Mouse trap
Year 2 had a fantastic time in their PE session, practising key fundamental movement skills through a fun and active game of Mouse Trap. Working in groups of three, the children collaborated to trap the ball between two players, experimenting with different-sized balls and negotiating space safely and sensibly. They showed great creativity by suggesting and trying out their own adaptations to the game. The session ended with lots of excitement as the whole class joined together for a giant Mouse Trap, showcasing teamwork, coordination and enthusiasm throughout.
Help at home:
Next week, is our visit to Abbey house. The children have been watching this video in our topic lesson to familiarise themselves with what to expect.
What are you most looking forward to seeing at Abbey house?
Fruit Salads in Food Tech
Today, Year 2 made delicious fruit salads in Food Technology. We practised washing fruit, using knives safely and keeping our fingers safe with the claw grip. We worked carefully and followed instructions well.
It was great to see the class enjoying their hard work, yum!
At home, children can help by washing fruit, mixing ingredients, or helping to make a healthy snack with an adult.
Investigating Plant Growth
This week in Science, our Year 2 children have begun a comparative test to explore how plants grow.
The children planted two sunflower seeds in identical pots. To make it a fair test, they are keeping the soil and water the same, but changing the amount of natural light each plant receives.
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One sunflower is growing on a windowsill.
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The other is growing in a closed cupboard.
As one child said,
Zara “If we change too many things, it won’t be a fair test.”
Each week, the children will measure the height of the stem using a ruler and compare how the plants grow over time. They have already been making predictions:
Ava “The one by the window will grow more because plants need sunshine.”
Building on Previous Learning
Last year, the children also planted cuttings from a spider plant. When the plant began to look unhealthy, we carefully removed it from the pot to look at the roots. The children were amazed to see how much the roots had grown.
Oliver “I didn’t know roots could be that long!”
We re-potted the spider plant into a larger pot and made new cuttings to grow more plants. This helped the children understand how roots grow and why plants sometimes need more space.
Writing- The Tiger who came to tea
For the past two weeks we have been focussing on the story ‘ The Tiger who came to tea’ by Judith Kerr.
We explored key parts of the story together, talking about the characters, events and our favourite moments. As part of our learning, we used the story as inspiration to write our own sentences. Our key learning objective was to use conjunctions, and the children practised joining ideas using words such as and, but and because. They showed great enthusiasm and creativity while developing their sentence-writing skills.
We are now ready for our independent write next week!
Help at home: Test your knowledge- Can you write a sentence using a conjunction about something you are doing over the weekend?
You could bring these into class next week to share with everyone!
Celebrating What Makes Us Unique in Year 2
This week in Living and Learning, Year 2 have been learning about individual liberty, tolerance and respect as part of our work on British Values.
The children discussed the many things that make us unique, including our ethnicity, religion, interests, likes and dislikes. We talked about why differences should be celebrated and how showing respect helps everyone feel valued and included.
The children shared some lovely reflections:
Thomas “It would be boring if we were all the same.”
Ava “Everyone is special in their own way.”
Alfie “We should be kind even if people are different to us.”
Help at Home
Watch this short video with your child and discuss.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zqkptrd
Topic- History
History: Toys and Games.
Over this half term, we will be exploring toys from the past and comparing them with the toys we enjoy today. This week, the children shared their favourite toy or game and talked about what makes it special to them. We also discussed whether their favourite toy or game might have been around when their parents or grandparents were children and how different toys look from the past compared to the present day.
Help at home:
Please take a photo of your child with their favourite toy or game and email it to school so we can share it in class. Thank you to those parents/carers who have shared these already, the children have thoroughly enjoyed guessing which toy belongs to their friends.
Here are some more, can you guess who they belong to?
Year 2 Plant Investigations
Year 2 have started learning about plants this half term. This week, the children observed a range of plants and thought about different ways to group them. They grouped plants by size, whether they are trees or not, if we can eat them, and whether they grow fruit. The children showed great curiosity and were excited to share their ideas.
Beau “We grouped by plants you can eat and plants you can’t.”
Louis “Some of these plants have fruit and others don’t.”
Ava “The fruit grows from a flower!”
Merry Christmas
We have had a lovely last day of the term in Year 2 . We loved our Christmas party and did some crafts.
I have really enjoyed teaching and getting to know the year 2 children this term. Whilst I will miss them, I will look forward to seeing them around school.
Merry Christmas
The year 2 team
Festive Fun in Year 2
Today, Year 2 had a very special surprise – a visit from Santa. The children were so excited and loved sharing smiles, laughter and festive cheer.
We also enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner together, which was a lovely chance to sit with friends and celebrate as a class.
To finish our festive day, we shared the much-loved poem ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, enjoying the rhythm of the words and the magical story it tells.
It’s beginning to feel very Christmassy in Year 2, and we are all enjoying the excitement, warmth and joy of the Christmas season.
Final Prints Inspired by Paul Klee
Today, we finished our art topic by creating some fabulous final prints.
We used styrofoam to make our own printing plates to create artwork inspired by the artist Paul Klee. The children explored bold lines, shapes and patterns, just like Klee did in his artwork. Their designs were inspired by things Paul Klee often used in his work, such as houses and buildings, symbols, dream-like pictures, and bright, playful shapes.
The children carefully pressed their plates onto paper to reveal their prints and were very proud of the results. They showed great creativity, focus and perseverance, and the final artwork looks fantastic.