de Vere Primary School

Welcome to  Elton Class! 

My name is Mrs Marsh and I am the class teacher. I work with Mrs Sears and Miss Smith, who are our wonderful LSAs. Mrs Westrop teaches on a Tuesday.

Year 2 marks the last year of KS1 and it is very exciting and busy year. The children learn lots and take part in many exciting opportunities linked to our topics;

Autumn 1 Castle Hedingham Old and New (visit St. Nicholas Church and Hedingham Castle)

Autumn 2 Our Capital City – London (Build the Tower of London experience at school)

Spring 1 Hot and Cold Places (Zoo Experience at school)

Spring 2 The Great Fire of London (National Archives Office - virtual experience)

Summer 1 Space Explorers (visit to Cambridge Science Center)

Summer 2 Beside the Seaside (visit to the Seaside) 

We have our Forest School sessions on a Monday and PE lesson on a Friday. 

In year 2; the children will prepare for the KS1 SATS assessments (or Special Agent Training, as we like to call it) which they will take throughout the month of May.

I am always available for a chat. Please contact me via email: s.marsh@devere.essex.sch.uk or telephone via the office. 

17th March 2023

Elton class have had another busy fortnight. In English, the children have been writing non-chronological reports about the Great Fire of London. We are going to create a mini-museum in the library so the rest of the school can learn from us. You are also welcome to come and have a look next week!

In Maths, we have moved on to measures. We have been measuring in centimetres and metres, learning what is the appropriate unit of measure based on the size and using comparative language.

Science week has been so much fun! We loved receiving our special message from Obama Class and figuring out how to send the message on to Lee Class. We sent the message via aeroplanes. Check out our newly discovered folding skills! We learnt about a famous scientist called Jack Horner, who is a palaeontologist. We made dioramas to represent some of his findings and included our science knowledge about habitats and animals and their young.

3rd March 2023

In Elton class we have started the new half term with very positive learning behaviours. The grown-ups are very impressed.

Our new topic is The Great Fire of London. Our learning in History, English and Music has been focused on this. So far, we have learnt when The Great Fire of London happened, how we know so much about, the events that occurred within the fire and why the fire was able to spread so quickly. The children have been using all of their history skills to find out all they can. In English we have used statements, questions, commands and exclamations to write about London in both the past and present tense.

In PSHE, we are learning about Bullying. We know that bullying is being hurtful to someone repeatedly over time. In addition, we know that there are 4 types of bullying; verbal, physical, indirect and online. Importantly we learnt how to give a 3-point apology to help put right our wrong choices. We know that this helps the other person to feel better and also helps us to feel better about the wrong choice we have made.

Our learning about myHappyMind has helped us in so many areas of our school. We know that there are 3 parts of our brain, the Hippocampus, Amygdala and Pre-frontal Cortex. Why don’t you ask your child what these parts of the brain are responsible for? I am sure they will be able to tell you. We also know how neuroplasticity in our brain supports us with our learning. If we keep trying, the neural pathways become stronger and stronger.

10th February 2023

Elton class have had a great fortnight at school. In Art we have been learning how to weave. We began with weaving paper but quickly progressed to weaving with wool. We also learnt how to fray and plait!

In English our learning has centred our Emily Gravett’s book, Meerkat Mail.  We have been so engaged with our writing in character as Sunny the Meerkat. We know that when writing a diary, we need to write in the first person, in the past tense, include adjectives and words to show feelings.

We were also lucky enough to have a meerkat called Betty visit us at school. James the zoo keeper brought a hamster, guinea pig, giant rabbit, snake, tarantula, bull frog and bearded dragon too. Our teachers were so impressed with our courage as most of held all of the animals. It certainly was a day to remember.

27th January 2023

We are learning about so many exciting things! In English, we have written poetry about our favourite colours. In our poems we included some adventurous vocabulary that we have been collecting.

In music we are learning to play the glockenspiel. It is the highlight of our week. We hope to be able to perform to you once we have perfected our skills.

In Geography we are continuing our learning about Hot and Cold Places. We have learnt about people, plants and animals in the Arctic and Antarctica. Did you know that humans do not live in Antarctica?

In Maths we have come to the end of our learning about money. We have learned so many new skills, including how to calculate the change. We will be able to check this in the shops now.

13th January 2023

Happy New Year to you all!

In Class 2 we finished off 2022 with amazing learning in design technology. We used all of evaluating, designing and making skills to create a bridge to withstand the weight of a Billy Goat and a chair for Olaf to be able to sit on.

In computing we have learnt that we use technology for 5 main reasons. Ask you child and see if they can remember what they are.

We have started 2023 with learning about money in Maths. We are now able to use different coins and notes to pay for an item.

