Welcome to Squirrel Class
The History Man
The children were so excited when the History Man came to visit us. We are sure they have told you all about it. He brought with him some fantastic resources to help us learn about Tudor London and gunpowder! BOOM!
The hall was set up into different stations for us to go and explore.
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A large map and model buildings helped us understand where the fire started and how it spread
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Toy rats and plague cells helped us explore signs and symptoms of the plague
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Tudor clothes showed us how difficult it was for people to get dressed in a hurry!
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A pile of ash showed us what people had left of their possessions
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A selection of lanterns, plates and cups let us explore life in Tudor London
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Weapons gave us the opportunity to feel how heavy the swords, pistols and helmets were that people used in Tudor times.
Our favourite bit…
“We absolutely loved it when The History Man got us pumping water out of a bucket. We worked hard as a team to put out the burning house. However, the most amazing part was the gunpowder trail. We watched excitedly as The History Man lit the fuse and the gunpowder went “fizzy, fizzy, bang!”
Have a look through the photos to see the fun we had.
Year 2 – The Bakers!
We have been busy making different types of bread. Last week, Julie and Steven from Class Catering came in to talk to us about the different types of bread and the ingredients needed to make it. Steven the Chef demonstrated kneading for us so we would know what to do. He told us to use the heel of our hand to work the bread. It was exhausting work!
This week, after finding out that in 1666 the poorer people of London would have eaten rye bread, we decided to try baking some so that we could compare the different breads. We used the hall as our bakery and worked together in groups.
The Taste Test – Yum Yum! We loved sampling the different breads and hope you did too (if any made it home!)
The children have all settled in well to a new school year and are already working hard. They enjoyed learning about squirrels throughout the first few days and are thoroughly enjoying this terms topic ‘Oceans and Islands.’
We are encouraging the children to become ‘Star Readers’ each week by reading each day at home and getting their diaries signed by an adult. If they can do this every day they receive a certificate at the end of the week!
Mrs. Rowe and Mrs. Ottley
We had a great turnout at our Year 2 Workshop. The children worked with their parents and grandparents to explore the different strategies they will use in Maths throughout the year. They also looked at the expectations for reading, writing and spelling. Thank you to all the parents and grandparents that were able to attend. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask one of the Year 2 team.
Curriculum Overview
Documents
Please see our Year group handbook for any questions that you may have.
Year Two handbook for parents 2018
SATS meeting presentation 2020
How to help at home – Please see the curriculum overview for information on what is being covered this term
At our school we want to develop and promote ‘a love of reading’.
When sharing a book talk to your child about what he or she thinks might happen next in a story, how the story might end and then ask them to retell the story themselves. Picture books are very important to promote discussion, so look for books without any words to help your child practise this skill. Have fun acting out stories together. Your enthusiasm for a book will help your child to understand that books are exciting. Your child will receive a bookmark with their book and this should target the objectives that your child is working on.
Make reading times fun and relaxed and you will see your child’s confidence grow!
Spellings
The children will be expected to have their spelling books in school at all times as they will have the opportunity to practise during the week. Please support your child in learning their spellings.
Other useful links
English/phonics
At St. Peter’s we use Phonics as a way of teaching the children to read and write. We use the Letters and Sounds document as our basis and support it with Jolly Phonics.
Throughout Reception and KS1 the children receive a daily phonic sessions of twenty minutes. The children re-cap the sounds they have learnt and are then taught a new sound. It is practiced by taking part in a variety of phonic activities and then it is applied in their reading and writing.
Children are also taught to read and spell Tricky words, these are the words which they cannot decode.
Maths
Mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around them through developing their ability to calculate, reason and solve problems. It enables children to understand relationships and patterns in both number and space, in their daily lives.
Help your child practise their times tables. We are focussing on our 3 times table at the moment! We are also trying to get quicker recall on our 2s and 5s times table. There are lots of useful websites on the Maths area on our website to help you with this! Some are below: