Bonfire safety
Today, two PCSO officers came into school. Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed listening to them both and asking lots of questions. The officers came into school to discuss the importance of staying safe this bonfire weekend. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend watching fireworks, holding sparklers and visiting bonfires but make sure you stay safe by following the advise from today.
Living and Learning: mental health
Our recent Living and Learning focus has been all about mental health. Teaching about mental health and emotional wellbeing is now statutory as part of Health Education.
In Year 2, our learning has included:
- we all have feelings
- solving friendship problems
- managing difficult emotions
Emotions are feelings. They can change all the time. We all experience a whole range of emotions, from anger to happiness to fear. We even managed to create an A-Z of emotions.
Feelings can be shown on people’s faces and bodies. For example:
• Can you show a happy face?
• What does an angry face look like?
• How do we look when we are excited?
• Can you show a happy body?
• What does an angry body look like?
• How does our body look when we are excited?
We discussed which feelings these characters might be experiencing and whether they might need help with their feelings.
Next, we thought about a story about friends using a ball of string as the friendship chain.
The friendship chain is passed between friends to show how the friendship could have started. One day, there might be an argument between the friends (the string would get tangled). The argument got worse and the friends fell out (the string was cut between the friends). The friends decided to try and make the friendship again (tie a knot in the string).
This was a very visual way of looking at friendships. The children thought about what sort of things can cause friendships to break and what can make friendships stronger.
Self care techniques can also help us to look after our own mental health.
Here’s a reminder of the wellbeing bingo we looked at in Year 1. These are all great ways to support our mental health and hopefully some of these can be ticked off during half term.
Finally, further information about mental health can be found on the Public Health England (PHE) ‘Every Mind Matters’ website providing NHS-endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people’s mental wellbeing and equip parents and carers with knowledge to support them.
Rugby roadshow
As part of our partnership with White Rose Rugby and Moortown Rugby Club, here is an invite to a free rugby event, just for our pupils, taking place after half term on Wednesday 3rd November. White Rose Rugby have been working with classes for curriculum PE and also delivering the Thursday after-school club.
We hope you can take up this opportunity for a fun evening at Moortown Rugby Club.
Library
Due to a change in the timetable, we will now visit the library on Fridays instead of Mondays.
The children will choose a book to keep for a week (or longer if they wish). Children should take responsibility to return their library book to school after this time to be ready to choose a new book.
Have you visited local libraries nearby at Moor Allerton or Chapel Allerton?
Reading books will continue to be changed on Tuesdays and Fridays. Daily reading at home is very important to support your child’s reading fluency and understanding. Please comment in your child’s reading record book to show they have finished their book.
Mars from the planets
Music forms part of the Wednesday afternoon timetable for Year 2 and this piece of music, Mars from The Planets by Gustav Holst, is a focus for this half term.
We’ve also been listening to it in class and trying to recognise some of the instruments from the orchestra.
Have a listen at home and ask your child what they think of this piece of music?
Adel Tennis Club coaching
This half term, Year 1, 2 and 6 are developing and improving their tennis skills in sessions led by John Moore from Adel Tennis Academy.
Adel Tennis Academy are running half term tennis camps. Click here for more information.
After-school clubs return
Our autumn term after-school clubs return next week.
Here is the schedule that has recently been sent out to all children.
We invest part of our government PE and Sport Premium in subsidising these clubs and we hope to get as many children as possible active after-school.
If your child is interested in joining a club, please sign up via School Gateway or contact the school office.
More great learning at home
Every week, the children are rewarded with certificates from their Numbots and Lexia learning at home.
Well done to the following children this week.
Lexia
Hadi
Numbots
Keira and Aaron
Keep working hard at home!
Year 2 scientists
This half term, Year 2 are being chemists with our learning about materials. Here’s the key vocabulary we are using in this science learning.
Today, we had a note from Nothing (who spent time with us in Year 1). He needed our help to see what material would be the most suitable for a tent so he could go camping with his family.
First of all, we had to think about what properties are the most important.
It needs to be waterproof so that Nothing stays dry inside.
The tent needs to be strong so it doesn’t blow away.
It doesn’t want to be transparent.
Here are the stages of our investigation. We used lots of science skills and our focus for today was carrying out a simple test and recording our results.
Then, it was time to carry out our test. We used some great Living and Learning skills in our groups too including turn taking, helping others and resilience.
Finally, we used our results to answer the original question, ‘Is the material waterproof?’ and to make a conclusion.
The foil and the plastic were waterproof because they didn’t let the water in and no water was absorbed.
The fabric and the paper were not waterproof because they let water in. The water soaked in.
We think plastic would be the most suitable material for the tent because it is waterproof and it is also strong.
Wow, Year 2 – you have been fantastic scientists and Nothing will be so pleased with your testing to find the most suitable material for his tent.
Our local area
Today, Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed their walk to view our local area. The main focus of our walk was to look for human geography and physical geography.
Human geography in our local area
Physical geography in our local area
We looked at how Moortown had changed over time on the maps displayed in Moortown park.
We enjoyed spotting school from the park.
We discussed how this tree (physical geography), had now become a human feature because humans have made the old trunk into seating.
The children could explain that the hills in the park weren’t physical features. We knew that humans made the hills for the playground equipment.
The children all represented Moortown primary School with impeccable behaviour and a fantastic understanding of human and physical geography.
