Grange Valley Primary & Nursery School

Welcome to Year 2 - Miss Dove's Class

WB 3.7.23

This week has been one of our most exciting in Year 2 as we went on our first overnight residential trip to Delamere Forest. We had such an amazing time building survival shelters, pond dipping, going on a nature walk and of course toasting marshmallows around the campfire. The children were outstanding from start to finish and received compliments from the centre staff for their respect, manners and behaviour!

We also enjoyed a fun morning on the inflatable assault course. We took part in team building games to conquer the course and win points for our teams.

We also finished our Geography topic this week by comparing a school life of a child in Moshi, Africa to our school day in Haydock. We looked t similarities and differences then discussed which one we would prefer and why.

We are so proud of you all Year 2! Well done on a fantastic week!

The year 2 team!

WB 26.6.23

This week has been another busy week in Year 2 with lots of fun activities!

In English, we completed our text 'The Crow's tale' and used all of the knowledge and vocabulary we have learned to produce our own creative story about a different animal who loses it's colour on a perilous journey. The children are really beginning to build their stamina for writing now and their creative writing is blossoming.

In DT, we used our designs to create our own healthy wrap. We then enjoyed eating our wrap and evaluating it at the end. We discussed whether we liked or disliked it and what we would do differently next time.

In RE, we continued looking at the Jewish festival Sukkot. We made our own lulavs and etrogs and then we danced around like the Jewish people would during Sukkot.

In Science, we have been looking at food chains and which animals are the producers and consumers. We used a variety of pictures to make our own food chains and explain why they are at the bottom or the top of the food chain.

We also enjoyed watching some or the Wimbledon tournament before competing in our own tennis tournaments across the school. We really enjoyed playing doubles and cheering our friends on showing fantastic sportsmanship.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

WB 19.3.23

This week the children have had a super busy week filled with lots of exciting activities!

First up we had our sports day which was thoroughly exciting! We did two races, a sprint and a sack race and it was lots of fun, the children were so resilient and showed great sportsmanship.

In English, we have continued to use the text 'The Crow's Tale' to help us produce some fantastic pieces of writing including a beautiful character description of the Crow.

In Maths, we have been investigating mass and capacity. We filled different sized containers to predict more and less and then used cups to compare the amounts.

In RE, we have been looking at the Jewish festival Sukkot. We loved making our own sukkah picture using natural materials just like the real thing and telling our friends all about it.

We also found out who our new Year 3 teacher will be and we are very excited!

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

The Year 2 team!

WB 12.6.23

This week has been another lovely week with lots of outdoor activities during the cooler times.

We have been looking at picture graphs in Maths and interpreting the data from scales of 1, 2, 5 and 10. We made our own human picture graphs using eye colour, hair colour and house teams and then wrote about what we noticed.

In English, we have started our new text 'The Crow's tale'. The children have been immersing themselves in a snowy woodland setting and describing how the animals might have felt. We linked this to science to show how animals survive in different habitats and researched what they might do to survive in the snowy woodland. We used role play to act out different scenarios and then described the setting using a range of expanded noun phrases.

In DT, we took part in a food tasting session to try different combinations of healthy foods that we might like for our wraps. We mixed proteins, dairy and vegetables then scored the combination out of 5 to find our favourite ones. All children tried something new and were superstars!

As part of National health week, we also enjoyed Scoot fit and a whole school walk around our local area. The children loved being on the scooters and practicing their balancing skills. Even the teachers had a little go too! We also really enjoyed our whole school walk around our local area, we linked it to Geography by following the maps and markings on the posts and looked out for different micro habitats linked to our Science topic.

In Science, we investigated the different conditions woodlice need to survive. We used different trays with dry, damp, dark and light areas and put the woodlice in the middle. We then used our observation skills to watch where the woodlice went. We then recorded our results in our books.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

The Year 2 team!

WB 4.6.23

Year 2 have had a fantastic first week back!

In English, we have been looking at the book 'The Promise' by Nicola Davies. We looked at how the character's feelings changed throughout the story and why. We then retold the story in our own words using repetition, time adverbials and actions to show feelings. We are going to display our published pieces in the corridor.

In Maths, we have been looking at length. We have used the meter rulers and 30cm rulers to measure different objects around the school. We then discussed which units we would use to measure different objects and why.

In Geography, we have started to look at Tanzania in Africa. We used the Ipads to research all about the country and then compared it to Haydock. We talked about the weather, currency, languages and capital cities.

In DT we are starting food technology. We looked at what a balanced diet is and linked it to our previous Science learning. We then looked at hidden sugars in drinks and why having too many sugary drinks are not healthy.

Have a lovely weekend everybody.

