Weekly News
6th March 2020
This week has been English Week in school and what an exciting week it’s been! We started our week by finding that all the red crayons and pens had disappeared from our classroom and the book ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ had appeared with a post it note on the front saying ‘READ ME’ in red crayon! We were very confused until we read the story and realised that poor Red was exhausted after being used so much and decided to prove that Red is the best colour by writing sentences and turning these into our placards. We then had fun competing in the Year 1/2 Spelling Bee in the hall in front of Years 3/4. Thursday was great fun, with having to drop and read for 2 minutes throughout the day, no matter what we were in the middle of! We wrote diary entries based on where we thought Red would have gone after he had quit and shared our learning in assembly. To finish the week, we are going to find out that our chairs have quit tomorrow unless we write them a letter of apology! In Maths this week, the children have been learning how to tell the time on an analogue clock in 5 minute intervals. We will be recapping this again next week, so any extra practise on telling the time would be much appreciated! In Phonics we have been learning about contracted words, e.g. they’re, what the word means and where it has come from-they are and then noticing where the missing letters are, so that we know where to put the apostrophe. In Science, we continued our new topic, Plants, with the children learning about how seeds germinate and have decided to test the different factors that may effect this by planting our own seeds.
27th February 2020
In Maths this week, the children have been learning all about ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd 3rd etc.) They’ve been comparing numbers by using symbols to show which numbers are larger or smaller, and have also learned how to round numbers to the nearest multiple of 10. On Monday, we were very excited to find some footprints all over our classroom, and spent the week learning all about the different animals that had made the footprints. However, there was one footprint that was made by a mystery animal, so we made ‘Wanted’ posters to try and find out what animal it could be. The children were amazed to receive a letter from the National History museum to let us know that the footprint was made by a dodo! In Phonics we have been learning about words that end in the sound ‘l’, spelt either ‘il’ or ‘ol’. We talked about what the words mean, and when we use each spelling. In Art, we learned about the French artist Henri Rousseau, and looked at some of his paintings. We took one of his most famous paintings, ‘Tiger in a Tropical Storm’, enlarged it and cut it up into squares. Each child then chose a square and had to sketch exactly what they could see on their square, which then created an enlarged version of the painting made by the whole class. In Science, we started our new topic, Plants, with the children learning all about the different parts of a plant and their functions.
13th February 2020
n Maths this week, we have been focusing on money by using different coins to make the same amount. We have also looked at word problems and have worked on adding items together to find the total amount, before paying for these with coins. In English, we have been looking at list poems. We have been looking at the different word classes to help us to write poems of our own. We have written poems based on the setting of The Rainbow Fish, the Rainforest and the children wrote about their own topic at the end of the week. In Phonics we have been learning about words that end in the sound ‘l’, spelt either ‘al’ or ‘el’. We talked about what the words mean, and when we use each spelling. In Art, we sketched a Rainforest creature and then used watercolour paints to paint on our sketches. We had great fun creating different effects with the paints. In Science, we finished our topic on Living Things and their Habitats, by looking at why animals choose the habitats they live in. We wrote poems and shared these to our classmates. Cedar Class had their clay workshop with Kim on Monday, carving and painting their mosaic onto clay. Keep your eyes peeled for details on when our whole school project will be revealed.
6th February 2020
In Maths this week, we have been continuing our learning about arrays, which are pictures that represent a multiplication or division fact. We have been drawing our own arrays and then creating and solving word problems based on these. In English, the children have spent the week writing their new stories. We have been focusing on having clear story structure, using capital letters and full stops and including lots of detail to make it interesting for the reader. In Phonics we have been learning about words that have the ending ‘le’ such as ‘table’, ‘puddle’, etc. We talked about what the words mean, and why there is an e on the end. In Science, we continued investigated living things and their habitats by looking at what predators and prey are and making our own food chains. On Monday, Chestnut Class spent the morning with Kim, our resident artist, carving and painting our clay tiles. Next Monday, Cedar Class will have their turn!
30th January 2020
In Maths this week, we have been focusing on Multiplication and Division by making groups of objects and then counting in 2’s, 5’s or 10’s to find the total. They also learned about arrays, which are pictures that represent a multiplication or division fact. In English, the children have started doing lots of planning to write their own versions of The Rainbow Fish next week. They have made up new characters for their stories, planned their story using a storyboard and described the setting where their story will take place. In Phonics we have been learning about words that have the silent letters ‘k’, ‘w’ and ‘g’. We talked about what the words mean, and when we use the silent letters in words. This week was Multicultural Week in school, so the children went to a different class each afternoon to learn about a different country. They learned some very interesting facts about Australia, Egypt, Kenya and the UAE, and had lots of fun painting Australian animals, writing their names in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, creating city skylines of Abu Dhabi and making Kenyan necklaces. They also took part in a Chinese Dance workshop where they had a wonderful time learning and joining in with the moves, using dragon masks that they had made themselves. What an exciting week!
23rd January 2020
This week in Maths, the children have been learning about fractions. First we looked at a variety of shapes with different fractions shaded and identified the fractions, then later in the week, we learned how to find fractions of different amounts by sharing cubes into groups. For example, to find ½ of 10, the children had to divide 10 cubes into 2 groups. In English, we have continued to explore the story of the Rainbow Fish and used it for inspiration to go on our own imaginary underwater adventures. The children enjoyed doing role play and acting out their adventures, and then wrote about them using lots of adjectives and interesting vocabulary. Their journeys were very exciting! In Phonics we have been learning about the ‘soft c’ (ssss sound) and the ‘hard c’ (k sound). We learned some rules to help us remember which c to use, talked about what the different words mean, and played some games to help us remember them. In Science this week, we learned that each animal’s habitat provides the things it needs to survive (e.g. food, water, shelter, the correct temperature etc.) The children had to match pictures of animals to their habitats, and they also drew the ideal habitat for Mr and Mrs Frog. In Geography, the children looked at a map of the world and learned about the different continents and oceans. We also looked at where the Rainforests are located in the world. In Art, the children experimented with mixing colours to create lots of different shades of green, and then painted these onto strips of paper.
16th January 2020
This week in Maths, we have been investigating 3D shapes. We have named the following; cube, cuboid, cylinder, square based pyramid, sphere and cone. We have looked at what the edges, faces and vertices are and compared shapes in terms of these properties. The children then enjoyed writing riddles for us to guess which shape they were describing. In English, we have continued to explore the story of the Rainbow Fish. We have been looking at how authors show when characters are talking in a book and had a go at adding speech marks to our own writing. We also looked at how authors show how characters feel in stories and showed empathy with the main character when he was feeling like ‘the loneliest fish in the entire ocean’. In Phonics we have been learning alternative ways to spell the ‘j’ sound; dge, ge and g. We have looked at when these spellings are used and have had fun playing some games to help us to remember them. In Science this week, we continued our topic “Living Things and their Habitats” by going on a Habitat hunt around the school grounds. We found lots of different areas that could be used by different animals and then had a go at drawing a map of these areas in our books. We started our new RE topic on Islam by looking at what Muslims believe about God (Allah) and that he has a lot of different names which are all characteristics of Him.
