Stoke Minster Church of England Primary Academy

As we come towards the end of a most unsual year, we have reflected on the good times that this year has brought. The children created calendars by drawing pictures of their best 2020 memory and what they hope for from next year. These will act as a great reminder throughout the year that 'whatever troubles life brings, there is always good to be found!' Here are some examples of their beautiful drawings and ideas.

The children all looked fantastic in their outfits on Christmas jumper day! We started the day off with a sign language rendition of Jingle Bells and ended it by creating beautiful, snowman Christmas cards for our each other. 

Here's a little sneak preview of what we have been working on. We have some absolutely fantastic budding artists in year 2, so we thought we'd put their talents to good use. The children created these beautiful Christmas cards by following a Draw With Rob step by step guide and painting with water colours. It has got us all feeling very festive! 

As part of our Amazing Animals topic, we have been learning about Living Things and their Habitats. We explored microhabitats in the school grounds before making our own microhabitats using old boxes, clay and items collected from nature. We were all very excited to find woodlice, worms and even millipedes just outside our classroom! The children really enjoyed finding out about the creatures that live in different microhabitats and how they are suited to their homes. 

The children enjoyed doing artwork around our class text, Leaf. We worked together to decorate the polar bear from the story with lots of beautiful, water coloured leaves. This is displayed on our classroom wall to remind us to work together to succeed!

Reading at home
At Stoke Minster, we place a huge emphasis on reading; it is a vital skill that helps across all areas and subjects. With this in mind, we are eager to support children and parents with reading at home. It is important that children develop both their word reading ability and their comprension of what they have read. Reading on a daily basis will help them become more accurate and fluent readers, but discussion about what they have read with a grown up will help them to develop their understanding. When you read with your child, try to ask them a range of questions about what they have read to you. The attached document gives guidance about the types of questions you can ask based on just a small section of text.
If you have any questions or would like further advice about supporting your child with reading, please feel free to contact your class teacher. 
Many thanks,
The year 2 team.

We appreciate all parents that have signed up to Class Dojo for doing so. This will now be the primary form of communication between school and home. Teachers can communicate directly with parents and vice versa.

All your child's homework will be set through Class Dojo, so we can avoid cross-contamination of things going home and back to school again. If you need the login details re-sending home, please can your child ask their class teacher for a login. Your child will receive weekly spellings, weekly homework and a half termly homework menu. Please upload photographs of your child's work to their class dojo portfolio.

Please follow the link below if you would like guidance about how to use Class Dojo effectively.
https://www.facebook.com/397541694139737/videos/668481077030069

A very warm welcome from your new teachers in year 2. Mrs Birch and Miss Willis (and all of the support staff) are very much looking forward to meeting you all. We can't wait to get to know you and to share your learning journey with you! 
In the pdf below, you can find out all the key information you need to know about the upcoming year.
Many thanks,
the year 2 team