"Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become

children of light.”

 

Ready;Respectful;Resilient

 

               Welcome to Class 2

              We are the Barn Owls, Years 2, 3 and 4

 

 

 

Our staff

  Mrs Heald is our class teacher with Mrs Sherlock and Miss Helm supporting our learning. 

 

         

 

 

The following information tells you a little more about the coming term in Barn Owls and your child's learning. However, if you have any queries or questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

heald@kingsleystjohns.co.uk 

We love to keep you up to date with all that we've been up to on our school  X (twitter) account  @ksjceaided, why not follow us, looking out for our hashtag #Barnowls

General information

• Please tie up long hair (shoulder length or longer).
• Please have a bottle of water at school every day. This can be refilled as necessary.
• Please bring a small school bag, we have limited hanging space and large bags can cause difficulties.
• Reading diaries and books should be in school every day.
• Please return your homework book on or before Wednesday for marking. Homework will be sent out on a Friday.
• All school uniform needs to be named but particularly jumpers and cardigans as these are frequently mislaid. 
• Jewellery is limited to one pair of stud earrings and a wrist watch, jewellery should be removed for PE.

PE is timetabled for Friday and will be outside whenever possible. In cold weather, please add a jumper, trousers and gloves as we will still go outside. Should it be sunny, please add sun hats and suncream if needed. Children must be able to apply their own sun screen.

When we have Forest School children should have wellies or suitable footwear for getting wet/muddy, old clothes with long trousers and a top that covers their arms (this can be a jumper or such that can be removed) Thwy should also have a waterproof coat and layers suitable for the temperature/weather conditions.

 

Spring Term 2026

 

Happy New Year!

After a really positive start to the 25/26 year we are excited to welcome the Barn Owls back to school for the spring term. There are a lot of exciting new subjects and activities to explore.

 

Our Christian Values

During the spring term, our focus Christian value is humility alongside service and trust, followed by compassion and forgiveness in the second half of the term.

In Christianity, God wants people to love one another. When we are humble, we make room for kindness, forgiveness, and teamwork. Pride can push people away, but humility helps us be good friends and care for others.

So Christians value humility because it helps us love God and love people - just like Jesus did.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. - James 3:13

Our roles and responsibilities

     

Here are our school councillors, sports councillors, eco councillors and Beacons who have all been democratically voted in by their peers. Our Beacon group support our school in developing Christian distinctiveness and promote our school Christian Values.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 5:16

Class Novel

 After the popularityVarjak Paw last term we are returning to the streets with Varjak, Holly, Tam and their new fried Cludge the dog (Barn Owls are all Team Cludge!) in The Outlaw Varjak Paw by S.F Said. Varjak will need all of his skills in  The Way - a secret martial art for cats to succeed in his next daring and dangerous adventure!

 

English

In our first half term we will be reading 'Big Blue Whale' by Nicola Davies and 'This Morning I Met a Whale' by Michael Morpurgo'. We will be developing our persuasive writing skills as we write information pieces about the protection of these beautiful creatures.This is followed by writing our own adventure story having explored 'Journey' by Aaron Becker in the second half term.

 

Our routine will include spelling and grammar, handwriting and guided reading sessions. Daily reading at home continues to be essential and we would ask that you read regularly at home with your child to develop a love of reading, to develop new vocabulary and strengthen writing skills.  Whilst listening to your child, ask questions about what has happened so far, characters thoughts and motives and make accurate predictions based on the text. As well as our guided reading and class reading sessions, we will endeavour to hear all our Barn Owls read at least once a week. Our Barn Owls use our class padlet to share what they are reading, make recommendations and develop our love of reading.

https://padlet.com/heald1/barn-owls-books-ot6q4hwagygodmg3

 

Spelling

We will continue to use Pathways to Spell as part of our English lessons to develop spelling strategies and learn spelling rules, as well as the Y2 and Y3/4 common exception words.

Maths

As mathematicians, the children will learn through concrete experiences moving onto pictorial and abstract methods as their confidence builds.They will also be expected to use their learning to reason about maths and solve problems. 

During the spring term we will be working on multiplication and division, length and perimeter and fractions.

Science

As scientists, we aim to develop our knowledge and understanding, scientific skills and measuring and recording abilities. During the the spring term we will be exploring magnets, plants and light in year 3 and 4 as well as materials and plants in year 2. 

 

   

"Successful people are those who failed and kept going."

Marie Maynard Daly, Biochemist and first African American woman to receive a PhD in Chemistry in the USA

    

 

History and Geography

As geographers, this spring, we will be comparing the UK with the United States and Spain looking at both physical and human geography.

 

 

RE

In our RE lessons, we will continue to use the Questful RE planning. In the first half term we will be deepening our understanding of who Jesus was and also learning about the importance of Shabbat (the sabbath) in Judaism before moving on to Easter in the second half term.

Our whole school and class roundabout worships, alongside our class reflection areas and partnerships with our local churches allow the children opportunities to explore our Christian values and develop their own thoughts, reflections and spirituality.

 

PE

PE will take place on a Friday morning, however, there may be other opportunities for exercise so please ensure your child has a complete, named kit in school at all times.

Art and Design

As artists, we will continue looking at the changing art world over the last 175 years and also explore the first nations art of the American west coast.

PHSE

We will start tthe term by thinking about global diversity, what makes us unique and why this is something to celebrate and explore, not fear. We will then move on to our British values in the seconf half term.

Music

As musicians, we will be using Charanga to explore musical styles and different sounds.

MFL

As linguists ,we will continue to have Madame Carter ona Tuesday morning to deliver our French lessons.

Computing

As digital citizens, we will begin by thinking about databases and desk top publishing.

Forest School

The rota for Forest School has yet to be finalised but we will let you know as soon as possible, this will however take place on a Wednesday afternoon alternate weeks.

Please make sure your child has appropriate clothing for the weather and a change of footwear. 

Homework

Homework will be sent out on Friday to be returned on or before the following Wednesday.  We expect each piece to take about 20 minutes.  Please come and see us if there are any difficulties or write a note on the piece of work.

 

English – Focusing on basic skills and new techniques used within our writing

Maths - Focusing on skills and methods learnt in our maths lessons.

Comprehension tasks

Reading – 5-10 minutes each night, please add your recommendations and books you have enjoyed to our class padlet.

Times tables practise- see website list in files below

The Top Marks website has a spelling and grammar section as well as the familiar Hit the Button which will provide useful pratice and consolidation of our classroom learning.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar

 

Possible trips & visitors

Following the success of last year's residential we are going to Robinwood, Todmorden for a 2 night trip in June in a joint adventure with the Falcons. Details to follow shortly.

We will be looking into further visits throughout the year linking to our curriculum.