Autumn Term Week 3: Settling into routine.

Hello Class 2 Parents,

I hope you've all had a good week. Class 2 has been busy this week as we start to get into more reading, writing and maths in the classroom. 

First - a couple of notes:

No bookbags are needed on Fridays - this helps with your children's management of their Forest School belongings and other things!

Water bottles should only contain water please. This is for health reasons, but also because when squash spills on the carpet (as inevitably happens in a KS1 classroom) it is much harder to clean up!

On Monday you are invited to come into the classroom after school and I will talk to you about the year ahead. 

In Class 2 this week...

In Maths:
Year 1 have continued to refresh their counting skills. This week they have been learning to count on, instead of starting from zero or one each time. For example, if there are six counters hidden in a pot, and three outside the pot, they know to count '6-7-8-9' instead of starting from one. This is a good skill to practice at home when you are counting different objects and playing games. 

Year 2 have been partitioning and recombingin two-digit numbers (for example, 67 is partitioned into 60 and 7).  They can practice their skills using this game.

In phonics the children have been revisiting the digraphs sh, ch, th and ng. They have been reading words with these digraphs in and segmenting words to spell them as well. 

In spellings the children learnt that the trigraph 'dge' makes the 'j' sound at the end of words, following a short vowel. I will be setting  Year 2 children up with fresh Spelling Shed accounts by next week, and will set them weekly spelling games. 

In writing we started Drawing Club with the story of 'Lost and Found'. At the moment, the children are writing a single sentence punctuated with finger spaces, a capital letter and a full stop. Year 2 children have been adding some of the extra vocabulary (such as different sentence openers) they learnt last year. 

In Mantle of the Expert the Bear Keepers have rescued two bears this week: a black bear that was seen wandering around some woodland and a panda bear that was found in someone's back garden, eating bamboo. For each bear, the children learnt about their habitat, continent of origin and diet, before safely bringing them to the sanctuary. As part of this, they created a beautiful bamboo forest in the sanctuary, especially for the panda bear, using some art and DT skills. 

At Forest School this week:
The children had a very good time exploring in the sun. Any parents who came to our open morning in the summer will be pleased to know that the herb garden is flourishing and the children were shown today how to use small bits of herbs in their potions - they smelled great!

Have a good weekend!

Mrs Simpson

Autumn Term Week 2: Settling in

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

Firstly - clothes
What with our first P.E. lesson and first Forest School session, there was a bit of a pickle particularly with shoes. Please just check the clothes your child has come home with are in fact theirs - thank you! Please also name your child's school shoes if they do not yet know which ones are their own. 

We've had a good week in Class 2. The children have started to settle in more and are adapting well to the new routine. 

This week we have:

* done a bit of maths. Year 1 are revisiting counting skills within 10 while Year 2 have been looking at counting and representing two-digit numbers. 

* made progress with our Mantle of the Expert story. The children learnt that the first bear in our Bear Sanctuary (Paddington) is in fact a spectacled bear from South America. The children learnt a bit about spectacled bears and in particular what to feed them on (such things as dragon fruit, prickly pears, avocadoes and insects!)

* done some PSHE and music with Mrs Neal. On a Thursday afternoon I have my non-contact time so the children are taught by Mrs Neal. 

* practised some handwriting

* got used to our new morning routine - the children come in and settled to a given activity such as peg boards, colouring, or lego. 

The children came home with a free choice reading book this week, along with an explanatory letter. I will endeavour to begin reading groups next week, at the end of which they will come home with their group reading book. 

Finally, we have had our first Forest School session - it was good to be back! The children spent this first session exploring the area and resources together. I have taken a few photos - I don't always have time for photos but I will endeavour to add a few each week if I can!

I hope you have a good weekend!

Mrs Simpson

A quick 'welcome back'!

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

Year 1 parents: welcome to Class 2!
Year 2 parents: welcome back to the Class blog!

As we have only had two days so far this will be a short post, but I just wanted to say 'hello' and welcome back to school. The children have had a good couple of days: these first few days/week is very much about setttling back into being at school and learning the classroom layout, staff and expectations. 

So far this week the children have, among other things:

* started to learn where everything can be found in the classroom
* learnt which class group they are in (a colour group - for organisational purposes)
* met their new 'thinking friend' (a friend to talk to and share ideas with during carpet time) and found their own carpet space
* played with their friends
* taken part in some parachute games
* started a new Mantle of the Expert story
* met and chatted to Mrs Powell, our new head teacher. 

It's been a good start. Next week you will receive information about this term with some additional notes. For now, please:

* ensure your child has a book bag, not a backpack. 
* ensure you child comes to school with a water bottle that contains water (the only exception is medical need - please talk to me if this is the case)
* send your child's P.E. kit in (if it's not already here) as per the information that has been sent to all parents. It is helpful if Class 2 children have a change of underwear as well in there if they are likely to have an accident. 
                                                                                                                                                                

The children all seem happy to be here! Please don't hesitate to come and find me if there is anything you want to talk about. 

With best wishes

Mrs Simpson

Happy Summer Holidays!

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

After a long, hot but very successful half term, the summer holidays have finally arrived! 

Thank you so much (on behalf of both myself and Mrs Neal) for the lovely, generous gifts we have received. Thank you also for everything you have done this year to support the school and your children's education. We are lucky to have such kind, supportive parents to work with. 

We have had a great year in Class 2. A few things the children have done:

* cared for bog babies as the B.B.P

* helped a queen to build a castle and establish a kingdom

* brought turtles back to Honu Island

* a LOT of maths - numbers, shape, space, measure, fractions...

* written quite a few stories and some other things

* studied the art work of Gwen Millward, Paul Klee and Orla Keely (and used a range of art materials)

* learnt a bit about Islam

* sung a lot of songs and learnt to play the boomwhackers

* taken part in all kinds of P.E. lessons including tag rugby, dodgeball, tennis, cricket and gymnastics 

* learnt about a lot of different creatures (including turtles) and what they need to survive and thrive

* taken a trip to Warwick Castle

* set up Little Houghton's first Forest School

* endured (and enjoyed) all kinds of weathers at Forest School (from around 5 degrees to around 30 degrees!)

* designed, made, eaten and evaulated some fruit kebabs

* completed many, many Rainbow jobs

Over the summer, please, please read with your children. You can make use of the library service and local libraries often have summer challenges. 

Goodbye to AJ, Andrew, Florence, Katie, Leroy, Oscar, Seth, Seven, Stanley, Timmy and Zachary. You have been great Year 2s this year!

See you soon for Year 2 Alice, Benjamin, Daphne, Liam, Louis, Martha, Ophelia, Pippa, Rachael  Tallulah, and Toby. 

Goodbye for now - have a good summer!

Mrs Simpson

Summer Week 11: Back to normal.

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

It was such a relief to have some more normal summer temperatures this week!

In maths:

Year 1 children have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes. A good way to practice this is to do some shape hunting around the house: furniture, food containers, toys.... . Look for:

circles
triangles
squares
rectangles
pentagons
octagons
hexagons

spheres
cylinders
cones
pyramids
cubes
cuboids

Year 2 children have continued their work on time. They have now been taught: 
o'clock
half past
quarter to
quarter past
five minute intervals past
five minute intervals to

The only way really to learn to tell the time is to practice it! As mentioned before, a watch or an analogue clock in your child's bedroom is a good way to get them telling the time. 

In spellings, both year groups have been looking at suffixes. 
Year 1 - adding 'er' or 'est' to an adjective to change its meaning, eg big, bigger, biggest
Year 2 - adding the suffix 'ful' or 'less' to a word

The children have been doing a lot of printing recently and have started to process of designing a block print. They will learn how to apply paint to their polystyrene tile in order to create a print. If you have the resources at home, doing printing is a great way for your child to be artistic and to create patterns. 

The children were fantastic at Sports Day - they were cheering their friends on, smiling even when they didn't win and persevering when things went wrong. They were very keen to have a go with the space hoppers that Class 4 used, so on Friday we did our own space hopper races. When I have found the correct ipad with photos on, I will share them!

On Friday The Word Guerilla, Dave Bowden visited the school. He performed for the children in the morning and then led a poetry-writing session with them in the afternoon. It was incredibly engaging for the children and we will continue with some poetry writing as a result next week. 

Finally, although we didn't have a Forest School session we have been going up there to water the trees and plants - we are determined they will survive the heat!

Have a good weekend!

Mrs Simpson

Summer Week 10: ..... quite warm.

 Hello Class 2 Parents,

Well... it's been an interesting week. Thank you for your patience and flexibility!

First - there will be no Forest School next week because we have a visiting poet in school. Children can come to school in school uniforms and with book bags. 

On to this week:

Monday and Tuesday were fairly straightforward...

In maths we have been telling the time using analogue clocks. All the children have been looking at o'clock and half past times. Year 2 have also been learning quarter to and quarter past times. The only way to get better at telling the time is to practice! A few children have been wearing a watch to school recently which is a great idea - just a simple watch with an analogue face will really help your child to learn to tell the time.  Aside from that, practise at home as much as you can! You can also play Hickory Dickory Dock - this includes o clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past times (year 1s can have a go at the later two!)

In phonics the Year 1 children have continued to look at suffixes. They have now learnt how to add -ing, -ed, or -er to a verb to change its meaning. 

In spellings the Year 2 children also started to look at a suffix: -ful. Look out for words with these suffixes in when you are reading. 

Wednesday and Thursday were a little warmer...

Having finished  our story last week, the children embarked upon an art project. They' learnt a bit about Orla Kiely and the way she uses printing. Then they had a go at printing using different objects from around the classroom. The weather also helped us with our art - the children had a go at using their hands and feet to do some printing! They created a beautiful green turtle using hand and foot prints. 

Forest School
Although it was warm, Forest School was the best place to be this morning! We had a lovely morning of planting and creating. Thank you to everyone who helped plant something, create something, and play with the children! Thank you also to anyone who couldn't be here but who sent a plant in - they have been found a home at Forest School. 

Special thanks to Zachary's dad Callum for making us a mud kitchen - the children are going to love it!

 Here are a few photos:

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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.