St Mellons Church in Wales Primary SchoolWelcome to Class 2! Croeso i Dosbarth 2!
Teacher: Mrs Xiberras
Learning Support Assistant: Miss Morris
Communication
Contact us on class2@stmellonsprm.cardiff.sch.uk
X (Twitter) - @stmellonsprm
Our Schoop ID: 13339
Google Classroom Code:
Overview of the day
8.45-9.00 Children arrive and take part in early morning activities
9.05 – 9.25 Worship
9.25 - 10.30 Literacy, Languages & Communication
10.30 – 10.45 Snack / Break Time
10.45 - 11.00 Helpwr Heddiw
11.00 – 12.00 Mathematics & Numeracy
12.00 – 1.00 Lunch
1.10– 1.40 Read, Write, Inc. session
1.40 - 2.10 Guided Group Reading
2.10 – 3.00 (Topic/Science/RE/ICT), including 10 minutes daily mile/ outdoor activities
3.00 Storytime
3.15 Home Time
Important dates for the half term
Please click here for our diary dates
General Information
Uniform:
Please send your child in school uniform every day. Wearing school uniform helps promote a sense of belonging, pride, and readiness to learn, while ensuring all children are dressed appropriately and equally. Please label all uniform.
Reading:
Please bring your book to school every day. We will ensure your child's book is changed when needed. We ask that you read with your child at home for a minimum of 10 minutes a day.
Spelling:
Spelling Lists are uploaded onto our Google Classroom for Year 2 children who have completed the Read, Write, Inc. Phonics Programme.
PE:
PE will be every Tuesday. Children should wear black shorts, house colour or white t-shirt and trainers, labelled clearly with their name. They may also wear black jogging bottoms when completing activities outdoors.
Snack:
Please bring a bottle of water to school daily, clearly labelled with your child's name on it. Healthy snacks can be purchased from school (via ParentPay) or brought from home.
Autumn Term 2026
Our value this half term is Thankfulness.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1
Please discuss our termly value with your child at home and encourage them to share how they have been ‘living out’ the value in their daily life.
Please click here for our 'Thankfulness' handout
Context for learning
Our whole school theme is 'Change Starts Here'
The Year 2 Topic is 'Big Ideas, Big Changes'.
Our inquiry question is
Big ideas can change the way people live.
By the end of this topic, pupils will have explored how big ideas and inventions have changed the way people live, work and communicate. Through learning about significant inventors, including Alexander Graham Bell, and investigating the development of technology such as telephones and computers, learners will develop an understanding of how innovation can transform society. They will explore the properties and uses of different materials, considering why inventors choose particular materials when designing products. Through practical problem-solving, designing and creating their own inventions, pupils will recognise that creativity, curiosity, and perseverance can lead to meaningful change.
Here are some of the Pupil Voice questions that will guide our inquiry topic:
Who invented the washing machine?Who invented the quill and feather pen?
Who invented the sweeping brush?
Who invented the TV and iPhones?
Who invented the fridge?
Who invented the penny farthing?
How were ovens invented?
Who invented electric bikes?
Who made spaceships?
Our LLC lessons are built around high‑quality, engaging texts. This term, our learning in LLC will be linked to our topic Big Ideas, Big Changes. We will begin by exploring the inspiring story Rosie Revere Engineer, which encourages creativity, resilience and problem-solving. Through reading, discussion and research about inventors and inventions, pupils will develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. As part of their learning, children will create a non-chronological report about an inventor or invention, using facts and information gathered throughout the topic.
This term in Humanities, we will explore how inventions and new ideas have changed people’s lives over time. Through learning about significant inventors, such as Alexander Graham Bell, children will investigate how communication and technology have developed from the past to the present day. They will consider how different materials are used for different purposes and discover how inventors solve problems through creativity and innovation. Through discussion, enquiry and practical activities, pupils will develop an understanding of how people’s ideas can bring about change and improve the way we live, work and communicate.
In RVE our big question is 'What do religions teach about the creation of the world?' We will consider 'Who made the world?' 'What do Hindus believe about where the world came from?' 'Why should we care for the world?' At Christmas time, we will consider the question 'Why does Christmas matter to Christians?'