The Year 2 team

WB 22.5.23

What a fabulous least week of Summer 1! The children have been absolute superstars as usual and enjoyed a lovely sunny week.

in English, we wrote our own story based on the text ‘Stardust’ by Jeanne Willis which fantastic final pieces. It is so lovely to see how much progress each child has made throughout the year!

in History, we finished our ‘Nurturing Nurses’ topic by looking at Mary Seacole and how she influenced the lives of others today, like Florence Nightingale.

In RE, we finished looking at the Christian community before looking at the communities and groups we are part of and reflecting on why they are important and how they make us feel.

We also enjoyed our Summer disco with lots of amazing dance moves and toasting marshmallows on the fire pit.

We finished the week with a whole school Eurovision contest! Each class had their own country and performed a song from a band in that country. We then scored each class and went live on TEAMS to find out the final results. The children were amazing as always, and loved performing in front of their peers.

Have a fantastic half term break and we look forward to seeing you all safe and sound when you return.

love The Year 2 team xx

WB 15.5.23

This week the children have been superstars completing their 'Secret Agent Training (SATS). They have shown true resilience and pride as they worked hard and showed off all they have learned over the year! We have some very proud teachers! As a treat for working so hard, the children had a lovely afternoon with some ice cream and cake.

Alongside this the children have also enjoyed a range of lovely activities. In Art we went into the forest to collect a range of natural materials. We then used paint and different materials to try and recreate the textures of the objects before creating our own collage of the forest area using the patterns we created.

The children have also started learning their 'Eurovision performance' for our school concert next week - after doing so well in the King's coronation concert, we are very excited to perform this one!

We have also had a visit from Father Dan in RE, to talk to us about how and why Christians unite to worship.

We have also taken part in lots of yoga, mindfulness, PE and PSHE sessions to help us to stay calm during a busy week.

Happy weekend everybody! One week left!

WB 8.5.23

Another short but busy week this week after an extra day off for the King’s coronation. The children came in super excited after being a part of history in the making and loved telling everyone about their weekend.

In Maths, we have recapped some of our previous learning on addition and subtraction, time and money.

In English, we have been continuing our text ‘Stardust’. We looked at the relationship between siblings and then we wrote a diary entry in role of Mabel. We used lots of feelings and linked it to our PATHS scheme.

In RE we looked at were Christians worship and the different features of the church. We then made our own stained glass windows with popular Christian symbols.

In History we continued looking at Florence Nightingale and her journey to Scutari. We linked this to our Year 1 learning of transport in the past and thought about how we might make the same journey today.

As part of our Music lesson, we watched a live concert between schools in the UK and Ukraine. We listened to different instruments and songs in both English and Ukrainian and enjoyed dancing and singing along.

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

The Year 2 team x

WB 1.5.23

This week has been full of exciting things! In Science, we went on a local walk to find micro habitats in the environment. We saw grassland, woodland and a pond full of tadpoles, we also found a newt, woodlice, worms, beetles and many more creatures. We then linked them to each habitat and discussed why that habitat was suitable for them to survive in.

In History, we have started looking at Florence Nightingale. We used a timeline to see where her lifespan fit in comparison with our previous topics of The Great Fire of London and Shopping in the past. We researched who Florence Nightingale was and why she was seen as influential.

In RE, we have been looking at Christian beliefs and how the church is an important part of Christian worship.

In English this week we have taken a break from Stardust to focus on creating our own poems linked to the book 'If I were King...' by Chelsea O'Byrne. We used a similar style poem from our previous topic 'If all the world were...' and linked in British Values. We produced some fantastic pieces of work to be displayed around the school.

We also enjoyed making our own crowns and photo booth frame for the King's coronation. We performed a song in assembly infront of the whole school from British Band Queen. The teachers were very impressed with our version of 'Don't stop me now'. We also enjoyed a game of coronation bingo, doing crosswords and making coronation cards.

We hope you all have a fantastic long weekend celebrating with your family and friends.

The Year 2 team x

WB 24.4.23

This week we have started our Art topic on colour. We recapped Year 1 learning about the primary colours and then used paint to create blends of different shades of secondary colours.

In History, we have been looking at significant people both in our lives and around the world. We looked at what makes somebody significant and how that impacts our lives.

In Maths, we looked at temperature and Mass. We used thermometers to investigate the temperature of different cups of water and read different temperatures around the school. We then used different scales to investigate mass. We estimated whether or not an object was more than, less than or about 50g/100g and checked our predictions using balancing scales. We then used measuring scales to find the actual mass.

In RE, we have stared looking at Christianity and what unites a Christian community. We looked at different symbols and what they represent and then created our own symbol to represent us.

In PSHE, we have been looking at different relationships. We explored different families and understood that although they were all different, they are all families. We learned that no two families are the same and although we are all diverse, we are all loved.

