'Do all these things; but most important, love each other. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity.' Colossians 3:14

Good afternoon and welcome back to our second half term as Year 2s!

Well, it seems that we are back into another spell of restrictions in our second lockdown. I just thank the Lord that we are still able to attend school. We all see just how much children are enjoying being back around their friends and continuing their learning and it is so lovely to be able to provide that little bit of normality at another worrying and uncertain time.

That being said, may I please direct your attention to our general page on our website which Miss Haggerty has updated with guidance on when and how to isolate in a range of circumstances involving contact with the coronavirus. It is of the utmost importance that all parents and guardians read and are familiar with this advice and take the appropriate action if necessary in order to keep our bubble - and our school - open to all. Thank you!

This first week back has been very busy and we have been working hard as always.

In English, we have been looking at extracts from Samuel Pepys’ diary and acting them out in groups. We have been exploring adjectives and similes and using these to write our own wonderful setting descriptions about London during the fire. Our grammar focus has been upon expanded noun phrases.

In Maths, we have spent a few days looking at number bonds and also discovering related facts linked to these bonds. We learned that addition can be done in any order, but subtraction can’t as we always need to subtract a part from our whole. We have been looking at what happens when we move the = symbol around in our number sentences and this has been quite tricky to grasp but we have done very well!

In Science, we have finished off our work on things that are alive, were alive and have never been alive and have been explaining how we know which things go in each category.

In RE, we have begun our work on mysteries and have started to ask questions which are difficult to answer. We have even had a go at giving our own ideas on this and have realised there are no right or wrong answers!

In HRE, we have been looking at our feelings and have discussed feeling left out and how this might make us feel. I was blown away by the clarity and vocabulary of the children when discussing their experiences in such a mature and thoughtful manner.

Quiz

Before half term, Year 2 took part in a KS1 quiz and guess what? We won! Our prize is a movie afternoon with popcorn and I will let you know when this has been confirmed.

Phonics Screening

You may or may not be aware that in Year 1 the children are required to take a phonics screening check to assess their confidence and fluency in using and applying phonics. However, this was not possible due to school closures and therefore, our Year 2 children will be taking their phonics screening check this half term. I have not confirmed an exact date as of yet but it will probably be at the earliest towards the end of November or into December. Please do continue to practice recognising every sound on the sound mats sent home and keep practicing the green words, encouraging your child to sound out even if they are confident. One of this week’s homework tasks is a phonics screening practice.

Homework

Homework tasks for this week have been sent home and are also live on our Year 2 Homework page.

Christmas Shoe Boxes

At school, we are collecting gifts for Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. In Year 2 we are collecting small picture, puzzle and activity books. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Award Winners

This week’s award winners are…

Golden award - Lilly C - for her fabulous attitude and work ethic towards her learning. What a great start to the half term!

Writing award - Connie - for a super setting description about London, which used lots of great similes.

Maths award - Teddy - for his excellent work on finding fact families.

Well done everyone!

Have a restful weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Half Term

Good afternoon,

It’s the end of a very busy half term in Year 2. The children have settled into Year 2 fantastically and have worked so incredibly hard. We’re proud of every single one of them.

Obviously this week has been quite unusual and our in-person numbers have dwindled but those who have been in class have been very busy. Likewise, it has been lovely to see all the hard work of those doing home learning. Thank you to those of you who have sent me work!

Reports

In lieu of our usual parent consultations, we have instead decided to send out a small report to keep you updated on how your children have settled into their new class. These will be emailed to you at 10am on Friday (23rd) morning. They are a quick summary on your child’s learning so far but I was just like to say that it is still very early in the year and we have missed out on quite a bit of school so please don’t panic if the progress does not quite meet your expectations. There is still a while to go! If there are any major concerns you have regarding a report, I can be contacted tomorrow (Friday 23rd) between 10am and 2pm by Dojo/email or you can request a phone conversation if necessary.

Homework

At half term, I never set homework as I feel it is important for the children to enjoy their break and get some much needed rest.

However, due to our in class numbers, we have not taken the spelling test for last week’s homework so we will do this the Friday we return to school. Therefore, you could practice these words again at home during the break.

Quiz

Today, those of us in class took the PTA quiz. We did really well and had a great time. Many thanks to Miss Heim-Sarac and the PTA for organising it.

If you were unable to attend school, I have attached the quiz here so that you can have a go at home! Can you get full marks?

Half term

Over the half term break I will not be checking my email or Class Dojo messages so any messages/work sent after 2pm tomorrow will not be seen until we return to school. Thanks for your understanding.

Have a lovely half term and we look forward to seeing you in November,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

'A new command I give to you, love one another as I have loved you.' John 13:34

Good afternoon everyone!

We’re nearly at the end of our first half term in Year 2 and… so far, so good! Let’s keep everything crossed that it continues this way!

This week…

In English, we have been continuing to develop our phonic knowledge, editing and writing sentence and looking at alien words!

In Maths, we’ve had a focus on skip counting (2s and 5s so far). Please can you continue to practise counting particularly in 5s and 3s which some children find quite tricky!

In Science, we have looked at how humans change as they grow and related this to our work on the life cycle of a mammal.

In RE, we have written wonderful diary entries on behalf of Moses’ sister, Miriam, retelling the story of his coming to the Pharoah’s palace.

In History, we have taken a look at the reasons we know so much about the Great Fire of London - Samuel Pepys! We learned about his life and why he is significant (ask your child about this) and produced posters explaining our new knowledge.

In D&T, we have created 3D pictures of some iconic buildings from the Great Fire - Ludgate, Old St Paul’s Catherdral and the Royal Exchange.

Phonics Support Booklet

I have sent all of you a phonics support booklet home to look through (some are in plastic packs, some on their own.) This contains all the green words for every single phonics sounds - you can use these to practise reading and writing words with particular sounds - and the red words learned throughout the scheme. There are also sound mats for all the sounds we learn from sets 1, 2 and 3 to practise at home. I hope they are helpful!

