Year 2
Welcome to Year 2!
Autumn 2
Week 2
First, let’s celebrate our amazing Stars of the Week! They have made us all proud. Well done children!
Did you know that it’s Anti-bullying week? The Anti-bullying Alliance chose the theme of ‘respect’ this year. We used class discussions and drama to practice some respectful tools we could use during a conflict. We all decided that the tools matched some of our Trick Box tricks, such as Win Win and Breathing Colour.
In RE we continued thinking about candlelight as a symbol. This week we considered how candles are used to remember something or someone. As it was Remembrance Day on Monday we talked about how we could use candles alongside the poppy symbol to remember those who have been brave through fighting in wars. We then drew our own candle using wax pastels and decided who or what we were remembering.
In Computing we were learning how to take a good photograph. We used ipads to explore taking photos in both portrait and landscape formats. We discussed why a photographer might prefer one over the other.
Our topic this half term in Music is ‘Christmas is Coming!’ This week we enjoyed listening to Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson, identifying the steady beat. We began by tapping the beat on our thighs. When we were confident with the steady beat we used musical instruments. Half the class used wood blocks, wooden agogôs and guiros to represent the horses’ hooves whilst the other half shook bells to represent the bells on the sleigh. It was lots of fun!
Wednesday was Positive Noticing Day. We were all spotted making the right choices - being kind, respectful to our friends and adults as well as showing resilience in our learning. We enjoyed writing a label for our friend on which we described what positive things we have noticed about them. We wore the labels home with pride.
We ended our fabulous week by coming to school dressed in our own clothes for Children in Need! We wonder how much we have raised for this great cause?
Year 2 Autumn 2 Week 2
Week 1
Well done to the stars of the week!
We have had a great start this week! We have been learning about poetry and performing the poem November Night Countdown - we used actions to help us remember it. Ask us if we can perform it to you at home! We've also looked at different styles of poetry about fireworks and enjoyed picking out the words and features we liked the best.
In computing we have been learning about photography and using i-pads to take pictures. We worked out some of the things we need to do to get the best shot!
In P.E. we carried on practicing jumping, balancing and gymnastics.
In Art we used the work of Fra Angelico as inspiration to experiment with mark making and drawing an angel's wing. What a busy week!
Year 2 Autumn 2 week 1
Autumn 1
Week 8
A huge congratulations to our Stars of the week. You have made your teachers very proud!
We’ve had an action-packed week brimming with excitement and learning! To end the term on a high, we took part in the famous Year 2 Downhill Dash as part of our Design and Technology lessons. Leading up to the event, we focused on designing, constructing, and evaluating our very own wheeled vehicles. During the design phase, we considered the appearance of our vehicles, the materials we would use and whether we preferred a fixed or free axle.
Today's vehicle construction was a highlight, as we assembled our wheels, axles and chassis. It was a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with fellow inventors, sharing ideas and supporting each other as a team.
The grand finale was the Downhill Dash itself! It was thrilling to watch our vehicles roll down the ramp—some zooming straight ahead, others veering sideways and a few even coming to an abrupt stop. There were a few breakages along the way, but that was all part of the fun! We took it all in our stride, remembering that each outcome was a valuable learning experience. Reflecting on the results, we discussed what worked well and what we would change if we were to build our vehicles again.
What a fantastic way to finish off the term!
Year 2 Autumn 1 Week 8
Week 7
Congratulations to our incredible Stars of the Week!
In Maths this week we have been making ten. We have used Numicon to help us. We then used tens frames and counters to help us add two numbers that bridged ten. Eg. 8+6 = 8+2+4. We made the “cheeky ten” by partitioning the 6 into 2 and 4.
Throughout Year 2 we will be investigating whether an animal could live within the different areas of our school. Throughout the year we will be returning to observe these different areas, and checking to see if, and how the seasonal changes affect their findings. This week we went for a walk around the school grounds and observed the different areas. We thought about whether Stanley the stick insect would be happy living there.
We became composers in Music! In groups we created music that matched our dragon. We chose which instruments to use and decided upon the dynamics and tempo of the music. We layered the different sounds and created a sound picture of our dragon. We had lots of fun!
In RE we have been learning why Jewish people are thankful at harvest time. Jewish people celebrate the Festival of Sukkot at this time of year and build a Sukkah - which is a shelter - in their gardens. The roof is made of palm leaves and they decorate it. They use the Sukkah for eating and sleeping in for 7 days. During this festival they thank God for providing food and shelter for their ancestors whilst they were in the desert (promised land) for 40 years after Pharaoh let them go. We designed our own Sukkahs.
Some of us had lots of fun in Real Gym this week as we got out the medium and high apparatus! We used these to practice our amazing balances. We had to use resilience to keep trying as some of the balances were really tricky. We also ensured we were keeping safe.
Year 2 Autumn 1 Week 7
Week 6
Congratulations to our stars of the week!
In R.E. we have continued to learn about being thankful at harvest time. This week we learnt about why Jewish people are thankful too. We used drama to act out the story of the Jewish people fleeing from the Pharaoh (with the help of Moses and God) to the promised land.
