Year 2 Gallery & Work 21/22

On the last Friday of half term, we had such a wonderful time at Herrington Park. We spent time playing lots of different games on the grass and playing in the park before sitting down to eat our scrumptious packed lunches! With our bellies full, we bravely climbed to Penshaw Monument. It was so windy at the top that we almost got blown away!

“It was hard work climbing up the hill but I felt very proud when we reached the top!” said Darcie

“I loved eating my packed lunch on the grass with all of my friends” Lewis said.

Just before half term, we had a lovely few days celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! We designed and planned our afternoon tea menu and spent time making crowns to wear to the celebrations. On the morning of our Jubilee party, we spent time making all of the delicious treats using our cutting skills. We enjoyed performing our song ‘Dancing Queen’ at the assembly and going into the Year 6 classrooms to enjoy our afternoon tea. We had such a lovely time!

In readiness for the Royal Jubilee celebrations, we have been making crowns, decorating bunting, designing our afternoon tea and creating our menus for the big day.  We cannot wait to have our celebrations next week when we will be making our afternoon tea in our cookery lesson to enjoy at the tea party.

Jack said, “I have enjoyed making my crown, I made it look very colourful and put my gems on it.”

Kai said, “I can’t wait to have our picnic, it sounds delicious!”

As part of our Explorers topic for our Summer term we have been learning about the famous female explorer Amelia Earhart.  We have discovered why she is famous and how she broke boundaries for women of her generation. She did not conform to the normal of the times she lived in and believed she could do anything she wanted to if she worked hard enough. We have enjoyed learning about this famous female aviator.

Nieve said, “It was brave to try to fly around the world but it is sad that she was lost at sea and no one really knows what happened to her.”

Molly said, “She must have been very brave to fly planes.”

Our Year 2 children have been attending gardening club this year with Mr Sichert and they have really enjoyed their time in the school garden.  They have been planting, trimming, cutting and watering the garden. As you can see by the pictures, they take their job as budding gardeners very serious and our school garden looks so good! Thank you very much to our Year 2 gardeners!

Azlaan said, “I like watering the plants with the watering can.”

In Mrs Crawford’s Maths class, we have been busy learning all about money! We are now able to recognise different coins and notes and can even make the same amount in different ways.

Last week, we started our new science topic ‘Animals including Humans’. We learnt all about different animals and the names of their offspring before matching them together. We were also able to explain what changes have taken place as the different animals have grown.

“I learnt that a baby horse is called a foal!” Violetta said.

“An offspring is the baby of its parent. It looks like a little version of it!” said Oscar.

“I learnt that dolphins and whales are not fish. They are mammals because they give birth to live young!” Josh said.

Over the past few weeks, Miss Durham’s Maths class have been learning all about time! We have been learning all about o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to. We are going to be time experts in no time!

With the weather turning nicer, we decided to go into the courtyard to enjoy the sunshine! We had a lovely time looking at all of the beautiful flowers and spotting signs it is now Spring!

To celebrate Mother’s Day, we made some wonderful cards to take home to a loved one! We enjoyed painting and colouring our love hearts, before assembling our cards. We’re so pleased with the finished results!

This week we learnt how to work as a team and the importance of communication through some fun parachute games! We had to work as a team to raise the parachute high and use our listening skills to complete the activities.

Maggie said “I loved the parachute games and tried hard to listen to the instructions carefully!”

“I had so much fun!” Lewis said.

“I tried my best to run under the parachute as fast as I could!” said Zack.

This week we learnt how to work as a team and the importance of communication through some fun parachute games! We had to work as a team to raise the parachute high and use our listening skills to complete the activities.

Maggie said “I loved the parachute games and tried hard to listen to the instructions carefully!”

“I had so much fun!” Lewis said.

“I tried my best to run under the parachute as fast as I could!” said Zack.

Over the past few weeks we have been learning all about fractions! We are now superstars at halving and quartering numbers! This week, Mrs Crawford’s class have been looking at finding a third of a number using cubes to help them.

Archie said “I know that to find a third I have to share the number into 3!”

“I had so much fun using the cubes because they helped me to find a third!” said Ciaran.