Home Learning

If you are needing to isolate, please remember to use this link for the Home Learning Google Drive. If you want to support your child over the half term holidays, you could also use activities in here from previous weeks to revisit tricky topics.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Corben - for lovely manners

Writing Award - Dominic - for another super piece of writing

Maths Award - Peter - for working really hard in his skip counting.

Have a great weekend everyone,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

'For Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen.' Matthew 22:14

Matthew-22.jpg

The above scripture, taken from The Parable of the Wedding Banquet and this Sunday’s gospel fits in very aptly with our learning this half term. We are all facing challenges that may lead us to choose not to try our best or to give up but we are invited by God to live by Jesus’ example and by persevering, helping others and trying hard we can be chosen; just like Abraham and Moses who we have been learning about.

It has been another busy week in Year 2 this week.

In English, we have settled in well to our new Read Write Inc groups and are focusing and trying really hard to develop our skills. We have practised our reading skills and have developed our writing skills. Our grammar focus has been upon question sentences.

In Maths, we have spent a few days looking at comparing and ordering numbers. We learned that when we order numbers, we first need to compare them and we do this by looking first at the tens and then at the ones. We will continue this next week before moving on to look at counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.

In Science, we learned about carnivores, herbivores and omnivores and wrote about the life cycle of a sheep for our focus on mammals.

In RE, we have learned all about Moses and how he was chosen by God to help his people. We have explored our feelings when we hear the story and have considered the good and bad parts.

In History, we learned more about the Great Fire. Specifically, why it spread so quickly and why it burned for so long. Ask your child to explain all the reasons for this. You’ll be amazed!

Parent Consultations

Due to current restrictions and guidelines, parent meetings will not be able to take place in their current form this half term. We will instead be providing a simple one page ‘report’ which will tell you all about how your child is settling in, how much progress they have made so far and their level of effort. It will also have some targets for the children to achieve which can also be worked on at home. These will most likely be sent out on the morning of Friday 23rd October. I will be available on this day for any concerns you may have via email on year2@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk or via ClassDojo. Please do remember that the children are still catching up on all the missed schooling and so may not quite be where they would normally be at this point.

Awards

Golden Award - James - for being polite, kind and hardworking.

Writing - Dominic - for working hard in his Read Write Inc written work.

Maths - Oscar - for his independence and confidence in this week’s maths work.

I hope you all have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

A new month...

Hi all,

I hope you have all had a good week. We’ve been busy as normal in Year 2 and have been growing our brains every day and learning lots of new things.

In English, we have started our Read Write Inc Phonics Groups. Some children are in Mr Whetnall’s group and some are in Mrs Bowdell’s group to ensure we can give them the focus that they need. We will be doing Read Write Inc for our whole class’ literacy lessons for at least this term as we begin to revisit sounds and books with a focus on building our confidence in spelling and writing independently.

In Maths, we have been looking at numbers on place value grids and have also spent a few days learning about comparing numbers. The children have been really good at this but some are getting a little mixed up with the > (greater than) and < (less than) symbols so I have sent some homework home so they can continue to practise this. Next week we will also be looking at counting in 2s, 5s and 10s so if possible, could you please practise this with your child so they are confident - this can be done by grouping objects or finding things which are normally in these groups.

In Science, we have looked at the basic needs of animals and have written our own animal care fact sheets to explain how certain animals get their air, water, food and shelter. I have really enjoyed reading them!

In RE, we have concluded our work on Abraham by creating our own comic strip to retell the story.

In History, we learned about the events of the Great Fire of London and what happened on each of the 4 days it burned. Next week, we will look more closely at the reasons it burned for so long and spread so quickly.

In Art/DT we made our own 1666 London house using black and white paper. We looked carefully at the shape and height of these buildings and created some wonderful versions!

Homework

Please click on the ‘Year 2’ tab on our website and click on ‘Homework’ to see the tasks which have been set. There are electronic copies here too which can be downloaded.

Reading Books

You may have noticed that your child’s reading book seems ‘easier’ than previously. This is because in Year 2 we introduce a reading support and assessment tool called Accelerated Reader. On the computer at school, the children complete a reading assessment quiz which gives them a ZPD number (don’t worry, this just gives them a range of books they should choose from). When the children finish a book, they complete a quiz on it which checks their comprehension skills, rather than simply their word reading. This is an important skill for children to develop and it is much easier to build comprehension skills from shorter, ‘easier’ books. Do not despair, your child hasn’t fallen back and their books will soon increase in complexity as they continue to complete quizzes on the books they take home. Therefore, it is so important to ask them questions about what they read, rather than merely focusing upon how they read. This will support them in understanding their books and developing their comprehension skills.

PE

After half term, Year 2’s Wednesday PE session will change to Friday. This won’t be until the first week back after half term but I wanted to give you notice. I will remind of this before half term.

Coronavirus and Home Learning

Just to remind you that if you or anyone in your household develops symptoms of Coronavirus then please inform the school office or Miss Haggerty as soon as possible. Arrange a test as soon as possible.

Please also let me know as soon as you can so that I can upload the week’s learning activities to our Google Drive for you to complete at home.

Award Winners

Golden Award - Emilia - for super writing and a fabulous animal fact sheet.

Writing Award - Olivia S - for her fabulous work in Read Write Inc.

Maths Award - Corben - for contributing so well with our comparing numbers work.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

'You are chosen, holy and dearly loved.' Colossians 3:12

Good afternoon all!

The children have had yet another busy and hardworking week and are rising to the challenges that we present to them. It is wonderful to see them remember the old things that slipped their mind, as well as making those new connections to further advance their learning.

