Year 2 Weekly Blog Friday 30th June - Some beautiful things only grow with rain

June 30, 2023 Laura Woodend

In Science, the children have been on a material hunt! They looked at fixtures and fittings around the class room, identified the materials they were made from and listed their properties. We had some wonderful conversations about why certain material were used and what made them suitable. I wonder if the children could have a material hunt at home? What are objects made from? Why have these materials been used?

This week in our Geography topic ‘Around The World’, Bobby the Bee, visited Australia. The children located Australia on their maps and then got to work finding fantastic facts and information. They used their newly acquired computing skills to put their facts into concept maps on Purple Mash.

In English, we have watched the arrival of Prince Ali and the persuasive language we could use to convince people to watch the parade. The children came up with some fantastic nouns phrases to describe Prince Ali’s entourage.

Thank you for sending the children in with ingredients for wraps on Wednesday. The children are really enjoying this Design Technology unit with Mrs Neves and of course, learning some essential life skills.

Unfortunately our trip to Hope Street Park to bowl was rained off on Friday - we will try to rearrange this and send out details as soon as we can.

Next Wednesday we will be visiting St Annes library, if your child is a member of the library please send their library cards into school with them. This will be our last visit to the library in Year 2, but I hope these visits have inspired and ignited the children’s love of books and they will continue visiting themselves.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Liam
It has been lovely watching you working co-operatively with your learning partner. This half term your confidence is really growing. You have some fantastic ideas and it’s great to see you sharing them with your friends. You are always polite and well mannered and a great role model.

This week’s Star Readers are Fletcher, Lettie and Rosa.

Virtues Butterfly - Lena

Notices

Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday
KS1 Sports Day - Thursday 6th July 1.30pm - PE kits to be worn please.
Visit to Hope Street Park Bowls - to be confirmed
Library visit - Wednesday 5th July
Zoo trip - Monday 17th July - please note this has changed

Reminder - We try our best in school to be a ‘nut free’ zone, there are a number of adults and children in school who have severe nut allergies. Please ensure that snacks and packed lunches are nut free.

As the weather gets warmer we’re hoping to spend more time learning outdoors. Please send your child in with a suitable sunhat with their name in it and apply suncream before school. Please ensure your child brings a water bottle into school.

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog Friday 23rd June 2023

June 22, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog Friday 23rd June - ‘Sun is shining, weather is sweet, yeah!’

What a rollercaoster of a week! The children were so excited about sports day but unfortunately the weather had other ideas. The Key Stage 1 Sports Day has been rescheduled to Thursday 6th July.

In Science, the children have been sorting materials into natural or humanly made. We’ve also been thinking about the properties of materials. On Thursday afternoon the children carried out an investigation with lots of materials, testing to see which materials were squishy, could be twisted, rolled, stretched or bent.

This week in our Geography topic ‘Around The World’, Bobby the Bee, visited China. We saw pictures of the Great Wall of China, The Terracotta Army and learnt that China is the home to the endangered Giant Panda .We had a go at writing numbers in Chinese and even tried to solve some maths problems. The children enjoyed making their own Chinese dragons - a legendary creature in Chinese mythology. I wonder where Bobby Bee will take us next week!

In English, we have written, edited and published our own ‘You ain’t never had a friend like me’ poems. It was lovely to hear the children talk about the qualities of their friends and the qualities they have to offer their friends.

Next week ( Wednesday 28th June) in Design Technology, the children will be making wrap with Miss Neves. They have been learning about healthy balanced diets.
Your child will need to bring into school ingredients to fill one wrap. Miss Neves will provide wraps, lettuce and humous. Children should bring in a fruit or vegetable, a dairy product (cheese or yoghurt) and a protein (meat, fish or meat alterative) and a container to bring their wrap home in.

On Wednesday morning, we continued practising our kicking skills on the school field. Three stations were set up and the children worked in small groups supporting and encouraging each other.

On Friday morning the children thought of questions they like to ask or find out about year 3 and the juniors.
Half the class went with their learning partners to bowl at Hope Street Park and the other half of the children teamed up with their Year 4 learning buddies to find some the answers. The children worked together to build concept maps on Purple Map showing their questions and answers. It was a good opportunity for the children to use their computing skills whilst finding out about the juniors.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Albert
Albert, we have noticed how hard you are trying with your reading. You are remembering to check your reading level before picking a book and checking with an adult when you are not sure. You got 100% in one of your reading quizzes this week, this is because you took your time and read the questions carefully and really thought about the answers instead of guessing. We’ve also noticed that you’ve been putting your hand up more in class to answer questions even when you’re not sure, you’ve been having a go like Tommy Turtle.

Ellie-Rose

What a Co-operative Roger Robin you have been this week Ellie-Rose! You have work wonderfully with your learning partner. You are always helpful in class not only to your friend but the adults too I can really tell you are getting ready for Year 3, thinking about what you need to do to be the best you can be.

This week’s Star Readers are Anna, Isaac and Hugo

Virtues Butterfly - George C

Notices

Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday
KS1 Sports Day - Thursday 6th July 1.30pm - PE kits to be worn please.
Visit to Hope Street Park Bowls - Friday 30th June (2nd Group)
Library visit - Wednesday 5th July
Zoo trip - Monday 17th July - please note this has changed

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog Friday 16th June 2023 - Shine like the sun!

June 14, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog Friday 16th June - Shine like the sun!

Welcome back! I hope you’ve all had a lovely half term, it was great to see the children come back into school refreshed and ready to learn. The last half term is always busy…we’ve already got the Gym Jam Jog, Sports Day, a library visit and a trip to the zoo booked in. You’ll find all the dates you need for your diaries at the bottom of this page.

The start of a new half term has meant the start of new topics in science and geography.
In science we will be learning about materials, their properties and their uses. We started the topic thinking about what we already know and what we’d like to learn. The children had some interesting questions including: How are bricks made? What makes paper strong? How do you make concrete? How are materials turned into objects?