Last week was British Science Week and we spent the week answering the question ‘How can the way we travel save the planet?’ We looked at what climate change was and how it is affecting the planet before creating a human block diagram of how we travel to school! Can you work out our results? We had so much fun turning our human block diagram into a written block diagram before creating some amazing posters all about the different ways we can travel that can help save our planet!

This half term, we have started our topic ‘The Great Fire of London’. We have learnt so many amazing and interesting facts about the fire! In Literacy, we have been writing setting descriptions about the Great Fire of London. We have used expanded noun phrases and conjunctions to imagine what it would have been like! We used thesauruses to improve our vocabulary and Miss Durham and Mrs Crawford are so impressed with the finished pieces!

As part of our science topic ‘Materials’, we have conducted an experiment to determine which material would be best for a dragon’s raincoat! We tested five materials by pouring water onto them and seeing if they were absorbent or waterproof!

We had such a wonderful week celebrating 25 years of World Book Day! The children had a fantastic day and looked spectacular in their costumes. As part of World Book Day, we read ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan. We designed our own lost things and used descriptive language to describe it! We had such a wonderful day and loved reading our story!

In our literacy lessons we have been reading the book Dragon Post and we wrote a letter as if we were the dragon from the story to Alex, a character from the book.  The dragon had to leave Alex’s home because he was too big and he went to find a new home.  We wrote letters telling Alex all about our new homes and what we have been doing.  We think they turned out so well, we hope you like them too!

Year 2 were very lucky last week as we attended a gymnastics event at AAA Sports where we participated in activities using trampolines, balance beams, bars and vaults.  Our teachers said we were a great asset to Highfield Academy showing what well-behaved and polite children we are.  We had so much fun and it was great to be out of school on a trip again.

Emilie said, “I liked the bars when I got to swing on them”.

Rue said, “my favourite thing about the trip was the trampolines because they were so much fun”.

Oscar said, “I loved the trampolines because I got to jump really high”.

In PE, our topic this term is Gymnastics! We have been looking at different styles of rolls and how to balance on different body parts. At first, we found this tricky, but after some practise, we are all balancing experts!

In English, we have been writing our own character descriptions about a dragon! We spend some time designing our own dragons and thinking about their appearance and personality. We used expanded noun phrases, conjunctions and comparative vocabulary to create some excellent pieces of writing.

As part of our ‘Fire! Fire!’ topic, we have been making our dragon eyes out of clay! We used our hands and sculpting tools to create and mould our eyes out of clay before painting them based on our plans. We are so happy with the finished results!

This term we have spent lots of time in the library! We love going and choosing a book before sitting on a cosy carpet spot to read.

Dayn said “I love how quiet and peaceful it is in the library.”

“I chose a book about dragons because that’s what we are learning at the minute!” said Millen.

In Maths, Miss Durham’s class have been learning all about money! We have looked at different amounts and types of coins and notes as well as how to make the same amount in different ways.

“I loved using the money to find different amounts. I loved learning how to give change and buying things around the classroom with my money!” said Zack.

Year 2 have been so busy since the start of the term! We have started our new topic ‘Fire! Fire!’ and have been spending time discussing and writing about dragons! In Design & technology this term, we are going to be making our own dragon eyes out of clay. To prepare for this, we spent time this week designing and planning our dragon eyes and how we are going to make them!

We had such a wonderful time last week wearing our Christmas jumpers! Everyone looked so festive and we loved eating our Christmas dinner.
“I loved wearing my Christmas jumper!” said Rose.
“My favourite part of the Christmas dinner was everything!” said Millen.

In English, we have been looking at setting descriptions and are planning to write our own setting description about the Arctic. This week we looked at nouns and noun phrases, and came up with some wonderful sentences that we could use in our writing!

Christmas has Arrived!

To celebrate the start of December, Lavant class have decorated their Christmas tree! We each got to put a bauble on the tree and we love how magical our classroom feels now!

Jack C said “It’s really getting me into the Christmas spirit!”

 We are Geographers!

In our Geography lessons, we have been looking at the world’s continents and oceans. This week we learnt how to use an atlas and used them to find out more about the continents!

Zack said “I loved finding the different countries!”

Charlie said “I know to use the contents and index page to find what I am looking for.”

