Hello, I am Miss Cooper and I teach Year 2 Starling class.

This is my third year at St Johns and I love it! I feel very grateful to be part of an amazing team, teaching amazing children.

This year I am looking forward to teaching Art and I cannot wait to see the beautiful creations the children make, especially during our Africa topic. I lead PSHE and RSE across the school which is something I feel very passionate about.

Outside of school, I like to create my own Art, listen to music and spend time with my family and friends.

Other staff who work in our class: Miss Alcock (TA) and Mrs Bradshaw (3rd Teacher).

Our weekly timetable:  

Important dates for the diary this term for Starling 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 Starling 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 TTRS 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 Starling 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) 

• 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

Building habitats with our parents and carers in science. 

Identifying micro-habitats and finding different creatures in them.     

Ordering the creation story and retelling it in groups. 

Improving our drawing skills by recreating illustrations by Oliver Jeffers. 

 

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! 

Term 3 Africa:

Visit from an African land snail, printing in art, dream and goal birds in PSHE, learning about Uganda and reading our own poems in English.