To all our wonderful Highflyer families

Wow – Highflyer Class just never ceases to be amazing; including our brilliant World Book Day thrown into the mix - for good measure! For the children (and grown-ups!), the opportunity to dress up as a ‘favourite’ character always makes for a truly wonderful day – and it was especially lovely to see so many beautifully clever character costumes plus such a range of chosen book characters :) Genuinely, a favourite day every year!

This coming week will be slightly more settled, reviewing our thoughts about last week but also continuing with our famous people fact files and recounts – looking, next, at Bessie Coleman (within both our Topic and English lessons) to include some structured writing pieces based around our understanding of her special story; alongside finding out, in the process, what she achieved re: the first black woman to gain her pilot's licence and becoming a pioneer in the history of flight!

Our phonic focus (Week 3) will move onto Comparing /j/ /g/ /ge/ /dge/ whilst practicing our Year 2 Common Exception Words of move, prove, improve. This will, additionally, accompany our new learning of ‘near homophones’ e.g. using quite/quiet … to dovetail alongside our weekly ‘Spelling Quiz’, as usual, during each SPaG session every Monday morning from 9.30am.

Maths will continue with money (calculating combinations to £1 and starting to find change from £1) in combination with our rapidly-developing, and mightily impressive, multiplication skills '✖'; using the symbol correctly, skip counting in equal groups, applying our knowledge of expressions and equations i.e. identifying factors and product – whilst verbally revising total amounts formed through 'lots of', 'groups of' or 'times'.

Maths homework was handed out again on Friday; but please do not worry to complete this in any specific timeframe – e.g. even if the page (with your child's name on first) is the only side that they feel more confident to complete independently? Also, if any questions are particularly challenging then please do just ask them to either tell me in class e.g. if the second side is proving slightly too much for them … or simply pop an initial next to it (to let me know); as any feedback is always very helpful, and warmly welcome – I promise :)  

Forest School is, as per the norm, taking place again on Wednesday morning (from 10.00am); with Performance Sport/our Outdoor P.E. securing a very happy hour ‘together’ on the All-Weather pitch re: Thursdays from 1.30-2.30pm – before all the children switch happily (with Challenger Class) to then enjoy approx. 60 minutes of Art with Mrs Mayor until the end of their day …

We are also hoping, early next week, to be able to keep you all fully posted about our exciting Henley Youth Festival activities (and those specifically for Year 2) taking place as well as the start of British Science Week – so, please, do watch this space! Confirmed (to date) is our African Dance Workshop on Friday 13^th from 10.00am … with a really exciting Circus Science Skills Show (being presented to the children as a small workshop - per class) throughout the day on Tuesday 17^th! So … already some super stuff firmly ‘penciled in’ on the Highflyer horizon … :)

Please, also, do feel free to “take your child’s wellies home” each/every week (post Forest School on a Wednesday) – as several families have asked, recently, if they ‘have’ to stay in school … ! Last week, we simply popped them under the large grey table … for safe keeping more than anything … but PLEASE do ensure you have them ‘at home/to hand’ for any weekend events – rather than feeling the need to purchase a second pair ‘just for home’!?!

Wishing you all another lovely week; particularly with the fantastic spell of dry, warm-ish, Spring like ‘feelings’/weather that we all enjoyed towards the latter part of yesterday and today – absolutely gorgeous! And most definitely put an extra spring in everyone’s step :)

With very best wishes – as always,

Mrs Winters and the ever-terrific ‘HF’ Team