"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.

 

Autumn Term 2025/26

 

Welcome to the new year!

It is always exciting to welcome you all back for the new year, some Barn Owls will return as our new year 4 and then there will be lots of new faces to join in our learning and fun.

 

Our Christian Values

During the Autumn term, our Christian values are friendship and koinonia, followed by hope and reverence in the second half of the term.

As Christians we believe that we should worki in parnership with others, sharing not only material things but our thoughts and feelings, kindness and love. Koinonia embraces all of these, and as a school community, so do we.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Thessalonians 1 5:11

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Corinthians 1 13:13

 

Our roles and responsibilities

Photos coming soon!      

You will soon get tp meet our school councillors, sports councillors, eco councillors and Beacons who will all be democratically voted in by their peers upon our return to school. 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

For our class novel this term we will be reading Varjak Paw by S.F Said, an exciting 'tail' about a cat who has never left home, until he receives a mysterious visit from his grandfather who tells him about The Way - a secret martial art for cats. Now Varjak must use the Way to survive in a city full of dangerous dogs, cat gangs and, strangest of all, the mysterious Vanishings.

 

English

In our first half term we will be reading 'Gorilla' by Anthony Browne. We will have the opportunity to explore the use of 'show not tell' to create setting descriptions and learn how to use different sentence structures to improve our writing. This is followed by writing a letter using 'The Winter's Child' by Angela McAllister as our focus text.

 

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.

 

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 autumn term we will be working on place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Science

As scientists, we aim to develop our knowledge and understanding, scientific skills and measuring and recording abilities. During the the Autumn term we will be exploring animals including humans. This will include food chains, teeth and the digestive system.

   

"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 historians, this Autumn, along with the whole school, we will be exploring 175 years of Kingsley St. John's. This promises to be a fascinating project as we explore the many changes both locally and worldwide over this period, and their influence on our community.

 

RE

In our RE lessons, we will continue to use the Questful RE planning. In the first half term we will be learning about the Harvest festival in the Christian calander and also learning about world faiths before moving on to Christmas 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

Mr Jones will be taking our PE lessons this year, PE will take place on a Friday however, there may be other opportunities for exercise so please ensure your child has a complete, named kit in school at all times.

Year 4 will also be joining Falcons for swimming lessons starting the in the second week of term and running u until Christmas. More details to follow.

Art and Design

As artists, we will be linking our work to our history topic looking at the changing art world over the last 175 years.  This will give us the opportunity to experiment with many different art movements and think about a variety of artists.

PHSE

We will start tthe term by thinking about how we can keep ourselves healthy, with a focus on exercise before thinking about our local community, ut's importance and our place in it.

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 on Wednesday morning to deliver our French lessons.

Computing

As digital citizens, we will begin by thinking about how computers are connected before discussing online safety and media animation.

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 Friday morning.

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 currently gathering information to book another 2 night trip this year. Details to follow shortly.

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