Author: Mrs Bye

Year 2 had an exciting Gymnastics lesson this week as they explored all the large equipment in the hall. The children practised climbing the ropes and climbing frame, developing their strength and control. They carefully balanced along the beam and moved across the apparatus in different ways, stretching, jumping, twisting and travelling with confidence.

Everyone worked brilliantly to stay safe, take turns and use the equipment responsibly. Using the apparatus helps us learn key gymnastics skills such as balance, coordination and body control.

This week, Year Two have been learning to subtract through ten using their knowledge of number bonds to ten. We used a bus story to help us picture the maths:

“There were 12 children on the buses. Then 4 got off, so 8 were left.”

We repeated this idea to explore 12 − 5, 12 − 6, and 12 − 7 with the children partitioning the number being subtracted:
subtract to get to 10, then subtract the rest.

To deepen understanding, the children also used tens frames to model the same number stories, showing 12, removing counters and checking how many were left. This helped them clearly see how subtraction through ten works.

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💡 How to Help at Home

• Practise number bonds to 10 (e.g., 6 and 4, 7 and 3).

• Use small objects (pasta, buttons, Lego) to model stories like “12 take away 5”.

• Ask your child to explain how they got to 10 first before finishing the subtraction.

• Try quick oral questions: “If you have 12 and take away 3, how many to get to 10? What’s left?”

This half term, Year 2 have started an exciting new unit in PE, gymnastics. The children are exploring different types of movement, beginning with low, then medium and finally high movements. They have been thinking carefully about how these movements could be inspired by animals, using their bodies to stretch, balance and travel in creative ways.

Throughout the unit, the children will be challenged to try a range of gymnastics poses, including the forward roll, wheel pose and candlestick. As their confidence grows, they will begin to link movements together to create a smooth and controlled sequence.

The children will also have the exciting opportunity to use the apparatus, where they can practise climbing, balancing, and exploring different levels safely.

Two weeks ago, Year Two set up a very interesting bread experiment to explore how handwashing helps keep us healthy. We wanted to find out how germs affect the food we touch and what difference clean hands can make.

We compared three slices of bread:

• One untouched control slice (straight from the packet)
• One slice passed around the class before washing hands
• One slice passed around the class after washing hands

When we checked back after two weeks, the children were amazed by what they saw. The dirty hands bread had grown the most mould, the control bread had a few small patches, and the clean hands bread looked the best of all. Exactly what the children predicted!

“The dirty one was covered in green and black bits – it looked disgusting!” – Elsie

“That shows how many germs are on our hands if we don’t wash them.” – George

“The clean bread looked the best. Washing with soap really works!” – Jolyon

Staying Safe

From our experiment, we learned that germs are tiny and invisible but can easily spread and make us ill. By washing our hands properly, covering our mouths when we cough or sneeze and keeping things clean, we can help stop germs from spreading – just like Florence Nightingale taught.

Help at Home

Here are some ways the children can keep practising good hygiene at home:

•  Wash hands with soap for at least 20 seconds – try singing Happy Birthday twice!
• Always wash hands before eating and after using the toilet or playing outside.
• Use tissues to catch sneezes and coughs, then bin them straight away.
• Help keep your room or toys tidy and clean to reduce germs.

Year Two were brilliant scientists throughout this experiment – observing carefully, making predictions, and discussing what they had learned. What a wonderful way to finish our first half-term in Year Two.

This week, Year Two began their new science topic all about humans, health, and hygiene.

In today’s lesson, we learned about the famous nurse Florence Nightingale and how her simple ideas about keeping hospitals clean completely changed healthcare. The children discussed why washing hands and staying clean is still so important for our health today.

To explore this further, we carried out an experiment using bread.

• One slice of bread was placed straight into a sandwich bag without being touched – our control slice.

• Another slice was passed around by everyone before washing their hands (straight after break).

• The final slice was passed around again after everyone had carefully washed their hands with soap and water.

The children made some brilliant predictions about what might happen over the next two weeks:

“I think the dirty hands bread will go green and fluffy!” – Luna
“The clean hands bread might stay the same because there won’t be any germs on it.” – Niyah
“I think all bread grows mould, but the dirty one will do it faster.” – Jolyon

We’ll keep a close eye on our bread bags and check back in two weeks to see which slice grows the most mould.