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

This is my fourth 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 DT to both Year 2 classes. I cannot wait to see the beautiful creations the children make. I lead PSHE and RSE across the school which is something I feel very passionate about, and this year I am leading Art and DT across KS1.

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)

Our weekly timetable:  

 

Important dates for the diary this term for Starling Class:

KS1 Nativity - Thursday 18th December at 9.30am

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

 

Our learning in Term 2:

Our topic this term is 'Explorers'. Year 2 will be exploring the past to identify and understand key events in the life and expedition of Robert Falcon Scott.  The children will learn more about different explorers by using evidence found in secondary sources.  We will also look at Robert Falcon Scott's legacy to answer the Big Question: 'What makes a great pioneer?'

In English, we will be focusing on sentence structure and building a strong foundation of writing skills. We will remember to think and say the sentence before we start to write, use a capital letter and full stops. We will be building on the children’s independence to write sentences and use their phonics to spell new words.  Using these skills, we will write narratives, descriptive texts and letters. During Shared Reading and English, we will be looking at: Field Trip to the Moon by John Hare and The Great Explorer by Chris Judge.

The children will have an increased focus on editing their work to ensure they have included adjectives, verbs and adverbs as well as basic punctuation.  Once we have practised editing out own work, the children will publish their writing in their publishing books.

   

In Maths, we will be looking at addition and subtraction within 100. The children will be taught a range of strategies to use when solving maths problems which include, using a number line, a hundred square and exchanging using dienes. This term, we will also be developing our understanding of shape by identifying sides, vertices, edges and lines of symmetry in range of 2D and 3D shapes.

In Science, our topic is Living Things and their Habitats. We will be discovering more about and comparing different habitats from around the world. The children will look at primary and secondary sources to discover how different habitats provide the basic needs for plants and animals. 

In RE, the children will be learning about Islam. They will be finding out about the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and learning how some Muslims celebrate Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr.  We will be answering the big question ‘Who is a Muslim and what do they believe?’

 

Learning at home for Starling Class: 

Children are expected to read every night for at least 10 minutes. This has a huge positive impact on their reading progression, so please help your child to be the best reader that they can be!  Reading records should be signed by an adult and brought 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 Times Tables Rockstars can be accessed from home using the logins provided on the inside of your child's reading record book.  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: 

• 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: