Welcome to our Class Page
Please find our Curriculum Map here: Year 2 Curriculum Map Summer
To access your child’s home learning via the Class Dojo, please use the following link: https://home.classdojo.com/#/login?redirectTo=%2Fstory
24th June 2022
This week we have been very busy in Year Two!
In Literacy we have been writing all about our trip to the SS Great Britain. We had so much to say that some of us wrote nearly two pages in our books! We used lots of Year Two skills and impressed our teachers enormously.
In Maths we have been recapping the properties of 3D shapes. What 3D shapes can you find in your home or your local environment?
During DT we made two different types of axels. We decided that the axel that uses a straw was far more stable than the one that used triangles. We will be incorporating these into our designs next week.
In PSHCE we looked at where food came from around the world. We identified where exotic foods came from and reflected on how we can reduce food waste.
Our science learning focussed on how seeds are dispersed. We identified parts of a plant and tree. We wonder if you can find any seeds on a walk with your families?
During Music we learned a new Calypso song called Four white horses. We loved the line ‘shallow bay is a ripe banana’. It made us laugh! We used untuned instruments to play along to the song.
Next Friday is Sports Day. Don’t forget to come along for the running races! We look forward to seeing you all there.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
17th June 2022
Wow Year Two, what a brilliant week we have had!
Our trip to the SS Great Britain was absolutely amazing! We had such a fun time exploring Brunel’s famous ship. We even got to dress up in traditional Victorian clothing and re-enacted the launch. The children behaved wonderfully and were a real credit to the school 🙂
During Literacy this week we have been further practising the skill on using apostrophes for possession. We wrote about the jubilee celebrations as well as a trip to an African market.
During Maths we have been learning our 5x table. We also recapped addition and subtraction strategies.
In DT we walked around school and found examples of wheels and axels and in Geography we looked at atlases to learn about Nairobi in Kenya.
On Friday, we had so much fun with water play during forest school!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
10th June 2022
Welcome back Year Two! I can’t believe we’re in our final half term of the year!
In Literacy this week we have been learning a new skill of using apostrophes for contraction. We started reading ‘James and the Giant Peach’ by Roald Dahl and have been using this new skill to make missing posters for the characters.
In Maths we have been recapping place value and addition. We have also been working really hard to learn our 2x table. The 2x, 5x and 10x tables are going to be a big focus this term for those wanting to practise at home.
In RE, we learned the meaning of the words ‘holy’ and ‘sacred’. We thought about places, people or objects that are sacred to us. We also looked at a range of Christian artefacts and discussed why they are sacred to Christians. We also enjoyed taking part in our assembly with ‘Open the book’ this week.
During our Science lesson we went for a walk around the school grounds to identify different plants and trees. We are so lucky where we go to school as we are surrounded by beautiful nature!
We loved playing the glockenspiels in Music and worked hard to sing and play at the same time. This was quite tricky!
We have started to explore wheeled vehicles in DT. We learned they have a chasis, wheel and axel. We looked at toys to identify these parts.
We are all very excited about our trip to the SS Great Britain next week. 🙂 Enjoy your weekend Year Two.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
27th May 2022
We have reached half term! Yippee! What a wonderful week we have had to finish this term off too!
To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee we have been undertaking a range of activities. We learned to sing the National Anthem, made biscuits and enjoyed a superb lunch together on Friday. We played games on the field and even had our photo taken with Her Majesty.
In Literacy, we wrote our own set of instructions. Some of us described how to flatten our annoying siblings (linked to our Flat Stanley story) whilst others of us wrote about how to be an excellent sneak thief. Some of us also chose to write about how to make a glove puppet (linked to our DT). Our instructions were clear and really showcased all we have learned in Year Two. Our teachers were very proud of us.
To celebrate National Numeracy Day, we learned that many jobs use numbers. We had a think about what job we would like to do when we grow up and how this job uses numbers.
Year Two, you have worked incredibly hard this half term and deserve a well earned half term break. We hope you enjoy it and look forward to seeing you all when we come back.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
20th May 2022
In Literacy this week, Year Two discovered that the sneak thieves have been at work again! They have broken into Nature in Art and stolen more expensive paintings. We have been learning about how to catch a sneak thief through instruction writing. We wrote instructions on how to protect a museum from thieves and will be forwarding these to Gloucestershire Police. Hopefully it’ll help them catch the robbers!
We have been recapping division methods in Maths and using jottings to solve division problems.
In History, we learned about some of the abuse Walter Tull suffered whilst playing football for Tottenham Hotspur. We were saddened to learn about the effects this had on his career. Mrs Pritlove was very impressed by our thoughtful contributions to the class discussion on how Walter must have felt.