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend,

Year 2

WB 17.4.23

Welcome back for our Summer term! We hope you all had a lovely Easter break and have come back refreshed.

This week we have started our new text in English called 'Stardust', the children have used role play to show-not-tell feelings and used alliteration to describe the starry night sky.

In Maths, we have been looking at the properties of 3D shapes and using our knowledge of 2D shapes to find similarities and differences between the faces. We even used nets to make our own 3D shapes to help us.

In Science, we have been looking at living things and their habitats. We started by discussing whether things were alive, dead or have never been alive. We then went into our forest area to look for different things and then grouped them into the different categories.

In PSHE, we have been looking at the importance of being friends and what makes a good friend. We then came up with ideas of what we could do if we or somebody else was feeling lonely.

The children have been fantastic this week and we have loved learning in the sunshine outside.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Year 2 team!

WB 27.3.23

Wow! What a fantastic final week to the Spring term!

in English we completed our text “The Building Boy” by Ross Montgomery by creating our own narrative about losing something precious. We used the plot points from the story to help us to plan our own and the results were fantastic!

in Science, we finished our topic on plants. We explored and observed what plants need to survive and also discussed what happens if those conditions are not met. We also talked about how to keep our investigation fair. We then looked at how plants use sunlight to help them to create their own food and energy through photosynthesis.
in Geography we completed our map learning by planning and writing our own route around Haydock using the key vocabulary we have learned over the last few weeks. We enjoyed directing our friends to different places that we recognised.

in Maths we have been looking at 2D shapes, symmetry and repeated patterns. We loved extending our existing knowledge from Year 1. When w evoke back we will be looking at 3D shapes and the differences.
this week was also our last forest school session. To finish off a fantastic term we toasted marshmallows around the fire pit. It was lots of fun and helped us to recap our fire safety from our previous learning about the Great Fire of London.

Have a fantastic Easter break everybody, stay safe and we can’t wait to see you when you return.

Love, the Year 2 team xx

WB 20.3.23

This week we have continued our class text 'The Building Boy' we have used similes and onomatopoeia to develop our writing. We have all been trying to show feelings through actions as well as words too. We also used Drama and Music to compose our own sounds. We then acted out different inanimate objects coming to life alongside our musical performance.

In Maths, we have started looking at 2D shapes. We can recognise the basic 2D shapes and count vertices and sides. We also looked at continuing and creating repeated patterns.

In Science, we started our investigation to see which conditions would be best for a plant to grow. We changed one variable in each pot to ensure the test was fair. Then we observed every couple of days to see if there were any changes. We wrote down our observations so we can compare next week.

In Computing we created our own moving storybooks using coding. We created our own characters and background and then added coding and audio to make our characters speak and move.

in Geography, we drew our own sketch maps of our local area. We added a key and compass rose to help people to locate different features.

We also had a very special visitor to our school this week called Plumber Drummer. He has created his own instrument out of pipes and uses flip flops to play it. It was so much fun and it has definitely instilled a new love of music into the children.

Have a lovely weekend everybody :) x

WB 13.3.23

This week we have started our newest class text 'The Building Boy' by Ross Montgomery and David Litchfield. We used a range of past and present tense to contrast the things the boy used to do with Grandma and now cannot. We also used alliteration and superlatives to describe the projects Grandma worked on. We are starting to build our flair for writing so well!

In Maths, we have been comparing amounts of money and understanding that we can make an amount using multiple ways. We also learned that just because somebody might have more coins, does not mean they have the most money!

In Geography, we continued our map work by making messy maps of the classroom following on from our outside ones last week. We also used our OAA course in the playground to follow the map of the school before creating our own natural treasure map in forest school and creating our own orienteering course.

In DT, we finally finished our fairground wheels and we are so proud! We showed fantastic team work and perseverance to make sure our wheels and axles worked so our wheel could spin. We could not wait to take them home to show our grown ups!

In Science, we have continued looking at plants and what they need to grow. We remembered learning from Year 1 and used this to conduct our own experiment to see whether we could grow cress seeds using cotton pads instead of soil. We then extended it further to see if the cress seeds would grow in a dark place as well as a light place. It was lots of fun trying to predict what would happen and observing the changes over time.

We also had our parents evening this week. It was so lovely to share our workbooks with our grown ups and for them to hear how amazing we are doing in class!

Have a lovely weekend everybody,

The Year 2 team x

WB 6.3.23

This week we have had a very creative week with some fantastic results.

In DT we started making our fairground wheel using a range of materials and skills using wheels and axles. We used a saw to cut out axle to the correct size for our fairground wheel and then used tape to fix it all together. Next week we are going to add the pods to complete our project.