9th January 2020
This week in Maths, the children learned how to do addition and subtraction by finding known number facts in the sum, such as number bonds to 10, and then using this knowledge to solve the problem. In English, we read the story of the Rainbow Fish. The children then drew a new front cover for the book, and wrote descriptions of the Rainbow Fish. They also thought of some new names for the Rainbow Fish. In Phonics we learned some words that the children will encounter when we learn about the Rainforest this term. We talked about their spellings and what they mean and put them into sentences. In Science this week, we started our topic “Living Things and their Habitats” by sorting a range of objects, animals and plants into groups that are either “not living” or “alive”. We also started learning about the Rainforest in Geography by watching a video of the Rainforest, then writing about what we know so far and what we would like to learn this term.
19th December 2019
This week in Maths, the children enjoyed adding numbers together to crack a code! The words that they discovered were the answers to jokes and they loved reading their jokes to the rest of the class after they had solved all of the problems. In English, the children watched a video clip featuring a character named Sprout Boy. He was very sad because no one liked sprouts, but in the end he was welcomed at the Christmas dinner table and felt much better! The children then made up their own fruit or vegetable characters and wrote descriptions of them. In Phonics we have continued our learning of the Year 2 common exception words to help the children to improve their reading and spelling. In Art this week, we made Christmas wreaths by painting our hands different shades of green and then printing them onto paper in a circle. Finally, we finished them off by adding red holly berries and a red bow. They turned out beautifully! The children were very excited to receive their Bronze awards in our Dojo assembly on Wednesday, and also had a fantastic time playing games, dancing and eating at our Christmas parties. What an exciting week we’ve had!
12th December 2019
This week in Maths, the children enjoyed using their Mathematical knowledge to solve a range of clues and puzzles. They had to find missing numbers, add and subtract numbers, find the place value in 2-digit numbers and lots more. They were very excited to crack the code which unlocked their padlock! In RE the children listened to the Nativity story from the Bible, and then sorted pictures of the story into the correct order. Then they had to write a caption for each picture, retelling the story. In Phonics we have been learning some of the Year 2 common exception words, which are very important for the children to know in order to improve their reading and writing. Last week, children in Year 6 who were running for parliament in a mock election introduced themselves and their campaigns to the school. This week, our class had the opportunity to vote for their favourite candidate, and they can’t wait to find out the results in an assembly on Friday! The children also made some beautiful Christmas cards in Art, and visited the Life Bus, where they learned all about how to maintain positive relationships.
5th December 2019
In Maths we have been learning all about measurement. We have been testing the weight and capacity of different objects and have been using the comparison symbols < > = to order these objects. In English, we have been writing a non-fiction information leaflet all about what happened after the Great Fire. The children have learnt about how to write in a formal style, including facts and questions. In Phonics we have been looking at words where the letter a makes an ‘oh’ sound after the letter w and letters qu, e.g. watch, squash, etc. and all where the letters ar make an ‘or’ sound after the letter w, e.g. warm, ward. In Science we investigated different designs of water squirters, to find out which was the best, and then explained our findings. In Art, we manipulated clay using different tools to make Tudor house sculptures.
28th November 2019
In Maths we have been learning all about measurement. We have been testing the weight and capacity of different objects and have been using the comparison symbols < > = to order these objects. In English, we have been writing a non-fiction information leaflet all about what happened after the Great Fire. The children have learnt about how to write in a formal style, including facts and questions. In Phonics we have been looking at words where the letter a makes an ‘oh’ sound after the letter w and letters qu, e.g. watch, squash, etc. and all where the letters ar make an ‘or’ sound after the letter w, e.g. warm, ward. In Science we investigated different designs of water squirters, to find out which was the best, and then explained our findings. In Art, we manipulated clay using different tools to make Tudor house sculptures.
21st November 2019
In Maths we have been learning all about multiples of 2, 5 and 10. We have learnt which numbers are multiples and how to spot multiples in different patterns. In English, we wrote a letter to Vlad and Boxton (from the book Vlad and the Great Fire), in response to the letter they sent us. We also learnt a lot more about how it must have been to live in London in 1666 and described the setting using our five senses. In Phonics we have been looking at the spelling tion which is found at the end of words. We have been learning to spell these words and have had fun playing around with them in different contexts. In Science we continued our experiments, to find out which type of material would be best suited to a pair of school shoes. We had a go at testing which material would be waterproof and then wrote recommendations to give back to the shoe factory. In Art, we learnt all about charcoal and experimented with the different effects it gives on paper. We then used pieces to sketch St. Paul’s Cathedral.
14th November 2019
This week started with a fantastic trip to the Museum of London. We all had a great day, which started by spotting landmarks through the train windows, to investigating artefacts from 1666 in the galleries of the museum, to participating in the workshop, to sketching St Paul’s Cathedral from Paternoster Square. Thanks again to all of the parents who helped us.
In Maths we have been learning all about doubling and halving. We have used partitioning to help us, e.g. double 13 = double 10 + double 3 = 26. In English, we wrote a recount all about our trip. We focused on writing in the past tense, using different sentence openers, first, next, eventually, etc. and adding lots of detail to make it interesting for the reader. In Phonics we have been adding the suffixes –ly and –ness to root words that end in y. E.g. tidy to tidily and tidiness. In Science we continued our learning about materials by starting an experiment, after we received a letter from a local shoe factory asking for our help! They had received a complaint that their school shoes were not suitable, so we have started investigating which materials would be best for the job.
31st October 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning all about using rulers to measure a variety of objects. We measured objects in centimetres and compared their sizes using the greater than, less than and equals symbols. We also solved word problems involving length. In English, we started reading a non-fiction book about the Great Fire of London, and wrote lots of sentences using different conjunctions such as if, when, because, and but. In Phonics we have been adding the suffixes –ful and –less to root words E.g. fear to fearful and fearless. The children have started learning about Christianity for RE this week, and listened to the Creation story. They then looked at pictures of the Creation and put them in the correct order. In Science we continued our learning about healthy eating, and talked about the different food groups and how important it is for humans to eat a variety of foods. The children really enjoyed baking their own bread for Design and Technology this week, and had even more fun eating it! We also learned about Diwali and had an exciting Indian Dance workshop where all the children joined in with a traditional Indian dance routine.
18th October 2019
This week we have been learning about different strategies that the children can use to solve addition and subtraction problems. They have been experimenting with using place value, as well as known number facts to help them. In English, the children have had lots of fun learning the song “London’s Burning” and then writing their own versions of it. We were amazed at all the creative songs the children produced! In Phonics we have been adding the past tense and present tense suffixes to root words that have a short vowel followed by a consonant, remembering to double the consonant before adding it! E.g. clap to clapping and clapped. We have continued to learn all about our topic of The Great Fire of London by learning the sequence of events of the Great Fire and putting them in the correct order. In Science we learned all about the basic food groups and what humans need to eat in order to be healthy. In Art, the children created beautiful paintings inspired by the work of Alma Thomas.