Our attempts to grow beans has been a partial success! When we returned to school on Monday some of the beans had grown over the half term holiday, we’ve continued to water and care for them and hopefully we’ll see some more beanstalks appear.
The children were excited to tell me about the sunflowers they have been caring for over half term - please send any photos you have to lmarham@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk

Our new topic in Geography is ‘Around The World’, this week we were introduced to Bobby the Bee, who lives in the UK. Bobby explained that he would like to visit a country in each continent over the next 6 weeks. This week the continent was Europe and the county we focused on was France. We heard about lots of famous french landmarks and types of food that are popular in France. I wonder where Bobby Bee will take us next week?

In music, we learned to play glockenspiels to ‘The Friendship Song’. Check out our video!

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In Maths we’ve continued working on our 5 and 10 times tables and we’ve managed to find a 5 times table song to the tune of one of our favorite songs! The children have really impressed me with the times table knowledge - I wonder if you can challenge them at home with the 2s, 5s and 10 times tables.

We’ve nearly reached the end of our Aladdin topic in English - this week we have looked at The Cave of Wonder. We identified items that Aladdin and Abu came across in the cave and wrote noun phrases. On Thursday we used these noun phrases to independently write a description of the cave. Next week we’ll be joining Aladdin and Jasmine on their magic carpet ride, thinking about what they can see and hear on their magical journey.

On Monday we had a relaxing indoor PE lesson, we made use of our lovely big classroom and took part in a yoga session.

On Wednesday morning, we practised our kicking skills on the school field. We set up a number of stations and the children worked in small groups focusing on kicking and stopping a ball with control, Kicking the ball with accuracy between 2 markers and kicking the ball in a straight line.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Lena
Lena, what a ‘Curious Clara Clownfish’ you have been this week! You have been asking some great questions in lessons to clarify your understanding and extend your learning. You are growing in confidence every week, well done!

Heath

Heath you have come back to school focused and ready to learn. You have been making sensible choices and managing any distractions around you. I’m really looking forward to a successful and productive last half term with you in Year 2.

This week’s Star Readers are Nathan, Joseph and Martha.

Butterfly - Alana for being intentional.

Notices

Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday
KS1 Sports Day - Tuesday 20th June 1.30pm - PE kits to be worn please.
Gym Jam Jog! - Wednesday 21st June 8am
Visit to Hope Street Park Bowls - Friday 23rd June (1st Group)
Visit to Hope Street Park Bowls - Friday 30th June (2nd Group)
Library visit - Wednesday 5th July
Zoo trip - Thursday 13th July (more info to follow)

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 26th May 2023 - Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows

May 26, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 26th May 2023

Well done Year 2! What a fantastic half term we have had….each week you continue to amaze me. This week the children completed their Key Stage 1 Maths Assessments - once again their determination and focus have blown me away.

In Computing, we’ve looked at the work of Piet Mondrian, taking note of his use of vertical, horizontal lines and primary colours to produce abstract art. We recreated his work on Purple mash, then had a go at making our own abstract art inspired by Mondrain using our own choice of colours.

The children have thoroughly enjoying learning about Grace Darling, as our topic came to an end we thought about how she should be remembered and designed stamps. Many of the stamps featured lighthouses, rowing boats and Grace Darling herself.
We got crafty and designed and assembled our own lighthouses.

We have spent a lot of time outside this week, we continued improving our throwing and catching skills in our PE lessons. On Thursday Year 2 were fantastic role models when they teamed up with year 1 to practice some events in preparation for sports day.

Year 2 are lunch time superstars!!!!
They were recognised and rewarded this week for being such fantastic role models in the dinner hall. The children were thrilled when they went into the hall today and saw the table specially decorated for them

The children have been sent home today with their sunflowers, which they have nurtured and taken care of these last couple of weeks. They have also brought with them their sunflower diaries to record their sunflowers growth over half term. The sunflowers can be planted out at home or if your child prefers they can come back to school after half term and we will plant them out in our school garden. It would be lovely if the children could send photos of their sunflowers as they bloom and grow. Pictures can be emailed to me at lmarham@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk

In science we have been looking at the lifecycles of plants, particularly strawberry plants as we have some growing in our school garden. We were able to go out and see some of the stages - the flowering, fruit and the ripening fruit.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Joseph
Joseph you have had an amazing week, there have been many occasions when you have been out of your comfort zone, but you have been brave and courageous and overcome your fears. You have made so much progress.
We are so proud of you.

Jackson

Jackson, I have really noticed how focused you have been in class over the last couple of weeks. You are making wise choices and managing any distractions and this is having a positive impact on your learning
Keep it up Jackson !

This week’s Star Readers are and Anna, Nathan, Emilia and Bea

Notices

Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday
KS1 Sports Day - 20th June 1.30pm
Gym Jam Jog! - Wednesday 21st June 8am
Library visit - 5th July
Zoo trip - Date and details to be confirmed

Half term - School closes for half term Friday 26th May at the usual time and reopens on Monday 12th June.

Reminder - We try our best in school to be a ‘nut free’ zone, there are a number of adults and children in school who have severe nut allergies. Please ensure that snacks and packed lunches are nut free.

As the weather gets warmer we’re hoping to spend more time learning outdoors. Please send your child in with a suitable sunhat with their name in it and apply suncream before school.

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 19th May 2023 - Be proud of your progress.

May 18, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 19th May 2023

This week the children have taken their end of key stage English assessments. They have all worked extremely hard and I am proud of their determination and resilience.

In English we have sequenced the events at the start of the story - the and started putting together sentence to describe what happened, really thinking about the thoughts and feelings of Jasmine. Next week the children will be writing diary entries from Aladdin’s perspective. Why did he help Jasmine? Who did he think she was? How did he feel when he realised she was the Princess?

