to everyone who has responded regarding next Friday's open morning. If you want to bring a plant, but aren't sure what to bring, some good options are:

Buddleia
Californian lilac
Lilac
Rosemary
Comfrey

More information about the open morning will be emailed to you next week - but I plan to keep it all quite informal and please don't worry if you are not able to make it. 

In our Mantle of the Expert story this week:
The children set up their Honu Beach nature reserve. They fenced off the beach and bay and put up some helpful information and signs for Honu island residents and tourists. The beach was once again a peaceful place with no human interference. Soon after this they found Kekepania - the chief who originally sought their help - sitting on the beach. She explained to them that there was a tradition on the island, many years ago, of calling the turtles to the beach. The children joined her and, amazingly, the turtles came. 

The Turtle Detectives' work is done!

In maths we have contined to look at measure. This week the children have been learning about capacity and volume, in particular what 1 litre looks like and what 1 millilitre looks like (and knowing that there are 1000ml in 1l). They had a go at measuring capacity and reading the volume of sand in different containers. 

Over the past few weeks they have measured:
length and height in metres and centimetres. 
weight in grams and kilograms
time in seconds and minutes
volume and capacity in millilitres and litres

The best way for children to embed these skills and the related language is to do so practically. You could:
* use a tape measure to measure family members
* as suggested last week, do some baking by measuring in grams
* use an ipad to time family members doing different activites, such as running, doing star jumps etc. 
* make potions by measuring different volumes of different liquids in a measuring jug. 

In spellings the Year 2 children have continued to look at homophones and the Year 1 children have been learning about verbs and adding the suffix -ing to change their meaning. 

At Forest School this week:

It was a beautiful morning! The children enjoyed building dens (with some sticks and branches kindly brought in by Seth and Emma), climbing trees, watching butterflies and playing with some newly-acquired oil drums. 

Summer Week 8.

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

I hope you've had a good week and are recovering from the 20°c drop in temperature since half term!

This week in Class 2:

The Turtle Detectives have been busy. Having rescued turtle no.6 from the centre of Durban, South Africa, they learnt about some of the negative impacts that humans can have on turtles, such as:
* light pollution confusing turtles (especially hatchlings)
* vehicles on beaches crushing turtle nests
* vehicles on beaches compacting sand, making it hard for turtles to dig nests
* humans on beaches scaring turtles away
* boats in turtle habitats injuring turtles or damaging sea grass meadows

The turtle detectives got to work. They decided to re-design Honu Island to ensure that Honu Beach and Honu Bay remained human-free - a conservation area. They created maps to show where the human features should be, including the boat docks. Hopefully this means the turtles will have a safe, quiet beach and shallow waters to return to. 

In maths the whole class has continued to work on measure. The children measured some turtles on the playground in metres and centimetres. They also started some work on measuring mass using grams and kilograms. 

To practise at home, your challenge is to do some baking with your children using scales that measure in grams!

In phonics the Year 1 children completed their Phonics Screening Check! They did a great job. Results will go out with their school reports. Going forwards we will continue to revise and use phonics, but will also begin to look at some spelling rules. 

In spellings the Year 2 children have started to look at homophones - words that are spelled differently and have different meanings, but sound the same - eg bear/bare,  to/two/too. 

To practice, it would be great if they could play this game. 

In writing the children have finally finished publishing their turtle non-fiction books! It's been a long process and they are very proud of their work. At some point they will bring their books home to share with you. 

In other news the children have been learning about Islam in R.E. recently. If you are around and about and happen to see a Mosque, please point it out to your child! 

I think that's all for now - have a good weekend!

Mrs Simpson

Summer Week 7: important Turtle work.

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

Welcome to the final half term of the year! I hope you all had a good week last week and managed to enjoy the sun. 

Firstly - no Forest School next week. 
The older children in school are going to have a chance to experience Forest School, so Class 2 can come to school in their school uniform and will have a morning with Mrs Neal. 

The children have had a great start to the half term. Daphne joined our class this year - she is in Year 1 and so will be with us next year too. The children have been very friendly and welcoming and it's lovely to have her with us. 