We also took our Geography outside this week to create messy maps of our local area. We used a range of natural materials to create an aerial view of our school and it was so much fun. We then went on a walk around our local area and took photos of different features, like a range of type of houses, before plotting these photos on an aerial map of the area and planning our own route.

In English, we completed and published our poem in the style of our class text “If all the world were…” We came up with some beautiful poems that we are going to display in our classroom.

In Maths, we have started to learn about Money. We can recognise the different coins and notes and have started to add amounts together. We also worked out different ways to make a certain amount using different coins.

Well done on another brilliant week Year 2. We are really proud of you

WB 27.2.23

What a wonderful week we have had this week with lots of lovely activities to celebrate World Book Day. We have dressed up as our favourite book characters, spent time in our special library area reading a range of books, and had a 'booky breakfast' with our grownups. It has been lots of fun! We also welcomed Fay Evans who is a children's author into school and she shared her brand new book 'Dave the Whale' with us. We even got to act it out using different characters from the story.

In English we continued to look at our text 'If all the world were...' and we used imperative verbs to suggest ways for the little girl to feel better and then wrote her a letter with lots of ideas of way to remember her Grandad.

In Science, we have been exploring the difference between difference a bulb and a seed and how they grow. We looked at the lifecycles of different plants and linked it to past learning about human lifecycles.

In Art we have used a range of different materials to create our own imaginative aerial maps linking in with our Geography topic. We enjoyed creating different textures and adding a range of human and physical features. We then used a view finder to choose our favourite bit and used the cellophane to recreate a 'stained glass window' version of our map onto plastic wallets.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

The Year 2

WB 20.2.23

A huge welcome back everybody! What a fabulous first week back we have had in Year 2! We started the week with a lovely assembly for Shrove Tuesday where we read a story called 'The Runaway pancake' and the teachers played the characters at the front. We then had a class pancake flipping contest to see which teacher could flip the pancake the most times. It was lots of fun!

Following this, Father Michael came into school on Wednesday to talk to us all about Lent and why Christians believe it is so important.

The children have started their latest text 'If all the world were...' which tells the story about a relationship between a little girl and her Grandad. We predicted what the story might be about and wrote a diary entry to describe a memory we have of an event with someone special.

In Geography we have started our new topic 'Magical Maps'. We explored different atlas, maps and globes to look for similarities and differences. We then used the index in an atlas to locate different places. We then used different media in Art to create our own imaginary maps from an aerial view.

In RE, we have started looking at the religion Islam. We started by looking at different routines and discussing the difference between a rule and a routine. We are really looking forward to finding out more about this religion over the next few weeks.

We also enjoyed a Maths lesson with some of our grown ups this week too. We were really excited to show them how amazing we are at Maths and how we use different methods and resources to work out the answers.

This term we are going to be taking part in Forest School sessions with Adam from KABS. In our first one we looked for different natural materials and used them to create shelter and different habitats suitable for different wildlife in our woods.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

The Year 2 team x

WB 6.2.23

I cannot believe it is the last week of term and what a lovely week we have had.

We have finished our latest English text 'Bear Under the Stairs' by doing a non-chronological report all about different types of bears. We also wrote a letter to our friend to tell them all about the bear under our stairs!

In Art, we finished our topic by creating our own story books using all of the skills we have learnt this week. We loved creating our characters and moving them into the different scenes of each page.

In History, we ended our topic by writing all about what we have learnt about shopping in the 1930's compared to now. We looked at the interviews from our Grandparents and also photographs from Haydock then and now. It was really interesting to see that we have lots of similarities as well as differences.

In PATHS, we looked at the feeling of surprised. We realised that surprised can be a comfortable or uncomfortable feeling depending what it is. We have examples and talked about how those surprises might make us feel. We then discussed the vocabulary ‘expect’. We expect something if we know it is going to happen. We don’t expect something if it is a surprise.

This week we also focused on 'Children's mental health week' with a full week of mindful activities from 'Move it Monday' to WOW Wednesday and Thoughtful Thursday. We also learned lots more about 'Safer Internet Day' with a visit from the local community police officers and also Catch 22.

We have also had a lovely day at Haydock library, reading lots of new books and learning all about how they work. We were very excited to find out we can have our very own library card.

We have worked so hard this week and we are now really looking forward to a week off with our friends and family before returning for another busy term in Spring 2.

Have a lovely break everybody!

The Year 2 team xx

WB 30.1.23

Another super week this week in Year 2 with lots of fantastic learning opportunities. We have started our new book 'Bear Under the Stairs' by Helen Cooper and have been recognising and using different homophones in our work. We wrote our own letters to our friend to tell them about the bear and also retold the story in our own words.