In science we have continued caring for our sunflowers, we have now repotted them into larger pots and transferred them to our school polytunnel. We have started to make observations and measurements, next week the children will be bringing their sunflowers home and will be asked to continue caring for their plants and taking weekly measurements in their sunflower diaries.
We checked the progress of our avocado seed, the children were excited to see that it has sprouted. We will keep it warm and snug in our classroom cupboard over half term and check it again when we come back into school.
Unfortunately our beans have not sprouted - they became quite smelly so we have decided to try again with some new beans next week.

We made the most of the lovely weather and had class worship in our school garden. Bea, Ava, Alice and Liam led our worship, the theme was love. Bea read a beautiful prayer asking God to look after our Mums and Dads. We spent time thinking about those we love, who loves us and how they make us feel. Safe, kind, loved, thankful and warm were some of the words the children used to described how people who loved them made them feel. We agreed that we are lucky to have people in our lives who make us feel so loved.

In RE with Mrs Gregan, the children have been researching Saint Peter. This afternoon they have used their research to write an information page all about him. I wonder if the children could tell you 3 things over the weekend that they have learnt about Saint Peter?

On Thursday, the whole school went to church to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. Thank you to our year 4 buddies who joined us for the walk to the church and sat with us. Thank you to those parents who also accompanied us to church, it was lovely to see so many of you there.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Myles
Myles you have been a real Keep Improving Lizzie Ladybird this week! It has been wonderful to see you really trying hard in your assessments, you have been focused and reflective, checking your answers and making improvements when needed.

Lettie
Lettie is a Year 2 role model,
Some of the comments from your friends include:
She is always a kind friend.
When I am sad, she cheers me up.

Lettie always concentrates in lessons.
Lettie is always caring and helpful
Well Done Lettie!

This week’s Star Readers are and Martha, Nathan and Louie.

Notices

Our PE days are next week are Tuesday and Wednesday

Half term - School closes for half term next Friday 26th May at the usual time and reopens on Monday 12th June.

Reminder - We try our best in school to be a ‘nut free’ zone, there are a number of adults and children in school who have severe nut allergies. Please ensure that snacks and packed lunches are nut free.

As the weather gets warmer we’re hoping to spend more time learning outdoors. Please send your child in with a suitable sunhat with their name in it and apply suncream before school.

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 12th May 2023 -

May 11, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 12th May 2023

In PE this week we joined year 1 to practice our overarm throwing skills. We warmed up with the children’s favourite tig games and then split off into groups and worked on our overarm throws at different stations. We focused on pointing our feet in the direction of the throw, aiming with our non throwing arm before taking our best shots. It’s been great to be able to make the most of the lovely weather we’ve had this week and have our PE lessons outside. Next week our PE lessons will be back to the usual days: Monday and Wednesday.

In English we have been thinking about the thoughts and feeling of the characters at different parts of the story, next week we will be using these ideas to write a diary entry by Jasmine. The children have used word hippo to find alternative words with similar meanings.

Our sunflowers have started to grow, it’s been lovely to see the chidren’s excited faces as they have come into school and spotted more shoots each day.
On Thursday, the children gave me instructions on how to plant seeds, they thought carefully about the equipment I needed to get together before I started and the time words they were using as they gave instructions. We successfully planted some basil seeds, fingers crossed in the next week or so we will begin to see them grow.

Class worship this week was led by Ellie Rose, Nathan, Jackson and Lena. The theme was compassion, we spoke about times when Jesus showed compassion and how we can learn from his example and show compassion ourselves.

In History, we’ve continued to learn about Grace Darling and why she is remembered such a long time after she was born. The children were shocked to discover that she was born over 200 years ago. We’ve recapped and put in order the main events in her life.

You will all be aware that just a just before the start of the summer term, OFSTED visited our school, we are pleased to be able to share with you their final report over on Mrs Gregan’s weekly blog.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Bea

Bea you are a fantastic Year 2 role model, You speak so politely to others and treat them with great respect and compassion, this makes you a great learning partner. You take care and pride in your work and it is always presented beautifully. You should be very proud of yourself.

Rodnie

Rodnie you are always focused and ready to work in class. You listen well and follow instructions carefully and this enables you to produce your best work. I have been particularly impressed with your work in maths and computing.

This week’s Star Readers are Joseph, Alice and Lena.

Notices

Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 5th May 2023 - 'I believe passionately that everyone has a particular God- given ability' King Charles III

May 3, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 5th May 2023

In PE this week we have focused on our throwing and catching skills. We practiced throwing accurately using beanbags and hoops as targets, challenged ourselves to throw and catch a ball around a circle without dropping it and played a game where we had to throw a larger ball against the ball and catch it after it bouncing back. As you can see from our photos we had a great lesson. We hope to continue making the most of the good weather and where it allows have most of our PE lessons outside. If your child has a sunhat/cap they may bring them in to wear outside. Next week our PE lessons will be on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In class there has been lots of discussion about he Coronation and its significance. The children acted out the Coronation in class and we discussed the main parts that they could expect to see at the coronation this weekend - the Oath, the anointing and the receiving of the crown.

We made our own crowns ready to wear at our Coronation picnic!

On Wednesday afternoon the children were very excited to visit the library again. There was a lovely sign greeting us as we arrived. During our visit the children were shown the History room where people are able to carry out local research, the children were amazed hear that the library has maps for the public to see and use that are over 100 years old. The children impressed the librarian when they were able to recognised The Mexico Disaster in painting on the wall in the history room.
Sarah read the children funny story about monsters that ate teachers - it even featured teacher from our school! All the children were able to choose books to borrow - just a reminder that these will need to be returned to the library by the 24th May. We’re looking forward to visiting again next half term.

30 little sprout houses are now homes to 90 little beans ready to sprout - over the next few weeks the children will be keeping a close eye on their beans before bringing them home at half term ready to be planted out.

We’ve also spent some time planting sunflower seeds.

