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The Good Shepherd
Catholic Primary School
“I am the Good Shepherd; I know my own and my own know me”. John 10:14"
Year 2 - St.Bernadette
Coding: introducing block code
We created code to solve different problems. Our work with Scratch Jr last year helped us.
Coding with Lightbot 2.0
We coded Lightbot to move through a series of different routes. We decided it was best to add a code block and then test it straight away to make sure it worked.
Black History Month
Our week in review - Week 4!
We have been very busy in Year 2 this week take a look!
Design and Technology: This week we learnt about recipes and spoke about the different ways food can be prepared! We all had great experiences following recipes, cooking and baking at home! In class we wrote a recipe on how to make rice krispie buns! We really enjoyed mixing, pouring and measuring!
RE: We have been learning about special person chosen by God! We read the story of Moses in class and learnt about how he was special to God. God chose him to save the people of Egypt from a cruel King. We understand that God believes we can achieve great things to help others.
Parliament: We also received the ballot results for parliament! The following members of our class were elected:
Helena - Department for the Environment
Max - Department of Learning, Culture and the arts
Grace - Department of Health and Well Being
Milo- Department of Peace and Justice
Geography: We are geographers! This week we have been investigating maps and our local area. We discovered there are lots of interesting sites around our school! We enjoyed using Google Satellite images to locate and describe amenities near to our school - some of us even spotted the roads we live on!
Finally we are learning a poem for World Poetry Day next week! Our poem is inspired by our love for reading in Year 2! Check out our poem below!
Have a lovely weekend everyone,
Miss O'Leary
Our week in review - Week 3
We had a terrific week! Take a look at everything we have been up to!
Maths: We have started learning more about addition! This week we used pictorial and concrete resources to solve equations. We all practiced our number bonds - we even found a great song to help us! Check it out below!
Phonics: This week we focused on tricky digraphs. We enjoyed playing buried treasure to practice blending sounds together. We wrote sentences based on our focus sounds too! Our focus sounds were -ai, -ay and -aw.
Science: We had a very special science lesson this week! Milo in our class kindly shared a wonderful experience with us - we released some butterflies! We really loved observing the changes in the lifecycle of a butterfly, we couldn't believe how quickly they grow and change! We released the butterflies in our Mary Garden and said a special prayer to God to look after them!
We also voted for our class members of parliament this week so stay tuned to find out the election results!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone,
Miss O'Leary
Our week in review - Week 2!
This week was very busy in Year 2! Take a look!
Maths: This week in Maths we were learning about greater than and less than. We practiced playing games by comparing numbers. We also had some time to use practical tens and ones to make number bonds. We know that there is more than one way to make a number!
English: We really enjoyed reading more of our story 'The Night Pirates'. This week we compare Tom's bedroom to our very own bedrooms! We discussed the similarities and differences that we could see. Miss O'Leary has left a link to the story if you would like to read it at home!
Religion: Our focus this week was our school mission statement. We discussed what it means to be like a follower of Jesus and how we can show our faith through our choices and actions.
RSHE: We loved creating our new class rules! We understand that we need to respect one another's things, space and feelings. We all agreed to follow our rules to make our school a fun and safe place!
PE: We loved practicing our gymnastic skills in PE this week! As it was our second time using the equipment we were experts at using it safely!
Adventure time: This afternoon we went on a school adventure! We are learning about maps in Geography and have planned to create a map of our school! This means we need to know every nook and cranny of our school! We went on a tour of the school all the way to the top of the school seeing all the classrooms and offices along the way. Did you know Miss McDaid and Miss Kennedy are at the very top of our school!
We also had a surprise visitor in our classroom this week - a sneaky snail! We look at the different features of the snail before bringing him to a better home in the Mary Garden. 
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Miss O'Leary
Moses Story RE
Our week in review - Week 1!
Welcome back to school! All the children in Year 2 have been working extremely hard in our first week back , take a look!
Maths: In Maths we have been learning about place value, practicing creating numbers with tens and ones. We loved playing a place value game on our school Ipads during our Maths lesson. Miss O'Leary has left a link to it below if you would like to try it out.
Handwriting: We are terrific writers! This week Year 2 started pre-cursive handwriting and we love the challenge of using it in all our writing.
English: Arrrrrgh there's some pirates in Year 2! This week we have been reading a story called 'The Night Pirates.' We spoke about our favourite characters from the story and wrote about them using adjectives.
Art: We love colour! This week we created masterpieces inspired by Vincent Van Gough. We have also started to explore colour and today mixed primary colours together to make secondary colours.
PE & Cricket: We also started our cricket lessons this week! We loved our time with Coach Jonathan and we even managed to hit the ball a few times! We cant wait for our next session. In PE class we explored all the wonderful equipment in our hall and had the best time creating some gymnastic routines!
That's all for this week, I can't wait to see what next week brings!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone,
Miss O'Leary 
Welcome back!
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2020 - 2021 ARCHIVE
Using time delay in Scratch Jr
We have started using time delays in our code when we want to pause the actions in our scripts.