In English, we have finished writing our diary entries about a memorable trip or experience and I have really enjoyed reading about the fond memories the children have. There have been some absolutely cracking pieces of work and this has made it so hard to choose my writing award winner this week. Towards the end of the week we have looked at some coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but, so) and have made sensible and very silly sentences using these. I have been very proud of the children’s work in improving their sentences.

In Maths, we are slowly moving through our place value. This is an area that we always spend an extended period of time on because it is so crucial to every other mathematical concept we will learn. we have focused upon using tens and ones and partitioning numbers up into different combinations of tens and ones (35= 30 + 5, 20 + 15, 10 + 25, 0 + 35). This has been quite tricky for some of us to get our head around and I think some of us still need to cement our knowledge of creating numbers with tens and ones and separating them up, therefore there will be more tens and ones homework to reinforce this!

In Science, we have looked at more animals. We discussed birds and what characteristics define them. We then drew and labelled our own bird. What great artists we have! We then looked at the life cycle of a bird - a chicken! - and described how it changes as it grows

In RE, we have been learning about Abraham and how God chose him to lead His people. We learned about what God asked Abraham to do and the promises God made to him.

In History, we have been comparing modern London with London of the Great Fire. We learned how much the world has changed and how difficult life was for people in 1666!

In Art, we made Great Fire of London skyline pictures and used chalk to create fiery skies. This was very fun! I do have some pictures of this but my iPad is letting me down so I will upload them as soon as i can.

Jumpers and cardigans

Could I ask that you all check your child’s name is written on their jumper or cardigan as we have found a lot getting muddled up!

Homework

This week the spelling homework is focused upon ay ee igh and ow words. Please practise as regularly as possible for our test next Friday. In Maths, there are two place value worksheets. Could I also ask you to practise counting objects to 100 by grouping them into tens and encouraging the children to count the tens and then count on the ones. As well, could you also practise number formation. We have found lots of children reversing their numbers, particularly 3, 5, 6 and 7. In English, there is a coordinating conjunctions worksheet to complete and a simple reading comprehension to practise those SATS skills.

Award Winners

Our award winners this week are:

Golden award - Darcy - for working hard and supporting others.

Writing award - Hallie - for a super diary entry.

Maths award - Lola Mae - for her super place value work.

Home Learning

If your child is having to stay at home due to Covid 19 symptoms, please let me know as soon as possible via Class Dojo or year2@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk so that I can upload work to the google drive for them to complete. Thanks!

We hope you all have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Settling In Nicely!

Good afternoon all,

Year 2 are really finding their stride in class and have had another busy week of learning. I have been very impressed by the children’s enthusiasm and hard work and I know they are very proud of themselves!

In English, we have finished planning our diary entries and have begun to write them carefully, thinking about capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.

In Maths, we have really slowed down with our focus on place value and partitioning into tens and ones and have aimed to really understand this concept before we continue to move on.

In Science, we have looked at the life cycle of a butterfly and discussed how animals change as they grow. We have noticed that different types of animals have very different life cycles.

In History, we have looked at modern London and have discussed the sights and experiences anyone visiting London today might have.

In RE, we have been writing thank you prayers to God for all the gifts he has given us. I have been very impressed by how thoughtful the children’s prayers have been!

Isolation and Home Learning

In order to support those having to isolate for lengthier periods due to Covid symptoms, I have set up a Google Drive where I will upload some of the work we are doing in school in order to allow the children to keep up to date with learning in class.

I will only update this Google Drive folder when I have been made aware that children are having to isolate for the 10/14 day period and so it will not be updated every week. If you are isolating you can use the link to access the work to complete at home (each folder is named for the subject and the day it would normally be done at school). I have uploaded a general outline of our phonics weekly plan and there are two powerpoints to practise words. However, I will not be uploading the daily English work as this changes with the children’s needs. Instead, I will direct you to the Oak National Academy where you will be able to access units of work for English so your child can continue to reinforce their literacy skills at home.

Here is the link to the Google Drive work folder.

Please note, it will be difficult to print off and deliver daily work if your child is needing to isolate. However, all activities can be done on screen by writing the answers down on paper, without the need for printing.

Homework

Homework will be sent out this week as usual. There are spellings to practise, maths sheets, comprehension practice sheets, amongst other activities.

Please do not return these to school as this helps to minimise the risk of Covid spread.

Class Dojo

I believe that your child’s avatar can be edited and changed using Class Dojo. I am unsure how this is done as I do not have access to a parent/child account to explore. However, if you are able to, please feel free to change your child’s ‘monster’ picture to something they find more personal to themselves.

Pick Up and Drop Off

Finally, may I please remind all parents of the necessity to wear a face covering when dropping off and picking up your child from school. Working together, we can help limit the risks to children, parents and staff and make our school an even safer place to be!

Award Winners

Well done to all our award winners this week.

Golden Award - Ronnie - For his hard work, lovely manners and impeccable behaviour.

Writing Award - Alexander - For a lovely, thoughtful ‘thank you’ prayer.

Maths Award - Mia - For demonstrating super ability in partitioning numbers in different ways.

Have a lovely weekend and we will see you all on Monday,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell.

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Our first full week

Hello everyone!

Here we are the end of our first full week in Year 2. We’ve had lots of fun and worked very hard and we are starting to get into the swing of our new time table. The children have been fantastic and it has been lovely to see them all so happy and settled in class.

Announcement

May I just request that if your child displays any symptoms of being unwell that you keep them away from school and try to arrange to be tested. It seems to be cold season again but obviously Covid-19 symptoms can be confused with cold symptoms so please express extra caution at this difficult time. We are trying our best to keep everyone as safe as possible but any germs brought into the classroom can quickly spread so please be extra vigilant. Thank you.

May I also remind that Year 2 start their day at 9am currently so can we ask that they are not sent in to school before this as it creates problems for us to keep everyone safe and stagger starting times.