Class worship this week was led by Mia-Grace, Phoebe, Lucia and Fletcher. Their chosen theme was helpfulness, loving and being attentive. We discussed what these words meant and how we had personally experienced them, it was lovely to hear the children recognise not only when they have displayed these characteristic but also when they have experienced them from others. We ended our worship by singing My Lighthouse complete with actions and dancing.

What a fantastic end to the week! The sun shone for our Coronation picnic, the whole school gathered on the field to enjoy our fantastic picnics made by by Jacqui and her team in the school kitchen. We enjoyed singing the National Anthem and our Coronation song - we may have even had a little boogie to YMCA!

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Emilia

What a Co-operative Roger Robin you have been this week Emilia! You are polite and well mannered and this is noticed not only by the adults around school but the children too. You set a fantastic example to others. You work wonderfully with your learning partner and are always there to lend a quiet helping hand and give encouragement without disturbing the rest of the class.

Isaac

You have been such a focused Cooper Crab this week Isaac! You have been ready to learn in every lesson. You have really enjoyed our science lessons and it has been great to see your enthusiasm.

This week’s Star Readers are Louie, Hugo and Mia-Grace.

Notices

Our PE days are next week are Tuesday and Wednesday
School closed Bank Holiday - Monday 7th May

Have a lovely long weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly blog 28th April - Dream big, work hard and make it happen!

April 26, 2023 Laura Woodend

We have a jam packed week in Year 2 - I cannot believe the amount we have achieved - the children have earned their long weekend!

In PE on Monday the children worked on their hopping skills through lots of fun games - throwing bean bags and retrieving them in a hop! Clearing beanbags in a game called ‘Get out of my garden’, it was a lesson full of bouncy children, laughs and smiles!
On Wednesday we continued the hopping theme playing hopscotch, then played a game called Queenie. The children loved this game and have been playing it on the playground at playtimes.

Focus, focus, focus! You could hear a pin drop in the year 2 classroom during our maths lessons this week, the children have been super focused and worked extremely hard. We’ve had some tricky work adding and subtracting 2 digit number crossing tens, but the children have taken it in their stride and mastered it.

In computing we’ve looked at the artwork of impressionists, picking out the features of their work then applied this to our own digital artwork on Purple Mash - I’m sure you will agree the results are amazing.

Our Aladdin topic in English has continued this week, we’ve focused on Aladdin character in the first chapter of the story and been surprised to find that Aladdin has not been portraited as a good character at all. We sang along to the song picking out the words that described Aladdin and added them to our role on the wall. We’ve also picked out tricky word in the text and used word hippo to find their meanings before putting them in our own sentences.

Class worship was led this week by Lettie, Louie and Hugo - the theme was hope. It was a good time for us to reflect on the hopes we had at the beginning of the school year, what we had achieved and what we hoped to achieve in the final part of our year 2 journey.

In science the children were excited to take a close look at seeds and bulbs. We talked about what seeds and bulbs need to grow and what the parts of a plant were called. We’ve started making mini greenhouses, next week we will be putting beans inside them so we can observe them growing roots and sprouting.

Next Wednesday we will be visiting St Annes library, if the children would like to bring their library cards to borrow a book please send them in. Please ensure they come to school with a coat, we’re hoping for lovely weather but its been so unpredictable lately and although it looks lovely and bright it can be a bit chilly.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Fletcher

Fletcher have had an amazing week! You have been focused and ready every lesson and it makes a real difference to your learning. You are taking ownership of your learning and showing me that you are thinking about what you need to do to achieve your very best and end the year feeling proud.

Mia- Grace

Mia- Grace you have really shone these last couple of weeks, adults around school are noticing how hard you are working and the effort you always put in making sure you do the very best work you can. I am very proud of you.

This week’s Star Readers are Anna, Albert, Mia- Grace, Heath and Jackson.

Notices

Our PE days are now Monday and Wednesday
School closed Bank Holiday - Monday 1st May
Library Visit - Wednesday 3rd May
Coronation Picnic - Friday 5th May
School closed Bank Holiday - Monday 7th May

Have a lovely long weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 21st April 2023 - keep your face to the sun and you will never see shadows

April 21, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 21st April 2023 - keep your face to the sun and you will never see shadows

We have had a fantastic start to the summer term - a busy week full of laughter, smiles and memory making.

In maths Mrs Hotchkiss has continued working on multiplications, the children have looked at how to write expressions with the multiplication sign, tricky stuff but as always she wa blown away by the chidren’s knowledge and enthusiasm.
We have continued our 2 digit addition and subtraction, this week extending our learning by adding and subtracting multiples of 10.

In English, the children were so excited to hear that our new topic will be Aladdin.
We started the topic looking at the market scene, picking out nouns then making the nouns into noun phrases by adding adjectives. Next week we will be using these fantastic phrases to write a description of the marketplace.
I hope to show the children some clips from the 2019 Disney film, it has a guidance rating of PG. Please contact me, if you do not given permission for your child to view clips from this film.

St Annes Lifeboat trip.

The children's had a fantastic time at the lifeboat station on Wednesday, I was so impressed with the children’s knowledge and the questions they asked. The children were split into 2 groups for our visit, with one group learning about safety and dangers they may come across whilst visiting the beach, whilst the second group learnt St Annes lifeboat and more specifically their role in the Mexico Disaster. We then swapped.
Before returning to school, made the short walk along the promenade to see the St Annes Lifeboat Disaster Memorial.

Steve, from the Life Education Bus, visited our class on Thursday. The children loved meeting Harold the giraffe, I’m sure they have come home and told you al about him! The focus of the session was ‘feelings’, it was fun and informative and asked the children to problem solve when one of Harold friends was feeling upset. Please check your child’s bag for an information leaflet sent home this evening .

In PE we’ve practiced our underarm throws, trying our best to control and hit targets. We’ve also looked at running games from past decades. We’ve played stuck in the mud and a human version of pacman!

