Who has Made A Difference to us?

Our new topic has got off to a great start this week with the children full of questions. The topic is 'I Made A Difference in the Past' and we will be learning which people have made a difference to our lives and how. On Monday Ms Sherlock, Ms Griffiths and Mr Carey dressed up as famous people from the past who have Made A Difference and the children had to ask questions to discover their identities.
They discovered that Ms Sherlock was Jane Goodall who has made a difference to wild animals and encouraged people to look after their environment. Ms Griffiths was J. K. Rowling who has made a difference by making reading exciting for millions of young people, and Mr Carey was one of the Wright Brothers who made a difference by adding a motor to an aeroplane, enabling us all to travel further quickly.

We will now be starting to find out who the Heroines are and why there is a statue of them in Phuket.

Brain Day
On Tuesday we had our Brain Day and learned which foods are 'Brain Foods'. We found out that natural foods are best,  not processed foods and that fish, nuts, avocado's and blueberries are super foods. Ask your child to sing the Brain Food song to you-it's very catchy!

Phonics
This week the children chose which Phonics group they should join. After showing them the different sounds we would be learning in each group they thought about what they needed to learn to develop their reading and writing. We are approaching Phonics teaching in this way to give the children some control over their learning and encourage them to think about their learning and what they need to do to improve. This also means that they are not in an ability group but join a group for specific sounds that they are unsure of. The groups will change each week.   We were thrilled to find that the children approached this very sensibly, choosing appropriately (they joined the groups exactly as we would have placed them!).

Halloween
On Friday it is Halloween. It is also our Golden Time! So we have invited the children to bring in some simple Halloween clothes to wear during Golden Time if they wish to.

Swimming
Please note-there are no swimming lessons for Year 2 this half term. Instead the children have 2 PE lessons each week so please wear PE kits on Mondays and Wednesdays. Children will be doing Fusball and Tennis during these lessons. Please make sure they bring a water bottle and a hat.  Swimming lessons will begin again after Christmas.

Loy Krathong
On Thursday 6th November the school will celebrate Loy Krathong. For this lovely celebration we ask all children to wear traditional Thai clothes. At 10:40am we will be making Krathongs in our classrooms and we invite all parents to come and join in. Following this (around 11:00am) we will walk to the pond in front of the main school building where we will float the Krathongs.

Uniform
Children should wear their school uniform with black shoes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (the days that they don't have PE).  If they need to wear sports clothes for an after school activity they should bring these in their school bag and change before the activity.

Hats

Our school has a rule,  NO HAT = NO PLAY IN THE SUN!
Therefore please make sure that your child has  a hat with their name in it so they will be able to play with their friends outside.

Support reminder

If you or other parents are having trouble 'getting connected' with the school blogs, you might like to pop in for some support on Thursday 30th October from 8:05am.

Jon Clark the Head of IT and some other staff will be in the Early Years Unit eating room (previously Reception Orange - middle room on the primary playground side) to help you connect up successfully.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Getting Connected

Dear Parents

This year the school has moved to  using Blogs as the main communication source with parents

If you or other parents are having trouble 'getting connected' with the school blogs, you might like to pop in for some support on Thursday 30th October from 8:05am.

Jon Clark the Head of IT and some other staff will be in the Early Years Unit eating room to help you connect up successfully.

Please pass on the word to friends.

Thanks!

Karen

Karen Cornelius
Primary Deputy Principal

Rainy Days!

Well this week has been an extremely wet one and due to this x-country was canceled on Tuesday. We hope the weekend will stay dry and allow us to hold the x-country on Monday morning. If it is dry please can children come to school wearing their colour team shirts, sports shoes and shorts. Don't forget a hat and water bottle! Parents are invited to come along and cheer us on between 8:15 and 10:00.

2JS children wowed us all on Friday afternoon with their assembly performance. Nerves were high beforehand and many children had 'butterflies in their tummies', but it didn't show and the children spoke loudly and confidently. More importantly they worked closely as a team, encouraging and praising each other which is lovely to see. Well done 2JS.  Also a big Thank you to Mrs Ueckermann for arranging the costumes and props and the other mums who helped get us ready.



Here is the assembly video.  http://youtu.be/KTdHZskih-Q

Rainy Day / Holiday Activities
Next week school finishes for the half-term break on Wednesday at 2:35. The next half term will begin on Monday 27th October.   There are several things your child can be doing during the holidays. All the children are now signed up for Sumdog at www.sumdog.com so they can practice their Maths skills online. There are also several things to practice on edmodo including key words to read. And finally, did you know that you can visit the school Library with your child any day after school between 2:35 and 4:00pm and take up to 7 books out! So why not treat your child to 7 books to read over the holidays.

Parent Teacher Conferences
If you have not yet made an appointment to meet your child's teacher please write your name on the appointment sheet on the classroom door.

Please note that there are no school run activities next week due to the conferences, however Paid activities continue as normal.



WELL DONE to this week's STARS OF THE WEEK

Let's Thrive!

As we near the end of our 'Survive and Thrive' unit we are considering how we thrive. Why is it important to keep healthy? And what can we do do help us thrive?

On Friday we had a visit from Ruby's mum, who as a trained nurse,  helped the children consider healthy and unhealthy choices they could make. These choices ranged from selecting food to considering healthy and unhealthy lifestyle choices. Many thanks to Mrs Vidotto for helping us understand these important points.

The children have been working hard on sharing the information found from their research into Living Things. Their challenge is to teach other Year 2 children. This means they have to present their material thoughtfully. Children are using video, pictures, ibooks, posters and speech to communicate. They have been given feedback on how successful their presentation is from the other children  and now have time to act on the feedback and make improvements- an important skill!

In Maths the children are learning how to sort, collect and present data in the form of diagrams and charts. They are using Venn Diagrams, Caroll Diagrams, Tally charts and bar charts. So far they have been sorting shapes by considering their properties and placing them appropriately in Venn and Caroll diagrams. As shapes share many characteristics a lot of thinking is necessary to place them in the right spot.

We have many reminders this week.....

X-country
On Tuesday from 8:05 - 10:10am the Primary x-country will be held. All children need to wear sports shoes, P.E shorts and their colour team shirt. Please can all children wear a hat and bring their water bottles too. We hope parents will come along and cheer on their child. The start and finish will be on the field close to gate 5.

Sumdog
The children all now have sumdog accounts set up. Sumdog is a Maths site which allows children to practice Maths skills and progress at their own level. It is a fun site and children love it! Children can work their way through Sumdog and at certain times teachers will add challenges appropriate to their level. They can log in using their edmodo username and password (which is attached to their Reading Diaries).
2JS however have slightly different usernames and these will be sent home on Monday- the system would not log us in with our edmodo usernames!

Parent Conferences
Next week 13th, 14th and 15th October are Parent, Teacher Conferences. This is an opportunity to find out how your child is developing in their learning. A letter will be sent home this week where appointments can be booked.

Assembly
Finally on Friday 10th October it is 2JS' assembly. This will be at 1:45pm in the Primary Hall. We invite all parents of 2JS children to come along and watch. We will be the first class this year to present an assembly so we are all a bit nervous!