W/E: 24/04/25

Lucy: has amazed us with her writing this week.  We have begun to write a description of a scene we have discovered in our new class reading book, The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright.  Not only was Lucy able to identify features previously used in Class 2, such as expanded noun phrases, adverbs and exciting vocabulary, but she also quickly got to grips with our new technique: similes.  Lucy wrote, 'The koala was as soft as a teddy'.  She has been extremely vocal in class, sharing her ideas for exciting vocabulary, and continues to try hard to use beautiful cursive writing!

W/E: 28/03/25

Isla: wowed Miss Broughton over the last half-term is growing with confidence in maths.  She has shown incredible resilience - never giving up when she finds things difficult and listening carefully to all of the clues given to her to help her work out the answer.  She scored well in her recent assessments, which was not a surprise due to the wonderful progress she is making.  Well done Isla, we are very proud of you!

Emma: This week we have carried out some geography field work.  Our enquiry question was: Is our pond healthy?  As a class, we decided that we would need to visit the pond and check how many living things there were in and around it.  We went pond dipping on Wednesday and Emma thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  She used the net to successfully scoop water out of the pond and then studied its contents carefully.  She was able to point to the creatures she found on an identification sheet and then drew them when we got back to class.  A huge well done to Emma! 

W/E: 21/03/25

Joshua: has blown Mrs Smith's socks off this week due to his attitude to learning across all of his subjects.  He is keen to learn and is trying his best during all of his learning time.  He is often covered in stickers and gains many points for his team due to his fabulous effort.  We are especially pleased with the progress that he is making in reading.  Not only is he working hard during his daily reads and his phonics lessons, but he has also begun to read happily at home too.  He is very proud of himself for this and rightly so.  Well done Joshua.

W/E: 14/03/25

Kitty: has really shone this week during our science workshop.  We are learning all about 'living things and their habitats' and the children's task was to design a new creature which was perfectly adapted to a particular habitat.  At the start of the lesson, we looked at a range of living things, including animals and plants and thought about where they lived.  It was when we talked about why these living things lived in a particular habitat that our star became so enthusiastic.  When talking about why a polar bear was perfectly suited to its environment, Kitty was able to explain in detail.  She talked about its thick fur and fatty layers, its ability to camouflage and what it eats and how it is suited to catching its food.  Well done Kitty, we are very proud of you.  

W/E: 07/03/25

Lola: has made us smile a lot during the last couple of weeks. Her confidence is growing, and she is really beginning to show us her wonderful personality!  She is eager to share her thoughts in English lessons which is a real step change - even looking disappointed when she is not chosen!  We are beginning to see this new confidence reflected in her individual work too, which is wonderful to see.  She uses all of the resources around her to help including the working wall, resources on the table and her learning partner.  Well done Lola we are all very proud of the progress you are making!

W/E: 28/02/25

Delilah: has been extremely focussed on her reading and phonics this week.  During her 1-2-1 reading session with Mrs Smith, we noticed that she is gaining confidence when reading longer words.  She has recently made great strides in the number of graphemes that she recognises and is able to use this knowledge much more fluently when reading her Monster Phonics books.  Delilah is also becoming more confident when segmenting her words for spelling.  This confidence has been noticed this week during phonics when we have focussed on writing words containing consonant clusters.  Congratulations Delilah, we are all very proud of you!

W/E: 14/02/25

Dominic C: is someone who is trying hard in his writing this week.  He has developed beautiful cursive handwriting, remembering to create letters of the correct relative size.  His capital letters, ascender and descenders are all perfectly formed in relation to one another, making his writing a pleasure to read.  His next focus is the content of his writing and, with encouragement this week, he has begun to write more and listen to the suggestions I have made.  Keep working hard Dominic we are very proud of you for the progress you are making!

Lucas: is a joy to have in the classroom.  He listens carefully and works hard every single day!  He always makes good choices in the classroom and outside when playing with his friends.  Lucas is happy to listen to the feedback he is given and as a result is making good progress in all subjects.

W/E: 07/02/25

Jed: amazed everyone during our school trip to the National Coal Mining Museum on Wednesday, whether it was staff at the museum or parent helpers.  He was completely engaged all day and was able to recall his classroom learning in a different scenario.  He recalled when Queen Victoria was on the throne, when the new laws came into force protecting women and children, whether this was good news for the families concerned, and even recalled some of his year 1 learning to help him answer a question.  He was extremely knowledgeable about the jobs families did down the mine in the early nineteenth century and was eager to learn more!

Lola: has been working hard on her reading, whether it be at home or at school.  She works hard during her extra phonics lessons and is able to recognise many more graphemes.  This in turn, is helping to build her confidence in terms of sentence writing.  Lola is becoming more fluent!

W/E: 31/01/25

Dominic F: has come back from the Christmas break completely focussed on his learning.  This is noticeable in all subjects but particularly when he is writing.  His beautiful cursive handwriting and attention to detail are ensuring that his work is of a high quality every single day!  I have also been impressed with his determination to complete the writing challenge.  He remembered to use our year 2 rules of writing much more consistently and works hard to include many of the new rules we are learning.

Leo: works hard every day.  He is an extremely valuable member of our class because he is so considerate and thoughtful when answering questions during group discussions.  He thinks deeply about his learning and is happy to share his thoughts with the class.  The end result of this is that he often helps to deepen the thinking of other children in the class.  What would I do without him!

W/E: 24/01/25

Nadia: has been working with Mrs Smith during maths lessons to help build her confidence in maths.  Both Mrs Smith and I agree that she is working extremely hard and is now very focussed in the lesson.  As a result, she is making fantastic progress.  We have recently started a new unit of learning on money.  Nadia can recognise all of the British coins and notes, accurately add pence together and pounds together using the taught jottings and is beginning to be able to answer problem solving and reasoning questions in this area.

Pippa: has wowed and amazed us with her writing since Christmas, and we could not be more proud of her.  Not only has her handwriting transformed but the content of her writing is wonderful too.  Before Christmas, she would struggle to get her ideas down on the page, but something seems to have clicked.  She writes with beautiful cursive handwriting and thinks carefully about her sentences (saying her sentences out loud first).  I often notice her re reading her work to check that it makes sense too!  Well done Pippa - keep it up!

W/E: 17/01/25

Isla: has grown in confidence this week in the area of reading and writing.  She has been working extremely hard with Mrs Smith on her Monster Phonics books working on the fluency of her reading.  She is determined to make progress and is enjoying the reading games she is playing with Mrs Smith to help her blend words more accurately.  As a result of her success in reading, Isla has begun to grow in confidence in the area of writing.  She has transformed from someone who would often sit and worry about what she is going to write and instead, it is now difficult to get her to stop!  Well done Isla, we are all extremely proud of you. 

Flynn: and I are both left handed!  As a result, I often speak to him about how tricky it can be and especially how difficult it was for me when I was learning to write.  He has wonderful ideas for writing and can include the taught techniques with ease, ensuring he uses exciting vocabulary in order to engage the reader.  It is a challenge for him to form his letters correctly, and we have spent some extra time looking at this.  It must be frustrating for him as the new way of holding his pencil (and the paper we are using to help) slows him down.  However, he is determined to make progress and I have no doubt that he will!  Congratulations Flynn.

W/E: 10/01/25

Isaac: I am delighted that Isaac has transformed his engagement in lessons this week which has resulted in some lovely pieces of work.  He actively listens most of the time and works hard to finish the task.  Keep it up Isaac, we are very proud of you!

Riva: has really shone during our writing lessons this week.  We have begun a narrative unit of learning, focussing on spooky story starters.  We began by looking at a good example of a story starter written by a child who won the BBC 500 words competition for their age group.  Riva was quick to identify some of the features which made the boys writing good!  She has then been able to replicate these techniques in her own writing brilliantly.  She has included repetition for effect, exciting vocabulary and expanded noun phrases in order to write a wonderful story opener!

W/E: 13/12/24

A huge well done to Class 2 for their phenomenal performance in the nativity this week.  Their commitment to learning an enormous amount of lines, songs and actions was incredible.  Not only that, but the children really began to deliver their lines with the audience in mind even managing to create some wonderful comedy timing!  We have been unable to single anyone out for star this week because we are extremely proud of you all.

W/E: 06/12/24

Willow: has proven herself to be a really kind friend this week.  She has noticed when another child in her class has needed a friend and has welcomed them with open arms!  Earlier on in the week, we completed our first independent write.  Willow worked hard to write a clear and concise set of instructions which included all the taught features, even remembering to warn the reader about possible pitfalls!  Willow has also worked hard since September to try and remember to end each sentence with the correct punctuation before starting a different sentence and idea.  We have been very impressed with her progress!

W/E: 29/11/24

Jasper: has blown our socks off with his attitude to reading.  He cannot wait for his turn to read at school, always asking if he is next.  He has demonstrated his wonderful blending skills to many of the adults around school and is making super progress with his Common Exception Word recognition too.  Jasper is also very keen to read at home, which is helping him to make some super progress.  His confidence is sky high, which is exactly where we want it to be!  I also must mention his fantastic listening during our trip to the Retford Gymnastics Club this week.  He listened carefully and tried many new activities, including vault, beam and bars.  Well done Jasper, you have had a super week.

W/E: 22/11/24

Daniel: has had a super week this week.  We have started rehearsing the nativity and the seriousness.  The way he is taking to his part is impressive, to say the least.  He reads his lines fluently already and delivers them with a huge amount of expression.  His character is full of humour and I can already see how Daniel will deliver his lines to make everyone laugh.  Not only this, he has made vast improvements in his handwriting.  When using the cursive script, he is remembering to use ascenders and descenders and is remembering to form his letters correctly.  We are extremely impressed with his progress!

