What a truly fabulous week at school! The atmosphere has been buzzing with enthusiasm, and it has been wonderful to witness the children engaging wholeheartedly in their learning.

Our students have been working incredibly hard across all subjects, and I must say, we have been thoroughly impressed with the level of attention and listening displayed in the classroom.

Here is what we have been up to this week…

English

We have been working carefully on our sounds and red words, and I must say, the children have been truly impressing their teachers with their excitement and effort. Additionally, we have been focusing on maintaining nice, neat handwriting, which is really beginning to show in their work!

Our English groups  this week have been continuing to explore the delightful book 'Max'.

We began our week by diving into the world of adjectives. The children were tasked with creating their own replica of Max's town, which they enthusiastically adorned with descriptive adjectives. It was wonderful to see their imaginations flourish as they described their creations! Following this, we shifted our focus to crafting sentences using the adjectives they had selected, resulting in some fantastic, expanded noun phrases.

As we concluded the week, we introduced the concept of present tense and discussed how it plays a vital role in our thematic learning. The children engaged wonderfully with this topic, and it was pleasing to see them begin to understand how verb tenses affect their writing.

 

Reading

Reading at 3 - Every Friday at 3 our doors will be open for you to come in and read with your child, please note, this will be for the full 15 minutes and children should not leave any earlier. Their books will be set up and ready for you to come in and enjoy listening to their wonderful reading.

Reading folders – Some children will continue to bring home two books, one being a RWI home book. Children are expected to try and read this three times during the week to ensure they are building on their reading fluency. The RWI home books will be changed by an adult.

The other book (with the coloured sticker) should be changed independently by the child themselves - first thing in the morning is a great time to do this!

Many children have now been moved onto the accelerated reader programme. (Please check their reading records for their ZPD scores. We will continue to assess and move more children onto this when they are ready. Children can change these books after they have completed the quiz online. The AR login can be found here… https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/1892319

For a guide on how to use Accelerated Reader please click here… https://www.chiltonprimary.co.uk/accelerated-reader

Please ensure that the reading folders are placed in the reading trays/baskets, so we can read with your children and ensure books get changed. Thank you for your support with this!

Please listen to your child read as much as possible at home and record this in their reading records. Every week, one child from each class will receive a reading certificate in our Chilton Heroes assembly.

Maths

This week, our focus has been on addition. We kicked off the week by exploring how to add three 1-digit numbers. The students were introduced to base 10 blocks, which provided a hands-on way to visualise the numbers and enhance their understanding. We also utilised the "make 10" strategy, which helps to simplify the addition process by combining numbers to reach the nearest ten before adding on any remaining values.

As the week progressed, we advanced to adding two-digit numbers to 1-digit numbers. The children were thrilled to use the 100 square as a tool to assist them in this task. It has been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they tackle more challenging problems!

Next week we will be looking at subtraction!

Thematic

This week we have officially kicked off our new thematic topic entitled 'The Harbour.' Throughout this unit, the children will embark on an engaging journey exploring how Ramsgate has changed over time. They will recognise the similarities and differences between past and present Ramsgate, diving into two significant events from our local history: the reason our harbour bears the title of The Royal Harbour and the story of The Little Ships.

We will also be broadening the children's geographical knowledge by plotting Ramsgate alongside the four capital cities of the United Kingdom, the Channel, the North Sea, the Irish Sea, as well as the five continents and oceans of the world. This knowledge will further empower them to determine whether various locations are hot or cold in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles.

This week, the children had the opportunity to analyse past and present pictures of Ramsgate. They were actively involved in describing and sorting these images. We concluded our week by discussing the similarities and differences between the past and the present. In our explorations, children actively gathered and used a variety of sources to pose and address questions regarding our town's history. Notably, we discussed why Ramsgate Harbour is historically significant and role-played the royal visit of George IV to bring the lesson to life.

 

Looking ahead, I am thrilled to announce that next week we will be taking a trip down to the harbour itself. This excursion will allow the children to notice and explore the rich history that surrounds it, providing them with a tangible connection to what they have learnt in the classroom.

For this outing, please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather and wears comfortable footwear, as we will likely be walking around. Should you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Love to learn

This week we would love for you to take some time to discuss what adjectives are with your child at home. Perhaps you could explore more adjectives together while going for a walk or even describe items around the house. This will help reinforce their learning and keep their enthusiasm alive! 😊 This could be recorded any way you wish!

Dates to remember

Tuesday 21st January 3.30-4.30 – Thrive Coffee afternoon

Thursday 23^rd January – Year 2 trip to the Harbour

Tuesday 28th January – Year R Hearing Tests

 Wednesday 5th February – Young Voices at the O2

Thursday 6th February – Countdown assembly (KS2 only)

Friday 7th February – NSPCC Number Day. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to wear a number themed outfit and KS2 to come as Times Table Rock Stars.

Tuesday 11th February – Safer Internet Day

Friday 14th February – School Disco

 

We hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

Miss Kennedy and Mrs Winchcombe and all the Year 2 team.

 

Mrs Poppy Winchcombe – Team Azure – poppy.winchcombe@chiltonprimary.co.uk

Miss Maddy Kennedy – Team Peacock – maddy.kennedy@chiltonprimary.co.uk