Class Blog

12.7.19

The last shabbat of term is always a momentous day. It's just so hard to believe how quickly the year has gone and that the end of term really is just around the corner.

We will make our final Year 2 blog post on Tuesday which for now leaves us just wising you a peaceful shabbat.  

Shabbat shalom

28.6.2019

Starting at the end of the week, it has been a strange day. As teachers, we think of your children as ‘our’ children but today, we had to start the process of them becoming someone elses!

We are pleased to say that they had a wonderful time with Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzan and Mr Portnoi and we know that they are going to have a great time in Year 3. The children will have another session with the Year 3 team next week and before the end of term, the current Year 2 team and the new Year 3 team will be carrying out a full transfer of information meeting. 

Yesterday, the children had a wonderful time at Forest School. The session began with den building. The children learnt how to tie a Timber Hitch Knot to secure a rope around 2 trees. Not only was the knot tying a challenge, but in order for the den to be built, a great deal of teamwork was required. This did not come as easily to everyone as they thought it would and it will be great to see these skills develop as they continue to go to Forest School next year. After building dens, the children had the chance to make willow stars or crowns, create paint from charcoal and water and whittle twigs. 

On Thursday we had lots of fun celebrating Miss Wise’s upcoming wedding. The children made her a beautiful card and designed wedding outfits for her and her husband to be. We dressed up her in a veil and listened to wedding music too. Mazeltov Miss Wise from us all in Year 2! 

In Maths, the children went over the work that they had done earlier in the year about place value. They also practised their mental maths skills. We really can’t recommend highly enough Hit the Button. It has lots of different games at a range of levels which will provide a challenge for everyone. Each game is only 1 minute long so it can be squeezed in on even the busiest days. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

In Literacy this week, the children wrote some excellent descriptions of Katie Morag. They described her appearance and her personality. In Maths, they used their knowledge of coordinates to answer questions about the Isle of Struay. 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom
 

This week the children were introduced to the wonderful Katie Morag books by Mairi Hedderwick. Katie Morag lives on the (fictional) island of Struay where she has lots of adventures with her family, friends and two special grandmothers. Please ask your children to tell you all about it.

The following link will take you to lots of episodes that you can enjoy together.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/katie-morag

In Science we had lots of fun finding out about all the different parts of the plant that we eat. The children are now able to identify which part of the plant (root, stem, leaves, seeds, flower) a huge variety of fruit and vegetables are. They were very good at this. It was fantastic to see just how many vegetables the children were familiar with!

In Maths the children practised finding ⅓ of a group of objects. We looked at the patterns found in the answers and linked it to what we knew about times tables. For homework we would like the children to practise the times tables that they know and start to learn one new one. The order that the tables should be learnt is 2,10,5,3,4,6,8,7,9,11  

We are very much looking forward to sports day. Please make sure you read all of the information carefully so that your child has everything that they need.

We hope that everyone has a wonderful shabbat, we look forward to seeing everyone at the school fair on Sunday.

Shabbat shalom

7.6.19

This week in Literacy, the children enjoyed looking at the fabulous book - The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle. It tells the story of a small seed’s journey and its survival through the four seasons of the year. The children also learnt about the different methods of seed dispersal. Ask them to tell you as many as they can remember. As part of their homework, the children are bringing home an abbreviated version of The Tiny Seed to enjoy and discuss with you.  

In Maths and Art we looked at 3D shapes. After  examining some examples of these shapes, we learnt about their properties (faces, vertices, edges) and then completed a fun, QR code scavenger hunt. The children followed clues around the school to find the different shapes. In Art, we made cubes from nets and covered each face of the cube with emoji faces. 

Wishing you all a wonderful Chag

Shabbat shalom 

24.5.19

What a week! The children have had a fantastic week. They have learnt both in and out of the classroom and its been lovely watching them enjoy these experiences. 

Check out the photos below and ask your child to tell you all about the activities. 

