Hi, my name is Miss Coyne, and I am the Year 2 Nightingale Class Teacher.

I have spent over 11 years teaching in Early Years and Year 1 and have fallen in love with the creativity and breadth of the curriculum. 

At St. John's, I lead Phonics and Early Reading, and Music, and I am the Team Leader for KS1. 

I have a passion for listening to and playing music as well as competing in sports events. I have represented Ireland twice for different sports; the 100m freestyle event in swimming and Team Twirling at the Baton World Championships!

Other staff working in our class are:

Mrs. Bradshaw - 3rd Teacher and Nightingale Teacher on Fridays

Mrs. Wells - Teaching Assistant

Mrs. Hmar - Teaching Assistant (Monday–Thursday)

Our weekly timetable: 

Important dates for the diary this term for Nightingale Class:

PE - Every Wednesday - Please come to school dressed in the correct PE uniform

 

Our learning this term:

In English, Year 2 will write in a range of genres, including a recount, newspaper report and a diary entry.  We will base our writing on the text 'Vlad and the Great Fire of London'. The children will learn more about nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs and become more confident using these in their writing.  They will also learn about and sometimes use subordinations (e.g. when, if, because, that) to join clauses coherently as well as identify speech marks in a dialogue. This term, our focus will be editing our own work and making improvements.

 

 

 

In Maths, we will finish our topic on multiplication and division.  From there, the children will learn about different measures. They will be able to compare length, height and mass using the correct vocabulary, such as kilograms, grams, millilitres, litres and centimetres.

  

Our topic this term is 'The Great Fire of London' and we will answer the question 'What really happened in the Great Fire of London?’  To launch this topic, the children will have a visit from local firefighters and use this knowledge to compare modern-day firefighters and firefighters in 1066.  The children will sequence the events of the fire and then explore different sources and use historical enquiries to decide what they tell us about the fire.  At the end of term, Year 2 will understand the effects the fire had on the community and how it was made safer afterwards.  

                                                                        

 In Science, Year 2 will learn about 'Plants' and more specifically about germination.  We will be looking at the inside of seeds and bulbs to understand how seeds germinate.  The children will get the opportunity to grow their own plants, observe them over time and describe what happens when seeds grow into mature plants. 

In RE this term, the children will answer the question: 'Why does Easter matter to Christians?' (Christianity - Salvation). After reading about the Easter story, the children will make links between the story of Easter and the idea of Salvation.  Year 2 will look at Jesus' actions in Holy Week and explore why Easter is an important ‘big story’ in the Bible.

 

Learning at home for Nightingale Class: 

Children are expected to read every night for at least 10 minutes.  Reading records should be signed by an adult and brought back into school each day to be checked by a member of staff. Your child will take home 2 books each day – a banded book, and a phonics book.  These will be changed on Mondays and Thursdays.

Spelling Shed and Numbots can be accessed from home using the logins provided on the inside of your child's reading record.  Spelling assignments will be given out each week, which support the Year 2 spelling curriculum.

Spellings will be given out each week and tested on a Monday.  

 

Be ready for learning! In Nightingale Class, your child will need to have these items in school: 

Key Stage One (Years 1 and 2) 

• Book bag (no rucksacks please) 

• PE kit (to be worn on PE day - Wednesday) 

• Water bottle (no squash or juice) 

• Lunchbox (if not having school meal) 

• Wellington boots (to leave in school) 

• Coat (weather appropriate) 

Please don’t bring other items into school, as we do not have space to store them, and it can cause upset if things are lost or damaged. 

School Uniform Checklist:

Please label ALL items of clothing and shoes clearly with your child’s name. This helps even our younger children to take responsibility for and look after their uniform. 

Highlights of our learning so far this year:

Term 1: Lost and Found.  To launch this term, we went on a treasure hunt.  We had to read clues in search of Miss. Coyne's water bottle!  It was stuck up a tree! 

Term 2: Explorers.  This term we went on many adventures outdoors, building and using nature to be creative.  This history topic let us explore Robert Falcon Scott and his amazing exploration!

  

In Term 2, we also lead and performed our Christmas Nativity 'The Honky Tonky Donkey' for the school and parents.

      

We also designed, made and evaluated our own Christmas decorations!  Look at our amazing running stitch!

Term 3: Africa.  We thoroughly enjoyed exploring African Kent cloths!  We practised many different printing techniques using a range of resources before making our own Kent cloth repeating pattern.