In English, our learning is focussed around ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’. The children have used their persuasive skills to write a letter to the crayons to ask them to come back.

Our topic this half term is Hot and Cold Places. So far, we have learned that there are 7 continents in the world and 5 main oceans.  I warn you that the songs that we use to help us learn are very catchy!

9th December 2022

It’s nearly Christmas! We have been busy rehearsing for our Christmas Production of ‘Lights, Camel, Action’ and we cannot wait to share it with you.

In Maths, we have mastered addition and subtraction even when we need to exchange tens and ones. This had taken our all our growth mindset tools but we got there in the end.

In English, we are studying ‘Mog’s Christmas’, so far, our learning has focused around vocabulary and how we can use words carefully to make puns.

In the Foundation Subjects, we are learning about freestanding structures in DT. We are going to make a design, make and evaluate a throne for the King. We are becoming computer ‘whizzes’ through our digital literacy skills and can edit texts with ease.

25th November 2022

Wow! What a fortnight Elton Class have had. In Maths, we have continued our learning on addition and subtraction but we have now learnt to add and subtract 2 two-digit numbers even when we need to exchange tens and ones. This was a really tricky skill to learn but we have had a growth mindset and we have now cracked it.

In English, we have nearly finished applying all the skills we have learnt about statements, commands, questions and exclamations to write our guidebooks. I am so impressed with the outcome that I am going to see if St. Nicholas church would like to have them to share with their visitors.

The children have particularly enjoyed their recent PE lessons where they are developing their gymnastic skills. The are able to use the equipment safely and use appropriate techniques.

We are continuing to rehearse for our production of Lights, Camel, Action and our acting skills are developing well. We are looking forward to performing to you.

11th November 2022

Elton class have thoroughly enjoyed learning about London in Geography. They know about lots of London landmarks including; Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The Shard and Monument to name a few. They have also learnt how to give compass point directions to get from one landmark to another.

We have been reading the book ‘A Walk in London’ by Salvatore Rubbino. The book is a mix of a recount and an information book. Elton class are going to create their own guide books titled ‘A Walk in Castle Hedingham’, so far we have written the recount. I was super impressed with the variety of time adverbials that the children were able to use.

In Maths, we continue our learning on addition and subtraction, where we are learning to add and subtract 2 two-digit numbers.

7th October 2022

We’ve had a fabulous couple of weeks. We visited the church and learnt some really interesting facts. Did you know that once a robber was nailed to the church door!

In Maths, we have completed our unit on place value and scored really well in our end of unit tests. The children were able to apply this knowledge in an investigation. It was a fun lesson. We are now learning about addition and subtraction.

In RE, the children have been exploring the question of “Why is light important to Christians, Hindus and Jews?” The children have been able to think deeply about this and back up their answers with some facts about religion.

In English, we are learning about a new story, it is called “If all the world were” by Joseph Coelho. We have learnt how to write statements, commands and questions. We are also working hard to use the terms ‘verb’ and ‘noun’.

The children continue to love their sessions in the forest. Last week they learnt how to use tools.

September 23rd 2022

What an excellent start to year 2 Elton Class has had! I am so impressed with their ability to be independent! I am also super impressed with their writing! In English, we have been learning about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We have written a new version of the story from the point of view of Goldilocks. When we write the word ‘I’ we must remember to use a capital letter.

We have started the year with our topic ‘Castle Hedingham Old and New’. We have been using our history detective skills to see how the buildings in the village have changed over time. Tomorrow, we are visiting Mr. Bird at St. Nicholas church to learn what has stayed the same at the church and what has changed. We will let you know what we find out in the next newsletter.

In Maths, we a working with numbers to 100! We know how to order them, partition them in tens and ones, partition them in a variety of ways and write number sentences to represent our partitioning.

Some other notable things the children have loved are their ‘Forest School’ sessions and P.E. with Reece. Monday and Friday are great days of the week!

In class 2 we LOVE reading. We read all day, every day. Reading is all around us. We read for enjoyment, we read to find out information, we read to know how to play games, we read to find out about new words, we read because it lets our imagination run wild, we read because it helps us to understand the world, we read because it is relaxing. The list is endless!

By Year 2, we know most of the sounds that letters make. The skill children need to practise the most is reading! The biggest impact you can have is to read with your child as regularly as possible. The expectation is you read with your child at least 4 times per week and record this in your children learning log.

Children will have a reading book that is carefully matched to their phonic reading ability and also have a library book. The children can change their books whenever they wish to. They simply need to put in the yellow box and pop on a post-it note with their name and an adult will change it for them. The children choose their own library books to ensure they have every opportunity to read for enjoyment.