The Week Gone By…

It’s been a busy old week!

In English we are preparing to write diary entries and have learned all about the past tense, conjunctions, adjectives and time phrases. The children have been rehearsing and writing their sentences carefully.

In Maths we have been looking at place value and learning how numbers are made up of tens and ones. We have been making these numbers with equipment and learning to draw representations of these using chunky chips and peas (ask your child!)

In Science we have been learning about animals and how they grow. We will continue this next week by looking at the life cycle of a butterfly.

In RE we have been learning that we are all chosen by God to do special things. We have written about what we have been chosen to do and talked about our gifts from God and how we can use them to honour him.

In History we have used atlases to locate Blackpool and London on a map and talked about whast is similar and different about these places in modern times.

Homework

Homework this week is a spelling sheet of tricky red words that we just need to rememeber how to spell. We will carry out a spelling test on these words next Friday so please practise at home as much as possible.

There is also a maths worksheet where the children need to write the numbers represented by tens and ones.

Finally, there is an English activity where children must choose an adjective to describe a noun.

***Please do not return homework to school as this could potentially increase the risk of infection.***

Award Winners

This week’s award winners are…

Golden award - Harriet - for her enthusiasm, hard work and generally being a superstar!

Writing award - Lily - for super description sentences.

Maths Award - Olivia W - for fabulous place value work.

Thank you for your continued support and have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell.

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Welcome Back! We Missed You...

Hello everyone!

Well, I think we can all agree that its been a funny old year so far! But it fills me with such great delight to finally welcome our new Year 2 class back into school.

We’ve had a fantastic week and have settled back into the school routines so quickly that you’d think we’d never been away. Obviously, some things are very different than before and these changes will take a little more time to embed into their (and our!) routines but we are taking it all in our stride.

Thank you for your understanding and flexibility in helping us to reopen as safely as possible and I can clearly see just how much work you have all put in at home. Thank you again!

This week’s post is a little update on what we have been doing during our first week back.

In English, we have been creating ‘all about me’ bunting to display in our classroom and the children have worked so hard to form their sentences and have been challenging themselves to use conjunctions to make longer, more detailed sentences. These look fantastic!

In Maths, we have been focusing upon counting and number recognition. We made our own board games and wrote numbers as high as we could to help people navigate around our games. We also did some data collection and interviewed our classmates about their favourite things. We will be using this data to create our own pictograms next week.

We have had a big focus on talking, sharing our thoughts and thinking about our strengths and talents. We have thought carefully about adjectives we would use to describe ourselves and have been thinking of ways we can show kindness to others.

Finally, we have been doing some lovely craft work and have painted our very own pebble bumble bees. We will be using these to make a list of the characteristics we need to have to ‘bee’ successful and fulfilled learners. The children's ideas were amazing!

Just a few bits of additional information…

Reading

I have not sent books home this weekend but these should hopefully be ready to take home on Monday. Until we complete our accelerated reader assessments on the computer, we will allow children to pick the books they are interested in. Due to the social distancing and safeguarding conditions surrounding Covid-19, books returned to school must undergo a 72 hour isolation period before they can be returned for selection. Therefore, you may find that new books aren’t sent home as regularly as before the pandemic. Please use the Oxford Owl website (oxfordowl.co.uk - username: olayear2 password: olayear2) to select books during periods in which we may not be able to send one home. These can still be written in the children’s reading record as you would with books sent home. Also, please feel free to read any books you may have at home!

Reading is so important so please do try to read as often as possible. A strong reader has strong language, writing, understanding and knowledge! It underpins everything! As restrictions ease, we will review our isolation period for returned books.

PE

PE for Year 2 will take place on a Monday and a Wednesday starting from the week beginning 14th September. On these days, please send your child into school in their full PE kit.

PE will be done in groups of 15 in order to minimise risk as much as possible.

Homework

Homework will usually be sent every Friday (where possible). This will be either in the form of worksheets taken home or tasks set on the weekly website post. This week’s homework is to practise forming letters and numbers correctly. Lots of children have forgotten how to form sounds (particularly those sounds with two or more letters) and are writing letters and numbers back to front.

Here is a collection of the sounds to practise reading and writing. (Sets 2 and 3 are meant to be printed back to back so you will find that the 1st page is mirrored on the second page (e.g. the ‘aw’ card on the right of page 1 matches the ‘aw’ sound on the left of page 2)

Set 1 powerpoint Set 2 Cards Set 3 Cards

I’ve also attached the common exception words children must know by sight from Year 1 and year 2. Please could you practise reading and writing these words regularly.

Y1 and Y2 Common Exception Words

Finally, if there are any important queries you need to talk to me about during this isolated period, I can be contacted via the Class Dojo app. I will check the app most weekdays up to 5pm.

I hope everyone enjoyed their first week in year 2 and I hope you all have a lovely weekend,

Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Home Learning Week 13 *And Year 1 Transition Activities*

Good morning Year 2,

I hope you’ve had another good week. We’re getting closer and closer to the Summer holidays now which hopefully means we’re getting closer and closer to getting back to normal and hopefully returning to school!

Thank you again for all your hard work and for working especially hard on your writing. I’m sure Miss Heim-Sarac will be delighted with how hard you are working on this!

That reminds me. As well as having your weekly Home Learning Project work which is attached here from me for you to complete, there is also a special, additional task for you to complete this week. You are very close to going into Year 3 and so on the Year 3 page of our school website, Miss Heim-Sarac will have set you an activity to complete for her in your weekly blog to help get you ready for your move into Year 3 and Key Stage 2! This activity(ies) (and only this activity(ies)) will need to be completed and a picture/copy of work, etc will need to be sent to Miss Heim-Sarac via email at year3@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk . Please do check the Year 3 blog to see what Miss Heim-Sarac would like you to do and show her exactly how amazing you are!

