Spring 2022

We were very pleased to have the children return after the Christmas break and see their smiling faces. We have had a busy start to the year. We looked at our new topic 'Pirates' and explored atlases to find different places around the world. The children found the places that they had visited with their families using the atlases. 

During PE this half term we are taking part in hockey sessions. This week we practised holding the hockey stick correctly, after that we practised the push pass. 

In week 2, children were introduced to this half term's Christian Value- Peace.  They had some wonderful ideas about how we can show and encourage peace in ourselves, in our community and in the world.  We were inspired by the Peace Prayer and wrote our own. 
   

Children also contributed to our whole school Peace Dove.  There are some wonderful reflections from across all classes and our display is a beautiful addition to the school hall. 

In Maths this week, we have been recapping arrays and doubles as part of our new work on multiplication and division.  
Children had to help Mrs Knitter to solve a problem- How many slippers would she need for all of her animals?  What could we do?  We built arrays with counters, cubes and compare bears! They also worked in pairs to solve some extra problems!  What could the array be? 

In Art, we were introduced to the famous artist - Leonardo Da Vinci!  Children were surprised that he was also an inventor and a musician!  They spent some time finding out some key facts about his life before looking at some of his early art work- including a pet dragon!  Children discussed their favourite art pieces and showed some good use of topic vocabulary. 
   

Children were introduced to our DT topic.  We started lesson 1 with evaluating existing puppets and we discussed our likes and dislikes.  Sooty was a clear favourite with Year 2!

Week 3 includes further work on sharing and grouping.  Children played a game to share a number of counters into equal groups.  Is it possible to make equal groups?  How do we know? 
 

In Music, we are continuing to learn about Rock Music and we all identified the famous guitar solo in 'We Will Rock You!'
We have some budding air guitarists.

In Design Technology, we previously looked at a range of puppets and discussed what we liked and disliked.  This week, we tried to make our own mini finger puppets.  We thought about our designs- linked to our interests- and used a range of felt colours to bring our designs to life.  Children were very proud of their finished finger puppets! 

In Art, we took inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci, using a range of hatching techniques.  Children enjoyed experimenting with a range of pencils before being challenged to shade some cherries! We were amazed with some fantastic pencil work.  Well done Year 2! 

Children used a range of shading and hatching techniques to make the cherries 'come alive'. 

English

In English this half term, we are looking at the book the 'Pirates Next Door' by Jonny Duddle. Our first writing unit has been to write a letter to complain about the pirates. The children looked at the features of a letter and tried to include these in their own independent writing. They thought about for and against arguments for the pirates to stay in the neighbourhood, most of the children wanted the pirates to leave! Take a look at some of our independent writing - 

This week, we have been focussing on division.  Children shared a range of resources among themselves and thought about how to write number sentences with the division symbol.  We discussed key vocabulary associated with division and played some challenging games.  

In Science this afternoon, the children have been investigating which objects can change shape. They explored if they could - squash, bend, twist and stretch the material. The children then recorded their findings in a table. 

In Design Technology, we tried some different sewing methods: running stitch and over-stitch.  We decided that over-stitch would be the most efficient option when sewing our puppets. 
Children worked on their initial designs for a glove puppet - they used knowledge from previous lessons and thought about how complex they would be to make.  We discussed how some of the designs may need some glue gun help to add specific details but over-stitch would be used to sew the back and the front together.   

It's Monday again and in Maths we completed some work on tally charts.  We wanted to see just how busy our village is by counting the cars.  Children decided that we could collect the data by looking at the colour of cars.  Afterwards, we discussed how we could also use type of vehicle to collate data as we did see a few vans passing school. 

The Design Technology journey continues in Year 2!  Children worked so hard to follow their amazing designs and we are incredibly proud of them all!   The sewing proved tricky for some but their perseverance and determination was amazing to see.  

Here are just a few of their amazing creations... 

In English, we wrote Persuasive Adverts to sell our puppets but don't worry, we wouldn't really sell them after all that hard work.  Children were desperate to take them home with them! After looking through a model text, children identified rhetorical questions, alliteration, personal pronouns and flattery for the reader.  They then included these features in their own persuasive advertisement.  Would you buy one of these 'Perfect Puppet Pals'? 

Children were very excited - it's the last week of half term and they could finally take home their puppets! 

Children evaluated their finished products and we are so proud of Year 2 and their 'perfect puppet pals'! 

In English, children continued planning for their Persuasive Texts. They used a range of non-fiction resources to collect and sort key facts.  Post-it notes were used to record interesting facts about food, animals and landmarks in Asia.  
Children also developed some rhetorical questions to appeal to their audience.  

To finish our topic 'Pirates' the children created a range of pirate themed crafts - hats, swords, flags and maps. They have been using compass directions to describe features on a map, they had to follow a map of the school to find the treasure. The children were very confident at 'Naughty Elephants Squirt Water' - North, East, South and West. 

Spring 2 2022

This half term we will be focussing on the history of vehicles.  We will open our English topic with a film clip before continuing an adventure narrative and finding out more about Amelia Earhart- a famous figure in aviation! 
Please use the links below to view our subject knowledge organisers for Spring 2.  

In Maths, we looked at identifying 2d and 3d shapes.  We also completed some reasoning challenges: what could the mystery shape be?  How do we know? 

