,One week we read the story of Zog by Julia Donaldson.  We used role play and story mapping.  Next we learnt about the features of a diary entry.  After that we wrote a diary in the character of Zog, describing his first day of dragon school.
 
Later in Geography, we designed our own habitats, this linked without learning in Science from the half term.  After identifying the different features of our habitats, we explained what made our creations suitable for a dragon to thrive.

​The area was a hive of activity, anticipation buzzed in the air and excited conversations seemed to be about little else.  Surprisingly, this wasn’t due to their recent school holiday or imminent SATs but an appearance of police incident tape.  Last week the Year 2 school entrance area became a crime scene.
 
According to a faux CBBC Newsround report, sometime during the Easter break a school iPad was damaged which led the police being called.  There is no shortage of suspects, from mid-day assistants through to members of senior leadership.  Being strictly impartial, the Year 2 children have begun to assist with the ongoing investigation during their weekly computing lessons.

​When asked about their lessons so far, the children have been eager to share their theories.  Ryan (2MB) exclaimed that the videos are amazing.  Emelia (2BG) intrigued by seeing how the police arrived at school to investigate.  Velsie (2JP) said she is enjoying the challenge of finding out who is responsible.  Dani (2JC) was also really excited about the iPad mystery, although she admitted she may miss her teachers if they were sent to prison.
 
As a year group team, we felt that the scheme of work for this half term seemed a little lacklustre; it recommended teaching how to email.  Therefore we realised that we needed to develop a bespoke series of lessons appropriate to the needs of the children within our classes.  Given the summer term can be demanding, we decided that our lessons needed to be as fun and as engaging as possible.

​Using a cross-curriculum selection of skills, including reading and writing, the children are utilising Google Classroom to collaborate in lessons.  This secure platform simulates a social media experience that many of the children may be familiar with at home, in a controlled and safe classroom context.  The children are interacting and making inferences based on multimedia ‘evidence’ to help solve the mystery.  This has already facilitated conversations around online safety, age appropriate content and the use of devices beyond school.
 

The iPad Mystery                 https://youtu.be/FuVgOKm29Ac
The iPad Mystery (Act 2)      https://youtu.be/sJeLoBQg2PM

Progress through Reading

Just over a year ago 2JP began a journey to improve their home reading, at the time only four children each week were 5x Readers. We promised each other that we were going to take seriously the school policy recommending we read at home five times each week. Each term this year we have made progress, on average of about seventeen children in our class stand in awards assembly each week as 5x a week readers, which has led other classes to try and replicate our success.

Last week, we decided to end the school year by raising the bar. All 29 children stood assembly, proud of being 5x a week Readers. Jemimah explains that “I enjoy reading a range of different books”. Jimmie added “I enjoy using bugclub to have more choice of books to read”. Admittedly there was a challenge laid out many months ago that Mr. Powell is now obliged to fulfil. Mrs Coates has already said the outcome will be posted online for all to see.

However, for those who have wondered why 2JP have enthusiastically pursued such a challenge even at this late stage in the school year, here is the explanation. There is a body of research through the last thirty years which shows that frequent reading for pleasure boosts attainment in writing, comprehension and grammar. Effects are also seen in self-confidence, decision making and understanding of others, regardless of a child’s background. (DofE ‘Reading for Pleasure’, May 2012)

It is brilliant that our Ofsted report recognised the schools progress in reading across Key Stage 1; the children enjoy frequent visits to the school library, reading skills lessons and ‘drop everything and read’. In 2JP our class data shows reading as one our strengths, no small thanks to our fantastic parents who have helped with all that reading at home. We are a friendly and open class, so allow us to share this secret, one of the best things you can do this summer holiday to help prepare for September is simply to read.

Details of the local library summer read programme can be found online here: summerreadingchallenge.org.uk