Science
Over the next few weeks in Science we are learning about Animal needs for survival. Last week, we started by looking at mammals. We found out that a mammal is an animal with fur or hair on it’s body. We learnt that they have four basic needs for survival (air, water, shelter and food) and they are either a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore. We then grouped images of mammals, based on different categories such as: dietary requirements or whether they inhabit land or sea.
Today, we learnt about birds. A bird has feathers, wings and beak. Most birds are insectivores, meaning they eat insects. Some are also omnivores. We looked at some images of birds and then went on a bird hunt around school and recorded our finding in a tally chart.
Help at home: create a bird feeder to hang in your garden or to bring into school. What birds can you spot (use the bird spotting survey to record your findings). Ask your child what key facts they know about birds.
Living and learning: rules
At the start of the new school year, the children have been reminded about rules and the importance of rules in our daily life.
Before focussing on our school rules, we started by thinking about…
Why do we have rules?
What rules can you think of?
What places have rules?
Who makes the rules?
Rules tells us what to do.
We need rules so we don’t hurt each other.
Rules help us to know what is right and what is wrong.
Rules help us to be happy and healthy.
In our school we have three school rules. Three, two, one, stop is one of the most important instructions the children will hear at school.
We concluded that following our school rules will make our school a happy, healthy and SAFE place to achieve and believe.
We also agreed our Living and Learning ground rules.
Welcome back
The children have settled really well in their first couple of days in Year 2 with lots of new routines to learn and an earlier start time of 8:45am.
Important days and dates
PE – Tuesday and Friday (however, we’ll be doing Forest School on a Friday for Autumn 1 instead of PE)
Forest School – Friday (Autumn 1)
Spelling test – Friday
Library – Friday
Water bottles
These should be brought to school daily and they will be brought home every day for refreshing and cleaning.
Milk
Please contact the office if your child would like to have milk in Year 2.
Homework/Spellings
Whole school homework is set every Friday (along with new spellings). Homework and spellings can also be accessed from the website.
Reading
Your child’s e-book or free reader book will be updated on a Friday. Daily reading, whether this is their e-book/free reader book, a book from home or the library, is key to making progress in reading and to develop fluency.
Numbots
We continue to use Numbots in Year 2 (using the same login as Year 1).
For spelling practice, reading and Numbots, little and often (10/15 minutes a day) is recommended.
Uniform
Please do check the uniform policy to ensure your child is wearing the correct items including for PE days. Earrings must be removed on PE days.
Finally, please do ask if there are any queries and keep checking back on class news to find out more about your child’s learning!
PE Days
Y2 PE is on Tuesday and Friday. Please send your child to school in their PE kit on these days.
Sports Day!
A massive thank you to everyone who came and supported yesterday at Sports Day.
We kicked off in the morning with EYFS and then carried on with years 1-6 in the afternoon.
A huge well done to all the children who took part and showed courage, resilience and lots of determination. The signs made in the classes looked fantastic as well.
Congratulations to the blue team who scored the highest amount of points!!!
DT: Making baby bears chair
Over the half term, we have been looking at what creates a stable structure. We found that a stable structure has a wide base, low height and a flat surface. First we tested 3 different shapes (cuboid, triangular prism and a cylinder). We found that the cylinder was the most stable and could hold the most weight. This is because it doesn’t have any corners. The children were set a challenge to plan and design a chair for Baby Bear from the story Goldilocks and the three bears.
Next, we made a plan by designing our chair thinking carefully about the chairs for baby bear will look like. How many legs will it have? What shape will the seat be? What will the back look like? What materials/resources will you need?
When we had made our chairs, we tested the stability by placing different weighted bears onto the chairs.
Well done Year 1 and 2. You worked well together to create your own chairs for baby bear.
Help at home:
What 3 things make a stable structure?
Would you do anything differently if you were to make the chair again?
Forest School
Today we celebrated mud week at Forest School. We could paint using mud, we could cook different food with it in the mud kitchen, we could squelch the mud with our hands. It was all very fun and messy. We also had a go at using a flint and steal to spark a fire.
Our trip to Cannon Hall Farm
We’ve had a fantastic time today on our trip to Cannon Hall Farm! All of the children behaved impeccably and were a credit to our school.
Food Technology: Fruit Bars
This week, Year 1 and 2 have made some fruit bars. They had to follow the method in the right order and work carefully with their group.
Today, we evaluated the fruit bar by answering the following questions:
- What part of the method did you enjoy the most and why?
- If you were to make the fruit bars again what would you do differently?
- How did you keep safe when making the fruit bars?
Help at home: What would you do differently if you were to make them again? Have a go at making the fruit bars with any of the changes you suggested. How did they taste? Don’t forget to let us know how it goes.
Forest School
Today was our first Forest School session. We’ve had a fantastic time building a boggle house. A boggle is a tiny creature that lives in the forest but no ones ever seen it. It’s a small creature that you might see out of the corner of your eye but when you look it’s gone!
We also did some litter picking, swung on the trapeze and swayed in the hammock.