11th October 2019
This week we have been learning about adding and subtracting multiples of ten from/to 2-digit numbers in Maths. We have introduced the children to a range of strategies to work out the answers to these calculations, using bead strings, 100-squares and dienes. In English, we had a fantastic visit from Kate Cunningham, the author of Vlad and the Great Fire of London. She came dressed in Tudor style clothing and brought the story to life, using drama and storytelling with various props and puppets. We have described the main character, Boxton, in terms of his appearance and personality and then designed our own characters and described these, working really hard on using specific adjectives to create an image of the character in the reader’s mind. In Phonics we have been adding the comparative and superlative suffixes to root words which have a short vowel with only one consonant after the vowel. The children learnt to double the consonant before adding the suffix. E.g. hot = hotter and hottest. We have continued to learn about Hinduism in RE, by exploring Mandir temples. In Science we learned about the different types of food humans need to eat and how humans stay healthy.
4th October 2019
This week we have been learning about 2D shapes and their properties. We have learnt about regular and irregular 2D shapes, written riddles to describe these and investigated Venn and Carroll diagrams. In English, we have started learning the story of Vlad and the Great Fire of London. We have described the story from Boxton’s point of view and had a go at writing a diary. In Phonics we have been adding the past tense and present tense suffixes to root words ending in y! E.g. try to tried and trying. We have continued to learn all about our topic of The Great Fire of London by learning about Tudor clothes and producing a London skyline piece of artwork. In Science we learned all about the basic needs of humans and other animals.
27th September 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning about place value. The children have been partitioning numbers into tens and ones using place value cards and dienes, and have also done some addition and subtraction with 2-digit numbers using dienes to help them. In English, we enjoyed reading another version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears called Goldilocks and Just the One Bear. We talked about authors writing new versions of traditional tales, and then we wrote our own versions of the story. They were so funny and interesting! In Phonics we have been looking at comparative and superlative words. We have practised adding the suffixes of –er or –est to words that end in y, remembering to drop the y and replace it with an i first. e.g. happy becomes happier or happiest. In RE, we have continued our learning about Hinduism by looking at some of the most important Hindu symbols and in Science we learned about how humans grow from babies into adults, and created a timeline to show this. The children enjoyed creating their design for their clay tile in Art, and they will be sculpting their tiles later on in the school year.
20th September 2019
This week we have been learning about money, recognising and comparing coins and finding change in Maths. In English, we were pleased to find out that our porridge thief owned up to her wrongdoings after finding that she fit the description in our wanted posters that we stuck around the school. We helped Miss M to apologise to Mrs Weeks by writing a letter and suggesting ways she could make amends. We have also been making links between the original story and Me and You by Anthony Browne. In Phonics we have been looking at the past and present tenses. We have practised adding the suffixes of –ed or –ing to words that end in e, remembering to drop the e first. e.g. hope becomes hoped or hoping. We have continued learning about life in the Tudor times by comparing what life was like in the 1600s to now. There were a lot of shocked faces when we discovered that there were no phones or tablets! In Science we learned all about animals and their babies. We were excited to meet Kim, an artist and sculptor, who is going to help us bring our tile designs to life over the course of the Autumn Term.
13th September 2019
This week we have been learning about place value and finding 2-digit numbers on a number line in Maths. In English, we were very excited to discover 3 bowls of porridge in the classroom, and spent the week creating Wanted posters so that we could find the person who took Mrs Weeks’ breakfast! In Phonics we have been looking at comparative and superlative suffixes! This sounds very complicated but is all about adding –er or –est to words e.g. brave becomes braver or bravest. Please note you are welcome to join us for phonics on a Friday morning. We will let you know if there are exceptions to this. We have started to learn all about our topic of The Great Fire of London by reading a story about it and creating some amazing pictures of Tudor houses in our Computing and Art lessons. In Science we learned all about animals and their babies.
19th July 2019
What an amazing year we have had together! The children have grown so much, both academically and emotionally, and we couldn't be more proud of them! Their excellent progress is a true testament to all the hard work they have put into everything they have done this year, and we wish them all the best of luck next year in Year 3!
12th July 2019
We have had a fantastic week this week! We started the week learning a new story; Olivia Saves the Circus (particularly loved by Olivia!). The children summarised the text and then started learning it with actions and we performed it together as a year group. We worked on time in Maths and got to grips with telling the time to 5 minutes, as well as playing some team games and activities. We have been working on our coding in Computing and these activities are also available from home if you go to www.lgfl.net and type ‘busy things’ into the search bar. Once ‘launched’, go to Key Stage 1, Year 2, Computing and Coding and your child will be able to demonstrate how to complete the various coding activities.
Cudham was a huge success! All the children were fantastically behaved, ate and drank, giggled and snored to their heart’s content! Thank you for all your support. They should sleep well this weekend, I was tucked up at 8pm last night!
5th July 2019
This week in Maths we have been having fun solving a variety of number puzzles. The children have been reasoning about numbers, and adding and subtracting them to solve problems. It’s been a lot of fun! In Phonics, we have been learning how a range of prefixes (un, mis, dis and micro) can change the meaning of words, e.g. changing happy to unhappy. In English we finished reading the story Leon and the Place Between, and the children were so excited to finally see the ending of the story. They also created a new character for the story, and then wrote their own chapter for the book involving their own character going on an exciting adventure! In Topic, the children debated whether or not there should be animal acts in circuses today. It was interesting to hear the children’s different opinions on the topic, and they were very passionate about it. In Science, we tested the ability of different materials to absorb water, and wrote down our hypotheses and results just like real Scientists! In RE we have continued to focus on Christianity, and the children learned the parable of the lost coin, sequenced pictures of the story and wrote sentences about the story. We also talked about the meaning of the story.
28th June 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning how to solve problems and Maths puzzles. The children have found out that when they solve a Maths problem, they have to try out different possibilities before finding a solution to a problem. This has been a good lesson in resilience and has taught them not to give up when something doesn’t work the first time. In Phonics, we have continued our learning about homophones. We have been looking at words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings, such as there, their and they’re. In English we have continued to read the story Leon and the Place Between, which the children have really enjoyed. They have debated whether or not the main character, Leon, should get into a magician’s magical box and wrote him letters to give him advice on the matter. They also discussed and wrote about the different characters’ emotions and reactions in the story. In Topic, the children learned about the history of the circus, and then created a timeline mapping out the different events. In Science, we tested the ability of different materials to absorb water, and wrote down our hypotheses and results just like real Scientists! We finally started painting our papier-maché clown masks, and we are very excited to see the final product that the children have been working so hard on over the past few weeks! We also had fun learning about Christian churches in RE.
14th June 2019
This week in Maths we have been measuring. We have been spending the week measuring in different ways including; weight, height, capacity and length. The children used a variety of different measuring tools and had to estimate before recording and then working out the difference. In Phonics, we have been learning about homophones. The children are able to explain that a homophone is where you have a word that sounds the same as another, but is spelled differently and has a different meaning. We have played lots of different games to help the children remember which spelling is needed for each word. In English we have started on a new text about the circus. We have been revealing the book bit by bit and the children have been really good at predicting and inferring from the text what is really going on. We have continued making our clown masks in D&T using papier maché. We will be developing these into masks over the next couple of weeks. The children have loved getting messy! We finished our week by learning about the Islamic celebration of Eid. We made our own fruit lassi and had a bit of a party!