I will also be doing the same for our Year 1 children further down on this blog.

Our Home Learning Project for this week is one of those we missed previously and is all about Under the Sea. I hope you enjoy doing it as much as I have enjoyed planning it. Here is the work to download and complete.

Week 13 Home Learning Project - Under the Sea

Resources Part 1 (Reading, Science, Spelling, Writing)

Resources Part 2 (Geography, Maths, RE)

Here is this week’s Learners of the Week Gallery:

Have a lovely week Year 2 and I hope you enjoy completing your Year 3 work for Miss Heim-Sarac,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska.

Good Morning Year 1!

It seems a very long time ago since I was last able to see many of you but I can tell you that I am really excited about welcoming you all into Year 2 in September.

I have written you all a little letter so you can read through it and learn a bit more about me. Click on your name from the links below to find your letter.

Emilia          Teddy          Henry          Darcy          Elsie            Oscar

Lilly C          Rose            Dominic        Kurt            Mia              Peter

Ronnie          Sienna         Hallie           Harriet        Tommy         Lola May

Corben         Isaac           Olivia S        Rosanna        Lily T           Alexander

Connie          James          Olivia W      Grace          Zahra

 

If you would like to hear me reading the letter please click here.

To help us to settle in and get to know each other better, I have got two tasks for you to do over the next week (it can be sent to me any day between today and Friday so don’t panic or feel like you need to rush!)

The first task I would like you to do is to tell me all about yourself. This can be done in any way you would like. You could do it by writing me a letter, filling in the All About Me Sheet, making a poster or even filming a video of yourself if you would like!

The second task I would like you to do is to send me a self-portrait. A portrait is a drawing or painting you create of yourself. Take your time and make it look as much like you as you possibly can! When you have finished, I would like you to write some adjectives (describing words) around your picture which describe what you are like as a person. This will really help me to get to know you!

When you have finished these tasks, they can be sent to me by email at year2@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk . I can’t wait to see all your amazing work, Year 1 (or should I say nearly-Year 2?).

 

See you soon Year 1,

 

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska.

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Home Learning Week 12

Good morning, Year 2, and happy new week to you all! I hope you’ve all had another good week at home and we are so lucky to have so much wonderful weather to lift our spirits.

If you haven’t already seen it, please check out the blog post previous to this one on our Year 2 page as it contains own class Covid 19 Togetherness video. Just a warning, it’s surprisingly emotional so make sure you have a handkerchief ready! :) I will also send you a direct link to my google drive so you can download and keep the video. I’ll do this through Class Dojo in the next week or so.

Once again, thank you for your tremendous hard work in your home learning. You have really gone above and beyond (both children and parents) and I cannot put into words just how much I appreciate it. It has brought sunshine into my days seeing all your excellent work and I have never been prouder to see how much you can all do on your own. You’re all certainly ready for Year 3 and the Juniors. Exciting times!

In regards to home learning, it is much the same this week. Please keep reading, use books at home, comics, newspapers, magazines and the Oxford Owl website. The more you read, the bigger your brain gets, it’s a scientific fact! :) Also, keep practising writing. I cannot overstate how important this is. You can do the tasks I set, but if you don’t particularly like my ideas, write a story of your own! Any writing is better than no writing. It has been lovely to receive so much more written work this past week from you all and I have loved reading your ideas. Keep it up!

This week’s Home Learning Project is all about Music. Just to clarify, as different year groups have gaps in different themes it may be that your younger/older sibling is completing a different topic for their Learning Project but if this becomes a problem, choose one and do the same activities (obviously not the Reading, Writing, Spelling and Maths but the others are fine!).

Next week, as part of our virtual transition days, I will be directing you to Miss Heim-Sarac’s Year 3 blog as she will have a task for you to complete over the course of the week beginning the 6th July. I will still be setting and receiving your weekly work but Miss Heim-Sarac will be waiting for the one piece she sets you. More details of this will be in next week’s blog but this is just your 7 day warning to check Year 3 as well as Year 2’s blog on that week!

Finally, Miss Dixon is organising a virtual sports day for us all to take part in. You will receive points based upon the activities you successfully complete which will be contributed towards your house team. The more you do, the more points you’ll get! Check the PE/Sports page of our blog at https://ourladyassumption.squarespace.com/pesports-news?p for more information about this.

Here is this week’s Home Learning work.

Home Learning Activities Week 12 - Music

Resources Week 12 (I managed to fit them all into one zip file - woohoo!)

Finally, here is our Learners of the Week gallery, now containing 70% more writing!

Have a great week, Year 2. We miss you,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska.

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Week 11 Home Learning

Hi Year 2!

Here we are again at the start of ANOTHER new week (is it REALLY the middle of June already!?). The only thing I can say is that the faster the weeks fly by, the sooner it will be when I can see all your lovely smiley faces again. We cannot wait to see you again!

I want to begin with a quick thank you to all of you who have taken the time to record and send me your 10 second video clip to add to our class montage video. I have really enjoyed looking through them all and you’ve all made me smile from ear to ear with the creativity you’ve all shown. I asked for the videos to be sent to me by the 19th June because it will take me a while to make the video and I wanted to make sure you all got a copy of the finished thing as a memory of Year 2 and a positive to take from these difficult times. Unfortunately, I am still missing a small few of these videos and so I will have to press on with making the montage with the clips I have. If I recieve your video before finishing making it, I will add it in where possible.

Another massive thank you for those of you who have been sending me your work via Class Dojo. It has been great to see how hard you’ve all been working and that you keep growing your brains, even whilst at home. Please do send me anything you have done and I can award you Dojo points for this. If you earn 100 points, you might even get a certificate to celebrate this!

