In English, we have been busy writing the first part of our own instructional texts, How and Why to Make a Bug Hotel. It has been wonderful to see the children applying all the writing skills we have practised over the past few weeks, and we are incredibly proud of the progress they have made as writers this year. In Maths, we have explored volume and capacity, learning to measure and compare amounts using millilitres. Next week, we will continue developing our instructional writing and deepen our understanding of capacity.

Across the wider curriculum, we have continued our learning in a range of subjects.

In History, we explored the significance of Queen Elizabeth II and reflected on her life and service.

In RE, we discussed how Christians show their faith in Jesus through their daily lives.

In Science, we investigated food chains and how animals depend on one another for survival

In Design and Technology we have been busy sewing our puppets and are looking forward to completing them. A HUGE thank you to the parents - and Nanny, who came in to support us witour sewing, we couldn't have done it without you!

Looking Ahead to Next Week

Please could all library books be returned to school from Monday onwards. We will also be collecting in reading books as each child's reading day takes place. Our final Year 2 Common Exception Word spelling test will take place on Tuesday for those children who are continuing to work through the list.

On Friday 18th July, we are looking forward to celebrating a wonderful year in Year 2 with a morning of food fun! The children will be following simple recipes to prepare their own lunch. Weather permitting, we hope to enjoy a picnic at the Aquadrome; if the weather is unsuitable, we will instead have our picnic together at school. Mrs Palmer will send out a short form regarding any food allergies or intolerances, as well as a request for parent helpers should we be able to walk to the Aquadrome.

Have a wonderful weekend, and we look forward to seeing everyone on Monday for one final week of fun and celebration!

Mrs Bartram and Mrs Lee

In English, we have continued exploring our model text. This week, we learnt the final section, One Last Thing, and introduced our final writing tool: using 'that' and 'if' as conjunctions. The children put these new skills into practice by writing some hilarious Traction Man adventures! Next week, we'll be moving on to the exciting "box and hug" stage as we prepare for our own independent writing.

In Maths, we have begun our new unit on mass, which we will continue next week. We also completed our Maths assessment on Wednesday morning, and the children approached it with great focus and determination.

Foundation Subjects

• Music: Learning about the note G and the semibreve.
• RE: Learning that Jesus accepted everyone.
• DT: Creating features and clothing for our puppets.
• Science: Designing microhabitats for minibeasts.
• PSHE: There was no PSHE lesson this week due to our Diversity Week activities.

Today, we rounded off Diversity Week with a fantastic celebration, exploring the themes of light, food, celebrations, stories and gifts across a range of world religions. The children enjoyed discovering similarities and differences between faiths and took part enthusiastically in the day's activities. They have brought home a passport to share some of the ideas we discussed today - each section has a question for them to answer. Please support them to complete this and return it to school on Monday or Tuesday to receive their stickers.

Apologies that we haven't visited the library recently. It has been a busy assessment period across the school, which has limited our opportunities. We will make sure to visit on Wednesday 8th July, and Show and Tell will resume on that day too.

The following children are still waiting for their Show and Tell opportunity this half-term: Alex, Amelia, Angelo, Beau, Betty, Bodhi, Caleb, Daisy and Emma. If we've accidentally missed anyone, please do simply bring your item along on that day!

Democracy in Action

This week also saw our prospective Head Boy and Head Girl candidates share their speeches before the whole school. Our current Pupil Leadership Team led the entire election process, demonstrating fantastic leadership and responsibility. The children took their right to vote extremely seriously, carefully listening to each candidate before casting their vote. Any children who left early due to the hot weather will have the opportunity to vote on Monday, ensuring every voice is heard. We look forward to announcing the results very soon!

This week's Reflection

In our Collective Worship, we explored the philosophical question: "What could help me to keep going when I feel like giving up?" Together, the children thought about the three most important things they would keep in their own 'toolbox' to help them persevere through challenges. We would love you to continue this conversation at home by asking your child what they chose for their toolbox and discussing what you would include in yours.

Despite the hot weather, the children have shown great resilience and enthusiasm all week. We hope everyone has a lovely weekend and enjoys staying cool!

Home Learning

Please continue to read and sign the Reading Record book at least 5 times

Doodle Learning

Diversity passport

Dates for next week

Saturday 26^th July – Summer Fair – we can’t wait to see you there!