7th June 2019
This week in Maths we have been revising the things that we have learned this year in fun, practical ways. The children enjoyed solving word problems, and they also had fun collecting objects like twigs, leaves and stones outside and using them to create shapes. We then had a discussion about their properties (how many sides and corners each shape has etc.) In Phonics, the children revised some of the common exception words for Year 2, as these are so important for them to be able to read and spell correctly by the end of the year. In English we started the week by writing a recount of our favourite day of the holiday, and then focused on grammar for the rest of the week. The children enjoyed creating different types of sentences using conjunctions to join them together (e.g. and, or, but, if, because etc.) In Art, the children started creating their own clown masks using papier maché, which involved dipping strips of newspaper into a gooey, messy mixture of glue and water and then layering them onto balloons. They had so much fun, and can’t wait to see the finished products!
3rd May 2019
This week in Maths we have been revising everything we have learned this year, focusing especially on adding and subtracting numbers and amounts of money, and solving word problems. We learned how to read a word problem carefully, underlining the important information, and then drawing pictures to help us solve the problems. In Phonics, the children learned to spell words that end in the letters ‘ey’ that make an ‘ee’ sound (e.g. monkey). In English, the children wrote a guide to joining the circus. They started by writing an introduction, and then wrote details on how to become a fantastic juggler, a plate spinner or an acrobat. The children enjoyed looking at pictures from our Circus Skills Day to help them to brainstorm ideas, and their guides were very interesting and informative. In our PE lesson, the children learned all about mime artists and what they do, and then took turns acting out different scenarios for the rest of the class. The children had so much fun guessing what their classmates were acting out, and there were lots of laughs!
26th April 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning to multiply and divide numbers by 2, 5 and 10 using beaded number lines to help us. We drew the groups on the number lines and found the answers this way. In Phonics, the children learned to spell words from our new topic of the Circus, and used these in conversations and to write a variety of sentences. In English, the children were very excited to look at pictures and videos of the circus and to use this to write adjectives describing the different things they could see. They also wrote some fantastic paragraphs describing the circus. They enjoyed reading the book ‘Circus!’ by Peter Spier. We introduced our new topic with a very exciting Circus Skills Day on Tuesday, where the children practised a variety of different circus acts, including juggling with bean bags and scarves, spinning plates, walking a ‘tightrope’, telling jokes and dancing with ribbons on sticks. They had so much fun and can’t wait to learn all about the circus this term! They also looked amazing all dressed up as different characters from the circus!
15 March 2019
This week in Maths we have focused on solving multiplication and division word problems, as well as looking at number and place value. The children have written their own word problems based on multiplication and division, and have also solved a variety of problems themselves. In Phonics, the children have learned how to use apostrophes for contractions (when two words are joined together and shortened, e.g. ‘I am’ becomes ‘I’m’). This week was Assessment Week in school, so the children worked very hard completing SATS papers from previous years for Reading and Maths. They did absolutely brilliantly, and we are very proud of all the progress they are making. We look forward to sharing these results with you at our Parents’ Evening appointments on Tuesday the 19th and Thursday the 21st of March. They also completed their fact file about their chosen Rainforest animal, producing some lovely and informative pieces of writing. In Science, we have been learning about the germination of a plant, and the children enjoyed planting their own seeds. We can’t wait to see them all grow! In Topic, the children have been learning about the deforestation and destruction of the Rainforest, a topic which they are all very passionate about. We learned about the effects of deforestation, and talked about ways that we can help.
8 March 2019
This week in Maths we have continued to focus on multiplication and division. The children have learned how to draw and interpret arrays (pictures) in order to write multiplication and division sentences, and they have also had a go at writing some word problems based on the arrays. In Phonics, the children have learned how to use apostrophes for contractions (when two words are joined together and shortened, e.g. ‘I have’ becomes ‘I’ve’. This week was English Week in school, and the children enjoyed reading the story of the Pea and the Princess, which is a twist on the original version of the story, the Princess and the Pea. They acted out the story in groups, made WANTED posters to help the prince find his princess, and made their own stop motion animation movies of the story. It was very exciting, and so much fun! The children took part in a Spelling Bee on Monday and we were all very impressed at their enthusiasm and spelling skills! Congratulations to Deborah and David, our joint KS1 Spelling Bee winners, you were both fantastic, and well done to all the children who participated! The children also took part in our World Book Day parade on Thursday morning, showing off their amazing costumes, and enjoyed participating in our ‘Drop and Read’ sponsored event.
29 February 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning about multiplication and division. The children have learned that multiplication is repeated addition (5+5+5=15) and have also learned how to read and draw arrays (pictures to illustrate a multiplication or division sum) to help them solve problems. In Phonics, we have continued learning about the ‘l’ endings of words. This week, we looked at words that had an ‘il’ or an ‘ol’ spelling at the end and we learned some spelling rules to help us to spell them. In English, we have enjoyed researching facts about an animal from the Rainforest and creating a fact file on that animal. The children had fun choosing books about their animal from the library on Monday and Tuesday, and then used the books and Ipads to find information for their fact files. It was very interesting and we learned a lot about a wide variety of Rainforest animals. Our Science will be based on Plants this half term, and the children enjoyed learning more about what plants are, what they need to grow, and their different parts and functions.
15 February 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning about 3D shapes. The children have been identifying a range of 3D shapes and sorting them in different ways according to their properties. In Phonics, we have continued learning about the ‘l’ endings of words. This week, we looked at words that had an ‘al’ or an ‘el’ spelling at the end and we learned some spelling rules to help us to spell them. In English, we have moved on to poetry. The children have been learning how to write list poems about different settings including the Rainforest and about a topic of their own choosing. We have been focussing on choosing interesting words and describing the topic in a variety of different ways that match the form of a list poem. In Art we will be looking at the work of Henri Rousseau and working on a group picture of the Rainforest inspired by his work. In Science we have looked at food chains and what it means to be a predator or prey.
8 February 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning about a variety of different ways to collect and sort data. The children have used Venn diagrams, Carroll diagrams, block graphs and pictograms to sort and tally different shapes according to their properties. In Phonics, the children have been learning how two letters can make one sound. This week, each group of words had a ‘le’ sound at the end of them, and we learned some spelling rules to help us to spell them. In English, the children enjoyed finishing their own versions of the Rainbow Fish story. We ended the week by writing a description of the setting in our new story, using a wide variety of adjectives and adverbs to make our writing more interesting. The children have also spent some time learning how to edit their work, finding their mistakes and adding interesting vocabulary. It was Safer Internet Day this week, and the children enjoyed learning how to keep themselves safe when using the Internet, and doing a quiz to test their knowledge of Internet Safety.
1 February 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning about directions and turns, as well as shapes. The children have enjoyed giving each other directions, following directions and writing down the route that someone had taken using the correct mathematical language (e.g. left and right). They also discussed and sorted shapes into groups of pentagons (5 sides), hexagons (6 sides) and octagons (8 sides). In Phonics, we learned how to spell a range of words that have silent letters in them (e.g. the ‘k’ in ‘know’, the ‘g’ in ‘gnome’ and the ‘w’ in ‘write’ are all silent letters). In English, the children were very excited to write their own version of the Rainbow Fish story. They made up their own main character, and then came up with a new story. The stories were very interesting and creative, and we can’t wait to finish them off next week! This week was Multicultural Week in school, and the children enjoyed going to different classes to learn all about a variety of different countries. They tasted sweets from Sri Lanka, made Vietnamese lanterns and Hawaiian leis, and decorated South African flags. They also had lots of fun participating in a Chinese dance workshop.