This week’s Home Learning Project is all about Transport. I have thought very carefully about the activities I wanted to include and hopefully you will enjoy some revision about Amy Johnson (funnily enough, I worked with the children on this when I spent the afternoon with them in Year 1 at this time last year!). Please do try to complete the daily activities, particularly the writing tasks. I do know this can be particularly hard for some children but even half a page of writing ensures that they are using and applying their phonics and writing skills whilst at home.

Here are the files for this week’s project.

Home Learning Project Week 11 - Transport

Resources - Part 1 (Geography, Maths, PE, Writing)

Resources - Part 2 (Reading, Science, Spelling)

Finally, here is our Learners of the Week Gallery for this week…

Have a lovely week everyone. We miss you very much!

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Week 10 Home Learning

Happy new week, Year 2!

I hope we’re all doing okay and working hard on our home learning projects for our parents. I’ve been so impressed with the work I have been sent from some of you and it has really helped me to see the exciting things you’ve been doing at home! Keep up the amazing hard work.

This week’s home learning project is all about space. There are lots of exciting activities and resources for you to engage in and I hope you get lots out of them. As a reminder, the activities are split into key areas and the 4 main key areas (reading, writing, maths and spelling) are divided into days of the week. Each activity is best done on that day of the week. Some of these activities can be completed independently but some may require adult support. With that being the case, at the bottom of each section I always add additional activities which can be done as well as/instead of those listed. Some of these require less adult input and may be better for you if you are working from home and are not as available to support learning due to work commitments. Please try to do at least one of each activity everyday where possible.

Sites like the Oak National Academy and BBC Bitesize are very useful to support home learning and offer a wealth of varied activities.

I would just like to remind everyone of the importance of engaging in the writing activities on the Home Learning Projects. Writing is SO important to practise regularly and the writing activities included often point out key features to include to ensure your child is confident with these. On top of this please also ensure that your child reads regularly (Oxford Owl has lots of different books and the Home Learning Projects always contain different reading materials too).

One last reminder: Could I ask that everyone sends me their ‘I’ll Be There For You’ 10 second video clip by the end of this week (Friday 19th June) as I will be starting to put the video together by then and I wouldn’t want anyone to be missing from the video. It can be something as simple as a dance, action, silly movement, holding a sign or showing off a skill. It doesn’t need sound as I will add the song over the top. Please send videos to year2@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk

Here is the Home Learning Project and resources for this week:

Week 10 Home Learning Project - Space

Resources Part 1 (Maths, Geography, PE)

Resources Part 2 (Reading, Spelling, Science)

Resources Part 3 (Writing)

Finally, here is our Learners of the Week Gallery:

Have a lovely week everyone and stay safe,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska.

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

'Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible.' Mandy Hale. Week 9 Home Learning.

Good morning Year 2!

Have you all had a lovely half term? I sincerely hope you have. It has been lovely that some of our lockdown rules have been eased slightly and I hope some of you have been able to see loved ones that you have been missing. It’s been the perfect weather for a socially distanced chat in the garden with some friends or family! :)

As you will all be aware, from today (Monday 8th June) we will begin to open more widely for more children. Sadly, this does not include our year group at the moment, which is a real shame, but I will continue to provide home learning tasks for you and support you as best as I can. Because of this wider opening, I will be spending even more time working with and supporting the children who are returning to school and this will likely mean that I am not as available to look at work or respond to queries or concerns you may have. I will try my best to manage this as well as I possibly can and new home learning projects will still be uploaded every Monday unless something changes in the next few weeks.

I would like to thank those of you who have sent your I’ll Be There For You 10 second video clip to me. So far I have 17 videos but I’m still missing 11 of these! It would be lovely to have a video from each member of our class as I would like the video to show our lovely little Year 2 team in its entirety. (I will even be asking Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska to record theirs too!) I will put an updated list of all the videos I have so far on the Class Dojo story page. If you are in contact with anyone who has not yet emailed me their video please could you just remind them of this as I know there are a couple of parents who I have not yet managed to get onto Class Dojo. All 10 second video clips can be sent to me at year2@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk

This week’s home learning project (How on Earth are we on week 9 of these projects!?) is all about The World. This may be different to the projects you have for other children at school for this week (because I accidentally used the wrong one - sorry!) but I hope you will all find it enjoyable and that it will provide plenty of learning opportunities! Like week 8’s project I will attach the worksheets and other files in zipped files in different parts. Please download all of the files to access all of this week’s learning.

The files are all here:

Week 9 Home Learning Project

Resources for Home Learning Project - Part 1 (Maths, Spelling, Geography, PE)

Resources for Home Learning Project - Part 2 (Reading, Writing, RE)

Can I also point you all in the direction of BBC Bitesize’s Key Stage 1 Learning Pages. This site has lots of wonderful activities as well as plenty of daily lessons suitable for all year groups. If you would like to follow any of the lessons, from the the link above click on the orange start a lesson button then choose Year 2/P3. On this page there are daily lessons for a variety of subjects. You can decide to choose today’s date and follow each activity on the page, pick and choose the lessons you would like or even go back through previous days’ lessons. I highly recommend this page if you are looking for something more to supplement your child’s home learning.

There is also a fantastic page for those of you looking to deepen your child’s maths learning. This is the Nrich page. There are lots of ‘outside the box’ activities on this page linked to various maths topics. If you are looking for a fun challenge, I highly recommend this!

Please do also continue to use the Sumdog, TT Rockstars and Education City accounts to bolster your learning. These are fantastic, fun ways to learn and are perfect for little ‘15 minute gaps’.

I would like to say a huge congratulations to our TWO HUNDRED Dojo points club: Amelia, Jacob and Lexi Rose.

I would also like to say a huge congratulations to our ONE HUNDRED Dojo points club: Charlotte and Joshua.

Well done to all of you.