The children have continued working on their sewing skills with Mrs Neves in art and DT.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Martha

You have had an amazing week! You have been focused and ready every lesson and it make a real difference to your learning. You are asking questions that are deepening your understanding. Keep it up Martha!

George

George, what a ‘Curious Clara Clownfish’ you have been this week! You have been asking some great questions to take your learning even deeper. You really impressed the adults on our trip to the Lifeboat station with your knowledge and questioning. Well done George!

This week’s Star Readers are Louie, Nathan, Scarlett, Lettie, Emilia and Alice.

Some of the children in our class featured in the Blackpool Gazette this week. Well done George, Myles, Hugo, Fletcher and the St Annes Purples, it was lovely to see the photos and write up of your football match.

Notices

Our PE days are now Monday and Wednesday
Library Visit - Wednesday 3rd May

Reminder - We try our best in school to be a ‘nut free’ zone, there are a number of adults and children in school who have severe nut allergies. Please ensure that snacks and packed lunches are nut free.

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog - Rejoice in the miracle of Easter

April 5, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog - Rejoice in the miracle of Easter

Last Friday Year 2 started our schools journey through Holy week, leading up to Easter. We have gathered together each morning to watch as each year group has reenacted parts of Jesus’ Easter journey. Each day we have taken the time to discuss, reflect, ask questions then waited in anticipation for next class to share their interpretation.

In maths we have continued working on our addition and subtraction strategies, the focus this week has been on adding and subtraction multiples of 10 to 2 digit numbers. We’ve been counting back and forth in 10s from any number up to 100 and sometimes even beyond. It has been a pacey week with lots of solid mathematical connections being made. The children have impressed me with their focus and determination, everyone’s feeling a little bit tired and ready for a break but their their enthusiasm to learn has not faltered.

Preparation for our Art Exhibition took place daily this week, the children have completed some beautiful Easter artwork and cards. Thank you to everyone who attended our event on Wednesday, the children were so excited to share their work with you. Thank you for your donations, which will be going to CAFOD.

Our non chronological reports on the RNLI are looking great, the children have used their computing skills to search for and locate relevant information to include in their reports and used their knowledge from our english lessons to pull it all together into some fantastic reports. After half term in history we will focus on The Mexico Disaster, in which local lifeboat men perished in their attempt to rescue others. We will be visiting St Annes Lifeboat Station on 19th April.

In RE, we have written postcards from the perspective of bystanders in the crowds on Palm Sunday. We have thought about the feelings and excitement of the crowds, describing what they could see and hear. Our Palm Sunday worship last Friday has really helped us with this.

The entries for the decorated egg competition were fantastic, well done to our class winner Alice.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Liam

We can’t end this week without celebrating your amazing performance in our Palm Sunday Worship. The whole class were so excited that you were going to play alongside their singing. You amazed us all, you got better each time you played. I’ve since heard that you have never played electronic drums before! By the time it came to our worship you had only played 4 or 5 times - you are so talented Liam and we proud of your creativity and courage.

Martha

For being a resilient learner in maths, there has been some tricky work this week and you have been resilient and brave. You have worked hard and not given up even when things haven’t quite worked out the first time. You are always putting your hand up and having a go. Well done Martha, you are becoming a great problem solver and mathematician.

This week’s Star Readers are Scarlett, Ellie-Rose, Anna, Lucia and Rodnie.

Notices

Our PE days are now Monday and Wednesday
School reopens on Monday 17th April
Lifeboat Station Visit - Wednesday 19th April - Please ensure your child brings a coat to school.
Library Visit - Wednesday 3rd May

Have a lovely Easter break,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 31st March 2023 - If you do something awesome, you should be proud of yourself.

March 31, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 31st March 2023
If you do something awesome, you should be proud of yourself.

I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of the children and what they have achieved this week. Thank you for your help putting together our Palm Sunday Worship, all the children have practised their lines at home this week and this resulted in the fantastic performance you saw this morning.
If the children can achieve this with minimal practise in school this week, the possibilities and opportunities ahead of them are endless. Reach for the stars Year 2 - you truely are amazing. You have made your teachers and your families very proud.

In history this week, the children have been putting together the information on the RNLI that they have collected and started writing their non chronological reports.
On the 19th April, as part of our local history topic, we will be visiting the Lifeboat station in St Annes.

In maths we have cracked subtracting 1 digit number from 2 digit numbers bridging multiples of 10. The children have been determined and focused this week and have produced some amazing work in their maths books.

In english we have focused on using commas in a list, we played Guess Who! The children had to guess which of their friends were being described with clues in a list. Then they wrote their own descriptions in a list for us to guess. They have used their purple pencils and been detectives spotting where commas have been incorrectly placed in sentences and correcting them.

Friday was our ‘Art Day’! The children have thoroughly enjoyed getting crafty and have produced some beautiful work - their concentration faces have made me smile! As part of this project we will be making Easter cards to send to people in the community, if you would like to suggest a local care home or residential home to receive an Easter card from our class please email me - lmarham@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk

Next Wednesday 3-3.40 we will be holding an Art Exhibition for the children to showcase their Easter Art work. There will be a donation box in the classroom, to help us raise money for CAFOD.

Class worship this week was led by George C, George L and Rodnie, the theme was being hopeful. Well done boys, we all thoroughly enjoying singing your chosen hymns and thinking about what our hopes and dreams are.

EGG DECORATING COMPETITON - Wednesday 5th April. For £1 entry fee, the children need to bring in a boiled, decorated egg for the competition. Let your imagination go wild. Could the egg be a character in a scene? Or have a specific pattern? Think creatively. The student council will be judging the winners from their paired class. There may even be a large chocolatey prize for the winners.

There’s still time to order an Easter lunch - Jackie, and her bunnies, will be preparing a lovely Easter Lunch for the whole school community to enjoy on Wednesday 5th April. If your child usually has a school dinner on a Wednesday, they will automatically receive the Easter Lunch.