In Maths, we have started looking at time. We have recapped Year 1 learning with O'clock and Half past and been sequencing events by telling the time on the clocks. We have also been challenging ourselves to tell the time with 5 minute intervals - it has been tricky but we are definitely getting better.

In Science, we started looking at why exercise is important to humans. We looked at different types of exercise and then investigated what happened to our heartbeat when we exercised compared to sitting still.

In Art, we have been practicing showing expressions through different faces. We changed the mouth, eyebrows and eyes to create different feelings and then had a go at drawing our own cartoon characters with different facial expressions. We had some amazing creations.

This week was also National Story telling week! We have had lots of lovely stories shared with our partner school Wargrave and also had some of our grown ups as secret story tellers who came into class to read us a story. In addition, we stayed late on Tuesday for some bedtime story activities and hot chocolate. It was delicious!

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

Love the Year 2 team xx

WB 23.1.23

This week we had a special visit from Tia and her Mum to talk to us about Hindu worship. They brought in their Mandir from home and helped us to understand more about the importance of worship.

In Science we looked at the importance of a healthy diet and which foods are in each of the 5 main food categories. We came up with some interesting food combinations for our own healthy balanced meal.

In Art we have been looking at using texture in more detail to sketch and draw our favourite teddy from home building on from last week - we took lots of pride and care in our work.

In Dance, we used ribbons this week to build on our 'Peter Pan' story about getting to Neverland - it helped us with our co-ordination and creativity.

In Maths, we have been practicing using bar models to find fractions of a quantity. We soon realised that finding a fraction is the same as dividing or sharing into equal parts.

We also celebrated National compliments day by watching a story called 'Reflection of me'. We then drew our own reflection and added compliments and affirmations for ourself. It was so lovely to hear the children speaking positively about themselves and others.

Have a lovely weekend everybody :) xx

WB 16.1.23

This week we have had another fantastic week filled with writing opportunities linked to our core text ' Billy and the Minpins'. We have used comparatives and superlatives along with a range of noun phrases to create some gorgeous character descriptions for the Minpins. We were so proud of them, we have published them and will display them in our classroom for all to see! We have really enjoyed this story and have also now started reading 'The Magic Faraway Tree' for our class story at the end of the day - There are lots of similarities!

In Maths, we have been working hard with our fractions. We used bread this week to help us to realise that 3/3 are the same as one whole. We then applied this learning to lots of varied fluency tasks successfully. Miss Dove was really impressed.

In Science we have been looking at what humans need to survive. We planned a trip to Mars and looked at the things we needed compared to the things we wanted to take.

In PATHS, we have been practicing the control signals and different scenarios of how to calm down and deal with the situations if we have uncomfortable feelings. We used this time to remember that all feelings, whether comfortable or uncomfortable are ok, but it is important that we are able to control our behaviour around them.

In History, we have been looking at shops in the past and how they are different to shops today. We looked at different ways to find information and whether or not these sources were reliable. We are going to interview our grandparents or family members this weekend to find out what shopping was like when they were younger.

Art was another fabulous lesson this week. We practiced using a range of materials to draw using texture. We looked at real objects such as shells and then introduced colour with animal patterns. We have some very creative artists in Year 2!

Well done on another fabulous week Year 2!

Have a lovely weekend xx

WB 9.1.23

This week we have started our new class novel in English, “Billy and the Minpins” by Roald Dahl. We spoke about the monsters that could be in the forest and designed our own before writing a WARNING! Poster to warn others what the monster looks like.. Then we used our senses to think about what Billy might see and hear in the forest and used these to write some fantastic setting descriptions!

In Maths, we have been looking at fractions and finding halves and quarters. We found it much easier to create equal pieces when we knew we could eat the pieces of the cakes and donuts afterwards!

In RE, we have been exploring the deities and why Hindus may pray to them for help and support, just like Christians may pray to God or Jesus.

In Scince, we have been looking at the lifecycles of humans and animals - we ordered them and spoke about what happens. We looked at similarities and differences between the lifecycle of a human and a caterpillar and why each stage is important.

Art was one of our favourite lessons this week as we used charcoal to explore different patterns and textures by making different marks. We discovered the marks were darker if we pressed harder and we could create a softer effect by smudging with our fingers.

Have a fantastic weekend everybody :) x

WB 4.1.23

Happy New Year!! We hope you have all had a lovely Christmas break.

the children have come back this week rested and ready to learn. They have worked extremely hard in just three days to complete lots of exciting tasks.

in DT we investigated different 3D shapes to find out which ones were the most stable and strong in preparation to making a new chair for baby bear. We found it really tricky to create the 3D shapes out of paper but we were so resilient and never gave up. Our final piece of work was incredible and reflected the effort put in.

in Maths we have been recapping our multiplication and division fact families and odd and even numbers before we move onto fractions next week.