25 January 2019
This week in Maths we have been learning about fractions. We started off by looking at different fractions of shapes (e.g. colouring in half of a square), and then progressed to finding fractions of numbers, e.g. ½ of 6. The children learned that the bottom number of a fraction (the denominator) tells us how many groups there are, and the top number (the numerator) tells us how many groups of the whole we are looking at. In Phonics, we learned that when a “c” is followed by “i”, “e” or “y”, it is a “soft c” (e.g. city, cell) and when “c” is followed by any other letter it makes a “k” sound (e.g. cat, cup). In English, we continued using the story of the Rainbow Fish as inspiration for our learning. We imagined going on a journey through the ocean, acting out our journeys in groups and then writing down what we imagined we saw. We then wrote fantastic descriptive pieces using lots of interesting adjectives to describe these journeys. In Science, we continued our learning about different habitats, and talked about what different animals need from their habitats to survive, and where different animals would live. We also talked about our own “urban” habitat, and discussed where we live and how our habitat provides for our needs (e.g. shelter, food, safety).
18 January 2019
This week in Maths we have been looking at the properties of numbers, talking about whether they were odd or even numbers, and whether they were multiples of 2 or 10 (or both!). We also compared numbers using the < and > symbols to indicate which number was greater (more) or less than another number. In Phonics, we learned a variety of Common Exception Words, which children in Year 2 need to be able to spell correctly by the end of the year. We grouped the words according to spelling rules, and learned some tricks to help us spell them. In English, we continued reading the story of the Rainbow Fish. We looked at the use of inverted commas (speech marks) when different characters are speaking in the story, and we worked on adding inverted commas to our own writing. We also talked about different emotions, and empathised with the feelings of the Rainbow Fish in the story. We enjoyed singing our Rainforest song this week, and also learned about the different layers that can be found in a Rainforest. In Science, we have been sorting animals and objects into groups of living and non-living things, and also discussing a variety of habitats for different animals.
11 January 2019
Welcome back! We hope you’ve all had a lovely, relaxing holiday and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. We are very excited to have a new topic this term, the Rainforest. Please feel free to look at some books or information on the Internet with your child to support them in their learning. This week in Maths we have been learning about doubling and halving, and also started looking at multiplication. The children practised finding double and half of different numbers up to 20. They also learned that multiplication is the same as repeated addition (e.g. 10+10+10=30 is the same as 10x3=30). In Phonics, we learned a variety of words from our topic for this term, the Rainforest. We sounded them out, looked at spelling rules, and talked about their meaning. In English, we read the story of the Rainbow Fish. We enjoyed listening to the story and talking about the features of a fiction text, discussing the different characters and their personalities and using a wide variety of adjectives to describe them. We have been doing lots of interesting work to introduce our new topic to the children, including learning a new song about the Rainforest, drawing a picture of the Rainforest and making a mind map about everything we would like to learn about the Rainforest this term.
21 December 2018
This week in Maths we have been having a go at some investigations. The children have been using their reasoning skills to solve problems and justify their answers. In Phonics, we learned a variety of words where the sound ‘j’ is spelt with either ‘dge’ e.g. ‘wedge’, ‘ge’, e.g. ‘change’ and ‘g’, e.g. ‘germ’. We have been concentrating on when each spelling is used and writing rules to help us to remember. In English, we watched a short video about Sprout Boy, a character who is looking for a friend to spend Christmas with. We have been interviewing him, making up our own characters to be his friend and worked hard on using powerful adjectives to describe his personality and appearance. We have focussed on using commas to separate two adjectives, e.g. He has bright, sparkly eyes. We have also had a Christmas quiz and treasure hunt and are so looking forward to our Christmas party tomorrow morning.
After Christmas, we are starting a new topic all about the Rainforest.
14 December 2018
This week in Maths we have been continuing our learning about time. The children have been looking at analogue clocks, and learning how to tell the time to the hour, half hour, quarter past and quarter to. We have been looking at solving word problems all about time. Quarter to has been a bit trickier to get our heads round, so any extra practise of reading quarter to times at home, would be beneficial. In Phonics, we learned a variety of words where the sound ‘er’ is spelt with either ‘or’ e.g. ‘work’, ‘ir’, e.g. ‘bird’ and ‘ear’, e.g. ‘earth’. We practised writing them and putting them into sentences which include conjunctions (words such as ‘when’ or ‘if’ that join clauses). In English, we continued with our shape poetry, with a wintery/Christmas theme. The children have been working really hard on using similes and alliteration, as well as imaginative vocabulary in their poems. In RE, we have been continuing our learning about Christianity, by retelling the nativity story-the version from the Bible, no cockerels or mice were mentioned!
Thank you so much for all your help and support with the Nativity performance this year. I’m sure you know the children’s lines and songs as well as we do! We are looking forward to tonight’s final performance from Chestnut and Hazel classes, before we hang up our scripts for this year.
7 December 2018
This week in Maths we have been learning about time. The children have been looking at analogue clocks, and learning how to tell the time to the hour, half hour, quarter past and quarter to. They have also had lots of fun using timers to time themselves and their friends performing a variety of actions, e.g. standing up and sitting down, or writing as many letters of the alphabet as they could. This gave them a good idea of how long 15 second-, 30 second-, and 1 minute intervals are. In Phonics, we learned a variety of words that contain the letter “a” which makes a sound like an “or” (e.g. tall). We practised writing them and putting them into sentences. In English, we read some wonderful shape poetry, and were excited to create our own shape poems about the Great Fire of London. After we had done that, we were able to create shape poems about our favourite topics, which was very interesting! The children wrote poems about unicorns, favourite video games, kings and even Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer! We practised for our Nativity performance throughout the week, and the children are getting very excited to share all their hard work with their families!
30th November 2018
This week in Maths we have been exploring measurement using decimetre strips (which are 10cm long), rulers and metre sticks. The children have enjoyed measuring a wide variety of objects around the class and recording their lengths. They’ve also compared the lengths of different objects, saying which were longer, shorter or of equal length using the appropriate symbols. In Phonics, we learned a wide variety of words that contain the letter “a” which makes a sound like a short “o” (as in hot). In English, we talked about the characters Vlad and Boxton from our class story Vlad and the Great Fire of London. We pretended to ask them questions, and then wrote down answers that we thought the characters might give. We also wrote a diary as the character Boxton from the story, thinking about what he might write about and how he may have felt during the time of the Great Fire. We learned to write in the first person, and we used adjectives and adverbs to make our writing interesting. The children also enjoyed practising for their Nativity performance.