During ICT, we explored the app ‘Chrome Music Lab’. We enjoyed making rhythms on both untuned percussion and a digital platform.
In Art we have started to learn a bit about the Queen and the significance of her platinum jubilee. We carefully cut out symbolic pictures that represented the UK and royalty. We then arranged these in the profile template of Queen Elizabeth. We look forward to doing more jubilee activities next week!
The children have continued to impress us with their attitude during the SATs tests. Well done Year Two you are doing so well!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
13th May 2022
We have had a wonderful week in Year Two!
The children have started their SATS tests and are really impressing us with their determination to succeed. They are using all of their learning powers and are doing great. Keep it up Year Two!
Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended the Maths Café on Wednesday. We hope you found it useful. It was lovely to see so many of you there and thank you for supporting your children so much. It really means a lot. If you would like to receive a handout, please let us know.
In Maths this week we finished off our work on subtraction and have started to recap strategies for multiplication. The children enjoyed using resources to make groups and are remembering how to record using a jotting.
In Literacy we have been learning about how to use apostrophes for contraction. We made our own word mats that will come in very handy when we want to spell a contraction in class.
In History, we continued to learn about Walter Tull. We used a variety of sources to compare his football kit to kits worn long ago. We were also shocked to discover that he was paid £4 a week whilst nowadays some footballers are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a week!
In Science we learned about nocturnal animals. We found out that nocturnal animals are active at night and asleep during the day. Nocturnal animals have special skills that help them survive or live at night. Some of these special skills include a good memory, sight that helps them see with a small amount of light, hearing that is so good they can hear insects in the ground, and nocturnal animals can smell or track their prey from very far away. Nocturnal animals are able to live at night by using the senses of light, hearing, and smell.
Thank you for another enjoyable week Year Two. Enjoy the sunny weather on the weekend and we will see you on Monday.
6th May 2022
During Maths this week, we have been recapping strategies for subtraction. We are using our jottings to good effect now and becoming far more accurate with our counting back.
REMINDER – we are putting on another Maths Café at 2.30pm next Wednesday. We look forward to seeing you there for some multiplication and division fun!
In Reading, we have continued to study the book Tuesday by David Weisner. We sequenced the story and predicted what would happen next Tuesday. Last week, we were visited by frogs at around 8pm! This Tuesday we must’ve had pigs come to visit as we found mud and chewed up fruit in the classroom next door…they left a right mess! Some of us think we will be visited by cows, snakes or even sheep next week!
In Literacy we have continued to learn to write in the past and present tense. We leaned about the ‘present and past continuous’ and have used the -ing suffix well to write in this form.
During Music we loved playing on the glockenspiels and in Art we finished our Andy Warhol Pop Art printing.
We have had another fun week of learning.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
29th April 2022
We have had a fantastic first week back with lots and lots of learning taking place!
In DT, we finally got round to making our puppets. The sewing was so tricky but Mrs Pritlove was very impressed by how well we used our learning powers and didn’t give up. The finished products look amazing!
In RE, we are beginning to investigate the question ‘What is the good news that Jesus brings?’. We read the story of Matthew and the tax collector and learned that Christian’s believe Jesus teaches us to give others a second chance. We enjoyed acting the story out.
Something strange happened next door just before our reading sessions…we went in to find lily pads and water everywhere! We found a clue as there was a book called Tuesday by David Weisner left sitting the bookshelf. We read it and found out that flying frogs had obviously been to visit the classroom! We have loved reading this book this week and found it very funny.
During our Literacy sessions we have been leaning how to write in the present and past tense. We have tried hard to use the correct verb forms for the past tense, especially when we use irregular past tense verbs such as ran (not runned) and ate (not eated).
In Maths this week we have been recapping written methods for addition. We are getting really good at using jottings to calculate now.
Year Two, you have made a great start to the term. Keep it up!
8th April 2022
Yippee!!! We have finally made it to the Easter holidays! Well done Year Two, you have worked so hard this term!
This week the children have been demonstrating all they know through their assessments. Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson have been very impressed with the children’s positive learning behaviours. All children have tried their hardest and have shown huge progress!
In Maths, we have been learning more about money. We have been making different amounts using a variety of coin combinations. We also practised our subtraction skills by finding change from 50p and £1.
In Literacy, we have written our own stories about new animals that are afraid of the dark. Our teachers loved reading about hyenas, hamsters and bats that were all afraid of the night time world. We really showcased our learning by including a variety of Year Two writing skills such as expanded noun phrases, conjunctions and exclamation sentences.