Adding sounds to our animations
Year 1 recorded animal sounds to add to a simple animation scene of different creatures.
Using looping in Scratch Jr
We’ve moved on to using loops in our code to make our sequences repeat themselves.
Coding with Scratch Jr
We have started to code using Scratch Jr. We can now code sprites to move and change in different ways.
The day we drew a line in the sand.
To celebrate our return to school Mrs Lavelle orangised a beach day for the children.
We left the worries of the summer behind us and enjoyed the day together. Making some great memories and enjoying the sunshine together.
Medium Term Curriculum Maps
Homework
Our School Prayers
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Morning Prayer You are with me night and day, |
Lunchtime Prayer Bless us O Lord As we sit together Bless the food We eat today Bless the hands that make our food Bless us O Lord Amen |
Evening Prayer God our Father And all the friends you give to me Guard me in the dark of night And in the morning send your light |
|---|
Welcome back to a new school year.
A few things to keep in mind for year 1.
- Please ensure all uniform is labelled, including P.E kits.
- Children are to line up in the playground, the bell will be rung at 8:55.
- Homework will be handed out every Friday, please hand completed homework in the following Thursday.
- Please try to read daily to your child.
Welcome back, Year 1!
2019 - 2020 ARCHIVE
Thank you for sending me photos of some of the lovely things you are doing while school is closed. I am enjoying seeing you tackling the tasks in your pack with such brilliant results. I also love seeing photos of you playing and having fun. I hope you enjoy looking at them, too.
We can't wait to see you all back at school. In the meantime, keep reading, keep busy and, most of all, keep smiling!
If you took a little pot home before school closed, how are your sunflowers doing? I think the foxes might have dug up the ones we planted in our school garden. I can't see any sign of them anywhere 
.
Do you remember we kept a flower pot near to our fruit table and poked any pips or seeds we found into the soil as a little experiment? Well look what's happened! Two of those plants must be very tiny apple and pear trees. But I can't think what else might be growing in there. Can you?
Our On the Move topic gave us lots of opportunity to experiment with movement and discuss our observations and experiences. Children identified for themselves the forces of push and pull that were essential for movement to take place.
Carpet times were full of descriptive, analytical language as the children explained how they made themselves and non-motorised vehicles move. They delighted in explaining how by pushing the pedals on their bikes with their feet they saw the chain move and the wheels turn or how they created wind with the squeezy bottles to move the boats in the water tray.
We had lots of fun with our class books, acting out some (very messy!) parts of the story, creating props and going on journeys of our own:
BLOCK PLAY
We know that children love playing with blocks but let us look at how important it is to their development. Block play offers an open-ended, creative and valuable experience. It boosts imagination, self-expression and communication, allowing children to co-construct, take turns and negotiate. It also offers a great platform to develop problem-solving, allowing them to test hypotheses and practise scientific reasoning.
They can take risks in their block play and experience a sense of achievement as they 'have a go'. Due to the many shapes and sizes on offer, blocks offer ample opportunity to practise important maths skills, covering measurement, number, symmetry, balance and estimation, at the same time increasing attention span.
We had a lovely visit on Wednesday afternoon from a group of Year 2 siblings who wanted to read their pirate-influenced rhyming couplets to their brothers and sisters! It was lovely to see them back in Reception.
The children have got off to a flying start with their daily phonics sessions! They are becoming familiar with the 42 letter sounds and main alternative vowel sounds they need to decode and read regular words through a wide range of interactive and stimulating stories, actions, songs and games and activities arranged throughout the class and garden. Here are the sounds and an idea of the corresponding actions they are learning:
Children are reading, choosing and changing books with Leanne every week and parents are using the reading record book to communicate with us how their child is doing.
Developing a love of books and reading is at the heart of everything we do in Reception. You could hear a pin drop when children come to the carpet for a new story. If it's one they know and love, they will recite it by heart along with us or join in with a repeated chorus.
I'm sure all parents will have heard their child singing 'Rocking In My School Shoes', from Pete the Cat, one of our Books of the Week! The children used this story to think about what they liked doing in their new school shoes, which took away any anxiety they might have had from starting the year in a new class, and for some children a new school, and with new teachers!
Here are some photos showing the different ways children are enjoying books, alone, with a close friend or as a whole class:
Building friendships, taking turns, taking account of others' thoughts and feelings and working together on shared interests are all key to a happy class and this is something we try to foster in everything that we teach the children:
Helping children to develop the strength of their fingers and thumbs is the cornerstone of so much that we expect children to be able to do, from getting dressed and undressed to using cutlery and scissors and moving and handling everyday objects. We plan a host of ways to develop children's strength and coordination to become independent and confident in their lives:
Wednesday gym in the hall
-Nursery 2018 -2019 archive-
Welcome to Nursery
A place where we
How can you help your child to settle in?