In our story the Turtle Detectives had an important job to do. During their turtle tracking before half term, they discovered that one turtle had left the ocean and was on mainland South Africa. Yesterday, they found out why. The turtle had been following the moon, but became confused by some beachside street lamps on Durban beach. It followed those lamps instead of the moon, and found itself in the middle of Durban! The children of course agreed that a city is not a good habitat for a green turtle, so they set to work rescuing it. They went on to discover that Honu Beach, on Honu Island, also has several lights on it that glow all night... they are going to have a closer look at this next week, to see whether this might be another problem for turtles on Honu Island. 

In maths the two year groups are joining together for a few weeks to do some work on measure. This week we looked at measuring length and height using cubes, cm and m. To practise this at home you can measure anything you like! Encourage children to estimate first whether it is longer/shorter/taller than 1 metre, and then help them to measure accurately. A fun project is to measure the heights of all the different family members, or to draw around hands and feet and measure those. 

In spellings the Year 2 children have looked at words ending with -tion. I have added these to The Spelling Shed as well. 

In phonics we have had our final week practising alien and real words, ready for the children's phonics check next week. They will just carry this out 1:1 with me, they don't know they are being tested and they have had lots of practice. Please help your child to practise reading alien and real words over the weekend using these QR codes - practice really does make a difference!

In English the children have been making some turtle books. Before half term they spent time writing five different chapters, and this week and next are set aside for publishing their work!

At Forest School this week:

With all the sun and rain we've had, Forest School is looking lovely! It's very green and everything is growing. The children spent the morning making wild crowns (using the many different grasses that have appeared), making mud potions and spotting dragonflies. 

Have a good week end - see you next week!

Mrs Simpson

Summer Week 6

Hello Class 2 Parents,

Firstly, an invitation.
You are invited to pop along to Forest School on 26th June to see what your children get up to every week. This is very informal and I appreciate that you may not be able to take time off work, however if you can come along for an hour or so we would love to have you. A letter has gone home in book bags with a reply slip, so I have some idea of numbers. 

Reading books this week.
The Year 2 children have not read in groups this week because I have been carrying out some assessments of their reading. A couple of Year 1 children also did not finish their group books this week. If your child has not got a group reading book this week, they have instead got an extra free choice book to keep them going. 

Spellings. 
We have tested the children on their common exception words and have updated any spelling booklets that were in folders. 

In Class 2  this week:

The Turtle Detectives have been very busy. They were summoned to Honu Island because a turtle had washed up on the shore... but it was close to death. The children turned up to find plastic wrapped around its body, head and throat. They worked quickly to rescue the turtle, treating it with kindness and feeding it seagrass and algae. Luckily, they were able to help it and to set it free. This made the children think about plastic pollution - maybe that is the reason turtles are no longer coming to Honu Island. The children learnt about what plastic pollution is, particularly in relation to the ocean, and made some informative posters to go up around Honu Island.  They also have a plan to go litter picking around the island after half term. 

In maths:

The Year 1 children have been learning how to do practical division, by sharing between and by making equal groups.

eg - with 12 counters, they could share them between 2 people, who would have 6 each, or with 20 counters, they could make groups of 5 and ther would be 4 groups.

You can do a lot of practice of this at home with teddies, counters, dried pasta - prompt your child to share between or to make groups of. 

The Year 2 children have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes. The best way to practice this is to go on a shape hunt around the house or when you are round and about. The shapes we have looked at are:

2D: square, triangle, rectangle, circle, pentagon, octagon, hexagon. 
3D: sphere, cone, cylinder, cube, cuboid, pyramid

In phonics the Year 1 children continue to practice reading alien words and real words!  Here are a few sets of words for you to practise over the holidays:

In spellings, the Year 2 children have been learning how to use an apostrophe for possession, eg 'When he saw the mess, Tom's dad was annoyed', or 'I went to the shop to by mum's birthday cake.'

At Forest School...

we were blissfully warm! 

We had a campfire and made s'mores which the children thoroughly enjoyed. We also did some bark rubbing and cloud watching. It was lovely!

