Category: Primary 2

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a great week.

We had a great time on our discovery walk. Thank you to all parents who were able to come and help.

Thank you for bringing all the medical forms: We are the winners!!! See our trophies and a special gift from Mrs George:

Important information

• Your children will be taking home their reading books today. This is a showcase of their learning. We have been reading the book at school so your children might find it ‘easy’. Please return the reading books on Monday: this is essential so books can be used by other children across the school.
• We have set up a Sumdog account for each child. On your purple folder today you will find a letter explaining all about Sumdog and your child’s username and password laminated. Please use your account this week as this will provide information to set up tailored challenges for them. Sumdog
• No Loose Parts next week.

This is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

This week we revised all the initial blends and diagraphs that we have worked on so far: th, ch, sh, wh, -ai-, -ay, -ee-, -ea, -oo, -ee, -igh- and -y. It would be very beneficial for the children to practice these at home: looking for words that have those sounds in books, boxes, etc., thinking about words with those sounds and writing them.

We have introduced new tricky words from block 3: would, should, could. It would be very helpful if your children practice to read and write these words.

Please also revise the ones from block 1 and 2.

In writing we wrote about ourselves. We are learning to write descriptions. We are learning to use describing words to make our writing more interesting. We had a great time trying to guess who was the author of a piece of work by reading their own description.

Ideas for learning at home

– See suggestions above.

-Ask your child to read the reading book to you. Ask them questions about the text, what would have happened if…? Did they like the book? Why? Would you recommend this book to a friend?

– Sounds hunt: th, ch, sh, wh, -ai-, -ay, -ee-, -ea, -oo, -ee, -igh- and -y. Look for these initial blends and vowel diagraphs in magazines, books, food tins, boxes, etc.

– Spelling: tricky words. Ask your child to write the tricky words would, should, could using a different colour for each letter.

– Please continue to read stories to your child at home.

– Ask your child to write words with the sounds: th, ch, sh, wh, -ai-, -ay, -ee-, -ea, -oo, -ee, -igh- and -y. Can they write a sentence using one or two of these words? They can write them in post it notes and hide them around the house, whoever finds the most and able to read them wins.

• You can use this online game. Please choose the sounds that we have worked on so far.

https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/forestPhonics/index.html

Maths 

We have continued to work on addition (within 10, 20, 50). We have been working on using the near doubles strategy. It would be helpful if all the children learn , at least, near doubles to 10.

We loved this song:

Ideas for learning at home: 

• Ask your child to add two numbers together. For some, this might be with two single digits, for others it could be a 2 digit number plus a 1 digit number.
• For more challenge try this game ( please look at the doubles game): 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-buttonhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zhk82hv/articles/zrr2jsg

• Before and after: Please continue to work on this concept. If you see a number around (bus, house number, etc) challenge your child to say the number before and the number after.

Other areas

Social Studies

We have continued to learn about houses and homes. We are now confident to name and identify at least two types of houses from our local area. What a wonderful walk we had! Very interesting conversations about the type of houses that we saw in our walk.

To finish our topic we were given the challenge of building houses using different materials: we needed to work as a team and explain the features of the house to decide which type of house it was.

PE

We have started to work on pre- basketball skills: bouncing a ball. Please practice this skill at home.

HWB

We have worked on our Wellbeing wheels to explain how do we feel using the wellbeing indicators.

Outdoor learning

We had a fantastic session on Thursday afternoon. Lots of problem solving skills while using the wooden ramps and when trying to build a zipwire. Some children had a great time with their music band (using pots and buckets).

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Mrs de Bonrostro

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a great week.

Information

• We are planning to do a short local walk to look at the houses and homes in our community on Wednesday 18^th September at 9.30 if you think you will be able to help please contact the school office. At the moment we only have one volunteer; we will not be able to go ahead if we don’t have more. It would be a short walk so we should be back before 10.30. Thank you for your help.
• Today your child is taking home a blank Christmas card if you wish to do one at home for the PTA fundraiser. Please return them to school by Tuesday 17th September if you wish to order it. Please read the instructions carefully.
• Loose Parts on Thursday 19th.
• Local walk on Wednesday 18th.