If your child does not have a dinner and would like one, please ensure you order a lunch by clicking the link on the Easter Lunch page. Each dinner is £2.40. Mrs Hodges will update Parent Pay once the orders are in.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Scarlett

Scarlett, your singing and enthusiasm in our Palm Sunday Worship really stood out. You spoke beautifully even though you were feeling a bit nervous. You were courageous and this should be celebrated.
Well done Scarlett.

Nathan

Another amazing performance Nathan, you also spoke beautifully in our assembly, loud and clear just as we had practised. You are well mannered and polite at all times and a great learning partner to your friends. I noticed you this week encouraging others when we were practicing, helping them to achieve their best too.
Well done Nathan.

This week’s Star Readers are Joseph, Alice and Bea.

Notices

Our PE days are now Monday and Wednesday
Easter Egg Competition - Wednesday 5th April
Easter Lunch - Wednesday 5th April
Last day of spring term - Thursday 6th April 2pm close
Lifeboat Station Visit - Wednesday 19th April
Library Visit - Wednesday 3rd May

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 weekly Blog 24th March 2023

March 22, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 weekly Blog 24th March 2023 - Spring adds new life and beauty to all that is.

What a busy week we’ve had in Year 2!

Preparation is in full swing for our Palm Sunday Worship, the children have been working really hard practising their lines and the songs. They really are amazing.
We hope you can join our worship on Friday 31st March at 9am.

The children have worked so hard in maths this week, we’ve built on our knowledge of number bonds, revisiting bridging to 10 then extending our learning with bridging across greater multiples of 10. We’ve also continued our work on sharing into equal groups. It been a challenging week but the children have impressed me with their resilience and determination.

Our music lessons have immersed us in reggae music across the decades - this week the children have enjoyed singing our Zootime song and improvising musical accompaniments on the glockenspiels.

Lenten Mass - On Thursday morning, we visited church with Year 1 and Year 5, for Lenten Mass. It feel like a long time since we visited church as a class, but not too long since we’ve seen Father Peter as he was in school on Ash Wednesday. The rain cleared up for our walk to church, but we got soaked on the way back to school.

As a class we voted to have an arts and crafts day at school, this will be on Friday 31st March, we will be making a range of crafts and Easter cards for the residents at Stella Matutina and the parishioners. To help raise money for CAFOD we are going to sell tickets for you to come and see our art work at our Art Exhibition in school, the following week - children will designing invitations next week, look out for yours! The children are very excited. If you would like to suggest a local care home or residential home to receive an Easter card from our class please email me - lmarham@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk

On the 19th April, as part of our local history topic, we will be visiting the Lifeboat station in St Annes. Over the last couple of week the children have been gathering information about the RNLI ready to write their non chronological reports.

Jackie, and her bunnies, will be preparing a lovely Easter Lunch for the whole school community to enjoy on Wednesday 5th April. If your child usually has a school dinner on a Wednesday, they will automatically receive the Easter Lunch.

If your child does not have a dinner and would like one, please ensure you order a lunch by clicking the link on the Easter Lunch page here. Each dinner is £2.40. Mrs Hodges will update Parent Pay once the orders are in.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Lena

You have been such a focused Cooper Crab this week Lena! You have been ready to learn in every lesson and have managed any distractions around you brilliantly.This has shown greatly in your understanding and in the work you have produced. It has been wonderful to see you putting your hand up and answering questions so enthusiastically, and your proud smile has lit up the room after doing so. Keep it up Lena!

Louisa

What a Co-operative Roger Robin you have been this week Louisa! Your politeness and lovely manners certainly don’t go unnoticed and it is lovely to see you spread so much joy in our class. You work so wonderfully with your learning partner and are always there to lend a quiet helping hand without disturbing the rest of the class. Well done Louisa!

This week’s Star Readers are Isaac, Rodnie and Rosa.

Notices

Our PE days are now Monday and Wednesday
Palm Sunday Worship - Friday 31st March
Easter Egg Competition - Wednesday 5th April
Easter Lunch - Wednesday 5th April
Last day of spring term - Thursday 6th April 2pm close
Lifeboat Station Visit - Wednesday 19th April

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Easter Lunch - Wednesday 5th April

March 21, 2023 Natalie Gregan

Easter Lunch available to book!

Year 2 Weekly Blog 17th March 2023 - What we learn becomes part of who we are

March 16, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 17th March 2023

In English, were looked at the features of postcards and planned our own postcards from Flat Stanley to his younger brother Arthur. We have written our first draft and will be editing these with our purple pencil next week before writing our final drafts.

In PE we continued with our gymnastics module, putting together the jumps and rolls we have
We planned a sequence putting together what we had learnt and performed them to the class.

In Maths, we’ve been using our knowledge number bonds to 10 to add and subtract 2 digit and 1 digit numbers.
Our stem sentences are:
“ We know that 6 + 4 equal 10, so we know that 16 +4 =20” We know that 10 minus 4 equals 6, so we know that 20 minus 4 equals 16”.
We’ve also be practicing doubling and halving numbers.

On Thursday, Heath, Emilia and Albert led our class worship, the focus feeling loved. We talked about what and who made us feel loved and how we can show others love. The children enjoyed singing the hymn 'Love is something if you give it away’ complete with actions!

In History we’ve started our new local history project - we spent Thursday afternoon using our computer skills to research the RNLI. I wonder if the children could tell you what they know already. We also thought about questions we’d like to find the answers to during our topic. The children were excited to hear that we will be visiting the Lifeboat Station - more information will follow.

In RE, the children have continued to learn about parts of The Mass - this week they focused on The Offertory and The Eucharist.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Louie

You have had an amazing week! You have been focused and ready every lesson and it make a real difference to your learning. You are making wise decisions to avoid potential distracting and this shows me that you are taking responsibility for your learning. You really impressed me in our PE lesson.

