Welcome back
Welcome back and we hope you have had a happy and healthy summer break.
We look forward to meeting you over the next few weeks but for now, here is some key information about Year 2.
Mrs Taylor – Monday and Tuesday
Mrs Lake – Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Mrs Maqbool and Mrs Roth also assist in the class.
PE – Tuesday and Thursday
Spelling test – Friday
Library – Friday
Water bottles
These should be brought to school daily and they will be brought home every day for refreshing and cleaning.
Milk
Please contact the office if your child would like to have milk in Year 2.
Homework/Spellings
Whole school homework is set every Friday (along with new spellings). Homework and spellings can also be accessed from the website.
Reading
Daily reading, whether this is their e-book, a book from home or the library, is key to making progress in reading and to develop fluency.
Numbots
We continue to use Numbots in Year 2 (using the same login as Year 1) and certificates will be awarded every Tuesday for children who complete the different stages and make the most improvement over the week.
For spelling practice, reading and Numbots, little and often (10/15 minutes a day) is recommended.
Uniform
Please do check the uniform policy to ensure your child is wearing the correct items including for PE days. Earrings must be removed on PE days.
Finally, please do ask if there are any queries and keep checking back on class news to find out more about your child’s learning!
Farewell Year 2
We would like to say a big thank you for all our kind and generous gifts and cards that we’ve received this week and thank you for all of the support you’ve given this year.
It’s been a great year and it has been a pleasure to teach all the children and see how much they have progressed and matured over the year. We shall miss them!
We hope you all have a happy, healthy and safe summer holiday.
Design & Technology food: making wraps
This week, Year 2 have been using their food preparation skills to create their latest product, wraps.
This forms part of our Design and Technology food learning which involves following a recipe to create a product each term.
The recipe was our reading fluency text of the week so we had chance to read and understand the instructions before we made our wraps.
First, we got ready to cook by washing our hands, putting on our aprons and tying long hair back.
We used lots of different food preparation skills including draining, spreading, bridge hold (for chopping), claw grip (for chopping), grating, snipping, arranging toppings and rolling the wraps.
Finally, the children got to enjoy their wraps.
I LOVED my wrap because it was so tasty and healthy.
Mine was delicious!
The peppers and cucumber made it really crunchy.
Next time, I wouldn’t change anything.
I didn’t like the peppers but I tried them.
We always evaluate our product afterwards to see how it could be changed next time.
Well done to all the children who worked safely and sensibly with Mrs Maqbool and Mrs Roth.
Help at home: your child has taken this recipe home. Can they demonstrate some of their food preparation skills by making this again at home.
Book amnesty
As we enter the final week of Year 2, we would be grateful for the the return of any school reading or library books you may come across at home.
Please send these into school with your child over the next week.
We are also missing a few of the red Moortown PE t-shirts from the recent skipping festival if you could return them to school too.
Thank you for your support with this.
Staying safe week so far
It’s been a busy staying safe week so far in Year 2.
What’s a digital footprint with Mr McGriffiths.
The importance of wearing a helmet when riding a bike or scooter.
Did you know if you are taller than 135cm, then you don’t need to have a car seat or booster seat because you are now tall enough for your seatbelt to fit correctly on your shoulder and hips.
Dave, from d:side, spoke to us about online safety including age limits on apps and not sharing personal information online.
We recapped the NSPCC Speak out Stay safe message and in our circle time, the children discussed how and who they would ask for help if they needed to.
Please could I talk to you…
I’m worried about something…
Could you help me with a problem…
There’s lots more staying safe learning coming up.
Help at home: talk to your child about this important learning and ask them to share the key safety messages.
Staying safe week: road safety
Jake, from the Leeds City Council road safety team, gave a whole school assembly all about staying safe on and around roads including different types of active travel.
Don’t forget, as part of our staying safe themed week, we are running our active travel safety competition this week.
For a chance to win one of three £10 Love2Shop vouchers, we’d love to see your active travel staying safe photos, maybe using a traffic crossing or wearing a bike helmet (send photos to moortownoffice@spherefederation.org). Photos should be sent by 4pm on Thursday 11 July and winners will be announced on Friday 12 July.
Help at home: Jake reminded us of the green cross code. Talk to your child about what we need to remember when crossing the road.
Staying safe: online safety
Louise from West Yorkshire Police gave a whole school assembly all about staying safe online.
There were lots of clear online safety messages around content, contact and conduct.
At the end of the assembly, the children reflected on what they were going to do after hearing Louise’s messages.
I am going to check my younger sisters’ Roblox settings.
I am not going to accept friend requests from people I don’t know.
I am not going to play games that have a age rating older than me.
Help at home: ask your child how content, conduct and contact are linked to online safety.
Staying safe week: water safety
Claire, a volunteer from Canal & River Trust, came to visit Reception and Key Stage 1 to teach us about staying safe near water.
SAFE stands for stay away from the edge.
If you do fall in water, you should float on your back like a starfish trying to keep your head above the water.
There were lots of hazards to spot.
Life jackets and buoyancy aids can help to keep you safe on boats.
Help at home: have a look at these water safety games with your child.
Caterpillars to butterflies
This half term, we continue to be biologists.
We have been learning about different life cycles as part of our science learning.
This has included the life cycle of humans (and other mammals), butterflies and amphibians.
Over the past few weeks, you have probably heard about our caterpillar visitors. We’ve been keeping a diary to record the changes we’ve observed over time.
Week 1
The caterpillars are tiny and black. They are not moving very much.
Week 2
The caterpillars have grown longer and thicker. You can see hairs on them and they are moving more.
Week 3
The caterpillars have attached themselves to the lid and are beginning to make themselves into a pupa.
They build themselves a cocoon to hide in.
Inside the cocoon all sorts of changes are happening.
Week 4
After several days, the adult painted lady butterflies emerge.
Now, the whole life cycle will begin again.
Finally, after observing the butterflies for a short time in their classroom habitat, it was time to release them outside.
The children have loved watching these incredible changes. This learning has helped to reinforce the process and sequence of the butterfly life cycle but also the importance of respecting living things.
Living and Learning: body image
Body image, as part of our Living and Learning curriculum, uses a focus on self-esteem to promote a positive body image. There is a strong emphasis on appreciating and celebrating everyone’s unique qualities, talents and abilities.
We want to enable pupils to feel proud and confident about who they are and to value their own and each other’s individuality.
Firstly, we talked about what makes us special. This could be something physical or personal.
I’m special as I am kind to my friends.
I’m special because I can do lots of different skipping skills.
I’m special because I try hard on TTRS.
I’m special as I can run fast.
I’m special because I’m good at helping others.
Next, we discussed why we have names and what if everyone was nameless?
If we didn’t have names, we wouldn’t be as special as we are.
We have names because we are unique and special.
We need names as we wouldn’t know who people are.
Then, we considered why we like different activities.
We like different activities because we are different people.
Not everyone likes the same thing because we are all different.
It would be boring if everyone liked the same things.
Finally, we thought about why we look different and what things we can change and what things we can’t change about ourselves.
It’s always great to hear the children discussing and sharing ideas in our Living and Learning sessions and circle times.
Help at home: Listen to this text, Your Body is Awesome, with your child. What is brilliant about their body?