This is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

This week we have introduced the -igh and -y sounds . As in ‘light’ and ‘my”. We know that when the sound is, usually, in the middle of the word it will be the igh pattern and when it is at the end of the word it will be the y . Here is the visual prompt we have been using in class

We have started to work on tricky words from block 3: any, many and water.

It would be very helpful if your children practice to read and write these words.

Please also revise the ones from block 1 and 2.

In writing we are learning to write a set of instructions. This week we have been learning how to cross the road. This will help us on our discovery walk around the local area next Wednesday. We have focused on using words of order and bossy verbs.

At story time we have worked on predictions and fluency. Reading books will go home on Friday next week.

Ideas for learning at home

– Please continue to read stories to your child at home. Building on our work from story time this week, can they predict what is going to happen in the story based on the information they have or on previous experiences?

-Please continue to encourage your child to read at home.

– Ask your child to write the words below

igh words light, night, tight, high

y words my, sky, shy, by

Ask them to write the igh /y sound with a different colour than the rest of the sounds in the word.

Handwriting: numbers 5 , 6 and 7.

Numeracy and Maths 

We have been learning to add using a number line as a strategy for some (other children have been working on bigger numbers and using other strategies like adding tens and units, etc). We have continued to work on holding a number in our head then counting forwards (for addition)

We have done our final work on data handling: tally marks, block graphs and Carroll diagrams.

Ideas for learning at home: 

• Ask your child to add two numbers together. For some, this might be with two single digits, for others it could be a 2 digit number plus a 1 digit number. For example 34 + 4. Encourage your child to put the biggest number on the number line first and then add the other one by counting the jumps from that number. Eg 2 + 9: we start on the 9 in the number line and then jump 2 times ( 9 to 10 and 10 to 11) the answer is the number were we landed.
• Please continue to work on number formation. Number 5 and 6 have been a bit tricky!

Other areas

Expressive Arts

We have made our Christmas cards.

PE

We have continued to develop ball control with our feet.

HWB

We have read the book: Standing up to racism. We had a very interesting discussion about this book. We talked about our heritage. Please if you would like to share with the class information about your family’s heritage we would love to hear from you (Please contact Mrs de Bonrostro via school office email or at the door at the end of the day).

French

We have learned how to describe our feelings which has linked to our work on Colour Monster. For example, Ca va? Ca va bien.

STEM

We had a fantastic time on Monday at Loose Parts.

We hope you have a lovely long weekend! (Remember there is no school on Monday!)

Mrs de Bonrostro

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope you had a nice week.

Important information

• Loose parts on Monday 9^th September.
• Please remember to label all your child’s items.
• Remember to bring a snack for break time.
• We are planning to do a short local walk to look at the houses and homes in our community on Wednesday 18^th September at 9.30 if you think you will be able to help please contact the school office.

Here is a summary of our learning this week

Literacy

Phonics: We have been learning two new vowel diagraphs -ee- and -ea-. Please see  below the picture that we are using in class to remind us of the sound.

Reading: We have continued to read in class. We are practicing fluency and prediction.

At story time we have been reading traditional fairy tales.

Writing: We are continuing to practice how to write instructions. This week we have written instructions about how to blow a bubble.

Spelling: We have learned the words two, only and over from block 3.  

Handwriting: We have been practicing how to write numbers from 1 to 4. We have noticed that a few children are reversing numbers ( which is common at this age). However we need to continue to practice the right formation.

Ideas for home learning:

• Please continue to practice reading on a daily basis at home. Some children have lost fluency over the summer.
• Practice to write words with ee and ea: bee, seed, sheep, sheet, deep, queen, teeth, cheek, eel, read, dream, sea, lead, teach, reach, cheap, leap, peach, year, etc.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eunmvlex0c

• Revise the words (read and write)  from block three that we have worked on so far: two, over, only, so, every and very. Please also revise the ones from block 1 and 2.
• Read to your child every night, if possible. The benefits of reading to children include helping them build language skills, learn about the world, and develop empathy and emotional awareness. Reading together also provides an opportunity for parents and children to connect.

Numeracy and Maths

SEAL: We have been practicing counting forwards and backwards starting and stopping at different points to 10, 30, 50 , 100 ( and more for some).

Maths: We have continued to learn about collecting data and interpreting collected data. We have learned what is a Carroll diagram and we have sorted out items using it, we have used tally marks to collect information about types of houses.