In Geography this term we have been learning about the continents and oceans. The children finished their booklets this week which detail lots of facts about each continent. They have really enjoyed learning about the different places around the world. Throughout the unit we listened to two very catchy songs. Here they are for you to enjoy at home:
We really hope you all have a lovely Easter and a well-deserved break. See you after the holidays Year Two.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
1st April 2022
This week Year Two have had a wonderful time full of different activities.
Thank you to all those parents who attended Thursday’s Maths Café. It was lovely to see you all and to share the strategies we use for addition and subtraction. We will be in touch soon to let you know when we will be holding another session that will go through the strategies for multiplication and division.
We had an absolute blast on Wednesday afternoon at the Oxstalls Multiskills event. We thoroughly enjoyed all the different races, especially the egg and spoon races! And of course, we loved travelling on a coach! Thank you to all the parent helpers who came with us.
In Maths this week, we have been learning about money. We have been adding different amounts of whole pounds and pence. Any practise of this at home would be greatly appreciated.
In Literacy, we wrote our own versions of ‘The fox who was afraid of the dark’. We look forward to transferring our own ideas into brand new stories next week!
One week to go until the Easter holidays! Have a lovely weekend and we will see you next week.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
25th March 2022
This week has been another enjoyable week in Year Two!
In Literacy we have been reading The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. We have taken part in many drama activities such as hot seating and acting out the story. Next week, we will be learning to retell the story and innovating it with our own ideas.
Thank you parents and carers for coming in and sharing a story with us at our Reading Café this week!
In Reading, we have loved reading a selection of funny poems about animals. Our favourite was one called The Invisible Man’s Invisible Dog by Brian Patten. It went like this:
My invisible dog is not much fun.
I don’t know if he’s sad or glum.
I don’t know if, when I pat his head,
I’m really patting his bottom instead.
We have found telling the time a bit tricky in Maths this week as we have been learning how to tell the time to the nearest 5 minutes! Despite this, our teachers have been really impressed with our listening and efforts. It would be really good to practise this more at home if possible.
In our Geography lessons, we learned all about North and South America. We found learning about the rainforest really interesting and loved finding out about the Statue of Liberty. Did you know that it was given as a gift to America from France?
During our Science lesson, we explored our school grounds and looked for plants and animals in our local habitat. We also looked under logs for examples of microhabitats. We found worms, spiders and woodlice.
We wish you all a lovely weekend of sunshine and Mother’s Day celebrations.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
18th March 2022
British Science Week began with a workshop from a STEM Ambassador. We were fascinated to learn how he used Science during his time on the Falkland Islands. We had to put our thinking caps on to plan a fair test investigating paper aeroplanes made of different materials. Year 2 learned about aerodynamics and applied this knowledge to decide how to make an effective design.
Later in the day, we met a Scientist who was an expert on snakes and lizards in the UK. We know to recognise an adder by its distinctive dark, zig-zag stripe along its back.
On Wednesday, we were delighted to meet some further inspirational parents and carers who work in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) during our Careers Fayre. The children now have aspirations to become engineers, vets and bankers! I was so impressed with their teamwork as each group worked together to politely engage in conversation, including asking questions and making notes about each career role. It was lovely to see the confidence and curiosity of children in action.
We also had a virtual assembly with Severn Trent Water which provided us with lots of information about how clean water is transferred to our homes and helpful hints in how to save water.
There is a further Science workshop later today so please ask your child about this.
What a wonderful celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths. As you can see from the smiles, it was a great success! A huge thank you to Mrs Hayward for organising a wonderful week of activities!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
11th March 2022
In Maths this week, we have continued to learn about fractions. We can now recognise the equivalence of 2/4 and 1/2 and are beginning to recognise 3/4 of shapes and amounts.
We have been learning to perform the poem of ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ by Edward Lear. We love watching this video of it being recited: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpwAP36-w7E We are getting better at noticing rhyming words and enjoyed thinking about what a ‘bong tree’ might look like.
In DT this week, we practised sewing using a running stitch. This is in preparation for making our own glove puppets later in the term. We tried hard not to get into too much of a tangle! Lots of the children mentioned sewing projects they have done at home. We would love to see photos of these uploaded onto Dojo!
Our PE session this week was very exciting! We used the new huge wall apparatus for the very first time! We enjoyed travelling through the apparatus using high or low shapes. We are already excited to get it out again next week.
Next week is Science Week. See you on Monday for a week of Science fun Year Two!
4th March 2022
WE LOVE BOOKS!!
Year Two had such a wonderful day on Thursday celebrating World Book Day. The children all looked fantastic dressed in their pyjamas and loved sharing their favourite books. The class took part in lots of exciting activities including: a visit to the local library, writing character descriptions, a ‘How to be a Story Detective’ masterclass and we even performed our own poetry! It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and a true celebration of how much we love books!