Keep it up Louie!

Lucia

You have been so focus and determined in maths and this is lovey to see. You keep up with the learning and always answer questions to show that you have understood what has been taught.
Well done Lucia!

Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday
Parent’s Evening (online) Wednesday 22rd March

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 10th March 2023 - Kindness is like snow, it's beautiful and covers everything

March 8, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 10th March 2023 - Kindness is like snow, it's beautiful and covers everything.

Snow Day! What a lovely way to end the week, the children were so excited when they came into the classroom, there were many stories about snowmen before breakfast and snow angels in pajamas! We had a go at making our own snowmen and snow angels at break time.

In English, we’re looked at the features of friendly letters and written letters to Ruth at the library, thanking her for being such a fantastic host and telling us all about the events coming up at the library.

Mrs Gregan taught our PE lesson on Wednesday - the key learning points were pencil rolls and egg rolls. We all had a go at being coaches and looked for the features of really good rolls. When pencil rolling we ensured our toes were pointing, knees, ankles and hands were together and our tummies were firm. We tucked our knees in tight and made sure our chin were on our chests when doing our egg rolls.
We planned a sequence putting together what we had learnt and performed them to the class.

In Maths we’ve been using our knowledge of adding 1 digit numbers together and transferred this across to adding 2 digit and 1 digit numbers.
Our stem sentences were “ We know that 8 + 1 = 9, so we know that 18 +1 =19”
The children were the able to carry this on adding 2 digit and 1 digit number right up to 100.

On Thursday, Myles, Anna, Martha and Alana led our class worship. The focus was kindness and compassion. We listened to the story of The Good Samaritan and thought about his actions and how we can spread our own kindness and compassion.

Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores have been key words in our science lesson this week. I wonder if the children can tell you what they mean? We used these words when putting together food chains.

Origami Workshop - What a treat!
The children thoroughly enjoyed trying their hands at origami, I’m sure many of them have continued practicing their new found skills at home too -I’ve seen lots of origami bookmarks appearing in our class reading books.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Mia-Grace

Mia-Grace has been a determined and resilient learner this week. She has be working really hard in our maths lessons and this hard work is paying off. Mia-Grace shared with me this week that she was proud of herself – we are proud of you too.
Keep up the fantastic work Mia-Grace.

Scarlett

Scarlett is a wonderful member of our class. She is always focused and ready to learn and sets a fantastic example to everyone. Scarlett is well mannered and a good learning partner to anyone she is paired with. It lovely to see her encouraging her peer and celebrating not only her success but the success of those around her. Well done Scarlett!

Our PE days are now Monday and Wednesday
Parent’s Evening (online) Wednesday 15th March and Wednesday 22rd March, from 2.00pm-5.30pm - book here

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Bowling Club

March 1, 2023 Natalie Gregan

We have a short-notice club starting this Friday.

Year 2 Weekly Blog 3rd March - 'A book is a dream you hold in your hands'

February 28, 2023 Laura Woodend

In English we have been looking at book called Journey by Aaron Becker, it is a wordless book with beautiful illustrations. It tells the story of a little girl with a magic red marker, she uses the marker to draw objects to help on her adventures. The little girls first drawing is of a door - before revealing what was behind the door the children used their imaginations to draw what they would like to find behind a magic door.

As the week progressed we worked our way through the beautiful illustrations thinking about what the girl could hear, see, smell, touch and taste in each place she visited. On Friday, we used all the information and ideas we had gathered to write some fantastic descriptive sentences.

In Maths we’ve been practicing our 2 times tables - we’re getting quite good at them now. We’ve also been looking at one more and one less that numbers ending in 0. We’ll be continuing to look at adding 2 digit numbers next week.

On Thursday, Joseph, Louisa and Scarlett led our class worship in the school chapel. It was the first time I had visited the chapel with the class, it was a beautiful experience and something we will be doing each week going forward.

In music, we have been learning to sing Zootime by Joanna Mangona. This week we added xylophones and I was really impressed with how the children keep in time. See what you think.

On Tuesday we visited St Anne’s Library. Ruth, the librarian was very helpful and told us about all the upcoming events at the library including Lego Club on a Saturday afternoon - further information can be found on the library website here.
All children who completed memberships forms, who weren’t already library members, have been issued with membership cards. Ruth showed us where we could find the books we could borrow and told us how log we could borrow them for.
We listened to a silly story about pirates, there were parts for us to join in - even the adults!
We’re planning on visiting the library again next half term.

World Book Day - wow! Our classroom was filled with fantastic fairytale and book characters. We watched and listened to authors online sharing snippets of their books including Tom Fletcher, Sophie Dahl and David Walliams. We ended our World Book Day by spending some time with our buddy class - Year 4. The children enjoyed reading to their buddies and sharing their favourite books.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Jackson

Your enthusiasm in maths is infectious. You are fully involved in lessons and are keeping up with the learning. You work well with your learning partners and give encouragement to those around you. Well Done!

Mia Grace

Mia Grace is really enjoying our maths lessons, she’s always ready to learn and takes a full and enthusiastic part in our learning. Her confidence is improving and I can see she’s trying really hard to learn her times tables.

Our PE days are now Monday and Wednesday
Parent’s Evening (online) Wednesday 15th March and Wednesday 22rd March, from 2.00pm-5.30pm - book here

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 24th February - "As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst… Repent and believe." – St. Mother Teresa

February 24, 2023 Laura Woodend

"As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst… Repent and believe." – St. Mother Teresa

We’ve had a fantastic first week back in Year 2, the children have enjoyed spotting signs of spring around school - look out for the crocus and daffodils in the school garden.

It was lovely to see all the children’s Lenten boxes that had been made at home over half term, thank you for your help with these. The boxes have ben swapped with the children’s Year 4 buddies, there were so many happy faces and smiles.