Ideas for home learning

Counting Forwards:

• Counting forwards and backwards starting from different points (not from one) 1-100, 30, 20, 10.
• Try to work on crossing the ‘10 number’ (10, 20, 30, 40 etc). For example, when going forwards – Say ‘start at 8 and keep going until I say stop’. Stop the child around 12/13, you want to see if they can cross from the 1s to the teens. Same applies with bigger numbers check if they can cross from the teens to the 20s, the 20s to the 30s etc.
• Number after • ‘What number comes after 4?’ If they have to count all the way up to the number from one they could work on producing it quickly without having to count that – it’s a really important skill – start 1-10, 11-20,21-30 etc.

Counting Backwards

• Counting backwards (very important for subtraction) same as above try to start at all different numbers and see can the child cross over the 10, 20, 30, 40 etc. Start at 13 and count backwards until I say stop’
• Counting backwards is much harder for children (it’s like an adult trying to say the alphabet backwards…have a go!), so it takes longer to achieve fluency with it.

Number before

• ‘What number comes before 8?’ If they have to count all the way up to the number from one they could work on that – it’s a really important skill – start 1-10, 11-20,21-30 etc.

Other areas

IDL:

Social Studies

We are learning about different types of houses in our community and beyond: semidetached, detached, bungalow, tenements, flats, etc. We have looked at their characteristics and identified in which type of house we live in. We have gathered data of in which types of houses we all live in and used our knowledge on tally marks to collect this information.

French

We are revising numbers from 0 to 10. We say Bon jour every morning to our peers.

Health and Wellbeing

PE:

We are learning to practise and improve skills to develop ball control: to stop the ball with our foot in a controlled way and to pass the ball using the inside of our foot. We have also have played some games. We do love our warm ups and cool downs with music!

Everyday we have the chance to do a wellbeing check in: we use the colours from the story of the colour monster to say how we feel, and Mrs de Bonrostro does a check in with us when needed.

Independent learning

Team work, turn taking, problem solving, etc.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs de Bonrostro

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a lovely week.

Information

• Your child is taking home their Learning Story today. Please read carefully the term overview: you will find all the information about your child’s learning for the term. You will also find your child’s individual targets based on transition information and recent assessments at school. We will be working on these this term. Please return the learning stories by next Friday. Thank you for your support.
• Please ensure that all your child’s items are labelled.
• If you have any questions or worries about your child please don’t hesitate to contact me. I would really appreciate if this could be arranged at the end of the day.

Here is a summary of our learning this week.

Maths

We are learning to continue a number sequence. We are working on reading writing, ordering and reciting whole numbers to 100, 30,10, starting from any number in the sequence.; could be forwards and backwards, starting a different points from 100, 30 or 10.

We are working on number formation as we have noticed that children are not forming them properly or reversing numbers. This is normal at this age however it is helpful to remind the children about to do right number formation.

We have started to do work on time: seasons and months of the year. We are now able to tell in which month we were born and in which season.

We have started to work on data and analysis. We have learned what is a bar graph and we are learning that is a pictogram and a bar graph, to explain information looking at a bar graph. Our next step is to display gathered information on a bar graph.

Home learning ideas:

• It would be fantastic if you give your child two numbers between 0 to 10 (30, 100) and ask him/her to count forwards and backwards from one number to another. Look for numbers in buses, houses, car plates and use them as a starting point.
•  Some children are finding hard to understand the concepts before and after therefore it would be helpful to emphasize this at home with routines: you put your socks before your shoes, etc.
• https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/paint-the-squares
•  It would be useful to have a paper calendar at home and when looking at different family events use the calendar for it.

Literacy

This week we have introduced a new vowel diagraph ( two vowels that make one sound): -ai- and -ay. See below the picture that we are using in class to remind us of the sound.

We made paper chains, snails and played with play dough.

We have continued to read our reading books in class. We also had the visit from the mobile library and we were able to choose a book that we will be reading in our BEAR ( be excited about reading) time.

We have revised the spelling of tricky words (common words) from P1 and introduced new ones from block 3: so, very and every.

Our piece of writing was “How to wash your hands”. When writing our focus is to use our knowledge of phonics and spelling strategies when spelling familiar and unfamiliar words. We are learning to write a set of instructions using ‘bossy verbs’.

