Welcome to Class 2

Dear Parents,

I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas break, although it seems a distant memory already!

We have another exciting term ahead of us with lots of activities planned. A couple of dates for your diary – Parents’ Evening on Monday 26th January from 3pm onwards and our Class assembly on Tuesday 3rd March at 3pm.

The Creative Curriculum

Our context for learning this term is Seaside Rescue. Our focus for each subject area will be as follows:

Art: watercolours, painting horizons and seascapes, seaside collage frames;

• Computing: copying and pasting pictures and combining with text using Word;
• D & T: ingredients – tasting, adapting recipes and making cupcakes;
• Geography: UK mapping, the 4 countries of the UK, an in-depth study of Northumberland – physical and human features – and making a leaflet;
• History: the amazing true story of Grace Darling;
• Music: Charanga – rock and reggae, exploring pulse, playing glockenspiels;
• PSHE: rights and respects, valuing difference, British values – democracy and the rule of law;
• PE: hockey and multi-skills;
• RE: how do Christians belong to their faith family; how do Jews celebrate Passover; Easter;
• Science: rocks and fossils, materials – uses, where they come from, how they can be changed, fair testing.

Homework (a reminder and an update!)
English and Maths homework will continue as before – Maths homework given out on Monday to be returned by Wednesday and English homework given out on Wednesday to be returned by Friday.

Times tables:

Weekly tables tests will continue on Friday mornings, now for Year 2 as well. Please help your child to practise and learn the times tables they are working on throughout the week. Don’t forget that the children can also use Times Tables Rockstars to support their learning. I will be showing the children how to use Rockstars in school over the next couple of weeks and will shortly send them home with their individual log-ins.

Spellings –The children will continue to have a weekly spelling test on Fridays. In some cases, practising spellings 3 times a week, as suggested in the layout of the spelling record, may not be enough. Please help your child to write their spellings correctly on demand and out of order! For children in Year 3, please remember to check that the children know what each word means and are able to give an accurate definition as well as use each word correctly in a sentence. Each week, the children will be asked to put one of the words into a sentence and to write the definition of another.

Reading – Please do continue to hear your child read frequently, asking questions and talking about the book as you do so. This is important even if your child is a very able reader

Communication

As always, I am available for a chat at the beginning and end of the school day, so please do not hesitate to come and see me if you have any queries or concerns.

It is also possible to leave a confidential message for me via the school telephone system, or to e-mail me direct with any questions you may have or information that needs to be passed on. I usually manage to check my e-mails each morning and at the end of the day, and sometimes at lunchtimes. The address is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please do pop in and ask if there is anything else you would like to know! 

Yours sincerely,

Fiona Sweetman