Holocaust Memorial Day 

Be strong and courageous.' (Joshua 1:9)

Holocaust Memorial Day is the day for everyone to remember the millions of people who died in the Holocaust. Year 2 remembered with a special prayer and liturgy, in which they shared the story of a little boy who survived the Holocaust called Simcha, read a special prayer and reflected on the courage shown by those who went through an extremely difficult time. We asked God to show strength and comfort to those who lost their lives, and to their families, and prayed for courage to help us when we are afraid. 

Dear God,

Please give me strength when I am weak, love when I feel foresaken, courage when I am afraid, comfort when I am alone, hope when I feel rejected and peace when I am in turmoil.

Amen. 

Dodgeball Competition

'Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up.' (Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10)

What a fantastic afternoon we have had competing in a dodgeball competition at St Joseph's School. We played against many strong teams and are proud to announce that WE WON!!!!!!! We demonstrated a lot of determination and perseverance, and worked incredibly well as a team. 

Wheelchair Basketball 

'Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial.' (James 1:12)

What an amazing time we have had today meeting Nat, who came to share his inspirational story with us and lead us in wheelchair basketball. We learnt to never give up on our dreams and to always keep going to succeed. It was so much fun and it definitely brought out the competitive streak in us all - especially the teachers.  

Following in the Footsteps of the Holy Family

We were joined by Mrs Wright who explored the Gospel story 'Finding in the Temple' (Luke 2: 41-52) using Godly Play. We explored pictures and identified what and who the Holy Family were, before describing our own immediate and extended family. We create a heart of all our families to show that we all have something in common - we are all God's family. 

Remembrance Prayer and Liturgy 

Greater love  has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends' . (John 15:13)

In preparation for this very special time of memory, Year 2 have created their own individual poppies and large class poppies. We reflected in our class Prayer and Liturgy on the sacrifices made by others and the people who we have lost from our own lives. We wrote their names on a special poppy to help us remember them. 

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Pumpkin Tasting 

We have had an amazing afternoon trying some beautiful pumpkin soup which Mrs Lowery made for us. Some of us had never tried it before and have found yet another new favourite food. It certainly filled us with a warmth on this extra cold Autumn day. 

Growing in the Faith and Love of God 

Year 2 are really enjoying being part of, and taking ownership of their prayer and liturgy sessions. We have chosen themes that help us understand ourselves, the choices we make and how we can use these to live in the image and likeness of God. We are enjoying setting up our worship areas for each theme, singing hymns and reading different stories from the Bible. 

500 Words Writing Competition 

Year 2 have really enjoyed taking part in the UK's most successful children's writing competition. We have been using our creativity and imagination to write a story that we would love to read and share with others. We had many ideas for a range of Christmas, scary, adventure and fantasy stories. Some of us were feeling very confident and shared our stories with the rest of the class. 

These are two of our stories:

The Naughty Elf’s Christmas

Once upon a time, in the frozen North Pole, there lived a silly little elf called Lily. She lived inside a glittery snow globe on the highest shelf in Santa’s workshop. Lily was kept away from the other elves because she was naughty and could be really annoying.

One night, a magical idea came to her. That day she had been watching Santa checking through his naughty and nice list with his feather pen. She was going to steal the feather and tickle the red noses of all the other elves. Gently and quietly, she lifted the lid of her glittery globe, crawled out and down the old bookshelf and tiptoed as quiet as a sugar mouse towards the feather. Using all her magic, she lifted the feather and made her way to Elf Village.

One by one, she tickles the noses of the sleeping elves. They woke unhappy and mad. They had all had enough and came up with a plan to stop and trap her. Mrs Claus put on her greenest pyjamas and crawled inside an elf bed. She closed her eyes and pretended to give out an alarming snore. This tricked Lily who crept inside and used the feather to tickle round her red nose.

All of a sudden, Santa and the other elves shot out from under the bed where they had been hiding and waiting Lily was shocked. Using ribbon, Santa tied Lily to Rudolph who then flew in the magical night sky to the tallest Christmas tree the world had ever seen. Rudolph untied her and nodded his head towards the tree top. Lily knows what she had to do. She balanced herself carefully on the top next to the star and that is where she stayed for the whole of Christmas. She became known as the fairy on top of the Christmas tree.

The Tale of the Fairies

Many moons ago there lived a kind, gentle fairy called Sadie. She lived with her fairy friend Sally in a cosy, colourful cottage in the middle of an enchanted forest. One sunny cold morning in the depths of winter, Sadie woke up from her warm, snuggly sleep and realised Sally was missing. She quickly got dressed and searched the enchanted forest. Sadie was losing all hope when she suddenly potted a white piece of paper blowing the breeze. Sadie approached the tree stump it was attached to. The note said,

“Dear Sadie, I am sort I left so early but I knew you would try and stop me! There is a big wide world waiting for me beyond the enchanted forest and I want to explore the human world. See you soon!”

Sadie felt a rush of excitement as she also had been thinking of exploring beyond the enchanted forest – even though it was forbidden by the Fairy Fathers who ruled the land. Sadie quickly ran to the edge of the forest where the sorcerer’s stone guarded the realms. She places her hand upon the stone and the magic door opened. Passing through, she gazed in wonder at the paradise!

A haven of gold sand covered the land and stopped where it touched the glistening, turquoise water. In the distance, Sally stood at the end of the trickling waves. Sadie ran, heart pounding towards her friend. They met and hugged happily laughing with excitement and wonder of what was ahead. They gripped each other’s hand and began to enter the warm, soothing water. Further and further, they went until they bumped into a dark green rock. They stopped and screamed, terrified as the rock began to move. It picked the fairies up and hurled them onto it’s back. Sadie and sally realised it was a friendly sea monster. They both told him how they wanted to explore the human realm. He agreed to take them on the most amazing adventures through the highest mountains and deepest oceans. They swam off into the glorious sunset together.

Fruit From Around The World 

This term, we have been exploring where our food comes from. Some of us thought that it just came from the supermarket, but after some exploration we now understand that it is produced in countries from all over the world. Today we sampled a selection of fruit from around the world. Some of it tasted delicious, others not so much and made us pull some very funny faces. We used maps and atlases to research the countries where each of the fruits were grown. 

World Mental Health Day 

'There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me.' (Phillipians 4:13)

As part of World Mental Health Day we have spoken about our mental health and how we can keep our minds positive. We discussed our emotions and identified adults we can speak to if we feel sad or upset. We created a set of emojis to show some different emotions that we might experience. 

Bollywood Dancing with Kalpesh Zalavadiya 

Today we have had a fantastic day learning about Bollywood dances. We had the chance to meet Kalpesh Zalavadiya who taught us three amazing Bollywood dances. They certainly woke our bodies up and filled us with excitement. We really enjoyed performing these to the rest of the school. 

Peter Rabbit and the Scarecrow 

This term, we have been reading 'The Tales of Peter Rabbit'. We have found out that Peter can be a little bit naughty and likes to go into Mr McGregor's garden and munch away on his vegetables. On his adventures, Peter Rabbit meets some birds who can also cause problems in the garden. In Year 2, we have made some scarecrows to help Mr McGregor. We wrote instructions and used these to create our own little versions. They look absolutely wonderful.