In PSHE we read our speeches to tell our friends why we would be great school councillors. We then participated in a democratic vote to pick one girl and one boy from each class. I wonder who has been elected? Watch this space - the election results will be announced on Monday!
In Music we thought about adjectives for our dragons. We then practised making body part sounds to match those words. We discussed whether the tempo (speed - fast and slow) or dynamics (loud or quiet) would change for different types of dragons. We then used instruments to make the sounds to match the words. Some of us played together to layer the music. We had lots of fun being creative!
Owls were super excited to be taught by Matt from Real PE. We worked on our shapes during the lesson and used low apparatus. Matt came to our school to work with Mr Owen from year one, our new leader of PE!
Year 2 Autumn 1 Week 6
Week 5
Congratulations to our Superstars this Week!
In Music, we had a great time exploring different types of music. We even drew dragons to match the mood of the music and enjoyed acting them out!
In PE, we have been focusing on improving our traveling and footwork skills. Did you know that balancing on one leg can be quite tricky? We've been working hard to master it!
In Science, we learned about different types of animals and their diets. We also revisited key vocabulary from our Year 1 lessons. Ask me to explain what a carnivore, herbivore, and omnivore are!
Year 2 Autumn 1 Week 5
Week 4
We are half way through our first half term – can you believe it?
Here are this week’s Stars of the Week. Congratulations for making your teachers proud.
As part of our English learning journey we will be writing booklets for Mrs Hodgkinson. To help us, we have been thinking about what questions a visitor may have about our school. We have written some questions and answered them using statements.
In Music we have had lots of fun thinking about the tempo (speed) and dynamics (volume) of a piece of music. We pretended to be dragons and responded to the music through drama.
What fun we had watching Aidan McGivern from the Met Office presenting the weather forecast this week in Geography! We thoroughly enjoyed ‘magpieing’ some of his phrases and using specific vocabulary to describe the weather in the UK.
Year 2 Autumn 1 Week 4
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Week 3
We have completed week 3! Congratulations to our stars of the week! ★
What have we been doing in English? We have been thinking about questions and answers. Using the text ‘Little Answer’ by Tim Hopgood. We played a game where we matched questions with answers. We have also been thinking about what it looks like when we write a question and we have been writing some ourselves.
In Maths, we look at tens and ones and the different ways of representing numbers. We played a game of ‘snap’ matching numerals to pictures of bundles of ten and more.
In Music we continued looking at dynamics and tempo using through the topic of dragons. We changed our type of singing voice, the dynamics (how loud) and the tempo (how quick).
In DT we investigated the difference between a fixed and free moving axle. We looked at what these were and how they worked.
Year 2 Autumn 1 Week 3
Week 2
WOW, what a fantastic second week back! Congratulations to our stars of the week! ★
On Tuesday, we had a blast with CM Sports, learning a dance routine to "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction. We practiced counting in rounds of eight and moving to the beat.
We also had our first DT lesson, where we explored wheeled vehicles. We learned about the differences between fixed and free axles and sorted toy cars, lorries, and tractors into the correct axle categories.
In Music, we began our new topic, ‘Dragons.’ We introduced two new terms: forte (meaning loud) and piano (meaning quiet). We learned a dragon chant and practiced singing it with varying dynamics.
In Science, we discovered that an animal’s offspring are its babies. We had a lot of fun matching pictures of different animals to their offspring!
In Geography, we had a great discussion around the question: ‘If it is raining in Petersfield, is it raining everywhere in the world?’ We looked at the weather forecast for various places around the world and then matched weather symbols to the correct vocabulary. At the end of the lesson we went outside to watch the clouds, we discussed the difference between the clouds, the speed at which they were travelling and whether we thought they’d be the ones to get us wet!
Year 2 Autumn 1 Week 2
Week 1
We’ve had a fabulous week. It’s only Week 1 and our new Year 2s have already been working incredibly hard. We are all so proud of how well they are settling into life ‘upstairs’ and how hard they are working already. We cannot wait to watch them grow as the year progresses.
Firstly, here are our Stars of the Week.
In English we have been reading the book ‘Have You Filled a Bucket Today?’ We have been thinking about adjectives to describe a bucket filler and writing sentences to explain what we could, should and would do to be bucket fillers (whilst also learning to spell these difficult words!.)
We have been learning how to use our Grow the Code mats to help us with our spellings. We have also learnt to spell some tricky words.
In Maths we have been thinking about the number 10. We’ve collected and grouped ten objects and we’ve played shop where everything costs 10p. We then looked at the spellings of multiples of ten and practised writing them. We even played a fun matching game where we matched the numeral to the word.
In SCARF we have been discussing what makes an ideal classroom. We then thought about our own classroom and made our own rules to ensure everyone is happy and safe. We made a Class Charter to remind ourselves of our rules throughout the year. We have also explored feelings such as happy, worried, nervous, and excited. We did some drama to show how we can help our friends when they feel worried, scared and nervous.
Year 2 Autumn 1 Week 1