Home learning ideas:

• Please continue to read stories to your child at home. This will help to increase your child’s vocabulary. prediction and summarising skills.
• Ask your child to think about words that have the ai/ay sound. They can try to write them too. Write words with those sounds and ask your child to find a given sound. Some words: nail, chain, rain, mail, chair, tail, wait, fail, pain, gain, main, aid, maid, pair, day, may, say, pay, bay, lay, ray, way, hay, Fay, May, Kay.
• For working with the above sounds:

https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/forestPhonics/index.html

You can watch this video:

Other areas

Social Studies

We have started our topic on Houses and homes we have discussed what do we know about houses and homes and what do we like to learn. If any parent has a job related to this topic we would love to have for a chat with the children ( please contact Mrs de Bonrostro via school office email). Thank you

We looked at houses around the world and built our own houses using the items from loose parts. We all worked well in teams and did amazing houses.

We watched this video and the children found it very interesting:

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

Mrs de Bonrostro

Dear Parents,

Welcome to our P2 blog!

In our weekly blog you will find information about the learning that has taken place at school during the week, ideas of learning activities to do at home and relevant information for P2 parents.

We hope you enjoyed your visit to your child’s classroom last Friday. It was lovely to meet you all.

We have had a fantastic first full week of P2! 

The children have been busy learning the names of their new classmates and developing new friendships. They have been amazing at following their new routines.

We have agreed our class charter: Ready, Respectful and Safe: what those words mean to us in P2 at Buckstone.

Useful information:

• PE days: Mondays and Tuesdays. Children are invited to come to school dressed in their PE kit on those days.
• Please ensure all your child’s items are labelled: water bottles, lunch bags, coats, cardigans, shoes,…everything!
• Your child needs indoor and outdoor shoes. We recommend trainers as indoor shoes as it gives good support to the child’s feet and we will use those shoes for indoor PE.
• Remember to bring a change of clothes for your child: all labelled, it doesn’t have to be school uniform items just a full change of clothes (t-shirt, trousers/leggings, pants, socks, jumper/sweatshirt). This change will be kept at school until the end of term (unless needed before).
• In P2 the purple folder should be carried to school each day. You can pop your snack in your folder to bring it to school, but please refrain from putting water bottles in the bag in case of leaks.

The folder will be used to send home any paper communications necessary, and children may also bring home any drawings they do in school and wish to keep. Please check and empty folders daily to avoid a build-up of paper perhaps hiding an important letter.

We would ask that children do not routinely bring a large schoolbag ,  only when necessary for example when we need extra layers and waterproof clothes for a trip to the woods or if they need it for other reasons (e.g. childcare or clubs after school, etc.)

Today you will find a letter for the flu vaccination, please send it back as soon as possible. The dead line for this is Wednesday 28th August. Thank you for your collaboration on this.

• We would be delighted if you could provide empty boxes, junk, etc…for our stem area.
• Loose Parts on Friday 30th August. Please ensure that your child bring appropriate clothing for outdoor learning.

The children have decided that our class identity will be the P2 Dolphins. We have been learning how to draw dolphins and made our own ones!

Numeracy and Maths

In our number work we have been revising concepts from P1. In particular we have been counting forwards and backwards. 

Suggestions for learning at home:

Count forwards and backwards using different voices (e.g. a squeeky mouse voice, a robot voice, a lion voice). For some children this will be in the range of 0-20,  others 0-30 or within 100. Play particular attention when your child is crossing the decades e.g. 31,30,29.If your child is confident in these sequences ask them to count forwards and backwards in 2s or 3s.

Literacy

In our literacy work we have been revising the sounds covered in P1 and blending these together to read words. 

Our writing them was ‘When I go home’. I was impressed with the writing skills. We invited Mrs Ashbrook to share our amazing work with her.

Suggestions for learning at home:

Click on this link

Letters & Sounds Bingo (ictgames.com)

There is no need to print the bingo cards. Use the main menu to select a set of words (CVCs which are 3 letter words or if your child is more confident, words containing sh and ch sounds). 

Pressing the red button will generate words for your child to practise reading.

Other areas

We had our first session at Loose Parts with P2B. It was great to see the children working as a team and interacting with different peers.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs de Bonrostro