Author: Miss Gledhill

A Visit From Reverend Peat

This half term, we have been doing some RE (Religious Education) learning on Monday afternoons.

Our topic is all about special places. We have been thinking about why a church might be special and who it might be special for.

To help us, Reverend Peat came in to speak to us about what happens inside a church. He started by helping us think about how a church might be different from our homes. We then looked at different features of a church and really enjoyed the photos of the stained glass windows.

We really enjoyed Reverend Peat’s visit. We  asked some questions  and told  him things we knew about church.

I know that Jesus died on a cross and there are crosses in churches.  Layla

Why do you ring the bell? J

I can hear the bell ring from my house. Blossom

Is it nice inside the church?  Oria

Help at home: Can your child talk about their special place? They might like to draw or make their special place as we would love to see this!

Romans In Britain

We have begun our exciting new half-term topic, all about the Romans and Anglo-Saxons.

We started by exploring the word chronology, learning that it means putting events in the order they happened. After examining key moments from British history, we successfully placed them into chronological order and did a fantastic job.

To gain context about life before the Roman invasion in 43 AD, we explored Iron Age Britain. We learned about the Celts, who lived in tribes, and discovered what daily life was like during this time.

We then moved on to discuss why the Romans wanted to invade Britain. We learned that Britain’s rich natural resources, such as precious metals and fertile farmland, made it an attractive place for trade and expansion.

When the Romans finally succeeded in expanding their empire into Britain, it was a huge cause for celebration, as they had been trying to conquer it for many years.

We imagined what Emperor Claudius might have said to his Roman citizens and wrote some amazing speeches. Using our fantastic oracy skills, we performed our speeches with confidence and enthusiasm.

Here is an example of one of our brilliant speeches:

Help at home: Can you child put some events from their life in chronological order?

 

Merry Christmas

We have had a lovely last day of the term in Year 2 . We loved our Christmas party and did some crafts.

I have really enjoyed teaching and getting to know the year 2 children this term. Whilst I will miss them, I will look forward to seeing them around school.

Merry Christmas 

 

 

 

 

 

The year 2 team

 

Describing a Monster

We have been superstar writers in year 2 this week!

As well as writing recounts, we have learning about expanded noun phrases and using them to write amazing monster character descriptions.

Inspired by the monster in ‘Not Now Bernard’ by David Mckee, we collected nouns and understand that a noun is a person, place or thing. We then made our nouns more exciting by adding adjectives to describe the noun.

We know that if we are going to use two adjectives, we need a comma to sperate them. 

Hasel is a cheerful, joyful monster. Elsie

She has long, sparkling teeth. Luna

He has scary, dangerous horns on his head. J

 

Help at home: Can your child give some examples of nouns and adjectives. Maybe they could write a description of a character of their choice.

Why does Christmas matter to Christians?

This half term, our big RE question is “Why does Christmas matter to Christians?” We have spent time exploring the events of the Nativity story, which we now remember very clearly.
One of our key vocabulary words is Incarnation, which means that Christians believe Jesus was God in human form, coming to Earth to show people what God is like.

In our most recent lesson, we compared the birth of Jesus with the birth of a baby today. We identified many differences and discussed them thoughtfully. We also considered how people today prepare for a new baby, and how people in the Nativity story prepared for Jesus’ birth.

My sister was visited by friends and family. Jesus was visited by kings and sheppards. – Lyla

It must have been a very difficult journey for Mary. -Frankie

Normally a baby is born in hospital. – Austin

Anti-bullying week

This week, it’s been Anti-bullying week. We came in our odd socks to show that we’re all different and that’s a good thing!

We talked about what bullying actually means. If someone is unkind to us once, it’s okay to feel upset and to talk to people we trust. However, recognising behaviour as bullying means:

S – Several
T – Times
O – On
P – Purpose

If we feel this is happening, it needs to STOP, so we should:

S – Start
T – Telling
O – Other
P – People

These people would be trusted adults such as our parents or teachers.

We looked at different situations and decided whether they were examples of bullying or just unkind behaviour.

We also thought about the different types of bullying, such as:

  • Physical – when someone is being physically hurt

  • Emotional – unkind words or negative body language
    After looking at some friendship scenarios, we thought about how we might feel and what we could do to make sure everyone felt happy again.

We finished the day by thinking about the things we like. Not everyone liked the same things and that’s what makes us unique!

If someone likes something different, it would be good to try it because you might like it too. J

Help at home: Can your child tell you what both STOPs mean? 

Money Week

This week, we’ve had a special focus! It’s been all about money. Here’s what we have been up to:

In maths, we’ve  been learning to recognise the value of different coins and notes. We practised ordering them by their value and explored how many 1p coins are needed to make the same amount as other coins.

In our Living and Learning sessions, we’ve been thinking about how people earn money and how to manage it wisely. We discussed the importance of being careful with our spending and prioritising what we need before buying things we simply want. We also talked about how keeping our money safe is very important.

Finally, we considered how we can use our money to help others. This led to a thoughtful discussion about charity, and the children voted for our new school charity which will be revealed next week!

People earn money by working.   Deacon

We keep our money in the bank.   Luna

I am saving up my money to buy a toy.  Elsie

It’s good to give some money to charity to help others.  A

 

Junior Leadership Team

Last week, we took part in a democratic vote to choose our new Junior Leadership Team representatives from year 2.

We wrote some brilliant speeches explaining why we should be chosen to be a JLT member.

Congratulations to the two fantastic and newly elected JLT members.

Here are their speeches that won them their places on the school JLT.

 

 

Help at home: What does it mean to take part in a demographic vote?