In RE we have started our topic on Hinduism. We are really looking forward to finding out more about how Hindus worship and show devotion and comparing it to Christianity from our previous learning.

In PE, we have been practicing our hand eye coordination by balancing tennis balls onto racquets and travelling around the room. We changed speed and direction to challenge us further.

We have also created our very own personal New Year’s resolutions and goals for the rest of the year. We can’t wait to look back at them at the end of Year 2 and see if we have made progress towards them.

Have a lovely weekend ☺️

12.12.22

That's a wrap on yet another busy term in Year 2! The children have worked extremely hard and will be looking forward to a well deserved break.

We have finished our environmental campaign inspired from 'We are Water Protectors' and have been writing persuasive speeches to encourage people to protect our waters.

We have also enjoyed lots of wonderful Christmas activities from playing in the snow, making Christmas crafts and meeting two of Santa's reindeer! Did you know that reindeer can run up to 50mph?! We also had a fantastic Christmas party with lots of dancing, games and singing.

We also finished our computing topic this week and created our very own storybook. We designed our character on Sketchers school and saved it with a transluscent background so we could import it into different settings in our story. We drew our backgrounds on Book creator and then used the voice recording button to retell our story. We then showed them to our friends, we were very proud!

A huge congratulations to the children who achieved our STARBOOKS reading challenge this term. All children who read regularly at home get a hot chocolate and cookie treat in the staffroom at the end of term. We can't wait to see how many children achive it next half term!

Thank you to all of you for your support, kind messages, donations for the food bank and gifts. We are truly grateful.

Have a lovely Christmas break, stay safe and we cannot wait to hear all about it in January!

Love the Year 2 team xx

WB 5.12.22

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at Grange Valley! We have been busy rehearsing and performing our School Nativity - Born in a barn! We were amazing and our parents and teachers were so proud of us!

We have also watched a pantomime of Aladdin and a Christmas puppet show. This was one of our favourite days - we found it very funny watching puppets retell the Christmas story.

We have also been finishing off our Science topic on the environment. We have been looking at the rainforests, which animals live there and how they survive. We linked this to our Geography to see which continents on and noticed they were all close to the equator. We looked in detail at some different animals and created non-chronological reports with lots of information.

We also investigated how much water we could save by turning off the tap when we wash our hands or brush our teeth. We caught the water when we washed our hands in the sink. The first time we left the water running and the second time we turned the tap off in between. We found that we could save up to 500ml of water every time we wash our hands!

We have enjoyed our Christmas dinner day wearing our Christmas jumpers. It was delicious and we loved retelling the jokes from our crackers and also our Christmas film afternoon. We had hot chocolate and got to wear our Pjs to school.

this week we hosted our Christmas Wish Tree lighting carol service with all of our parents and careers. We wrote our Christmas wishes onto a bauble and hung them from the tree. Then we sang Christmas carols and lit our festive tree

WB 28.11.22

We have been truly getting into the Christmas spirit this week as we started learning our Christmas play. The children have been rehearsing each afternoon and are doing brilliantly! We cannot wait for you to see it next week.

In English we have continued focusing on protecting our environment and the water. We looked at the definition of water pollution and how we can help to prevent it. We then made posters using different sentence types to warn people of the harmful effects of water pollution.

In RE we had a visit from our local vicar who came to talk to us all about Advent. We learned about why Christians celebrate Advent and the reason why they count down to Christmas. We then made our own advent wreaths and in a second lesson we made our own Christingles. We discussed the different parts of the Christingle and what they represent to Christians.

In Maths we have started looking at diivison and making equal groups. We will continue looking at this up until Christmas break.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

The Year 2 team x

WB 21.11.22

This week we have been looking at our new text 'We are the Water Protectors'. We have been linking this with our Geography and Science topics to help us create links with our learning about the oceans and our environment. We looked at different vocabulary relating to the topic water including onomatopoeia! We then created our own list poems to describe water. We published them onto fancy paper and created a book in our classroom for us to read.

In Maths we have been finishing off our multiplication topic. We have been using commutative law to find different multiplication sentences for arrays and answering word problems using our 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Some of us even started to explore division sentences by doing the inverse!

In Geography we continued looking at our World but this time we focused on hot and cold climates. We compared different countries and found similarities and differences between them. We also looked at whether countries near the equator are hotter or colder than those at the top of the world.

This week we were also very lucky to have Rachael Latham, a Paralympic swimmer come into our school and complete some circuit training with us. We then listened to her inspirational story as she told us of her dreams and how she never gave up!

Have a fabulous weekend!

WB 14.11.22

Wow what a fantastic week in Year 2! We used the character of The Grinch to write our very own character description, we were very creative with our adjectives and similes!