Finally, here is our Home Learners of the Week Gallery from the past three weeks:

Have a lovely week everyone. Stay safe, stay well and stay active.

Lots of love,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska.

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

'No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.' - Aesop. Home Learning Week 8

Hi Year 2! We miss you all and have been thinking about each and every one of you. We hope you are staying safe and enjoying the little bits of extra freedom that we have been granted. We are one tiny step closer to getting back to normal and that is a good thing to keep hold of. Remember that God loves us and will guide us through this difficult time.

We are now approaching week 8 of our Home Learning Projects. Week 8! Can you believe it!? The time seems to have gone so quickly somehow! It’s been lovely to see lots of your wonderful work through Class Dojo and be able to keep up to date with all the excellent learning you are doing at home.

My first challenge this week is a bit different. It is a Kindness Challenge. I want you - at some point this week - to do something kind for someone else. It might be your brother, your sister, your mum, dad, grandma or grandad or someone else who cares for you. I want you to write down on a little piece of paper what kind thing you did and how it made that person feel. I then want you to write down how you felt because you made that person feel so good! You can do this as many times as you want. If we all spread kindness to others then we can make a massive difference at a time when we might feel a little small and hopeless! Give it a go :)

Week 8’s Home Learning Project is all about Famous and Significant People. We will learn about people from the past who are important to us today. There is plenty of scope for writing activities this week and research into a number of people mentioned in the plan….such as Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole and Elizabeth 1. This will be great for us in Year 2 as we have learned all about FLorence Nightingale, Mary Seacole, Edith Cavell, Grace Darling as well as thinking about what make someone significant. The plan this week is a little different, and I hope a little easier, as it is split into days for each of the main parts (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Maths). The types of activity your child will be doing are similar but I hope this helps to give more structure to your day. They can be completed in any order though but this is the one I recommend. I have also added a few additional/replacement activities for if your child finishes quickly or doesn’t quite fancy what is available on a particular day.

I recommend using BBC bitesize for support with significant people as there are a huge range of videos and activities to support learning in this area. There are also plenty of daily lessons and activities suited specifically for Year 2 and Key Stage 1.

I have noticed that the Oxford Owl website has plenty of activities to support reading at home (and there are many others in the learning project pack), including an ebook pack for if you get bored of the books at home or finish the ones in your packs quickly.

Please also continue to use the Read Write Inc phonics video to support phonics work. Practising this for about 5-10 minutes daily will have a huge impact on children’s ability to read and write effectively. Here are Set 1. Set 2/3. Set 3.

Please also continue to look at Fr Jim’s Children’s Page on the church website. There are plenty of interesting resources to aid with RE learning at home. Ms Haggerty also uploads a daily prayer on the general page of our school blog so keep an eye on this. Perhaps you could say the prayers in the morning as a family for a period of reflection?

I would like to say a huge thank you for all the work I have been sent over Class Dojo. I always try to feature at least one piece of work from each learner for our Learner of the Week picture gallery at the end of each blog. If you are signed up to Class Dojo, please continue to send me some of the pieces of work your child completes that you would like me to look at. If you have not yet gotten round to signing up for the app, please either send me an email with your email address to year2@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk or ring the school office who have a list of the codes needed to sign up to our Year 2 section of the app. Class Dojo is also a fantastic tool for keeping in touch and asking me any questions you may have via the message section of the app. Thanks again to all those who have sent me work so far.

Speaking of Class Dojo, we have two children who have joined the One Hundred Club by getting 100 Dojo Points for the work they have sent. Well done to Amelia and Jacob! Keep working hard :)

In terms of getting the Home Learning Project to you this week, I have tried something different by trying to zip all the files together in a compressed file to make it much easier to download. This is in two parts (due to limits on file sizes on our website) so please download the Project first then both parts 1 and 2. These can be opened from most computers and laptops and most phones are also able to do this. On computers you need a program such as winrar or winzip which most computers have naturally. If you have any problems, do let me know and I will send you the link to them.

Here is the Home Learning Project Week 8 File.

Here is Part 1 of the Resources (Reading, Maths, Spelling)

Here is Part 2 of the Resources (Writing, Science, PE, Geography)

Finally, here is our Learners of the Week Gallery.

I hope you have a safe and enjoyable week. We miss you always, Year 2.

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska.

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Each New Day is a One Day Closer to Going Back to Normal. - Week 7 Home Learning

Good morning, Year 2! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and this consistently gorgeous weather we seem to be having. Long may it continue!

I know some of you have been a little confused if you have more than one child in school that the Home Learning Projects appear to have different themes. There has been a slight mix-up in the pre-planned topics due to the week in which school was closed. From next week, the Learning Projects from Reception to Year 6 should hopefully all be following the same theme, although obviously with different tasks!

This week’s learning project theme for Year 2 is Celebrations. I hope you enjoy trying out the activities. Remember, try to do at least one of each section per day, where possible. I strongly recommend the White Rose Home Learning resources. The resources are now a paid subscription so the White Rose worksheet will be included in our weekly blogs (below with other resources). However, the videos are still accessible for free from the link. Please also continue to check the Oak National Academy particularly for their English resources.

Please do contact me through our Class Dojo app if you need any help, guidance or just want to send me some of your child’s work.

Here is this week’s Home Learning Project.

Here are the activity sheets referenced in the project:

Maths

White Rose - Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5

3D shape Guidance Sheet

3D shape animal to cut and make

3D Shape Wanted Poster

Partitioning Worksheets

Number Bonds Poster Challenge

Problems of the Day Week 6

English

Brendas Boring Egg Story

Whale Words Story Whale Words Activities

Exclamation Sentences Easier Sheet Exclamation Sentences Trickier Sheet

The Celebration Story Writing

SATS Paper Reading Booklet SATS Paper Questions Booklet SATS Paper Mark Scheme (Paper 2)

Spelling Activities

Geography Oddizzi Work ‘Global Knowledge’

RE Mary Our Mother Work

Finally, here is our Superstar Learners Gallery for this week:

I hope you have a great week,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska.