Wednesday 1^st July – SIAMS Inspection

Friday 3^rd July - Rickmansworth Tennis for a Tennis Day

Friday  3^rd July - afternoon - full rehearsal for our Charity Music Concert

Friday – 6:30pm – Charity Music Concert

Emails sent this week

Church of England School Inspection letter

Spanish Culture and food tasting experience

Early collection on Wednesday and Thursday due to hot weather conditions

Charity Music Concert – Friday 3^rd July – relevant participants

Summer Fair update

Church visit cancelled

Cancelling Enrichment Clubs this week

Hot weather arrangements

We are looking forward to the Summer Fair tomorrow and hope to see many of you there.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Bartram and Mrs Lee

In English, we have spent time learning about the present tense, how to use the conjunction 'if' and how to write instructions based on imperative verbs and time connectives. Next week, we are aiming to complete exploring our model text, embedding the tools learnt in our toolkit so far as well as learning how to use the conjunction 'that'.

In Maths, we have enjoyed exploring temperature and how we measure it, as well as looking carefully at how to read scales. Next week, we will continue with our measurement unit but with a focus on mass. We will also have our Maths Summer assessment. Please continue to support your child counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10, as they need to know how to do this confidently and fluently by the end of Y2.

Foundation subject learning: 

History: our 'take-aways' from our Hampton Court Palace trip

Music: the note F

PE: defensive skills

RE: why the first disciples followed Jesus

DT: using a template to cut out puppet pieces

Science: exploring micro habitats in the Secret Garden

PSHE: discussing what is meant by private and privacy and giving consent. Next week we will be talking about keeping secrets.

Home Learning

Please continue to read and sign the Reading Record book at least 5 times.

Learn and put into sentences weekly spellings

Doodle Learning

Church visit: as you will have read in the email sent out by Mrs Palmer, as a school we are off to visit St Mary's Church on Tuesday; Year 2 are visiting in the late morning. Whilst we realise that it is isn't perfect timing (to ask for support for 2 separate events on 1 morning), if there are any parents free to walk down and back with us, that would be incredibly appreciated.

Spellings: next week will see the final spelling test for all children working beyond the Y2 Common Exception Words. If your child has had a list of  words ending in -ies  or -est, this week or last week, this will be their final test. However, if your child is still working through Years 1 and 2 Common Exception words, then they will continue for another 2 weeks to support them to complete as many as possible.

Change Maker Project: we have received some excellent posters encouraging us all to persevere. Please  continue to encourage your child to complete an activity, shaping their fabulous characters as they go!

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Father's Day!

Mrs lee and Mrs Bartram

Dates for next week

Monday to Friday – Diversity Week

Monday 22^nd June – Non-school uniform – please bring in items for the Summer Fair

Tuesday 23^rd June – year groups visiting St Mary’s church

Tuesday 23^rd June – Year 2 – Parent and Child Maths workshop

Wednesday 24th June – Wear a Football Shirt or Sports T-Shirt Day to celebrate the World Cup and the way sport brings people from different countries and cultures together

Wednesday 24^th June – prospective Head Girls and Head Boys to present in assembly.  All children to vote

Thursday 25^th June – Cultural Diversity Lunch

Friday 26^th June – Diversity day – children in Family Groups all day

Saturday 27^th June – SUMMER FAIR

Emails sent this week

Break the Rules

Diversity Week and Sports Week

Football World Cup

Ice Lolly Sale

Measles letter from Public Health

Summer Fair 

Parent & Child workshop

We have begun our persuasive writing unit and the class have been busy  exploring suffixes - less, -ment, -ness and writing rhetorical questions and 'if' sentences. In Maths we will be continuing with our measuring unit on length and starting to explore mass. 

Foundation subjects:

History: what is a 'monarch'?

Music: refining our playing of short pieces using the notes C, D, E

PE: improving our skills of attacking

RE: what does 'trust' mean and who do we trust?

DT: Designing our fairy tale hand puppets

PSHE: Exploring external body parts. Next week we will be exploring what we mean by 'privacy' and 'private'

Home Learning

Please continue to read and sign the Reading Record book at least 5 times each week

Learn spellings and put them into sentences

Doodle Learning

Spellings: Apologies that the spelling books were returned later than usual this week. Please encourage your child to learn them for our usual test on Tuesday afternoon. If this is too much, then they may carry them over to the following week!