St Mellons CIW Primary School is proud to be a Rights Respecting School, which means we are a community where children's rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted. This half term we will be focusing on Articles 6, 12, 13, 17, 29 and 31 from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In maths we will be looking at continuing to develop the children’s number skills. We will start by concentrating on the number system, looking at place value, ordering and comparing numbers to 100, estimating and counting in 2, 5 and 10s. We will then look at developing our addition and subtraction skills by looking at fact families and number bonds to 20 and 100. We will be looking at these concepts through money and measurement, so any opportunity you have to involve your child in recognising or using money, using weighing scales or measuring lengths will really help cement their understanding and knowledge.
We will also continue to learn our times tables.
Please click to see the Topic Plan. (Coming soon)!
Homework
Regular reading with an adult is the most important homework. There will also be a termly homework grid based on our topic. Children may do as many homework tasks as they like over the course of the term.
Children can complete their homework in whichever format they wish to choose, e.g Hwb, PowerPoint, on paper, videos etc.
Choose from activities on our homework grid:
Please click here for our homework grid
Four Purposes
The four purposes are that all children and young people will be:
Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives.
Enterprising, creative contributors who are ready to play a full part in life and work.
Ethical, informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world.
Healthy, confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
Literacy, Language and Communication
Read Write Inc is taught daily (Monday- Friday). Children are grouped according to their current ability. In each session we focus on identifying and learning Read Write Inc sounds and associated words.
Numeracy
The children might like to practice skills with these online games:
Times Tables Rock Stars- pupils will have their individual logins for TTRS
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/toy-shop-money
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-buttonhttps://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/place-value-basketball
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/daily10
Welsh
The Welsh language is very important to us. We encourage both staff and children to use incidental Welsh both inside and outside of the classroom. We enjoy our Helpwr Heddiw sessions which supports the children in learning new phrases by playing fun Welsh games and through independent learning opportunities as part of their continous provision available throughout the day.
Learn Welsh Games - https://www.learn-welsh.net/welshgames
S4C Education - https://www.s4c.cymru/en/education/tag/36/primary/
Modern Foreign Language (MFL)
Coming soon!
Internet Safety
At St Mellons, we promote the use of 'SMART' rules, as we know how important it is to stay safe online.
Please encourage your children to use these 'SMART' rules at home too.
For more information please visit https://hwb.gov.wales/zones/online-safety/key-information/primary-learners/
Jigsaw
The Curriculum for Wales is now a statutory requirement since September 2022 for all schools in Wales. It has a key role to play in helping children and young people navigate the world safely. Welsh Government wants education to help our children to develop as healthy, confident individuals, ready for the next chapter in their life after school. Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) encompasses the knowledge, skills, dispositions and values that will empower learners to:
• support their health and well-being
• develop healthy, safe and fulfilling relationships of all kinds, including those with family and friends, and in time, romantic and sexual relationships
• navigate and make sense of how relationships, sex, gender and sexuality shape their own and other people’s identities and lives
• understand and support their rights and those of others to enjoy equitable, safe, healthy and fulfilling relationships throughout their lives.
Please click here for more information curriculum-for-wales-relationships-sexuality-education-code.pdf (gov.wales)
Healthy Schools
We are very proud to be promoting a healthy school. We encourage all children to eat healthy during snack and lunch times.
We are able to provide snack for your children in school. Please pay via ParentPay.
Please ensure that your child has a labelled bottle in school daily, containing water only. We have fresh drinking water fountains, where the children can refill their bottles.
For advice on how to make a healthy packed lunch, please visit: https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes/
Active Travel
WOW is a pupil-led initiative where children self-report how they get to school every day using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker. If they travel sustainably (walk, cycle or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. It's that easy!
Please support us on our Active Travel mission by encouraging your child to walk, cycle or scoot to school, or use Park and Stride. This will help keep our bodies healthy and help reduce our carbon footprint!
Picture News
During our worship time on Mondays, we have been discussing Picture News, challenging ourselves to use new, ambitious vocabulary to describe our feelings and opinions. We have been learning about current news, topics and events.
Useful links
By clicking below, you can access a range of resources to continue learning at home:
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ - Great online games for curriculum areas
https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/levels/zbr9wmn - BBC Bitesize
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2literacy.html - Lots of online games linked to different areas of the curriculum
https://www.learn-welsh.net/welshgames - Online Welsh games
https://corbettmathsprimary.com/5-a-day/ - Corbett Maths - 5-a-day Challenges
hwb.gov.wales - collection of online tools provided to all schools in Wales by the Welsh Government