Welcome to Class 2

Staff in Class 2 Mrs Greening - Class teacher – Monday -Wednesday Mrs Smith – Class Teacher – Thursday Friday Mrs Warner –Teaching assistant during the mornings Mrs Muttett– Teaching assistant – Everyday but thursday

Morning Routine Children come into the classroom and put their belongings away. Children take part in morning activities at their tables independently. Registration takes place at 8.50 with Collective Worship every morning apart from Thursdays.

Things to know… Please make sure your child has a named water bottle in school everyday Please make sure you label all your children’s clothes. (lost property in my class or hall) Newsletter items – PE- Kit in school all week please. Top, shorts, trainers and during the winter tracksuit trousers should be provided. Changing reading books – we will do this as often as the children need. Handwriting policy is on the school website

Topics… Autumn term : Extreme Environments Spring term 3 and 4: Ancient Egypt Summer term 5 and 6: Safe as Houses and Viking Raiders

English Our topics will form the basis for all the children’s literacy, science, Art and where possible Maths. Writing will be evident throughout the curriculum. English units: Reports; Adventure Stories; Dialogues and Plays; Instructions; Stories with a dilemma; Stories in historical settings; Comparisons; Stories from other cultures; Persuasion

Reading Read regularly (both with and to your child). We will send home reading records, feel free to make notes about their reading as we will. Reading lists – Here are a few ideas if you need to ignite your child’s interest in reading. Firstly reluctant readers need to be encouraged by reading anything even comics or cartoons. They may like to start with Tin Tin or Asterix etc. Then captain underpants is hilarious and an easy read to get them engaged. Then diary of a wimpy kid is an easy hilarious read. Also the Mr Gum series is excellent. How to train a dragon series are brilliantly written (Cressida Cowell), Chris Riddell (children’s Laureate) Ottoline, all of David Walliams books, Awful Auntie’s my favourite and then if you are still stuck the has all the Roald Dahl funny prize winners with great recommendations. Please come and see me if you need help choosing home reading books.

What you can do to help your child’s reading? Ensure children read their reading books at home. Read bedtime stories! Ask questions about the text, check they understanding what more complex words mean. Ask them more probing questions about what do you think might happen next? or how was the character feeling? Have you ever wished you were……….

What you can do to help your child’s writing! Encourage children to draw, paint etc. Show children your writing, shopping lists, things to do, birthday cards etc. Make scrap books, write postcards, party invitations, birthday cards.

PE Tuesday and Wednesdays. Tennis is on a Tuesday Dance on a Wednesday. Please make sure all items of PE kit are named. Provide Warm layers for colder weather. No earrings. Long hair tied up.

Maths In Class 2, we have already started with handling data connected to our topic and the children have read pictograms and bar charts to answer questionS. They were trickier that they thought but they were resilient and kept going !- what great learners. We will cover- Place value and number; addition and subtraction; multiplication and division; fractions; shape; position, direction and movement; measuring; and statistics. Mymaths homework will be set every Monday and due in by the following Monday. There are online lesson s in the top right hand corner, which take you through the steps and strategies. We would encourage the children to do these first before the homework. Don’t forget timetables are revised and rewarded every week, you can really help your child by encouraging practice at home.

What you can do to help your child’s Maths! Point out the time on analogue and digital clocks. Help them with their timetables. These facts are the basis for so much understanding in maths especially with multiplication and division calculations and problem solving. Any reference to the use of maths in your work or home roles would be great. We want children to experience maths in ‘real life context ‘ as much as possible. Perhaps ask them how many packets of 12 pack crisps you will need to buy for their birthday party of 30 children? If they do any real context maths at home aside from their homework we would love to see it!

Need to speak to a teacher? We are very excited to be teaching your children and their welfare and happiness is paramount to us. If you need to talk to the teacher, please contact the office for an appointment. However, you might want to send us a note with your child or speak to any members of the teaching staff when the doors open at 8.40am

Homework Every Monday there will be mymaths homework. The children can login and they should do the online lesson first before they try the homework. Spellings will be given every Monday and the test will be the following Monday. On occasion the children will be given a project related to their topic and they will have 2/3 weeks to complete. Want anymore – Whsmiths have great resources if you want to do more with your child

Learning to Learn homework Autumn Term Topic Homework This term our Topic will be all about extreme environments, starting with the rainforests. For the children’s independent homework, we would like them to choose any extreme environment from anywhere in the world and find some interesting facts about it, ready to share with the class week commencing 28 st September. Ideas might include; A picture or drawing of your chosen environment with some key facts about what it is like there. You may send in a PowerPoint or word doc on a memory stick or the office – subject – Class 2 homework. You might even want to make a model of your environment. You might write a diary entry of what you saw, felt, smelt or heard when you went to your extreme environment either for real or imaginary.

Any questions?