In maths we have been working hard on our times tables. We have used various games and TT rockstars to challenge each other to fastest finger first.

In Geography, we have been learning the seven continents and 5 oceans of the world. We used the IPads to research in more detail about one continent and then presented our findings with our friends. We have also been planning our own journey across the globe using journey lines. We had to describe which continents and oceans we passed and which direction we were travelling in.

In RE we have been looking at why Christians believe Jesus is the light of the world. We looked at different sources of light such as lighthouses, the sun and torches and then looked how they were similar to the way Jesus guides people and keeps them safe. We also looked at the lyrics to “My Lighthouse” and what they could mean to Christians.

this week we have also started learning the songs to our Christmas Nativity! We are very excited to perform in a few weeks to our grown ups!

Lastly, webs e had a busy week celebrating Children in Need and anti-bullying week, we wore odd socks to symbolise that we are all different and that’s what makes us special and then doodled our own tops for a special Children in Need assembly..

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

WB 7.11.22

Another fantastic week in Year 2!

In English we continued looking at 'Wolves' and used the computers to research facts to help us with our non-chronological report.

In Maths we have still been looking at multiplication and commutative numbers. We used counters to help us to demonstrate this in arrays.

In Science we are looking at the importance of recycling, reusing and reducing waste to help protect our environment. We looked at a range of household items and discussed what we should do with them to ensure we are looking after our environment. We then made posters to tell people how to recycle.

In PE we practiced using a variety of different ways to throw, catch, pass and travel with the ball. We used different sized balls to challenge ourselves and tried using both hands and just one. We also enjoyed dance this week and created our own version of 'firework' by Katy Perry using silk scarves, it was lots of fun!

We were also lucky enough to watch our Remembrance assembly by year 5. We held a minutes silence to show our respect and reflect on those who fought in the war.

To finish the week we had a little trip to Wargrave Primary School to watch a production of Cinder'smella' by the Shooting Stars company. This was teaching us all about being kind and respectful to others and what to do if we feel hurt, upset or threatened by anybody. This was in preparation for anti-bullying week next week.

Have a lovely weekend :)

WB 31.10.22

Welcome back! We hope you have all had a lovely half term break and made lots of fabulous memories.

This week we have started our new English text called 'Wolves' by Emily Gravett - we have looked at the different features of fiction and non-fiction books and wrote a character description of a wolf using technical vocabulary.

In Maths we have started looking at multiplication - we have been making equal groups and finding different ways to show multiplication facts.

In Science we have been looking at the environment and how green house gasses are affecting our world. We used ice to investigate how the Earth is getting hotter and compare the effects on our world.

We also had an assembly with the NSPCC all about how to stay safe and speak out if something is worrying us.

In PE we have practiced our ball skills by dribbling the ball into an area and then throwing them to our partner!

Have a lovely bonfire weekend and stay safe!

WB 17.10.22

Another fabulous week in school for our last week in Autumn 1! We have been finishing off lots of our Topic work this week ready for a fresh start in Autumn 2.

In History we used the green screen to help us to imagine what it might have been like to be in the Great Fire of London. We then wrote our own diary entries, just like Samuel Pepys!

In Art we looked at different artists that build sculptures to find what features we liked and disliked. We then used this information to design our own clay tile for a house. We learned how to 'slip and score' to attach different shaped clay to our tiles as well as using a range of objects to make imprints.

In Science we investigated a range of different objects to find out which ones would squash, stretch, bend and twist. We recorded our findings in our book and discussed any surprises.

In English we also finished our work on 'Jim and the Beanstalk.' We loved writing our own version of the story using a range of interesting vocabulary and focusing on our suffixes 'ed' and 'ing'.

In Computing we created an E book all about staying safe online. We discussed how to stay safe and what to do if we felt unsafe.

This week was also our school barn dance! We loved dressing up and dancing with our friends, it was so much fun!

We have had a wonderful first term in Year 2!

Have a lovely half term and we can't wait to see you when you get back :)

The Year 2 team xx

WB 10.10.22

This week we came into school to find a giant beanstalk growing up our classroom wall! We made predictions about where it cam from, who might be at the top and made links to other stories with a similar theme. We found out it belonged to Jim, a brave boy who followed in Jack's footsteps to climb the beanstalk to a castle. This sequel is slightly different though and we cannot wait to find out what happens in the end.

In Maths we have been practicing subtracting 2 digit numbers with renaming, we have thought of lots of different methods to help us solve the problems.

In Art we developed our skills from last week to create our own clay pots using the pinch method. It was lots of fun and we were super excited to take our creations home to show our grown ups!

