Good Choices in Year 2

Today, we finished the year in style by celebrating our good choices.

In class, we fill a box in a hundred square every time we make a good choice. We’ve filled 13 hundred squares this year – that’s 1300 good choices!

Help at home by having an AMAZING summer!

Design and Technology – Structures

Our design and technology unit drew a close this week, culminating in some fantastic making! We evaluated our products and celebrated our achievements.

Being Healthy – Dental Hygiene

This week, it’s Being Healthy Week. We’ve been learning about dental hygiene. Here are some of the top takeaways from our learning:

Brush your teeth morning and night. – Poppy

Floss your teeth. – Daisy

Don’t eat sweets after you’ve brushed your teeth. – Esme

Go to the dentist if your teeth are hurting. – Arthur

Eat a balanced diet. – Kupa

Help at home by reviewing this learning with your child. Does their learning reflect your dental hygiene routines?

Being Healthy – Archery and Golf

This week, it’s Being Healthy Week. Today, we welcomed a PE coach to school who taught the children about archery and golf. The children really enjoyed the activities and made fantastic progress in learning some new skills. We had some sharp shooters on the archery range and some impressive feats of strength in the long drive competition!

Help at home by encouraging your child to take up a sport. Perhaps you could try something new over the summer break?

Being Healthy – Physical Activity

This week, it’s Being Healthy Week. We’ve been learning about what happens to our body when we exercise. It is recommended that children have 60 minutes of physical exercise each day. We came up with a huge list of activities that we could do to make up our 60 minutes ranging walking to school to gymnastics.

We learnt about the changes in our body when we exercise, including an increased heart rate. It was really interesting to see how our heart rate (pulse) increased even after just a few seconds of exercise!

We concluded our learning by considering how and when to find support if we’re worried about our health.

Help at home by keeping a physical activity diary. Are there any missed opportunities for physical exercise in your day?

Living and Learning – Body Image

In Living and Learning, we’ve been learning about body image. Our weekly statements have been:

• “I can say one good thing about myself.”
• “I know that people I see in the media don’t always reflect real life.”

We begun our learning by thinking about identity and the things that make us unique,  especially the way we look. We thought about some words we can describe a face:

• smiley
• freckly
• round
• blue eyes
• shiny
• long
• frowny
• long hair
• cheeky
• surprised
• kind
• big grin

Using mirrors, we looked closely at our appearance, considering facial features in detail. Then, we had some fun by drawing self portraits and celebrating the features that make us unique!

We enjoyed reading Embrace Your Body by Taryn Brumfitt. It’s a fantastic book that helps us to appreciate who we are. We felt empowered to embrace our uniqueness and find something special in everyone.

I was impressed by how much the children understand and appreciate how interesting it is to have such a wide variety of people in the world.

Help at home by discussing body image with your child. Perhaps you could use this sentence starter to share some thoughts: Something I like about the way I look is…

Help at home by watching and discussing this video about real beauty.

Reading assembly

A brief but huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our Ready to Read assembly today. The children embraced the opportunity to show what they’ve been learning this year and it was fantastic to celebrate their progress together.

I’m proud of how far they’ve come and grateful for all your support at home – it plays such an important part in your child’s reading journey.

Help at home by keeping up the great work in year 3!

Rocksteady Music School!

St James had a very exciting visit from Rocksteady Music School this morning. The key focus of the visit was to engage pupils in music, to learn about various instruments and how to play them. We started the morning with a whole school assembly, where the children learnt all about what it takes to be in a band – we also got to sing along to some of the latest hits! Then, KS1 and KS2 had separate workshops where a pupil band was put together in just 30 minutes! There was lots of resilience, teamwork and happiness shared all morning, particularly when learning to keep a consistent tempo!

We are aiming to introduce more musical connections at St James next year. Rocksteady have given us confirmation that children would really benefit from this. There will be a letter sent home later in the week with more information on musical opportunities in September.

Home Farm at Temple Newsam

On Tuesday, Year 2 had an exciting day out visiting Home Farm at Temple Newsam. The children learnt all about farming through the ages, discovering how farming has changed in the past 400 years. We were amazed to learn that what would have taken 150 hours with a threshing machine now takes 1 hour with a modern combine harvester.

We saw lots of animals: pigs, sheep, cows, donkeys, chickens, geese and more! A real highlight was seeing 11 adorable piglets that had been born that very morning.

As part of our trip, we took part in a fantastic workshop that linked to our Design and Technology learning on structures. Using wood and putty, the children had to build a prototype structure to act as a shelter for some pigs. They thought carefully about important features, making sure their structures had a wide and flat base and were not too tall.

We had a brilliant day exploring the farm, meeting the animals and taking part in the workshop. The children were full of enthusiasm and asked great questions throughout the day – they represented St James’ impeccably!

Philosophy Friday – 20.06.25

Philosophy is thinking deeply.

Every Friday, we start our day with some time to wonder and ponder.

We’ve a different question each week – there’s no obvious right/wrong answer and no underlying moral message. All children are given the opportunity to contribute their ideas and give reasons for their thoughts.

This question sparked some interesting discussion and debate.

I agree because family is everything to me.
– Izabella

I think the best thing in life is nature and that’s free.
– Athena

There are some good things in life that cost a lot of money.
– Woody

Friends are the most important thing and your family too. They’re both free.
– Arthur

Help at home by discussing this week’s Philosophy Friday question with your child.