Shabbat shalom, have a wonderful week

17.5.19

The children really enjoyed performing their Chaggigat Chumash, learning with you and of course eating cupcakes! We were very proud of them and it is special for us to watch the children start out on this next step of their Jewish Learning journey. 

In Maths the children continued to learn to tell the time. Below are some links to websites with good games.

https://www.teachingtime.co.uk/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=telling+time

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/116/telling-the-time

In History, the children have been learning about holidays in the past. Below is a link to the video they watched in case they want to watch it again. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1h1d5GAPRg

We are very excited that next Thursday it is our turn to visit the Forest School. Please remember to send the children to school wearing PE and with the appropriate clothing as set out in the original letter. With the exception of high winds, the children will be going out in any weather so please make sure that they are properly equipped. 

We hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Shabbat Shalom

10.5.19

What a week!  The children really celebrated Yom ha atzmaut in style. They enjoyed lots of different activities including a concert and Israeli dancing. The walk that they did raised over £800 so thank you all for your generous donations. 

This week the children really enjoyed writing and decorating congratulation cards to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The children were very interested to watch all the news footage and see the live appearance of the royal couple and their new baby boy. All the cards have been sent off to the palace and we are hoping for a royal reply 

In Maths this week the children began their lessons on time. We were very impressed with the new times that they picked up. Please help your child to practice telling the time at home. An analogue clock in their rooms is a great resource to have. Please focus on the analogue time before moving onto digital clocks. 

In Geography this week we began our joint History and Geography topic of The Seaside. In Geography the children will be learning about the physical features of a coastal location and in History they will be learning about seaside holidays in the past and comparing them to today's holidays. 

Have a lovely weekend, Shabbat shalom 

12.4.19

As we prepare to teach the children about the concept of time, we marvell ourselves about how time has flown by so quickly. Suddenly we have reached the end of the second term of Year 2. It has been another great term, full of hard work and successes and we're very proud of all of the children. 

Please see the photos below for information about a book review task. The children have a paper copy of this but this is for your records. 

We hope that everyone has a wonderful break. For those travelling, do so safely and please remember to ask the children to send us a postcard. For those staying at home, we still love to receive letters from the children. 

Please keep up the reading and any writing for pleasure that the children want to do but remember, in the same way that adults need some down time, so do the children so relaxation and fun is the key activity!

Shabbat shalom and Pesach Sameach 

5.4.19

Over the last two weeks, in our PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, Education) lessons, we have been focusing on listening skills and extending communication to include lots of details. 

As such, we are not going to fill this week's blog with what we have been doing as we would like to see what detail they can give you.

To give you a clue here is a short list and some photos. We hope they can fill you in

• Maths - data - pictograms
• English - non-fiction texts
• History - Diary extract (see display photos below)
• Science - Live Science lesson - see photos below
• Art - self-portraits

After the holidays, we will be starting a unit of work on time. If you don't have one already, we strongly recommend that you get an analogue clock for your child's room and maybe even for a communal room downstairs e.g. a playroom. If you don't already have one and your child can't tell the time yet, then you might want to consider one like the clock below which is a really good teaching clock. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teacher-Silent-Ticking-Quartz-Mechanism/dp/B01COBL2KO/ref=asc_df_B01COBL2KO/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=205236697639&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8655052322821623759&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045994&hvtargid=pla-420475625466&psc=1 

We hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Shabbat Shalom

29.3.19

This week in Maths the children started a unit  of work on data. They looked at tally charts and pictograms. They learnt about how charts give us some information in a very direct way but that there is also information that they can work out by using the data e.g. "how many more" of one item than another. To work this out, they need to use the previously learnt strategy for what's the difference, an empty number line or counting on. There are some children who would benefit from counting in 10s from different numbers to increase the speed of their mental maths. e.g. 16-96 16, 26, 36, 46, 56, 66, 76, 86, 96.