In Forest school we enjoyed playing with some of the children from the STRIDE unit, it was lovely to see how kind and caring our children are with others.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

WB 3.10.22

This week we have been focusing on Black History Month. We read 'The story of Ruby Bridges' and talked about how we make others feel included and treated fair. We then looked at Marcus Rashford and how he fought for equality during Covid to ensure that all children had food to eat. We found this really interesting and we made a pledge to make sure that we treat people with equal rights.

In Maths we have been practicing adding two numbers together with renaming the ones. We have used a range of methods including using Base 10 to help us and understand that ten ones make 1 ten.

In English we have compared different versions of the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears before planning and writing our own version of the story. We had lots of fabulous ideas which resulted in some beautiful pieces of writing - we are very proud of all the children!

in forest school we made some mud faces, climbed trees and used the natural resources to aid our imagination. We love being outside, even if it does rain a lot!

Another fantastic week Year 2, well done!

WB 26.9.22

This week we have started our new English text - Goldilocks and the three bears! We came into class to discover three bowls of porridge had been left spilt on the table! We used our knowledge of fairytales to predict that it could be linked to Goldilocks. We have been using expanded noun phrases to describe her, sequence the story and comparing two different versions of the same story.

In Maths we have started our addition topic. We have been adding two numbers together without renaming using a range of methods from column method to partitioning. We have started making links to help us with this like knowing that 6+2 = 8 so 60 + 20 = 80!

In Science we have been investigating which materials would be the best to make a shelter for the three little pigs - we tested them for durability and to see if they were waterproof.

In PE we have been looking at different ball skills and practicing different ways to get the ball from one area to another.

In Art we are looking at clay - we have been using different tools to make a range of marks in a variety of ways in the clay.

We have also been investigating sources of evidence in History. We looked at the different sources to see how people know about the Great Fire of London and whether these sources are reliable or not. It was really tricky but we worked together to help each other out.

Well done Year 2 on another fantastic week!

WB 19.9.22

This week we came into school to find a Gorilla had been to visit leaving an awful mess! We found out that his name was Thomas and he had escaped from some poachers in Africa and he had come to ask us to help him. We learned that due to factors such as global warming and deforestation, that gorillas are losing their habitats and becoming endangered animals. We became extremely invested in Thomas' story and decided to write a letter to ask others to help us.

We also used the green screen to transport us to the rainforest to imagine what it might be like when we were there - this was lots of fun!

In Maths we continued looking at number patterns, we practiced sequencing counting numbers in 2s, 5s, 10s and even had a go at 3s!

We ended the week with a fabulous visit from the fire brigade linked in with our History topic - The Great Fire of London. The children were able to find out how the Great fire changed the way we live today and why. We tried on the protective clothing, sat in the truck and even had a go at squirting the hoses. It was a fabulous morning and helped us to understand more about the Great Fire.

Have a lovely weekend :)

WB 12.9.22

What another fabulous week the Year 2 children have had!

This week we looked at our British value - Democracy. We read a book called 'The election' and then held our own class vote to decide who we wanted to represent our class in the school council. We also used this method to find a fair way to choose our next class story for the end of the day (George's marvelous medicine was so exciting we finished it in the first week!)

In Maths we have been looking at partitioning numbers into tens and ones and comparing numbers using the < > symbols.

In English we have finished off our class text 'Leon and the Place Between' we did conscious alley to discuss whether Leon should or shouldn't go into the box. We have also been using lots of expanded noun phrases to describe the circus and delve into a range of creative vocabulary.

In Music we have been looking at composing our own melody using different notes on the glockenspiel, it was lots of fun and we enjoyed listening to our friends ideas.

This week was our first forest school session with Miss Dove. We explored the forest area and together we risk assessed the area. Then we played a game of 'one, two, three where are you?' and used our imagination to enjoy free time. We cannot wait to go back in next week!

Have a lovely weekend :)

WB 5.9.22

Welcome back to our brand new Year 2 children!! I hope you have all had a lovely Summer break and are excited for the fabulous things we are going to do this year?

This week the children have been settling back into school life and their new classroom. We have reminded ourselves about our class charter and our schools 3 rules - Be respectful, Be responsible and Be ready to learn!

On Monday we were surprised to find a circus had arrived in school! We were able to practice juggling, spinning plates and walking on stilts! It was lots of fun. We then read our class text - Leon and the Place Between. It is all about magic and going to the circus, we used our knowledge from the first day to write our own recount of our experience.

We also started our first History topic - The Great Fire of London! We looked at how London was different in 1666 to today and compared jobs then and now. We were disgusted to find out that children were used to clean chimneys!!

We enjoyed playing a range of games during our PE lesson and worked really well together as a team.

We are really looking forward to seeing what next week brings :)

Have a lovely weekend!