23rd November 2018
This week in Maths we have been learning to add and subtract 2-digit numbers using dienes to help us. Dienes are resources that help us to visually represent tens (green sticks) and ones (yellow cubes) in numbers. The children enjoyed making 2-digit numbers using dienes, and then adding them together and subtracting them from each other. They also learned how to draw dienes in their books to help them to solve the problems. In Phonics, we learned a wide variety of words that end with the suffix –tion. The children learned a funny pneumonic rhyme to help them remember this suffix: “tiny insects on noodles”. We practiced writing these words and making sentences with them. In English, the children learned how to write instructions. First we thought back to our lesson on baking bread last week, and wrote instructions for baking bread using “bossy” verbs such as mix, stir and
2nd November 2018
This week in Maths we have been learning how to use a hundred square and number line to add two-digit numbers to make the nearest multiple 10 (e.g. 57+3=60). We have been looking at numbers and identifying the nearest multiple of 10, and then using our knowledge of number bonds to 10 to add a number to make the nearest multiple of 10. We have also used our number bonds to 10 and 20 to add 3 numbers together (e.g. 7+3+8=18 because we know 7+3=10 and then we add 8). In Phonics, we added the suffixes –ful and –less to change words into adverbs (e.g. pain into painful/painless). In English, we were very excited to start learning about newspaper reports. We learned about the main features of a newspaper report, and started using the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where and why) to write our own newspaper reports on the Great Fire of London. We also enjoyed a special workshop on World War 1, which was presented by a man dressed as a real WW1 soldier who told us all about the war and showed us some interesting artefacts.
19th October 2018
This week in Maths we have been learning how to use a hundred square to add and subtract two-digit numbers (e.g. 45+21, or 45-21). We have been looking at numbers and identifying the tens and ones (e.g. 45 has 4 tens and 5 ones) and using this information to make the correct amount of jumps on the hundred square in order to be able to add or subtract the numbers. In Phonics, we looked at words with short vowel sounds (e.g. hot) and changed them into the past tense (by adding the suffix –ed) and the present tense (by adding the suffix –ing). In English, we enjoyed discussing the main characters in the story Vlad and the Great Fire of London, and describing them using interesting adjectives. We also made up our own characters for the story and described them, which was very exciting! We enjoyed practising for the Grandparents’ Tea Party, and we also had fun sharing our favourite books from home during our RE lesson about special Hindu stories.
12th October 2018
This week in Maths we have been learning about 2D shapes. We talked about which shapes were symmetrical, and we also sorted shapes into groups according to the amount of sides and corners they have. We learned and applied a range of new vocabulary, including pentagon (5 sides), hexagon (6 sides) and octagon (8 sides). In Phonics, we looked at words with short vowel sounds (e.g. hot) and added the comparative suffix –er and the superlative suffix –est to them by doubling the consonant at the end of the word (e.g. hotter, hottest). In English, we were very excited to receive a letter from Vlad, Boxton and Kate Cunningham! We had fun reading their letter and writing letters in response. We focused on how to use a variety of question words (e.g. who, what, where, when, why etc.) and question marks when writing questions, and how to respond appropriately when someone has asked us a question. It was Science Week this week, and we really enjoyed visiting different Reception and Year 1 classes and taking part in some exciting Science experiments, including planting seeds! We also created Science posters for a competition! It was so interesting!
5th October 2018
This week in Maths we have been focusing on number bonds to 10. The children enjoyed using lots of different resources such as Numicon, number lines, Unifix cubes and bead strings to explore all the different ways they could make 10 using both addition and subtraction. We also used the bar model to help us to write our number bonds to 10 in a clear, visual way. In Phonics we have been focusing on changing words ending in –y to the past tense using the suffix –ed (e.g. cry to cried), and the present tense by using the suffix –ing (e.g. dry to drying). The children had so much fun learning the song “London’s Burning” in English this week, and even learned how to sing it in a round! They looked at the basic structure of the song by clapping the syllables of all the words, and then had a go at writing their own version of the song by using words with the same amount of syllables. They took turns singing their own song to the rest of the class, and we had some very interesting songs about Seasons, football, unicorns and many more. It was amazing!
28th September 2018
This week in Maths we have been focusing on solving word problems using addition and subtraction. The children have been working systematically, reading the problems, circling the numbers and identifying what calculation to use (+ or -). They then wrote the numbers into a bar model and solved the problem by writing a number sentence. In Phonics we have been focusing on changing words ending in –y to the comparative form using the suffix –er (e.g. happy to happier), and the superlative form using the suffix –est (e.g. heavy to heaviest). We were very excited to welcome the author Kate Cunningham into our classes on Monday, and had lots of fun acting out the story of Vlad and the Great Fire of London, looking at some artefacts from the 1660’s, and taking part in discussions and role play based on the events of the Great Fire of London. We focused on role play for the rest of the week in our Literacy, acting out scenes from the story, looking at the different characters in the story and writing descriptive paragraphs using a variety of adjectives.content
21st September 2018
This week was very exciting because we went on our first trip of the year, to the Museum of London! We all had a fantastic time. We stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral and did first-hand sketches into our sketch books, and also enjoyed a fun storytelling workshop. We have been continuing to learn about place value in maths, partitioning 2-digit numbers into their tens and ones for addition and subtraction (e.g. 60 + 8 = 68 so 68 - 60= 8) and then have had a go at using our knowledge of tens and ones to investigate money. In Phonics we have been focusing on past and present tenses and have changed our root words into the past (adding –ed) and the present (adding –ing) tenses. In English we have been using our knowledge of the past tense from Phonics to write a recount about trip on Monday (or another event). The children have been trying hard to add adjectives to their writing to make it interesting for the reader.
14th September 2018
Cedar class have been very busy this week! We have read a story called Vlad and the Great Fire of London, by Kate Cunningham, in Literacy, and have enjoyed recounting and rewriting this story in our own words. In Maths, we have been looking at how to plot 2-digit numbers on a 100-number line, and then counting on in tens. We have also been doing lots of work on place value and looking at the tens and ones in 2-digit numbers. In Phonics, we have been adding comparative (-er) and superlative (-ed) suffixes to words, and writing sentences with these words, e.g. "I am braver than a lion, but Mrs Rautenbach is the bravest!" We have looked at Tudor houses and enjoyed creating 3D houses in Computing, and using paper strips to make them in Art. This week was Health Week in school! In Science, we learned about what foods are healthy, and looked at the different food groups. We also enjoyed doing a PE session with Joe Wicks (the Bodycoach) on Youtube! What an exciting week!
7th September 2018
Well done for completing your first week in Year 2, Cedar Class! It has been a wonderful week where we have all explored our new classroom and adjusted to our new routine. This week, the children enjoyed settling back into life at school, attending a whole school assembly where Mrs Weeks welcomed them all back, and a singing assembly where they enjoyed singing songs from last year. They were excited to see how their names could move up our class behaviour chart to reach the Pot of Gold, in which case they would receive a certificate and a prize! They also enjoyed creating our own Class Charter, a set of rules to make our class a fun, welcoming, safe environment where everyone can do their best learning. The children were thrilled to learn that they would be going on a trip to the Museum of London soon!
20th July
Congratulations Year 2! You have completed the year and what a fantastic year it has been. I've absolutely loved teaching every single one of you, you are all unique and special to me in lots of different ways. I'll certainly miss laughing and learning with you every day. Enjoy the summer holidays and we'll see you in September for more fun!
