2. Who are the teaching staff? The year 2 teachers are Mrs Smith and Mrs Humphreys. The year 2 LSA team are Mrs Everest, Mrs Smith, Mrs Nash and Mrs Masters. On a Friday afternoons, during the class teachers’ non- contact time, the children will be taught P.E. by Premier Sports coaches and Mrs Barratt.

3. Our themes for this term. During the first half of this term, our theme with be largely Geography and Science led – The Seaside. Almost all of our other subjects link to this theme. Trip to Southend – 22 nd September. The theme for the second half-term will be Time- travellers (key figures and events being: The Gunpowder Plot, The Great Fire of London, Samuel Pepys, Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole) which has a History focus. Again, most subjects will link to this theme to immerse the children in the experience.

4. P.E. – days and kit and other uniform. Physical education will be taught on a Monday and a Friday. The children should have the following kit: t-shirt, shorts and plimsolls. In addition, we would like the children to have tracksuit bottoms. Ideally these would be royal blue but the school does not insist upon this and any plain blue or black bottoms will be acceptable. Earrings – children should not wear earrings for P.E. Therefore, unless they are able to remove them themselves, they should not wear them on P.E. Days. Children with hair longer than shoulder length should tie their hair back (this applies to boys as well as girls) A reminder - hair accessories should be mid-blue or white and small, girls socks should be white or grey, and boys socks should be grey or black.

5. Reading and reading records. The children will normally have a group/ guided reading session each week, with a member of the teaching staff. A stamp will be put in their diaries to show when they have had this. Individual readers are heard when possible by a member of staff or parent helper but the timetable is very busy and this cannot be guaranteed, thus daily reading at home is essential. Any reading, no matter whether it is their school book, or their favourite superheroes annual should ideally be logged in their reading record. At their stage of development, it is important that the children are questioned on the book to ensure that they are understanding the text and discussing unfamiliar language.

6. Homework and homework books. The children will be given a homework book this week which they will use for recording the answers to their mental Maths tests. They can also use it for completing any additional work that they wish to practise e.g. spellings, number bonds, times tables. The Home-School programmes will also be stuck in as and when they need them or change.

7. Parent Helpers If you would like to help out in the classroom, or across the year group, please send in a note (either loose or in the reading diary) to show which days you can come in and at what time.