This week’s spelling words relate to our phonics learning:
“Use ck at the end of a word after a short vowel sound.”
Please practise these words for a test on Friday 14th February.
Challenge: Which word on this list breaks the rule?
shark
shock
cloak
brick
magic
duck
quick
sock
crack
check
In science, we’re biologists! We’re learning about animals and their habitats.
This week, we’ve learned about polar habitats and desert habitats, using secondary sources to conduct research and create some animal fact files.
Help at home by exploring some animal facts. The National Geographic Kids website is fantastic!
Today, we were lucky to welcome Dave from d:side for an internet safety workshop.
Here are a few things we learnt:
Dave was really impressed by the children’s knowledge and made special mention to their focus and engagement. Well done, Year 2!
Help at home by discussing internet safety with your child. Do you have any rules for staying safe on the internet at home?
Last week, we explored our locality as part of our geography topic, conducting fieldwork to study the geography of our school and its surrounding environment.
As we reached the fire station to survey the traffic, recycling bins and litter, Mr Nash rang the doorbell…
Please can we have a look at your fire engine?
Moments later, the shutter opened and out drove the shiny, red fire engine!
The team at Wetherby Fire Station were so generous with their time, giving the children a tour of the vehicle and its tools, providing lots of opportunities to ask questions. The children really enjoyed the experience and asked some fantastic questions, representing our school fantastically with their impeccable manners.
Thank you to everyone at Wetherby Fire Station for being so accommodating with our unscheduled surprise visit. A lesson in “if you don’t ask, you don’t get.”…
Help at home by discussing what firefighters do to help in our community. Watch and discuss this video from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.
In reading and writing, our focus text is Flooded by Spanish author and illustrator, Mariajo Ilustrajo.
We’ve really enjoyed this text, exploring the key themes by asking questions and making connections.
A theme is a big idea or message.
Flooded is a funny tale of animals in a slowly flooding city. Behind the humorous story and illustrations, there’s an important message. Flooded touches on themes of environmental crisis and responsibility, as well as the power of community, and working together to fix a problem.
We’ve used the text to practise our summarising skills – summarising is retelling a story in your own words.
The children impressed me with their skills, sequencing pictures from the story and writing a summarising sentence for each.
Help at home by inviting your child to summarise Flooded. Can they tell you about the key themes? Try sequencing and summarising events in a different text. What happened first? What next? What happened at the end?
In Living and Learning, we’re learning about staying safe. This week, our statement is:
We began by discussing some key vocabulary:
We spent some time thinking about times we’ve been exposed to risk, how we assessed them and the measures we took to stay safe? We thought specifically about our recent trip to Lotherton Hall.
Risk – getting lost
How did we stay safe? – stayed with our group
Risk – crossing the road
How did we stay safe? – checked for cars, walked in pairs with adult supervision
Risk – animals biting us
How did we stay safe? – not poking our hands through the railings
Risk – slipping on ice in the playground
How did we stay safe? – walking
Here are some top tips from the children for staying safe at home:
Stay away from cleaning products. Ask a trusted adult for help. Woody
Don’t play near fire. Poppy
Keep soap away from your eyes. Vallan
Don’t touch plugs. Alfie
Only use sharp knives with adult supervision. Ariella
Help at home by trying this hazard detective game.
Can you come up with top 5 tips for staying safe at home?
On Tuesday, we donned our high vis jackets and biologist hats to visit Lotherton Hall’s Wildlife World. Year 2 represented St James’ brilliantly and thoroughly enjoyed their day out.
We started our day with a workshop about animals and habitats. The children were invited to work like biologists by observing some replica skulls, comparing their teeth before pondering what this might tell us about their diet – the carnivores had sharp teeth; the herbivores flat, rough teeth. We learnt about a variety of animals, including penguins, snakes and tapirs.
After the workshop, we explored the zoo. The children were fascinated by a range of animals from around the world. We were particularly enamoured by the penguins and the exploits of Arthur the tapir…
We had a fantastic day out and the children have returned to school with oodles of animal knowledge! This visit prepares us for our next science unit: Animals – Habitats
Help at home by inviting your child to recount their day at Lotherton Hall (Can they use time adverbials? e.g. First, Next, Then, After that, Finally). Can your child remember the habitats we learnt about in the workshop? Encourage your child to work like a scientist by asking questions – what would you like to find out about animals and their habitats?
This week’s spelling words are the days of the week!
Please practise these words for a test on Friday 17th January.
Challenge: Why do they all have capital letters?
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Our Living and Learning statement this week is:
The children began by sharing what they already know about medicines.
Not all medicines help your health.
Medicines help you to recover when you are ill. To recover is to get better.
Drugs can change your attitude. They can make you angry and some drugs are illegal.
Some drugs can make your body stronger – some people use them to cheat in sports.
Some people need to get medicine every day.
We get medicine from the doctor.
You keep drugs safe by keeping them somewhere children can’t reach.
You can try and help yourself by eating healthily and exercising before taking medicine.
I was so impressed by the children’s previous knowledge of medicine!
We spent some time thinking about times when we were ill or felt unwell and the things that helped us to feel better.
There are lots of different types of medicine and they’re all useful for different things. Some of them go in the body and others on the body. Some can be bought at the shop by a responsible adult; others have to come from the doctor.
We thought about the people who can help us to stay healthy and well. The children demonstrated fantastic knowledge of people in their communities who can help.
If you feel unwell, it is important to talk to a trusted adult at home or school. Only a trusted adult should give you medicines.
Help at home by discussing the safety measures you have in place around medicine at home. Invite your child to demonstrate their learning by having a go at this task:
The Autumn term has surpassed my expectations in so many ways. Our Year 2 children have applied themselves in every aspect of their learning and have represented our class and school brilliantly.
They have embodied our school vision, helping to make our school a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe.
Thank you for all your continued support. Wishing a merry Christmas to those who celebrate and a very happy New Year.
Help at home by enjoying a restful break… we’ve all earned it!