This week in Science we found out all about Healthy Eating. We discussed the difference between ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ food and the amounts of each we should have in our diets. The children worked together to decide which foods we can have as much of as we like, which ones we should have some of everyday and which foods should only be occasional treats. We then leant all about food groups and what particular foods provide for our bodies. The children learnt lots of new words. Using the food journal that the children completed for homework last week, they were able to analyse their own eating habits. We took into consideration that it was Purim last week - lots of treats!

For homework, the children have a scanning activity on Healthy Eating. It would be a good idea to read this through with your children and find out what they have learnt. They also need to make a poster for a healthy packed lunch. The website provided will help them with ideas. The children can draw or stick pictures of their items in the bag. They should be able to explain in class why their packed lunch is healthy. 

In History the children learnt about improvements that have been seen in hospitals since the time of Florence Nightingale. Next week, they will continue to learn about the work that she did in during the Crimean War.

Have a wonderful, sunny weekend.

Shabbat Shalom

22.3.19

Purim Sameach to everyone! We hope that you all had a great day yesterday. The children had a wonderful time celebrating. 

In English this week the children continued to learn about non-fiction texts. They reviewed what an index, glossary and contents are. If you are reading any non-fiction books at home then see if you can get them to point them out to you. 

In Maths the children have completed the unit of work on Money. The unit finished with a shopping lesson in a bakery! Sadly there were not real cakes but the children still had lots of fun. The practical support that you gave the children really helped them with this work so please continue to get them to help you when you are out shopping.  They will have a mini assessment on it on Monday before moving onto a short unit on statistics and data handling.

For Science, the children should be filling out their food journal. Please make sure it is in school for the lesson next Wednesday.

In History, the children told the class about the significant person that they found out about. Thank you again for your support with this, it was great how much the children remembered. 

Please note that as mentioned in 'Hot off the Press' that Love Corn will not be allowed in school from next week. If the children have any, they will not be allowed to eat it so please send them with an appropriate snack. Many thanks for your support with this. 

Wishing you Shabbat shalom

15.3.19

It has been another busy week in Year 2 with the children learning both inside and outside of the classroom.

In Maths we are continuing to learn about money. The children are using the addition, subtraction and place value skills to help them with their work. This week the children learnt that in Maths when asked: "what is the difference between?" it does not mean what is different about these 2 numbers but, how many jumps are there to get from the first number to the second. The children learnt how to use an empty number line to help them with this as well as learning how to use their fingers to represent different numbers to be able to count on in their heads. Next week will be our last week on money but please do continue to give the children lots of real-life experiences with money. 

This week in our Literacy lessons we learnt about the differences between fiction and non-fiction. We spent some time discussing the features of non-fiction books and the children have become brilliant and identifying them in a range of INFORMATION BOOKS from our class library. In the next couple of weeks we are going to be working towards writing our information texts about animals. 

In Art and DT the children made simple bird kites. We had such fun flying them on Thursday. It was very windy outside - perfect weather for kite flying! Take a look at us in action in the video. 

In History, the children learnt about the timeline of Florence Nightingale's life. They mapped out the events of her life in chronological order. Next week they will learn in more detail about life in the hospital in Scutari.

Maths homework - Money

The children have worked hard to develop their use of money. This week we looked at finding the difference between 2 amounts of money and this will lead to finding change needed. It would be fantastic if you could please take your child to the shop with some loose change and ask them to select the coins needed to make a purchase. If your child feels confident then you could give them too much money and ask them to calculate the change that they should receive. An alternative to going to a shop is to set up a shop/cafe at home and have them role-play different scenarios with you, their siblings or friends. 