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

Week 6 Home Learning

Happy new week, Year 2!

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week last week and managed to find some enjoyment even though the weather wasn’t quite so nice as it has been recently. Thank you once again for all your incredible hard work at home and for sending me your wonderful work through to take a look at. It’s fantastic to see just how hard you’re working and parents, I cannot thank you enough for keeping normality going throughout this unusual last 7 weeks. You are truly superstars!

I apologise for the slightly late update of this week’s home learning project but I found a rather strange, fascinating and alarming new structure underneath the roof of my shed. Take a look at the picture below and see if you can find out what it might be! (Parents I have the issue at hand and have rather bravely called a professional in!)

IMG_20200504_094014.jpg

This week’s home learning journey is based upon food. There are plenty of activities for you to work from. Once again, please try to do at least one of each activity every day. I know that Year 2 children often require lots of support but some of the activities can be done alone so you can continue working from home!

Pie Corbett’s AMAZING Talk for Writing Activities have now released a second unit of work to develop Year 2’s reading and writing skills. It is all based around the traditional tale of the Elves and the Shoemaker. Please use the below resource. This resource should last 2 weeks(so do 1 part per day) and will lead to an independent piece of writing.

Pie Corbett - Talk for Writing Part 2

Again, I highly recommend the daily resources from Oak National Academy and the White Rose Home Learning Materials. We are currently doing what is labelled ‘Summer Term - Week 1 (W/C 20 April).IMPORTANT NOTICE - White Rose Home Learning are limiting the free resources available from the site, as far as I am aware, you can still access these at the moment but they are only making the teaching videos accessible to parents. Therefore, please download the daily worksheets from this blog page which I will add with the other resources we have on here for Year 2. The videos are STILL available from the Year 2 page so please continue to access them.

White Rose Resources

Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5

Here is this week’s home learning resources. I hope you enjoy your learning, Year 2!

Home Learning Project Week 6 - Food

Addition and Subtract Problems - Green questions are easier and red are harder

Maths Addition and Subtraction Missing Number Problems

Maths Problems of the Day Week 5 - Remember these are TRICKIER and require MORE THAN ONE calculation.

All About Food Information Book

Find Three Quarters Extra Work

This Week’s Spellings Work (Video link in learning journey)

Halves and Quarters Equivalence Worksheet

Angry Cat Story Book Angry Cat Work

Hansel and Gretel Story Book Hansel and Gretel Work

RE - Glossary Challenge

RE - Pentecost Activities Part 2

Geography - Oddizzi - Farming and Food Work

Finally, here is this week’s Superstar Learners of the Week. Keep up the excellent work, Year 2. I am so proud of you all.

Have a lovely week, Year 2. Stay safe :)

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall

'You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.' - Marcus Aurelius. Week 5 Home Learning

Good morning everyone!

I hope you all have had a lovely weekend and have managed to keep yourselves busy. Most importantly, I have you have been really good for your parents or carers during at home.

Just a little reminder, I update work for Year 2 every Monday with a new Home Learning Project. These projects contain several tasks for reading, writing, spelling and maths. They also contain other additional tasks linked to the week’s theme. As well as this, I always include additional tasks related to RE, Science, Geography, PE and other areas as appropriate. The intention is for you to do at least one of these tasks per day for each area of the curriculum where possible. So, at least one reading task, at least one writing task, at least one spelling task and at least one maths task per day. This ensures that children’s learning level is maintained as much as possible during the school closures. If you want to do more than one then this is fantastic and I highly encourage it. However, if you are only doing one, please try to do something additional to simply using the online learning sites, such as Sumdog, Education City, TTRockstars, etc, as these are intended to be additional learning, not in replacement of it.

Just a reminder to those parents who have not yet registered for Class Dojo that it is a very important tool for keeping in touch with you during this time so I highly recommend you sign up to this to avoid missing anything.

This week’s Home Learning Project is up and running with plenty of tasks for you to complete at home and follows the theme of Environment.

Please do keep using the daily lessons on both the Year 2 page of White Rose Maths and also those available on the Oak National Academy. I cannot stress enough just how fantastic these are and now we are in week 5 of home learning, the focus is beginning to shift from revision to ensuring new content is being learnt.  

Please also check out Fr Jim’s children’s pages on our church website (https://www.olablackpool.org/children-s-page). Not only are there some fantastic videos but Fr Jim will answer any of your questions if you email them to him. He has also included a little challenge linked to what we had been learning in Year 2 before we broke up, identifying objects and their symbolism/meaning used in church. The challenge involves finding the heart logos on Fr Jim’s children’s pages, clicking the picture and watching the videos carefully. Can you find them all? Can you draw a picture of them and write a brief explanation of each? Lots of them we will already know, Year 2!

I have also attached some RE work to complete on the story of the Good Samaritan, as well as a set of work to complete on Pentecost which is quickly approaching.

Finally check our ‘general’ section of our school website to access daily prayers which you can do at home with your child.

 

Here are some links to the learning documents you will need for this week:

Week 5 Home Learning Project

 Car Data Collection Work

Greta and the Giant’s Story

Magpies Journey Day 1

The Whale’s Song Day 2

Comparing Stories Day 3

Maths - Word Problem Comics

Maths - Problems of the Day

Maths - Assessment/Test Work

Spelling - Adding the -ed suffix

Geography - Oddizzi

RE - The Good Samaritan

RE - Pentecost

PE - Activities

 

Last but not least, here is our gallery of Learners of the Week:

Have a lovely week and stay safe. We miss you all very much,

Mr Whetnall, Mrs Bowdell and Mrs Debowska

Posted
AuthorLiam Whetnall