What another wonderfully busy week we’ve had! The children have continued to work so hard and their enthusiasm has been shining through in everything they do. With the temperatures starting to drop, please do remember to send the children in with coats, hats, scarves and gloves so they can stay warm and cosy during playtimes.

Let’s have a look at all the exciting things we have been up to this week.

 

English

In our English groups this week, we have embarked on a brand-new literary adventure with another wonderful Julia Donaldson story ‘Stick Man!’ Exploring a fresh text has brought so much excitement to the classroom, and the children have been fully engaged as we followed Stick Man through his unexpected and sometimes rather dramatic journey.

Our main focus this week has been strengthening our comprehension. We have been working on sequencing the events in the story, encouraging the children to identify the beginning, middle and end, and to place key moments in the correct order. This helps them build a clear understanding of narrative structure and improves their ability to retell stories in their own words. We have also been developing our vocabulary skills by clarifying unfamiliar words, using clues from the text and illustrations and dictionaries to infer the meaning. It has been wonderful to see the children growing in confidence as they discuss new vocabulary and make thoughtful predictions about what might happen next.

And, of course, we couldn’t resist adding a bit of drama! We transformed ourselves into reporters, interviewing Stick Man about his adventures. The children prepared thoughtful, imaginative questions and took turns playing both journalist and Stick Man, using their speaking and listening skills brilliantly. This role-play has helped them develop empathy for characters, practise asking open-ended questions, and use expressive language to bring the story to life.

Our daily phonics sessions continue to play an important role in developing the children’s reading and writing skills. This week, we have been using Fred Fingers to sound out and spell words, especially trickier ones with more sounds. We’ve also spent time blending sounds to read unfamiliar words more fluently and practising our Red Words – these are words that don’t follow regular phonetic rules and need to be remembered by sight, such as “said,” “because,” and “come.”

The children have also been writing sentences independently, working hard to remember their finger spaces, capital letters, and full stops. They are making fantastic progress in becoming more independent and confident writers. If you have a few minutes at home, going over Red Words or encouraging your child to sound out words using their Fred Fingers can make a big difference. Even a short practice each day helps reinforce what we’re doing in school.

 

Reading

Reading at 3: Every Friday at 3, our doors will open for you to come in and enjoy a quiet read with your child. This will be for the full 15 minutes, and we kindly ask that children are not taken home early during this time.

Reading folders: Some children are bringing home two books – one of these will be a Read Write Inc (RWI) home book, which we ask them to read three times throughout the week to help build fluency. These books will be changed by an adult.

The second book (with the coloured sticker) should be changed independently by your child – ideally first thing in the morning.

Some children have moved onto the Accelerated Reader programme and will be able to change their books once they’ve completed the quiz online.
AR login: Click here
Parent Guide: How to use Accelerated Reader

Please ensure reading folders are placed in the trays each morning so that we can read with your child and update their books when needed.

Chilton Heroes Reading Certificate – Each week, one child per class will be recognised for their fantastic reading in our Chilton Heroes assembly.

 

Maths

In maths this week, we have been busy applying our growing knowledge of division to explore the wonderful world of fractions and the children have been absolutely amazing! Building on last week’s learning, we began by discovering how dividing shapes into equal parts links beautifully to finding fractions. The children were brilliant at identifying the numerator and denominator, proudly using the correct mathematical vocabulary as they worked.

We started our journey by splitting shapes into halves, making sure each part was fair and equal. Once we had mastered this, we moved on to quarters, carefully checking that the shape had been divided into four parts of the same size. After that, we challenged ourselves even further by exploring thirds (a tricky concept) and the children rose to the challenge with enthusiasm and determination. It has been wonderful to see them using their reasoning skills to explain how they knew their shapes were divided correctly, showing real confidence in their understanding.

Some of our budding mathematicians even ventured into recognising simple equivalent fractions! They were able to spot, for example, that two quarters can be the same as one half, and they were so proud to share their discoveries with the class. We are incredibly proud of the focus, resilience and excitement the children have shown while working on fractions.

 

Thematic

What an absolutely incredible week we have had in our thematic learning as we fully immersed ourselves in the fascinating story of the Great Fire of London! The children have been completely captivated, and their enthusiasm has made each lesson feel like a real adventure through history.

We began by sequencing the key events of the fire, carefully piecing together what happened across those dramatic four days in 1666. Using maps of London from the time, the children were able to trace the path of the fire, explaining how it spread so rapidly from Pudding Lane across the tightly packed wooden houses. They were amazed to see just how quickly the flames travelled and how differently London looked compared to today!

Our learning became even more exciting when we turned our attention to Samuel Pepys’ famous diary. The children were fascinated to discover that much of what we know about the fire comes from his personal writing. We explored extracts from his diary, discussing how he described the sights, smells and feelings of those days. Inspired by his vivid descriptions, the children even had a go at writing their own diary entries, imagining what it might have been like to live through such an extraordinary moment in history. Their creativity, empathy and use of historical detail were truly impressive!

 

Home learning

Building on their knowledge of diary entries, we would love the children to create their very own! This can detail any day they like and should include anything they might get up to in chronological order!

Be creative and have fun!

 

Dates to remember

24th November – Book Fair on all week

28th November – Year 3 and 5 Come Dine with me (Azure 11.30, Peacock 11.45, Royal 12.30 and Indigo 12.40)

4th December – Year 5 Pegwell Bay Trip

5th December – Year 2 and 4 Come Dine with me (Sapphire 11.30, Cornflower 11.45, Team Aqua 12.30 and Team Topaz 12.40)

8th December – Year 3 to Royal Harbour

10th December – No swimming this week, Year 5 will have PE as usual

10th December – Christmas Fair 3.15pm-4.15pm

11th December – Year 4 to Maidstone Museum

12th December – Reception Nativity at 9am in the hall

15th December – No PE this week

15th December – Year 1 Nativity at 9am in hall

16th December – Year 3 and 4 Church Performance at 10am and Year 5 and 6 Church Performance at 2pm, both at St Laurence Church

16th December -Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Christmas Parties – children to wear Party Clothes to school

17th December – Year 2 Nativity at 9am in School Hall

17th December – Year 3, 4, 5, and 6 Christmas Party Day – children to wear Party Clothes to school

17th December – Christmas Dinner Day

18th December – Year 2 and 3 to watch the Pantomime at St Lawrence College

18th December – Christmas Jumper Day

18th December – Final day at school; school finishes at 2pm and there will be no after school club

 

Thank you all for your support and we hope you have a lovely weekend! 😊

 

The Year 2 Team

Miss Maddy Kennedy – Team Sapphire – maddy.kennedy@chiltonprimary.co.uk

Mr Josh Belsey - Team Cornflower - joshua.belsey@chiltonprimary.co.uk