The link below will take you to a wide range of games which will develop the children's recognition, understanding and use of money. Many of the games require flash which means they will need to be played on a desktop or laptop rather than a tablet.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/money

8.3.19

Another week seems to have flown by. At the beginning of the week, the children finished their unit of work on continents, oceans and countries of the UK. We really do want to thank you for the support you gave them with the UK homework and we love that some of you have been inspired to take a holiday closer to home. The UK does certainly have many wonderful places to visit. The children completed an assessment where they recorded any facts that they could remember about the different countries and we were really impressed with the information they had retained. 

Next week the children will be beginning a unit of work on significant people from the past and to begin with they will be learning about Florence Nightingale. We are attaching a word bank which it would be helpful if you could look at with your child before Tuesday to help introduce new vocabulary. 

In maths the children have been further developing their knowledge of money. They have been checking different amounts of money as well as comparing money using the < > = sign. Many of them told us about purchases that they had made at the shops to help them experience this for real. Thank you for supporting them with this. 

Of course, a highlight of the week was the trip to the zoo. The weather held off and we spent a fun few hours walking around in small groups seeing many different animals. It was amazing how much the children were able to do and see and everyone had an exciting day. The children particularly enjoyed seeing the monkeys playing, the lions (who were all out!) and the very grumpy male gorilla called Kumbuka. We also enjoyed watching the penguins being fed and visiting the Reptile House and the Aquarium. Halfway through the day the children took part in an interesting workshop about Life Cycles. The children impressed the Guide with all their existing knowledge about various life cycles and the also learnt a new word - Metamorphosis. Take a look at the photographs of our brilliant day out. We are sure that the children slept well. Mrs Rosenberg certainly did. Thank you so much to the parents who joined us on the trip. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, 

Shabbat shalom 

1.3.19

Happy St David's Day! Ask your children if they can tell you what happens in Wales on St David's Day and if they know anything else about other 'saint days'.

The children have worked hard this week, settling back into school life with ease. 

In Maths this week the children have been recognising and using money. This has included coins and notes and the children can recognise all of these. They have been counting different amounts of money and answering reasoning questions e.g. Sarah has a £10 note, a £1 coin, a 50p and a 2p. She wants to buy a toy for £11.75, does she have enough? This topic is really good to re-enforce the work that the children have previously done on place value, addition and subtraction.

Money is one of the maths topics that children are able to practise at home although in reality children rarely see money being exchanged as adults are using banks cards, smart phones and even smart watches to pay for items. As unofficial homework, we would like to encourage you to take your child to a shop with some coins. Select an item for them to buy, give them some coins, ask them if they have enough and to select the best coins to give the shop keeper (you might want to explain to the shop keeper that this transaction might take longer than most). Unless you know that your child is confident with the concept of change then you might want to ensure that they have the correct notes/coins. We have not covered change yet but some children understand the concept. Using money is a real-life situation will help consolidate their learning. 

This week in Literacy the children completed their Author Study on Oliver Jeffers. We discussed which of his books we liked best and gave reasons why. We have all loved his books (and we only looked at 4 in detail) - there are lots more out there to enjoy.

In Science we continued our topic on Habitats. We spent some time looking at how animals and plants adapt themselves to be able to live in their surroundings. Ask your children how camels. cacti, polar bears and monkeys are able to live in their particular habitats. 

Homework this week is all about 'You as a baby'. We are looking forward to seeing photographs of all the children as babies. It is always great fun seeing how much we have changed!

We have enjoyed preparing for Shabbat UK this week with lots of activities in school. The children had a special assembly and visited the Shabbat UK dome. Make sure you ask them what happened inside the dome. We loved celebrating Kabbalat Shabbat with so many of you today. As you saw, it is a very special service that the children have each week.

Shabbat Shalom  

In DT we are investigating kites from around the world and we are researching the history of kites. This week the children had lots of fun beginning to make their own 'Carp Kite' (used in Japan on Children's Day'). As you can see from the photographs, the children worked extremely hard sticking a variety of colourful scales on coloured paper. Next week we will complete the cylindrical kites and they will be displayed in our classroom. We are looking forward to enjoying all the beautiful colours.