In English we’ve started to read Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. The children thought about the advantages and disadvantages of being flat, I was impressed with their ideas and creativity. We’ve made our own Flat Stanleys, they will be coming home with the children next week ready for some adventures. On Friday we became detectives - the children told what they knew about Flat Stanley and I challenged them to show me how they knew with evidence from the book.

Our maths brains have really worked hard this week, thinking about 2 digit numbers and the value of each digit. We’ve been practising using dienes to represent 2 digit numbers, as well as drawing them on our whiteboards. We’re continuing to practise counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.

On Wednesday, Father Peter visited school for our Lent Mass. It was a beautiful mass and Father Peter was really impressed with how knowledgeable our children were.
In RE, we have made a paper chain with our Lent promises to show our commitment to keeping our promises and not breaking the chain.

Next Tuesday, we will be visiting St.Annes library. Thank you to those who have returned the memberships form. The children are really excited, please ensure they come to school with a suitable coat, its looking like it will be a dry day but its still quite cold.

Let’s Celebrate

Well done to our certificate winners this week!

Joseph

You are a reading superstar. You are spending lots of time practising your reading at home, at school and at word wizards and its really paying off.

You are taking your time reading the questions when you quiz and have had some super results this week.

Keep it up!

George

You are really focusing in your work at the moment and being able to manage your distractions. We love how much fun you have when you are learning and with your friends.

Your sense of humour is wonderful!

Book Look

On Tuesday morning you are invited into school for our Year 2 book look. The children will have the opportunity to show you their books and their learning. It will be held in the school hall 9-9.30am.

Notices

Our PE days are now Monday and Wednesday - sorry for the confusion this week.
Book Look - Tuesday 28th 9-9.30am
World Book Day - Thursday 2nd March

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Marham, Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 10th February - No Matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

February 10, 2023 Laura Woodend

Year 2 Weekly Blog 10th February - No Matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

At the end of each half term, I like to reflect and today I’ve encourage the children to do they same. We’ve thought about what we’ve done well, what we’ve achieved and what’s still to come. We all agreed we’re looking forward to some warmer weather and lighter mornings and nights.

We’ve come to the end of our Non Chronological Report unit in English. The children have worked really hard gathering information about barn owls and have written some wonderful final pieces of work. I’m looking forward to reading them all over half term.

During indoor PE, in small groups the children put together and practiced a dance routine based on all the seaside theme movements from or PE lessons over the last 5 weeks.

Tuesday was Safer Internet day. The children enjoyed watching a short clip about what to do if anything made them feel sad or gave them a ‘funny tummy’ when online. We sang the funny tummy song and learnt that we should TAG - Tell A Grown up.

In Maths we have been interpreting information on pictogram and bar graphs, writing statements using ‘more than’ and fewer than’. We extended this learning in Geography, when we made a tally chart and bar graph of places the children in year 2 had visited then wrote our own statements.

On Wednesday we had a special visitor, Miss Woodend and baby Millie. The children were so excited to see her and enjoyed asking lots of questions as well as sharing their own news.

Library - please accept my apologies, the link I posted last week did not work! I will try again after half term.

Let’s Celebrate

Ava you are a reading superstar! You have been working so hard, practicing your reading at home. You're really focusing and concentrating when you’re quizzing, working towards your target. It’s lovely to see and hear your about your love of reading and I’m really looking forward to taking you to visit the library next half term. Keep it up!

Alana, I’m really noticing how hard you have been trying in class recently. Your confidence is growing everyday and even when learning tasks are a bit tricky or you’re unsure you’re being brave and giving it a go. Believe in yourself, Alana – you can do it!

Notices

Our PE days are Tuesday and Wednesday.

Although the weather is a little brighter, it’s still cold outside - please ensure your child brings coat to school every day.

Please check the home learning section for this week’s homework.

Have a safe and restful half term break,
Mrs Marham , Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher

Year 2 Weekly Blog 3rd February 2023 - 'Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning' William Arthur Ward

February 3, 2023 Laura Woodend

We have had an another amazing, productive week in Year 2. As we approach the half way through the year point, I’m really noticing how the children are growing, not only in height but as independent learners.

In English, we have been researching and gathering information about barn owls in preparation for writing our non chronological reports next week. We have been sorting the information we have collected under subheadings and have even found some fascinating facts for our fact boxes!

During indoor PE, we watched a clip about sea creature then spoke about how they moved around their habitat. We then replicated those moves with our dance partners. I wonder if the children could share some of their moves at home.

On Tuesday, World Mental Health Day, we really enjoyed our Yoga session with The Yogi group. The children learnt about breathing techniques and when they might use them, as well as a few tricky yoga poses.

The children have been using their photography skills in science to take picture of micro habitats around the school.

In Geography, we talked about places we have visited around the world and how we got to them. Next week we’ll be putting al the information together in graphs.

After half term we will be visiting St. Anne’s library, the library is such a wonderful place for the children to visit and further enhance their love of books and stories. Please fill in this short form to let me know if your child is a member of the library or not. Please don’t worry if they aren’t, prior to our visit I will make arrangements and send any necessary forms home so your child can become a member too.

Library Membership

Let’s Celebrate

Bea is a wonderful member of our class. She sets a fantastic example to everyone. Her work is always completed to the best of her ability and she is always focused and ready to learn. Bea’s manners are impeccable, you really are a credit to our class and school.

Alice, you’ve been a real Creative Kiki Chameleon in our English lessons. You’ve used superb adjectives to describe the wolf and the characters in your story. It is wonderful to see your creative flair, not just in your writing but across the whole curriculum. You think outside the box and have some wonderful ideas.

Notices

Our PE days are Tuesday and Wednesday.

Although the weather is a little brighter, it’s still cold outside - please ensure your child brings coat to school every day.

Please check the home learning section for this week’s homework.

Have a great weekend,
Mrs Marham , Mrs Maano and Mrs Carragher