I didn't take any photographs, but picture your children eating s'mores around a campfire, covered in chocolate. 

Have a lovely week - see you for the final half term!

Mrs Simpson

Summer Week 5: Goodbye Mr Garbutt!

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

I hope you have all had a good week and enjoyed the rain - our trees at Forest School were happy!

Today we say 'goodbye' to Mr Garbutt, who has completed his seven-week placement with us. The children have made him a lovely card with messages in. We are going to miss his science lessons (he's taught the children so much about habitats around the world), his fantastic voices when reading stories and his kindness to the children. 

This week:

In maths with Mr Garbutt:
 Year 1 continued their work on arrays and Year 2 finished their unit of work on fractions. 

To practice at home, Year 1 can make arrays using anything you like (an array has equal rows and columns, like this:

The Year 2 children can practice finding one half, one quarter, three quarters and two quarters of fruit and vegetables with you (recognising that two quarters is equal to one half).

In phonics Year 1 have been practising alien and real word reading - this will be a bit of a theme for the next couple of week!

Here is another QR code to get some practice in - let me know if you have any problems with it!

In spellings the Year 2 children have started to learn about apostrophes for contraction - for example,  didn't, I'll, we're, you're, you've. 

To practice this, they can play 'Egg Hunt'. 

In our story this week the children started tracking their turtles using a world map. They found their turtles on the turtle tracker and have started logging which ocean they are in, and in which compass direction they are heading. At the moment, we have turtles heading north, east and south towards Asia, Australasia and Antarctica. We will keep you posted. 

The Turtle Detectives alsow ent diving in the shallow waters around Honu Island, to find out whether they were a suitable habitat for green turtles. They found seagrass and algae - a green turtle's main diet - so they decided that the habitat was very well suited to green turtles. They are going to keep investigating to find out why the turtles aren't currently coming to Honu Island. 

Forest School this week:

The children enjoyed a bit of mud this week. They did some cave painting using fingers, sticks, mud, charcoal and water. A group of children also dug a hole before filling it with water - it went from being a puddle, to being muddy soup, to being sticky mud. The children were fascinated by the changes that occurred. Eventually Oscar asked whether the mud would dry in the sun, so the children created a mud creature and we are going to see what happens to it next. It just so happened that some carrots and tomatoes had fallen on the floor and couldn't be eaten, so the children used them to add to their mud creature. 

A group of children also carried out some essential fire pit maintenance by cutting the grass with scissors - a very therapeutic exercise. 

I hope you all have a good weekend,

Mrs Simpson

Summer Week 4: by Mr Garbutt

 Dear Class 2 parents,

Hopefully all is well and you’ve had a positive week.

Science.
This week the children learnt more about habitats, with our learning objective: “To learn about different ocean animals and understand how an ocean habitat meets their basic needs.”  All pupils engaged deeply with this lesson, showing tremendous care and effort in both their learning and their final outcomes.

We explored how big the ocean is, how deep it can be, and the variety of ecosystems found around the world. The children uncovered different animals that live in British waters ,  for example, the basking shark, known as the “gentle giant”. It is the second‑largest living fish in the ocean (after the whale shark) and is famous for swimming slowly near the surface with its huge mouth wide open to filter‑feed on plankton. We also looked at the creatures that live on the sea floor, with the class favourite being the unsung hero of the dogfish. Children then worked in groups to create posters of an ocean ecosystem, thinking carefully about coral, surface‑dwelling animals, bottom‑dwelling creatures, and the plants that grow in these environments.

If your child would like to learn more at home, I highly recommend Blue Planet II (2017). It’s a fantastic series showcasing the incredible variety of marine life and ocean ecosystems across the world.

Maths:

Year 1: Our focus this week has been counting equal groups and adding them together. As usual, the children showed high levels of attainment. It was a tricky topic, but everyone contributed brilliantly and showed real effort ; well done Year 1, top‑notch work.

To keep building confidence at home, biscuits can be surprisingly helpful. Many types — fig rolls, Jammie Dodgers mini‑packs, chocolate fingers — are already arranged in equal groups inside the packet. Children can look at the biscuits and say:
“There are ___ groups of ___ biscuits. There are ___ altogether.”