13th July
We're getting so close to the end of Year 2! Where is the time going! This week we have been working hard on our 'Moving Up' assembly. We've learnt our songs and are learning our lines so we are looking forward to performing. We have been solving number problems in maths, we've loved using our skills to work out which teddy should sit where at the picnic and how we can make rows of numbers add to 10/15 and 20.
6th July
Wow! What a busy week! This week we have written a newspaper report in literacy about our characters getting a bad knee from a mythical creature, which is based on the book called 'On the way home.' In maths, we have recapped doubles, halves and finding fractions of amounts. We loved topic this week as we created giant clown bows by decorating paper and folding them.
30th June
On Monday and Tuesday, Year 2 visited Downe Activity Centre for an overnight school trip! We arrived and quickly settled into our rooms then moved outside in the beautiful sunshine for some lunch. Afterwards, we split into our groups to complete archery, tunnel trails, orienteering, grass sledging and the adventure course. We finished the evening by having fish fingers and chips, then we went to a campfire for songs and marshmallows. After a great nights sleep, we had a breakfast sandwich and completed more fun activities! It was such a wonderful trip.
22nd June
This week has been full of fun activities as we began to write our own version of ‘On the way home’. Our character hurts their knee and tells people crazy stories about how they hurt themselves. We enjoyed creating mythical characters and describing elaborate ways for our character to hurt their knee. In maths, we’ve been counting in 2, 5 and 10 then exploring the pattern when counting in 20, 50, 100 and 200, 500 and 1000. We also learnt a clever trick to find out if numbers are in the 3 times table. In topic, we created milk art using pastels and we continued learning about materials in science. On Thursday we had Sports Day, which was a fantastic outdoor event! The children had a wonderful time, running, throwing, taking part in relay races and using their golf techniques. There are lots of photos on our class page.
15th June
It was DT week so we have been busy learning new skills to make some amazing objects! We learnt how to sew with wool and felt to create mini beasts, we stuffed them and decorated them. We also created a car with an axel system which was tricky but very fun! In Literacy, we have begun reading our new book called ‘On the way home’ and we’ll eventually write a new story based on this. Finally, in maths, we have been recapping estimation and finding numbers on a number line. On Friday, we had a class party with Birch class to celebrate Eid. The children wore traditional clothing or party clothes and we had some fun activities too.
8th June
Welcome back! We hope you all had a lovely week off, resting for the last half term of this year! We began this week by researching the recycling process in Literacy and will finish the week by writing our own explanation text to explain the process. In maths, we have been recapping fractions and time by creating colourful flags. Now we have the new computing suite, we are back in there learning how to code using Purple Mash and we are still enjoying our circus topic.
25th May
Circus skills was definitely our favourite part of this week! We loved learning how to juggle, spin plates and balance a feather. We enjoyed learning from Matt, who told us to keep trying if we couldn't master a trick straight away! Afterwards, we had some free play where we could choose any item to perform tricks with. There are lots of photos on our class gallery. In topic, we used finger painting to create a clown's hair and bunch of balloons.
18th May
Wow! We are so impressed with every single child this week. We're amazed at their hard work and effort they have all put into their SATs learning. They are all superstars and we couldn't feel more proud if we tried! In our free time, we have learnt more about the circus and looked at it from an aerial point of view. We discussed that a circus needs vans because they often travel around the country. We drew maps of our own circus and played a quiz afterwards to test our circus knowledge. In Science, we modelled play dough into objects made from every day materials.
11th May
We’ve been so busy over the past week! Our favourite activity was learning more about the circus in Topic. We researched different acts in the circus, such as trapeze artists and ringmasters, then wrote about their role in our books. In Literacy, we have finished writing our stories about Traction Man and his new sidekick. The stories are absolutely fantastic! We loved reading them and hope to put lots on display. In Maths, we’ve been recapping number knowledge and capacity. Finally, in RE, we explored objects which are special to us and why they are special.
4th May
We’ve written some fantastic stories this week about Traction Man and his new sidekick! We’re both so impressed with their writing and the features they’ve used! In RE, we have continued to learn about special objects and why they are special to us. We have loved going outside during PE this week, it’s been fantastic to play on the field and we hope to stay out there until summer!
27th April
We’ve absolutely loved reading Traction Man and exploring the story this week. We created a new sidekick for Traction Man and designed a setting for them to meet. Next week, we will write an adventure story based on Traction Man and his new sidekick! Cedar class visited Wagamama this week and we had a fantastic time! We were able to weigh food and taste lots of new foods. At the end of the trip, we were given a meal to eat! It was amazing! During RE, we explored why books are special to us and we wrote about why a book might be special. Finally, in Topic, we’ve continued our learning surrounding the circus.
20th April
What a beautiful week we have had! We hope you had a lovely break and are looking forward to another exciting term! We began the week by writing a recount of our Easter holidays, we discussed features of a recount and the structure. In maths, we explored how to use inverse to check our calculations.
29th March
What a fun last week we've had!! This week, we have been learning about shapes in maths. We begun with 2D shapes and moved onto 3D shapes and their features. In Literacy, we wrote a book reveiw and used iPads to research the definition of words. On Wednesday, we wrote a set of instructions on how to catch the Easter bunny! Finally, on Thursday we had an Easter bonnet parade and an Easter egg hunt around school! It was so much fun!
23rd March
We started the week off with an interesting visit from the Bug Encounter company! They brought in lots of different animals like spiders and snakes for us to look at and touch. We found it very interesting as we are researching the rainforest and lots of the animals are found in the rainforest. In maths we have been learning how to add, subtract, double, half and complete some tricky two step calculations! Finally, in literacy we have recapped the features of a letter and written two letters to rainbow fish characters.
16th March
What a busy few weeks we’ve had! Last week was assessment week and we are always so proud of the children trying their best and concentrating through their assessments! In the afternoons, we created a fact file for a rainforest animal and in RE we learnt about Holi. This week, we will be researching deforestation and creating a tally for different plants around the local area.
9th March
This first week has gone so quickly, we’ve been learning about time in maths including o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to. In literacy, we looked at a poem called ‘Walking through the Jungle’ which we are going to innovate into ‘Swimming into the ocean’. In topic, we continued our fact files and researched the Qu’ran in RE.
27th February
This first week has gone so quickly, we’ve been learning about time in maths including o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to. In literacy, we looked at a poem called ‘Walking through the Jungle’ which we are going to innovate into ‘Swimming into the ocean’. In topic, we continued our fact files and researched the Qu’ran in RE.
23rd February
Welcome back! This week has been our first week of focus groups for maths and literacy which is working brilliantly so far. All the children are being supported and targeted efficiently so we are really impressed with their learning. In the afternoons we go back to our normal classes and in topic, we’re going to create an animal fact file so this week we labelled features of a toucan fact file and in RE, we discussed special people and created symbols for them.
9th February
We began creating our own books this week which were based on The Rainbow Fish. We discussed that authors and illustrators would create a plan of the book before they began so we did exactly the same! After we planned each page, the children made their own book. In maths, we have been learning about fractions of shapes and numbers. We have been learning about which clothes to wear in the rainforest and we hope to create fact files for rainforest animals after half term!