Outstanding Reports!

Over the past few weeks, we have been writing our own non-chronological reports about Orca Whales. We spent using the laptops to research facts and created some amazing reports! Miss Durham and Mrs Crawford are so proud of Year 2 for their hard work and determination!

Anti-Bullying Week!

This week as part of anti-bullying week, we focused on the theme of kindness. We read the story ‘Have you filled a bucket today?’ by Carol McCloud and looked at all of the different ways we can “fill a bucket” and spread kindness. We discussed what bullying is and why it is important to always be kind and respectful to others.

“We can always be kind by helping people, smiling and playing with others. It is never okay to bully!”– Alanah R.

“I enjoyed the story and will try to make sure I spread kindness every day. I don’t want to be a bucket dipper!” – Cooper F.

The Colour Monster!

In PSHE, we have been looking at our feelings and how we can feel lots of emotions at the same time. We read the story ‘The Colour Monster’ by Anna Llenas and looked at what makes us feel a certain emotion. We discussed strategies we can use if we are feeling angry, sad or worried.

“The Colour Monster was all jumbled up with angry, happy, calm, sad and loved. He put all of his feelings into different jars. I really liked reading this story because they all fixed the problem.” – Emilie S.

Remembrance Day!

For Remembrance Day, we looked at why we remember the fallen soldiers and the definition of the word ‘commemorate’. We then used pieces or red and black tissue paper to create a poppy on a picture of WW2 newspaper headlines.

“We made poppies with red tissue paper, it was a messy job but I am so proud of my finished poppy!” – Orlaith R.

We are Researchers!

Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at non-chronological reports. We spent time looking at the features of a report, before using the laptops to research facts of our own for our reports all about Orca Whales!

“I enjoyed looking at the facts and pictures about Orca Whales!” – Abdul B

Piet Mondrian Animals!

In Art, we have been looking at the artist Piet Mondrian. We spent time looking at his artwork and his style of painting as well as researching all about his life! We then created our own animals using primary colours and horizontal and vertical lines. We cannot wait to show you the finished pieces!

Peculiar Postcards!

Over the past few weeks, we have had a peculiar visitor in Year 2 called Sunny! He is a meerkat from the Kalahari Desert and has been causing lots of mischief around school. He loves to write post cards home so we thought we would write one for him! We have spent time looking at the features of a post card and how to write in first person. Miss Durham and Mrs Crawford have been blown away by how fantastic our postcards have been!

Marvellous Microhabitats!

As part of our topic this term, we have been learning all about microhabitats! We spent time in the garden looking at all of the different types of habitats and then we went on a mini-beast hunt! We explored the different types of mini-beasts you might find in our garden before designing the perfect microhabitat for a chosen mini-beast!

“I loved going into the garden and searching for bugs! We found lots of woodlouse and even a worm!” – Ciaran F.

Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at a fairytale called ‘The Three Little Spider Monkeys and the Big Bad Jaguar’ which was wrote by Mrs Williams! We read the story in the library and then went into the hall to practice retelling the story using arm movements to help us remember.

As part of our topic this term, we have been learning all about microhabitats! We spent time in the garden looking at all of the different types of habitats and then we went on a mini-beast hunt! We explored the different types of mini-beasts you might find in our garden before designing the perfect microhabitat for a chosen mini-beast!

This week in Year 2 we have been very lucky to have a session learning all about golf! We discussed different vocabulary used in gold such as tee, bunker and fairway. We then practiced holding a club correctly and used different amounts of pressure to move the ball!

We have been so busy in Year 2! We have read the book ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ and looked at what animals you would find in a rainforest. We then wrote some fantastic animal descriptions using noun phrases and conjunctions! 

Our first PE topic for this year is football and we have started working on our passing, accuracy and power during our PE sessions.  The children loved it and quickly learned they must control their passing to ensure it got to the other player.  We will be moving onto dribbling, ball control and shooting in the coming lessons to make sure the children have the skills to be ready for a match at the end of the term. 

In RSHE, we have learnt all about the importance of family and the different kinds of families around the world.

In Maths, we have been super busy learning and understanding the value of tens and ones in a 2-digit numbers.

We have had such a wonderful start to Year 2!