This turns an everyday snack into a quick moment of counting equal groups and repeated addition.

Year 2: This week I’ve seen a lot of character, especially perseverance. Our learning objective was “Finding three‑quarters of shapes, objects and quantities.” There was some confusion at first, but the children’s determination to keep going was a real testament to their work ethic. Their progress has been phenomenal — well done Year 2.

At home, items like ice‑cube trays and egg boxes are perfect for practising finding ¾. Children can count the total spaces, divide them into four equal groups, and then fill three of those groups. Using the stem sentence helps: “One quarter is __. Three‑quarters is __.”

Year 2 spellings:  This week we focused on when the letter ‘o’ makes the short ‘u’ sound, often before v, n, m, or th. We explored words such as monkey, honey, done, and dozen.

Year 1 phonics: we are really beginning practice for the phonics screening check now, so the children have been reading lots of alien and real words using the graphemes they already know. 

Hopefully, if you scan the QR code below it will take you to some practice:

A note from me: 
As next week will be my last week, I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all the children and staff.

The children have been so accommodating and cooperative throughout my placement. Their optimism, high spirits and positivity have made each day a joy, and it has been a refreshing environment to learn in. Getting to know them and seeing how the school nurtures character, learning and inclusivity has been a truly enlightening experience.

Coming to Little Houghton has also brought back many fond memories, as I attended a small mixed‑age village school in Northamptonshire myself. This placement has reminded me how important small schools are in creating supportive environments and building confidence and positivity in young children.

Thank you again for making my placement such a rewarding and memorable experience.

Mr Garbutt

Summer Week 3

 Greetings Class 2 Parents!

Note: there will be no Forest School next Friday, due to use not being here on Monday and needing to catch up on Monday things! Please send children in wearing their school uniform and with their book bag. Thank you.

I hope you have had a good week.  We have been busy and productive in Class 2. 

In science over the past few weeks Mr Garbutt has been teaching the children about habitats around the world. This week they looked at rainforests, learning about what a rainforest is and about some of the threats facing rainforests (deforestation, poaching, wildfires and pollution). The children worked in teams to make some informative posters. 

It would be good to have a look at some YouTube videos, or documentaries, with your children that focus on rainforests. They were very interested in them!

In our story the children met a lady called Kekepania, from Honu Island. She has lived there a long time. She told the children all about the changes that have happened to the island (since the first people landed there) and they added some human features to the map. She also told them that, sadly, there has not been a turtle seen on or around the island for 20 years. She recruited their help to find out why, and our new team, 'Turtle Watch' was formed. 

In maths:

The Year 1 children started a new unit of work on multiplication. At this stage, they were making equal groups and recognising how many groups there were, and how many in each group. 

To practice this, you can either:
* ask your child to put their teddies, pencils, or anything else into equal groups. How many groups are there, and how many in each group?
* Roll two dice - the first one tells you how many groups to make and the second one tells you how many should be in each group. You could make this a race, to see who can create the equal groups correctly first. 

The Year 2 children have continued their work on fractions, finding 1/4 or 1/3 of different amounts. 

This week, your children can use their fraction knowledge to play this game, becoming artists by following the instructions. 

In phonics the children have looked at the trigraphs:
ear (as in beard)
eer (as in cheer)
air (as in chair)
are (as in spare)

Please help your child to spot these trigraphs in their reading books, or out and about. They can also have a go at Phonics Frog - you will need to enter custom real and nonsense words such as:

beard/dear/clear/fear/spear/cheer/steer/chair/hair/spare/care/dare
glear/peerk/kairm/gare/weer/barek/smair/quearb/blear....

In spellings the children have learnt that when they add -ed or -ing to a short word, with a short vowel followed by a single consonant, they have to double the consonant - 

hum - hummed - humming
drop - dropped - dropping

I have added the words to The Spelling Shed. 

Forest School this week:

The children had a sunny and chilled morning, building dens, role playing, making bug hotels, relaxing and socialising in the hammock and climbing various things!

Enjoy your bank holiday weekend!

From Mrs Simpson