Class 2

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Term 1 & 2 Newsletter – Class 2

Dear Parents,

A big, warm welcome to Class 2! I hope you all had some lovely family time this summer and feel ready for the year ahead. We have already had such a great start to the school year and I know we’re going to achieve so much and have lots of fun along the way!

Maths

In Maths we shall be looking at number, focussing on reading and writing numbers and counting. We will have a focus on addition and subtraction for both year groups, with the year 2s moving onto looking at multiplication and division later in the term.  This term the focus will be on gaining a really good grasp of numbers; 0-20 for Year 1 and 0-100 for Year2.  Alongside all of this, we will be having a daily fluency session to practice doubling, halving, number bonds to 10 and other 1-digit number facts.  There will also be Early Bird Maths to complete each morning during the register.

Maths Apps

Please continue to work on Mathletics at home.  The Live Mathletics section is particularly useful for practising the fluency skills that we will be focusing on in class.  I will not set any particular tasks on Mathletics but it would be useful to refer to the planning grid so your child practises skills that they have been learning at school. 

There is also the White Rose One Minute Maths app, which can be downloaded onto phones or tablets, which we use in school.  This tests the children’s fluency skills and they can select areas of maths that we have been learning.

Science

In Science this term we will be learning about animals, including humans.  We will be learning that all animals have offspring which grow into adults, what basic needs animals have and then more specifically about humans, how to eat healthily, why it is important to exercise and how to be hygienic.

PSHE

PSHE sees us learning about Being Me in the World and Celebrating Difference in terms 1 and 2.

Music

In Music, we will be learning and composing sea shanties to fit with our work in other subjects.

History

In History we will be learning about Victorian women who inspire us and what they did that has made a difference.  We will start with Grace Darling, learning why she is famous and what impact her actions had.  After half term we will be learning about Mary Seacole and the impact she had on nursing in the Victorian times.

Homework

This year, homework in Class 2 will be Maths and English, and it will greatly help your child if you can get into a routine of completing the work each week and handing the orange book in to be marked.  There will be a Maths sheet, with a selection of questions related to the sorts of learning your child will have been doing in school, and a SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) sheet which will help your child to practise the skills they have been learning in class.  Homework books will be given out on a Wednesday and need to be handed in on a Monday morning.

If your child would like to do extra homework, please record this in their orange book, but note that it won’t be thoroughly marked in the same way as the set homework.  Children can earn house points for completing homework, so there is an incentive for them to do it!

Spellings

The children will be learning their spellings through their phonics lessons, which may occasionally take the form of a spelling test.  There won’t be a weekly list of spellings to learn, but it would be super helpful for your child to learn to read and spell the common exception words on the list for Years 1 and 2.  You can find the lists for Year 1 and 2 at the bottom of the class webpage.

English

In English we will be reading “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch” which will link nicely with our work on Grace Darling.  We will be writing recipes for sandwiches for Mr Grinling, the Lighthouse Keeper, to have for his lunch. Then we shall have a poetry focus, looking at the poems in a lovely book called “A Year of Nature Poems” by Joseph Coelho and Kelly Louise Judd.  Finally, after half term, we will be looking at non-fiction books about Florence Nightingale and her life.  We will be writing descriptions of settings, instructions, stories and letters.

RE

In term 1 in RE we will be learning about Creation trying to answer the big question “Who Made the World?”, learning about Christian beliefs and comparing these with other world faiths and secular views.  In term 2 we will be turning our thoughts to Christmas and the concept of incarnation, trying to answer the big question of “What is the Good News that Jesus brings?”

Art

In Art we will be learning some general drawing skills, how to make different types of marks and using different tools to draw with.  In term 2 we will be studying J M W Turner and his seascapes, attempting to draw and paint our own.

DT

We will be doing a DT project in term 2 about food to make us better, which will follow nicely from our science work on keeping healthy.

PE

PE – PE will be taught twice a week, one session with the coaches from All Star Soccer and the other session with Mrs Hall, who will be teaching the class every Thursday morning.

Computing

In Computing there will be a focus on getting used to Purple Mash and how to log in, save work and find it again.  In term 2 we will be using questioning to start learning about data and databases.

Phonics and Reading

We will be using Monster Phonics to teach our phonics, with the children generally being split into their year groups to access the appropriate level of phonics.  In some cases, where we have noticed gaps in understanding through our assessments, we will be teaching some children within a different year group.  We will communicate this with you separately if it relates to your child.

Your child will bring home a Monster Phonics or Dandelion reading book that matches the phonics we are learning for each term and it is a priority that your child reads this book (they can re-read it as many times as they like!).  To ensure that your child is still reading a range of books, your child can choose from our colour book-banded books to bring home as well.  These books can be changed as regularly as you would like and this is your child’s responsibility to do this at the end of each day.  They can, of course read books from home or the library as well.  Please continue to record all reading in the Reading Record Booklets and then your child can bring the booklet to school to be stamped – a certificate will be given out in Thursday assemblies for each completed booklet.  The Reading record Booklet will be checked once a week, so please ensure that it remains in your child’s book bag.

I would be grateful to have a volunteer to support the children to choose books from our school library to take home to read.  Please let me know if you are able to help with this.

Reminders & Key Dates

P.E. kits

Our P.E. lessons are on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  Please make sure your child has their full P.E. kit and this is clearly named - thank you.

Uniform

Please check that all of your child’s uniform is clearly labelled with their name – this saves so much time when trying to sort out clothing! We often have several children with the same shoes, so it is worthwhile naming your child’s shoes as well.

Water Bottles

Please send a named bottle of water for your child to drink in class. It is important to remind your child to take bottles home everyday to ensure they are clean and hygienic. Their water bottles go into a box by the sink but can be accessed whenever your child needs a drink.  They are not kept on the tables because of the risk of accidentally knocking them over!

Other Key dates

Wednesday 20th September – Parental Phonics Event

Wednesday 4th October – Harvest Festival

Early October – Poetry Recital competition

Wednesday 11th October – Zoom Parental Maths Event

Thursday 12th October – Class trip to RNLI at Hastings

Monday 16th and Wednesday 18th October – Parent consultations

Thursday 19th October – Last Day of Term 2

Friday 20th October – INSET day

Monday 30th October – Start of Term 2 and School Photos

Wednesday 13th December – KS1 Nativity performance

Other INSET days – 2nd January, 22nd and 23rd July.

Please talk to me at the end of the day or email if you have any questions.

Many thanks

Mrs Sullivan

hsullivan@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

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