Show and Tell next week: Maeve, Jenson, JaySpellings: Apologies that the spelling books were returned later than usual this week. Please encourage your child to learn them for our usual test on Tuesday afternoon. If this is too much, then they may carry them over to the following week!

Dates for next week

PIRA (Progress in Reading Assessment) during the week

Emails sent this week

Summer Fair

Summer Holiday Club

Choir – Mondays and Tuesdays for the next couple of weeks

Hampton Court trip

Gym Club – Change of day – Rec years 1 & 2

Karate

Jay's Book bag: has been missing since Monday. Please can you double-check at home that your child did not take it by mistake?

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Lee and Mrs Bartram

In Maths, we revisited multiplication, division, and fractions through both number sentences and word problems. The children worked hard to apply their understanding in different contexts. Next week, we will begin our new unit on length, which will include plenty of practical measuring activities alongside problem-solving tasks. We are also continuing to practise telling the time, with "minutes to" being the area that many children would benefit from revisiting. Any support with this at home would be greatly appreciated.

In English, we edited and published the suspense stories that we worked so hard on last half-term, and it has been fantastic to celebrate the children's creativity and progress. Next week, we will be starting a persuasive writing unit, focusing on the use of different tenses, suffixes (-less, -ness, and -ment), and the conjunctions "if" and "that" to strengthen our writing.

Foundation subjects for Summer 2:

History: Queens Elizabeth I and II

Music: Glockenspiel fest continued! We hope to be ready to perform a few short pieces in the St Mary's concert on Friday 3^rd July. (More details to follow)

PE: attacking and defending - ball skills

RE: Why do Christians trust Jesus and follow him?

DT: Making puppets

Science: Living things and their habitats

PSHE: RSE Growing and changing. As in previous years, we will share on the blog what we will be teaching the following week in RSE so that you have time to discuss this at home before we teach the lesson in school. If you would like to discuss or see what we will be doing please ask. Today we looked at different stages of growth and what people can do at these different stages. We looked at babies, toddlers and children. Next week we will be identifying and naming external private body parts and recognising that these help to make babies when we are grown up.

Home Learning

Please continue to read and sign the Reading Record book at least 5 times each week.

Learn and put into sentences CEW

Practice telling the time to the nearest 5 minutes ( ten past, twenty-five to etc)

Doodle Learning

Trip: we are looking forward to our trip to Hampton Court Palace next Thursday (11th June). We are leaving school at 9am sharp so please arrive at school at 8:30am. We will be travelling on the coach (which takes about an hour), then walking to the Palace from the coach park. Please ensure that your child is wearing sensible shoes and has a raincoat for a day out (school uniform required), carrying a rucksack with their packed lunch and water bottle inside. We have to carry our bags with us all day long as there is nowhere to leave them - HCP can have up to 1500 students there on a Summer's day! We hope to end the day in their fantastic play area. If you have any questions, please ask before/after school this week.

Show and Tell: Reggie, Phoenix, Niven, Norah, Mia

Change Maker Project: This week we launched our final set of activities for our last value. A huge well done to all those who have completed an activity for each of the first 5 values. A special award and activity will be given to those who complete all 6 values. Please do encourage your child, even if they haven't completed each of the other values - perseverance is a quality really worth developing.

We are looking forward to a wonderful half-term ahead. Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bartram and Mrs Lee

In Maths, we explored 3D shape, naming and counting faces, edges and vertices, then sorting to find similarities and differences. We also revisited telling the time. This particular area needs support at home.  Please can you practice reading the time to the nearest 5 minutes to help the children become more confident and accurate.

In English, we wrote some highly successful mystery stories and worked hard to apply the skills from our toolkit, with excellent results. The class showed creativity, focus, and strong writing ability throughout.

Foundation Subject Highlights:

RE: we welcomed Shaheen, who spoke to us about her Muslim faith, with a particular focus on Ramadan and Eid. The class asked thoughtful questions and showed a clear understanding of what they had learnt.

Music:  we learnt two new pieces and enjoyed developing our performance skills.

PSHE: we discussed hygiene and in particular how to look after our teeth.

Art: we nearly completed our Tingatinga animal heads - we will post pictures after half term when we've added our final embellishments.

Class Trip

Please can we remind you to sign up for our trip to Hampton Court Palace, taking place on Thursday 11th June. We also need some more parent helpers where possible, please. It should be a great day out and we've ordered the sunshine to counteract the rainy trips in February! 

Home Learning

Please continue to support your child to read 5 times a week. Most of the children have achieved their badges and are close to receiving the Headteacher award for reading which is fantastic.

Dates for Week 7

Tuesday 2nd June - children back in school

Tuesday 2nd June  - am - Year 6 - Outdoor Adventurous Activities at York House

Thursday 11th June - Year 2 - Hampton Court Palace 

Tuesday 23rd June - 9:00 - 10:15 - Year 2 Parent/Child workshop: How we teach Maths at St Mary's

Emails sent this week

St Mary's Africa donations

We hope you have a wonderful half-term.

See you all on Tuesday 2nd June.

Mrs Bartram and Mrs Lee

In English we have had a really successful week of 'Boxing and hugging' the text - sticking closely to the original text and practising using the tools in the toolkit. We had some fabulous writing from the class. Next week, the class will write their own unique mystery stories. We are looking forward to that!

Foundation subject learning:

Geography: we compared Lagos and Rickmansworth, focusing on similarities and differences

Music: the note D! Now we know 2 note names and positions

PE: the techniques of great jumping!

Science: exploring plant habitats in different regions of the world - desert, tropical, temperate and ocean

Art: Finished creating our relief animal heads and began exploring patterns to embellish them

Next week in RE, we are looking forward to welcoming a visitor to tell us all about Ramadan and Eid. 

The class enjoyed a fantastic cricket workshop where they explored how to bat, run between wickets and field.

Next week is STEM week, where the children will enjoy activities inspired by David Attenborough.

Show and Tell:

Savannah, Scarlett, Siddharth, Stella, Sylvie plus anyone else who has not had a turn but would like to share something with the class.

Change Maker Project:

It's the final weekend to complete a challenge to receive a coveted sticker!

Emails sent this week

Summer Charity Music Concert – Friday 3rd July

Choir next week will be Thursday morning

Dates for next week

Themed Week – STEM Week (inspired by the life and work of David Attenborough)

Monday 18th May – pm - RE visitor to see Years 2 & 5

Tuesday 19th May - 14:00 - 15:00 - RSE Parent meeting

Tuesday 19th May - 15:00 - 15:45 - Parent Book Look

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Lee and Mrs Bartram

In Maths, we have continued to explore our unit on money, which we will be concluding next week. Please continue to support your child's learning by using coins (even play coins) at home to embed concepts of finding the right amount, comparing amounts of money and which coins/notes we use in our monetary system in England. Next week we will be focusing on making £1, finding change and 2-step worded problems. 

In English, we have focused on these tools: how to use an apostrophe to show possession, how to use the conjunction 'but', and how to write a Power of 3 in a different context. Next week, we will write a story following our model text.

Music: learning to play the note C and playing a short piece

RE: what Ramadan means to most Muslims 

Art: Creating cardboard relief animal heads

Science: exploring the results of our investigation into what plants need to grow well.

Show and Tell: Mia, Niven, Norah, Phoenix, Reggie

Library: we will change books in the Library next Wednesday so please do encourage your child to bring their Library book in and get ready to have something fresh to read.

Change Maker Project: we have had many children bring in their Change Maker Project activity. There is still plenty of time for your child to complete one of the 4 challenges to help them focus and reflect on becoming more courageous.

Next week, PE will be on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday (SSP visiting on Thursday morning for TriGolf)

Home Learning:

Please continue to read 5 times each week and sign the Reading Record book and put CEW into sentences

Dates for next week:

SATS Week for Year 6

Thursday 14th May - 13:45 - Parent Rep meeting

Thursday 14^th May – Reception to Year 4 - Rapid Fire Cricket workshop throughout the day - School Sports Partnership

Friday 15^th May – Mrs Rayburn’s final day before starting maternity leave

Emails sent this week:

Hampton Court Palace

Corrugated Card

School Sports Partnership Stay Active Session

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Lee and Mrs Bartram

In Maths, we have worked hard to understand the value of coins, pounds, notes and pence. Next week we will look at making the same amount in different ways, comparing values and answering simple money word problems. Please keep practising how to tell the time with your child - minutes past and minutes to, in increments of 5. 

Foundation subject learning:

Geography: the physical features of Lagos, Nigeria

Music: basic skills as we learn to play the glockenspiel

PE: how to dodge from an opposite team member

RE: stories of compassion for people and animals from the Qu'ran

Science: creating the life cycle of a flowering plant

Art: pencil drawings of African animals

PSHE: vaccines and the importance of good hygiene

Show and Tell for Wednesday 6^th May: Jay, Jenson, Maeve, Matthew, Margot, Mia

Home Learning: read and sign the Reading Record book 5 times and learn spellings and put them into sentences. 

Last week we introduced the next Change Maker Project activities. Please do support your child to work on one activity at home, from our value of COURAGE.

Dates for next week

Monday 4th May - Bank Holiday - no school

Thursday 7th May - school hall is being used as a Polling Station - Breakfast and after-school Club - please use the ramp entry near the Year 3 & 5 classroom.

Emails sent this week

Tempest letter for class photo ordering 

Canal festival 

School crossing patrol vacancy

Have a wonderful long weekend.

Mrs Lee and Mrs Bartram

In Maths this week we completed our unit on time. The class worked very hard to read and draw the time of minutes past and to, in intervals of 5 minutes. Having assessed their understanding, we will send home on Monday a summary of what they need to learn next to secure their understanding of time concepts in year 2. Please can you continue to practice these skills at home as reading and telling the time is a difficult topic for many children to master. If your child does not have a sheet, that means they were confident with the concepts learnt.

Next week, we will be starting a new unit on money, specifically coins and notes, finding totals of notes and coins, finding change from £1, learning to write £ and p. Please support your child by showing them coins and notes if possible.

In English, we began learning our new text 'The Tunnel' with a revisit of the tools - 2A phrases and Power of 3. Next week, we will be practising using adverbs.

In foundation subjects:

Geography: we plotted Nigeria and Lagos on maps, and began to learn about this mega-city

History: as our final step we learnt how London began to change after the Great Fire

RE: we learnt an Islamic story with a message of compassion

Science: we learnt about the differences between seeds and bulbs - children will bring home a sunflower seed and iris bulb today to plant and monitor at home. Please can you support them with this if possible.

Art: we learnt about Tingatinga art and made drawings in this style

PSHE: we discussed making choices and understanding that adults make choices to keep us healthy and safe

Change Maker Project:

We have explored the 4 activities and encouraged your child to select an activity and work on it at home, all focused around our current value of 'COURAGE'.

Home Learning

Please continue to read and sign the Reading Record book 5 times each week and write the spellings into sentences.

Dates for next week:

Friday 1st May - afterschool - Bake Sale

Emails sent this week:

Tempest photography

We hope you enjoy the sunshine. Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Bartram and Mrs Lee

In English this week, our focus has been on editing and publishing our diary recounts of the Great Fire of London. We edited for sense, correct punctuation and spelling, adding in 2A phrases and improving vocabulary choices. We had lots of good discussion about using synonyms wisely! Next week we will begin our next unit: a suspense story. 

In Maths next week, we will continue to learn about reading and making the time. Monday's lesson will be a revision of: o'clock, half past, quarter past, quarter to, minutes past. Please support your child to be confident with these times, on an analogue clock.

Foundation subject topics for Summer 1:

Art: Tinga Tinga animals

Geography: Lagos, Nigeria - comparing a contrasting location with Rickmansworth

Music: Glockenspiel Fest! - learning to read the first notes of musical notation on the glockenspiels and chime bars

PSHCE: Being my Best

PE:  Jumping and dodging 

RE: Islam - How do some Muslims show compassion?

Science: Plants

Show and Tell: (on Wednesday 22nd April)

Alex, Amelia, Angelo, Apostolos, Betty, Beau

Spellings:

We did not send any spelling lists out this week - a gentle start back!

Reading:

Thank you for keeping the reading going over the holiday and a special well done to those who read at least 14 times over the 18 day holiday! We have given as a reward: 2 House points and an Above and Beyond sticker (the latter to come next week in Friday's Collective Worship). Please keep supporting your child with their reading - both listening to them read for accuracy and fluency, as well as asking them questions to build up their understanding.  It all makes such a positive difference to their reading, spelling and writing.

Next week's dates:

Enrichment Clubs start back

Wednesday 22nd April - Class Photos (smart uniform)

Emails sent this week:

School Lunch reminder 

Welcome back and newsletter link

Summer Term Enrichment Clubs 

Wishing you a sunny, relaxed weekend.

Mrs Lee and Mrs Bartram