Practise our prayers
Each day we gather together to say a morning prayer, a lunchtime prayer and an afternoon prayer.
|
Morning Prayer You are with me night and day, |
Lunchtime Prayer Bless us O Lord As we sit together Bless the food We eat today Bless the hands that make our food Bless us O Lord Amen |
Evening Prayer God our Father And all the friends you give to me Guard me in the dark of night And in the morning send your light |
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Read a story under our awning before school
We have a selection of books to read under our awning. You can spend a few quiet minutes reading with your child before the day begins to settle them before you say goodbye.
Build their confidence to become an independent individual
Each child has their own peg, please encourage your child to hang up their coats, jumpers and cardigans here. Build their physical skills by practising pulling clothing up and down, before and after using the toilet. Practise going to the toilet and washing and drying hands properly.
Say goodbye to your child
Get to school in good time so you can say a proper goodbye to your child with a reassuring hug, particularly if they are occasionally worried about coming to school. If you are late, your child may feel rushed and this may make separation difficult.
Collect your child with a smile
Your child has had a busy day. Greet them with a smile not your phone. Talk to them about their day, tell them about yours, get down to their level if you can. It is a long day; they have missed you.
Share their WOW moments with us
In our individual meetings at the beginning of this term you were given WOW sheets. Please use them. We want to know about their WOW moments and love finding out about some of the positive things they have done at home; we will share them with their friends, too.
Growth, New Life and Good Friends
25th February - 5th April
Book Week
This week we had the opportunity of visiting our local library. While we were there the manager Zedh read us two stories, The Hungry Caterpillar and Dee Zoo.
After listening to the stories we were able to choose our own books to read. We also chose numerous books to borrow. Miss Molloy used our class library card to check them out of the library. We can borrow them for three weeks.
On Thursday we also dressed up as our favourite book character, we went into the hall for assembly to see the other children’s costumes.
During this week we also have had the beginning of lent. On Shrove Tuesday we made pancakes. We also made Lenten promises which we decorated to put under our awning.
Opposites and The Holy Family
7th January 2019 - 15th Feburary
We have begun this term looking at the Epiphany, when Jesus was visited by the Wise men, who brought gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. We made crowns and presents for Jesus.
We have discussed our new topics of Opposites and The Holy Family.
Throughout Opposites we will be looking at light and dark, holes, contrasts and opposites.
Within the Holy Family we will be looking at Jesus as a small child, Jesus love for small children and the story of The Good Samaritan. Thinking how we can be compassionate and caring for others each day.
Opposites Curriculum Map
Autumn
Together we looked at our environment and the changes that we are seeing around us , such as leaves falling, the different colours and change in temperature
We investigated the colours we could see, make makes using those colours and investigated what happens when we mixed them together, what other colours could we make?
We looked at bonfire night and created our own fireworks using marble paining and magnetic painting.
Together we looked at the story of the Little Red Hen. What would we do if we were the characters in the story? We looked at harvesting on farms, the different machinery and produce we might gather. We made loaves of bread just like The Little Red Hen.
We look at nocturnal animals and animals that hibernate. Looking at books like Owl babies and Don’t Hog the Hedge. We made a class book based on nocturnal animals.
My Family
This half term we were focusing on our family. Looking at who is in our family at home, at school and at church.
Throughout this half term we learnt that Mary and Joseph were both visited by Angel Gabriel to tell them that Mary would have a baby, who is God’s son and would be called Jesus. We know Joseph and Mary had a very long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We engaged in the Nativity story through a range of experience listening to stories, small world play and role play.
We became familiar with some Christmas carols, learning Away in a Manager for our Nativity.
God's Wonderful World
This term our religious focus is God's Wonderful World. Through this topic we will be exploring God's creation of the world with a particular focus on plants, animals, knowing that God made us and understanding that God loves us and always will.
Our religious focus links in with our class topic Special Me and of our being aware that we are all unique. Through Special Me we will be looking at faces and bodies, keeping healthy, looking after ourselves, our senses and our feelings.
Week beginning 24th September 2018
This week we were focusing on the plants and fruits in God’s wonderful world and how we keep healthy.
We read Oliver’s Vegetables by Vivian French and Alison Bartlett, talking about where our food comes from, what plants need in order to grow and who created the plants that we get food from.
We each planted cress seeds on cotton wool and have been watching them grow through the week.
We talked about our plants, bushes and the trees in the garden. How can we help them to grow? We decided to have a compost collection bin. Each day during snack time we collect our fruit peel and cores to empty into the compost bin in our garden.
This week we used vegetables for printing and did observational drawing of plants, fruit and vegetables. We looked closely at them and used oil pastels to draw them.
We looked in our garden to see what we can find; we picked the apples growing on our tree and ate them.
We read Funnybones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. We talked about our own bones, which ones can we feel? What do they do? Our skull, protects our brain. Our ribs protect our heart and lungs. We talked about brushing our teeth to keep our mouth healthy. We practised brushing large teeth with a timer.
We made a fruit salad using bananas and oranges. We used our fine motor skills to peel the fruit and used our knives to chop the bananas.