Welcome to Class Two

Summer Term 2024

Hello Class 2! I hope you have had a lovely holiday and enjoyed yourselves! We are looking forward to an active summer term, thinking about Sound, the achievements of ancient Egyptians and making animated drawings.

As throughout the year, we continue with our usual pick up and drop off times, and school will begin at 8.45am and finish at 3.15pm. Please can children enter independently from the main school entrance, hanging their coats and bags in either the boys or girls’ cloakrooms. Please let the office know if someone else will be collecting in the afternoon. Children in Year 2 continue to benefit from receiving a free piece of fruit/veg for a breaktime snack, but in Year 3 you will be required to bring your own from home: Please make sure that this continue to be in line with our healthy food policy: https://www.applebyprimary.cumbria.sch.uk/school-meals/. This term as before, the year 2 children will no longer be having afternoon breaktimes.

Reading: Children in year 2 will continue to benefit from Little Wandle group reading, accessing carefully levelled texts in line with their progression. Selected children in Year 3 will also benefit from keep-up sessions.

All children will have an individual reading book which they can take home, and will be developing their understanding of reading for pleasure. Progress will be shared through their reading record from school, and I encourage you to build this into a daily routine at home as well, letting us know how they did.

We are also reading through a shared class book, improving daily on our comprehension, grammar and spelling skills, although this will not be recorded via the reading record. This term we are beginning with ‘I Was a Rat!’ by Philip Pullman.

Don’t forget that you can also access a huge range of e-books as well through the school’s online library: https://appleyprimary.eplatform.co/ 

Volunteering: If you would like to volunteer to read with the class, this would be very welcome, and please contact the office to find out more. We also would love it if you could help with walking the children to swimming from 12.30 on Tuesdays, so please let us know.

English: Our book this term is I was a Rat by Philip Pullman. We will be using this to develop our understanding of conjunctions, paragraphs, non-narratives using headings and sub headings, paragraphs, and writing narratives about personal experiences.  

Maths: In Maths we will be using the White Rose scheme to develop your child’s confidence in multiplication and division, fractions, shape, mass and capacity.  We will also use ‘fluent in 5’ daily challenges to build their fluency and recall. If you wish to continue practicing at home, we recommend using the 1-minute maths app to help children build their fluency and ability with number, as well as the Times Table Rock Star app for multiplication/division.

History: This term we will be developing knowledge and understanding of the achievements of ancient Egyptians: we will be studying their culture and history, thinking about objects and items they invented and created and why it was important.

Science: In science we are exploring Sound. We will be thinking of sound as vibration, and how the differences in vibration created different pitches and volume. 

Art and Design: Our Art and Design this term will be on creating animated drawings through the use of mechanisms. We will also be exploring more complicated mechanisms in our DT work, exploring, creating and evaluating different mechanical objects.

Computing: In computing, we will learn to organise information using publishing software, learning to create our own magazine cover!

PE: In Class 2, Children will have PE sessions twice a week, on Tuesdays (pm) and Wednesday (am). On Tuesday children will be swimming, and on Wednesday we have coached lessons from Lucy. Please bring the correct kit on the correct day. On Wednesdays, children should bring both outdoor and indoor clothing as we will be going outdoors as much as the weather permits. Please make sure all kit and uniform has your child’s name in it, so we are able to reunite lost items successfully. Earrings must be removed for PE and your child must be able to do this for themselves.

PE kit consists of a white t-shirt and black shorts/leggings with suitable trainers, and a one-piece swimming costume (girls) and suitable swim shorts (boys). If your child does not bring their PE kit, they will not be able to participate in the activities.

French/RE: Through lessons with Miss Ridley, children will be investigating different RE and through our scheme Jigsaw, and will be learning some basic French focusing on numbers, colours and animals.  

Communication: We will use Seesaw throughout the year to send announcements, share photos of significant events/achievements. You can also communicate directly with the teachers during working hours, and it is ideal for asking questions, receiving reminders and for sharing progress! Please don’t forget to use my direct contact page if Seesaw is not working, https://www.applebyprimary.cumbria.sch.uk/contact-mrs-dickinson/.

Please do not hesitate to send us a question via Seesaw if you have any queries.

Looking forward to seeing you all in April!

Mrs Clara Dickinson