Author: Miss Ward

During Safety Week, the children explored lots of important ways to stay safe in everyday situations. We discussed how to keep safe at home, around animals, in the sun, on the roads and especially near open water. We were also lucky to welcome some special visitors into school. PCSO Louise spoke to the children about staying safe near roads and highlighted the importance of always wearing a seatbelt when travelling in a car.

We also took part in a Zoom call with Claire from the Canal and River Trust, where we learned about the dangers of being near open water such as canals, rivers and ponds. The children enjoyed spotting potential hazards in different pictures and discussing how to stay safe in these environments.

Can you spot any more dangers in the picture below?

The children came up with some fantastic responses throughout the week and showed a great understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe.

In our session about feelings first, today’s focus feeling was -grateful. We explored different scenarios to understand what grateful looks like in everyday life and discussed related words such as contented, happy, and appreciative. We thought about the kinds of things that might make us feel grateful and how this feeling connects to being peaceful, which is our Christian value this half term.

After a quiet moment of reflecting and connecting, we each wrote a list of five things we are grateful for. We also talked about how, when we are feeling a little down, using positive self-talk and thinking about what we are grateful for can be really helpful and give us a boost of happiness.

Ava -‘ I am grateful for school because some children don’t get to go to school and learn. I love learning!’

C-‘ I am grateful for my new black bike and helmet.’

Thomas-‘ I am grateful because I went to mission out at the weekend.’

Ada-‘ I am grateful for all my family.’

This week in our Living and Learning topic, the children took part in the NSPCC assembly, which focused on the importance of speaking out and staying safe. They discussed what it means to use their voice when something worries them and learned that children have the right to be heard. We also explored different scenarios to help the children recognise when they might need support and who they can talk to. The children learned that Buddy is represented as a speech bubble, reminding us all that children have the right to speak out.

Here is a link for you to watch this with your child at home NSPCC Buddy

This term in RE, we are focusing on why books and stories are important to us. We began by discussing special books we might have at home, such as photo albums, drawing books, notepads, and diaries, and what they mean to us personally. Many children recognised that having a special book is important, even though everyone’s book may be different. We talked about how each one carries its own value and deserves respect. The children then brought in their special books from home and created drawings of them. As a class, we shared and discussed why these books are meaningful, helping us understand the importance of stories and personal memories in our lives.

 

This week in our feelings first session, we focused on the feeling of disappointed. We explored what disappointed might look like in ourselves and discussed how it can be connected to other emotions such as anger, sadness, feeling let down, and surprise. The children shared their own experiences of times when they had felt disappointed and reflected on what they did to help turn those moments into something more positive.

We then discussed ways to regulate this feeling so it does not become overwhelming or ignored. As a group, we agreed that using positive self-talk can be a helpful strategy, reminding ourselves that it is ok to feel disappointed for a short time and that the feeling will pass. We also recognised that experiencing disappointment can show that we care and are passionate about something, which is a positive and important part of our emotional development.

This week in class we have been learning about how to keep our teeth healthy. We began the lesson by sharing what we already knew about looking after our teeth. The children had lots of great ideas and talked about the importance of brushing our teeth daily, using toothpaste, flossing, visiting the dentist regularly and eating healthy foods to help keep our teeth strong.

We then explored how different foods contain different amounts of sugar. We discussed how some foods and drinks might seem healthy, but if we have too much of them they can still be harmful to our teeth.

We sorted foods into three categories: those with the least amount of sugar, those with the most amount of sugar, and foods that sit somewhere in the middle. This helped us think carefully about the choices we make and how they can affect our teeth.

We finished the lesson by discussing balance and moderation. The children learned that it is ok to enjoy treats such as chocolate and sweets sometimes, but it’s important to have them in moderation and to remember to brush our teeth afterwards. The class did a fantastic job sharing their ideas and thinking carefully about how they can take care of their teeth everyday!

 

On Tuesday, it was Safer Internet Day and we spent the day focusing on these two key areas of online safety.

• I know that some things online may not be true (people and information).
• I know that I shouldn’t share personal information online.

We used some different texts to support this learning and our daily poem too.

We talked through what chicken clicking could of done differently to stay safe online, here are some of our responses;

He could of asked the farmer for permission first before going online

He could of asked the farmer to buy some things for him and give him the money instead

He shouldn’t of met up with a stranger because that is dangerous

He could make sure he is in a public area to ask for some help

This website reinforces key messages about how to stay safe online and not  everything online is true (this could be people or information) and the importance of not sharing any of your personal information.

 

Year 2 had a fantastic time in their PE session, practising key fundamental movement skills through a fun and active game of Mouse Trap. Working in groups of three, the children collaborated to trap the ball between two players, experimenting with different-sized balls and negotiating space safely and sensibly. They showed great creativity by suggesting and trying out their own adaptations to the game. The session ended with lots of excitement as the whole class joined together for a giant Mouse Trap, showcasing teamwork, coordination and enthusiasm throughout.

Help at home:

Next week, is our visit to Abbey house. The children have been watching this video in our topic lesson to familiarise themselves with what to expect.

What are you most looking forward to seeing at Abbey house?

For the past two weeks we have been focussing on the story ‘ The Tiger who came to tea’ by Judith Kerr.

We explored key parts of the story together, talking about the characters, events and our favourite moments. As part of our learning, we used the story as inspiration to write our own sentences. Our key learning objective was to use conjunctions, and the children practised joining ideas using words such as and, but and because. They showed great enthusiasm and creativity while developing their sentence-writing skills.

We are now ready for our independent write next week!

Help at home: Test your knowledge- Can you write a sentence using a conjunction about something you are doing over the weekend?

You could bring these into class next week to share with everyone!

 History: Toys and Games.

Over this half term, we will be exploring toys from the past and comparing them with the toys we enjoy today. This week, the children shared their favourite toy or game and talked about what makes it special to them. We also discussed whether their favourite toy or game might have been around when their parents or grandparents were children and how different toys look from the past compared to the present day.

Help at home:
Please take a photo of your child with their favourite toy or game and email it to school so we can share it in class. Thank you to those parents/carers who have shared these already, the children have thoroughly enjoyed guessing which toy belongs to their friends.

Here are some more, can you guess who they belong to?