Lily E: always gives school 100% no matter which subject we are doing.  As a result, she is making phenomenal progress.  She loves to learn and listens to advice to help improve her work.  Her attitude to learning is superb.  Lily has a large part in the nativity and has battled through the week to ensure that she is part of the rehearsals.  Well done Lilly, your commitment to your learning  and the KS1 nativity is highly commendable.

W/E: 15/11/24

Imogen: has impressed me since day one.  She is quietly confident and diligently gets on with her work without ever making a fuss!  She is always ready for her learning and tries her best at everything she does. She is becoming more confident when answering my questions during carpet time and works well with her learning partner each week.  She is a true role model and a wonderful member of our school community.  We are currently working together on improving her handwriting, and we are trying a number of different techniques in order to help her write in the cursive style and differentiate between ascenders and descenders as appropriate. She has a superb attitude to this challenge and I could not be more proud of her for her perseverance.

W/E: 08/11/24

Iris: played a special role as Monitor for the girls. She showed a huge amount of confidence during the day from the very beginning. Iris listened carefully to instructions and carried out her role to the max!  She has developed an admirable curtsy, an authoritative voice and is an extremely vocal advocate of women’s rights! Well done Iris, you made us all very proud and Miss Sharp was very impressed with you too!

Catherine: is someone who fully immersed herself in the day!  Again, she listened carefully, followed instructions precisely and, as a result, I have no doubt that her learning from the day will stay with her for a very long time.  She was astounded to find out that boys were thought to be more important in the Victorian Times, and it made her angry to know that the boys always went first! Miss Sharp thought that she was a budding suffragette! Well done Kitty, what a great day you had!

W/E: 18/10/24

Aza: really loves and appreciates school.  He regularly tells me that he loves learning, and thanks me for teaching him new things!  Aza's enthusiasm for all subjects and every moment of his school day is infectious; whether it be his interactions with the teachers, lunchtime staff, friends or his focus when learning.  As a result, this young man is making super progress in all areas.  It is particularly notable how much progress he is making in reading and writing.  This is not only because he is focussed, but also because he is not afraid to 'give it a go'! Congratulations Aza, we are very proud of you.

Emma: demonstrates the most incredible amount of perseverance every single day!  She has settled into the routines of class 2 quickly, and we are really impressed with the independence she is demonstrating during her day.  Emma is making wonderful progress in her reading at the moment and has begun to blend CVC words.  She is thoroughly enjoying reading her books during the school day and is quite rightly very proud of herself.    

W/E: 11/10/24

Joshua: has really impressed us this week when completing his learning with Mrs Smith.  On numerous occasions, she has reported to the other members of the team that he is ready to learn, tries hard and has been completing his task to the best of his ability.  Whether it is in maths, where he is completing tasks related to place value, writing, where his focus has been on oral rehearsal of his own sentences and then working on his letter formation or reading, where he has been working hard on the blending of words in his Monster Phonics books.  As a result, we are seeing him grow in confidence.  Well done Joshua, we are all very proud of you.

Teddy: is a fantastic young learner who always completes his tasks to the best of his ability.  We have been particularly impressed with how quickly he has grasped new genres and ideas in our English writing lessons.  He understands the difference between the features of a recount and a description and can articulate this extremely well.  He is not afraid to try out new techniques such as expanded noun phrases and commas for lists and as a result is making exciting progress.  Well done Teddy! 

W/E: 04/10/24

Colin: has been chosen for his fantastic attention to detail.  He listens carefully in every lesson and is always ready to attempt to answer my questions.  Colin is extremely good at applying his learning across subjects, noticing links between subjects. He remembers the previous days learning and eloquently explains his thinking.  What a fantastic start to year 2!

W/E: 20/09/24

Lucy: is a young lady who has quickly settled into the routines and expectations of Year 2.  She works hard during every subject, determined to be the best that she can be.  Lucy has particularly impressed me during maths, where she is able to give clear explanations for her answers.  Her answers sometimes end with the words "of course", which not only makes us smile, but demonstrates her wonderful confidence.  

Ahmad: embodies our school values and our five golden rules.  He is an extremely kind member of the class who is a great learning partner to have! Ahmad takes great care to ensure that he is ready to listen and learn and, as a result, I have no doubt that he will make superb progress this year.  He is becoming more confident in class and now feels able to answer my questions more regularly, ensuring that he makes valuable contributions to our classroom discussions.  Well done Ahmad.

W/E: 13/09/24

George M - has had a fantastic start to year two.  He has settled into the new routines in the classroom well.  He listens carefully and appears to be thoroughly enjoying our Titanic topic, which is demonstrated by the sheer amount of questions he asks during our lessons.  He has a wonderful eye for detail and can gain a lot of knowledge by looking at pictures and photographs as historical evidence.  An all round fantastic start to the year!

Jed: has also settled in well.  He is working incredibly hard during our carpet time and is happy to answer questions across all subjects.  Jed has particularly impressed me in maths, where he is able to explain his answers about our current topic (place value).  When asked to complete a task, he concentrated well and completes it to the best of his ability.  What more could I ask for!