2nd February
It’s been assessment week this week and we are so proud of how well all the children are doing! They are all working so hard on each quiz and enjoying multi-cultural activities at the same time. We visited lots of different countries and still have more to visit at the end of the week! We have been to China and made special lanterns, we went to Africa and made tribal necklaces and finally, we visited Mexico and made Calacas. There are lots of photos in our album!
26th January
This week we created a new character for our underwater story and created them problems and solutions. We used adjectives to describe the characters and verbs with adverbs to describe what they are doing and how they are doing it. In maths, we counted in steps of 10 using multiplication facts. We researched seeds in Science and learnt about animals which live in the rainforest in Topic. We learnt the story of the Greedy Dog and discussed that you should be happy with what you already have in and we continued to code on iPads in Computing
19th January
This week we wrote about our underwater adventure, where we met beautiful turtle, dolphins gliding and a terrifying shark! In Science, we kept our plant experiment updated and discussed why the cress is growing better in the sunlight. In maths, we’ve been learning about patterns, I wonder if you can spot any patterns over the next week outside of school? We’ve learnt about Minarets in RE and continued learning about the rainforest in topic.
12th January
We have jumped straight back into learning since we’ve been back to school and the children are thoroughly enjoying the new Rainbow Fish story. We have been using the story to discuss inverted commas, speech and adjectives so far. In maths, we’ve concentrated on division using the 2, 5 and 10 times table. We’ve drawn arrays and learnt about repeated addition. In Science, we planted our own seeds for an experiment which explores the best conditions for a plant to grow and in Topic, we learnt about where rainforests are and why.
5th January
Welcome back!! We have been learning how to count in steps of 5 and compelte multiplication facts for the 5 times table with missing numbers in maths. In Literacy, we began reading a story called 'The Rainbow Fish' and acted the story using a storymap to help up. We began to learn about The Rainforest in topic and watched a video to discuss what we may feel, hear, see and touch in the rainforest. We used books to help us research answers to questions which was great fun. In Science, we began to learn about plants and completed a fun iPad quiz to help us!
8th December
This week we have been busy rehearsing for our upcoming nativity! We’re so excited to show you our singing and acting skills! Other than rehearsals, we’ve been learning how to count in steps of 2 in maths. In literacy, we’ve been focusing on the Great Fire of London and in Science we learnt about food chains.
1st December
This week was assessment week and all the children were brilliant so well done to all of them! In our topic lessons we began to create St Paul’s Cathedral, during RE we made a Christingle for our festival of light exploration. We also researched Hanukkah and Hinduism. We also continued to learn how to code on the iPads.
24th November
This week we have focused on poetry in our literacy learning by rewriting ‘London’s burning’ but replacing words so it is personal to us. We had so much fun rehearsing and performing our poems to the class! In maths, we have been using lots of rulers this week to measure different objects around the room. We began by measuring from zero but made it trickier by measuring objects from numbers other than zero! In topic, we pretended to be Sir Christopher Wren and designed a new St Paul’s Cathedral and in Science we continued our minion parachute experiment.
17th November
This week we have written our own stories which follow a similar theme and The King and The Great Fire. We substituted our characters for some other well-known characters such as Elsa and Olaf or Spongebob and Patrick. They faced problems such as a flood or a storm and together they solve the problem! We had some fantastic stories so well done to all the children. In maths, we’ve continued to recap addition and subtraction. We will visit the cinema on Friday and will conduct a science experience which matches the film we’re seeing.
10th November
This week we have continued to learn our talk for writing actions in literacy and have begun to learn how to use conjunctions and adjectives to extend our writing. In maths, we recapped addition and subtraction facts. We researched the life cycle of a chicken in Science and discussed what happened after the fire in Topic.
3rd November
Welcome back! We hope you all had a lovely rest, ready for a busy half term! We began our first week with symmetry in maths, we painted animals and folded the paper to create a symmetrical animal. We also drew the other half of ourselves using a mirror. In Literacy, we read our new class book called ‘The King and the Great Fire’. We learnt our talk for writing actions and completed a story mountain. We learnt about the life cycle of a frog in Science and explored how we know about The Great Fire of London.
20th October
This week was the last week before half term and we’ve been so busy! In literacy, we have been learning how to write a newspaper article about the burglar stealing jewels from the Duchess! It was maths week so we took part in lots of fun maths activities like painting with shapes, iPad games and a shape hunt! We continued to learn how to code in computing and learnt how to use tools to create our own Halloween pumpkin.
15th October
This week was assessment week and all the children tried their best! We’re so impressed with all of them so well done. Other than assessment, we researched Tudor clothing in topic and compared them to clothes we wear today. In Computing, we played coding games on purple mash and in PSHE we discussed friendship. The children are thoroughly enjoying their PE lessons with Mr Duffin, they’ve been taking part in lots of different workout stations which have been great!
6th October
This week we finished writing our story in Literacy by changing characters from The Giraffe, Pelly and Me to create a new story. In Maths, we focused on addition and subtraction. We learnt about inverse relationships and how adding two numbers together in any order will gain the same answer. In Science, we learnt about Mrs Nerg. During Computing, we painted pictures of The Great Fire of London using tools we learnt such as the box tool and straight lines. It is Black History Month so we researched Sir Trevor McDonald and role played as news readers using iPads.
29th September
This week we continued our learning about place value in maths by partitioning numbers into hundreds, tens and ones. We learnt how to partition in various ways and began to learn greater than and less than. In literacy, we drew a story map for The Giraffe, Pelly and Me and described the burglar in the story. During topic, begun to create Tudor houses and in science we explored microhabitats for minibeasts!
22nd September
On Monday we visited the Museum of London to learn about the Great Fire of London. We began our trip by walking around the galleries which had artefacts and paintings from the 1600s. We saw what an oven would look like and how the houses would’ve been built. Afterwards, we took part in a London’s Burning workshop which consisted of telling the story through drama and looking at real life artefacts. We had an amazing time and on Friday we will draw a story map about our trip to London. In Literacy, we’ve continued to learn about sentence structure using The Giraffe, Pelly and Me. In Maths, we’ve begun to recap place value and in Science we drew local habitats.
15th September
Wow, we’ve had such a busy first week! We’ve been learning how to write simple sentences with nouns, adjectives and verbs in Literacy. We’ve been writing sentences about pictures in our books and changing the adjectives and verb each time. In Maths, we’ve focused on ordering numbers, counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10 and sequencing. In Science, we began to learn how to differentiate between living and non-living objects and in Topic, we’ve learnt how the Great Fire of London began and what has changed since the fire. We sorted pictures of then and now in our books. In PSHE, we discussed friendships and how to solve friendship troubles, finally we enjoyed our first lesson of music with Mrs Mills.
8th September
Welcome to Year 2! We have enjoyed our first few days as Cedar class and being the top of Key Stage 1. In literacy, we began to learn our new talk for writing story based on a Roald Dahl story called 'The Giraffe, Pelly and Me'. We learnt actions and created a word bank for each character. In maths, we've been learning how to calculate 1 more and 1 less which was extended into 5 more and 5 less and 10 more and 10 less. In Art, we painted self portraits for a display in our corridor and we wrote about our summer holidays!