In English, we watched a short clip from the film 'Up' before making predictions.  If children had already seen the film, they were challenged to come up with an alternative narrative.  I was very impressed as children even referred to Amelia Earhart (She was the focus from a previous whole class reading text)  

Miss Lee delivered whole school Collective Act of Worship and introduced our new Christian Value- Hope.  In Year 2, we spent some quality reflection time thinking about what Hope means to us. 

Collective Worship with Reverend Ian - 22.02.22  Whole School 

It is so lovely to have all the children back together and take part in whole school Collective Worship. 

Week 2 
Miss Bell and Mrs Batey started a Board Games After School Club for Year 1 and 2 children.  The children were fantastic as we looked at turn-taking, game strategies and fair play.  They had a range of board games to choose from and they were excited to try and 'beat the teacher!' 

In English, children started to write their narrative openings based on the film 'Up'.  Children used a range of adjectives to set the scene and tried to remember to write in first person.  

In Collective Worship (1st March) year 2 children were excited to show Reverend Ian our worship song- Lighthouse.  This linked to our previous worship, thinking about Jesus calming the storm.  Year 2 children were absolutely fantastic and their enthusiasm could be felt throughout the school hall.  Well done Year 2! 

World Book Day was a fabulous celebration on the 3rd March 2022.  
The children painted their own book character, created a front cover for their own story and also created a finger puppet.  
They enjoyed choosing their own book from all of the wonderful pre-loved books that had been brought in. It was a fabulous day.  Thank you to all parents and carers for providing fabulous costumes and donating lots of fantastic books for our 'Book Swap'. 

Week 3 
This week, we are looking at 'Time' in Maths.  We have started with focussing on o'clock and half past.  This lesson had us playing different matching games.

English 
This week, year 2 have completed their final draft of a Narrative.  They were inspired by the film 'Up' and we are immensely proud of their efforts to write at length. Here are a couple of examples: 

We have started our new unit of work based on Information Texts.  Children asked questions to find out more about a mystery guest!  They were incredibly curious and quickly figured out that we were talking about Amelia Earhart!  The children will be writing their own biography about this famous woman in Aviation.  

In Science, children received a letter from little Red Riding Hood! She asked for some plant experts to help identify the flowers that she'd picked for her grandma in the forest so we took to the prayer garden with magnifying glasses. We found lots of daffodils and snowdrops. We hope that Little Red Riding Hood appreciates our hard work

Week 4 
Thank you to Mrs Parker and Mrs Donohoe for helping the children to complete some collage on our hall display board.  Children thought about the meaning of Lent- not just what they could give up but what they could give.  One of the comments said- 'I will not give up hope'.  We have such wonderful, thoughtful children!

In English, we started our research about the Wright Brothers.  We used the biography of Amelia Earhart as a foundation for our research.  Children chose key questions to research and we had flipchart pages around the room to collect the information.  By the end of the week, we hope to have biographies about the Wright Brothers.  

In Maths, we started our new unit on Fractions.  The task for the lesson was to find 1/2 of the 2d shapes.  Some children found that it helped to cut shapes out and fold them; this ensured that they had two equal parts before colouring one half.  

For Music, children used tuned instruments- xylophones and glockenspiels- to accompany the backing track for our Zootime song.  We then had a go at some improvisation using the prompts from Charanga.  Children loved the chilled-out, Reggae vibe! 

In Collective Worship with Reverend Ian, we discussed how we can have hope even in times of upset.  Reverend Ian used the metaphor of a cuddly brown bear to suggest his personality.  Children were asked what animal they see themselves as and why.  We had some fantastic volunteers including one of our fabulous Year 2s.

Week 5 
We began week 5 by revising the features of Instructions in English.  Children tested a set of instructions by making a paper aeroplane.  We all came to the conclusion that the instructions were not very good as the planes didn't fly!  Children were set the task to make an effective paper aeroplane at home and we had lots of willing volunteers so on the next day, we could write a fantastic set of instructions. 


In Maths, we started looking at 'Measures'.  We began the lesson in the classroom using blocks (non-standard units) to measure our equipment. Then we decided to go BIG so we headed outside and measured the playground in children. It was between 24 and 27 children long!

In Design Technology, children got the chance to bring their vehicle designs to life!  This was not an easy task to make sure that the wheels turned and were securely attached to the axle.  Children started by painting the body of their vehicle and we used a range of materials to make the axles and wheels; some children chose cardboard wheels while others chose plastic lids.  We will see what the verdict is when children complete their evaluations. 
Can you see which vehicle belongs to which design? 

Week 6
To begin our final week of Spring 2, we started looking at the mass of objects in Maths.  Children enjoyed investigating the mass of objects in our classroom and we addressed the misconception that bigger objects always have a greater mass.  
 

In English, children were introduced to our Summer 1 Topic - India.  We are due to change our hall displays in Week 1 after Easter and the focus is Poetry.  Children used their English lesson to conduct some research about India in preparation for writing Acrostic Poems.  We looked at landmarks, the physical features, animals and food.  We discovered that India is a country of culture! 

We concluded our Music topic by performing Zootime!  Children sang and played glockenspiels- they all agreed that this was quite tricky! They also evaluated their own performances and set targets for future performances. 

Week 7 
In Science. we have made observations over time by growing plants from a seed. 

In Maths, we have continued to use different units of measure when measuring Mass.  

And finally.......Thank you! 
Well, we made it to the last Friday and what better way to end the Spring Term than inviting parents in to see all the work that we have been doing.  It was lovely to see so many parents and carers back in school so children could share their learning.  Our classroom was a hive of activity and Easter crafts! Thank you so much for your continued support and we hope everyone has a lovely Easter break!