In Maths this week we learned all about fractions. We learned how to find 1/3 of numbers and shapes. We also recapped 1/2 and quarters.
During our Design and Technology lesson we explored a range of puppets. This included finger puppets and glove puppets. We watched clips of videos from the fantastic performance of The Lion King from the West End. It was amazing to see how the puppets worked on such a large scale. This term we will be designing and making our own puppets, so it was very useful to see how existing puppets are made and what materials designers have used.
Enjoy your weekend Year Two and we look forward to another week of fun learning with you next week!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
18th February 2022
We’ve made it to half term Year Two!! Yippee!!
This week has been a busy week of assessments. The Year Two’s have blown our socks off demonstrating all the things they have learned so far this year.
In PE, we continued our ‘under the sea’ dance by making the shapes of starfish, rocks in a rock pool and miniture little fish too. By combining all our movements, we managed to create a spectacular dance.
Our History topic on Brunel has sadly come to an end…booo!!! We have loved learning about this famous engineer. This week, we wrote recounts of the launch of the SS Great Britain. Some of them were so descriptive that Mrs Pearson felt like she had been transported there! The SS Great Britain Museum were so impressed with our writing and all of our History learning they awarded us with a Brunel pin badge!
We hope you all enjoy a very restful half term and we look forward to welcoming you back after the holidays. Remember, Monday is an INSET day!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
11th February 2022
This Tuesday Year Two celebrated Safer Internet Day by taking part in lots of activities about keeping safe online.
By reading a story about Jessie and her friends, we learned the importance of asking permission before sharing photos digitally. We learned what ‘permission’ means and how our actions can affect the feelings of others.
Later we learned about ‘pop ups’ and discussed what to do if we come across something online that we are unsure of. We decided that we must always tell a trusted adult and devised different ways we can ask permission such as: Please can I… Is it okay if I… Please may I… Would it be alright if… Is there any chance I could… Would you mind if I… I’m thinking of … and would that be okay?
We watched a video from Gloucestershire constabulary and found it very funny that the police dog and police horse could talk. They gave us lots of good advice about only playing games suitable for our age and told us to have fun on the internet but to stay safe.
We learned a song to help us remember how to keep safe. It went like this (perhaps you can sing it to your mums and dads Year Two):
If it makes you feel funny
In your tummy
Worried, scared or sad
Then you must
Tell a grown up you trust
Like a teacher or a mum or dad
In Literacy this week we have been writing recounts about a naughty robber called Fast Fox who stole an antique violin from Lord and Lady Clifton. The children have all really impressed Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson with their stamina and application of Year Two writing skills. Well done Y2!
In Maths we have been learning to estimate and measure length and height using meters and centimetres. We are remember to start at zero and are developing our understanding that 100cm=1m.
During PE this week, we performed lots of interesting dance movements whilst pretending to be walking on a beach or crashing like waves. We worked well as a team and will refine our timings and sequencing next week.
See you next week Year Two!
*We will update our blog with photographs on Monday 14th February!
4th February 2022
Year Two have had another lovely week of learning!
In Literacy, we read a newspaper report about the cheeky Cobra that stole precious jewels from the Duchess of Hampshire’s bedroom! We have started to innovate the text to write our own versions.
In Maths, we continued to learn about measure. We finished comparing and ordering masses and have started to learn how to use a ruler to measure in centimetres.
In Science, we had a special delivery from Cotswold Farm Park. It was an animal named Scooby. He wasn’t very happy at the farm park as they hadn’t put any water in his enclosure, had only given him plants to eat and provided no shade either. We used all our knowledge about animals, learned this term, to write a guide on how to look after him. Hopefully now he’ll be much happier in his new home.
In computing this week we designed our own mats for the BeeBots. We made decisions about where to place objects on the mat and tested them out. On Tuesday next week it will be ‘Safer Internet Day’. We will be adding to our existing knowledge about how to keep safe online, dedicating the whole day to learning about it’s importance.
We have had such a lovely week and enjoyed showing off our school to our special visitors. We were so well behaved we even filled up our pompon jar! Enjoy your weekend’s Year Two and we’ll celebrate your pompom treat next week.
28th January 2022
Beep Beep! This week was ‘Road safety’ week. We had so much fun on Wednesday learning all about keeping safe on the roads.
During the morning we designed bright, colourful clothing that we could wear at night. We learned about the importance of being bright and being seen. Mrs Pritlove brought in her car seats for us to try out. We read a story called ‘Tumble Ted’ and learned the importance of always sitting in our car seat and wearing a seat belt. We also spotted hazards on the interactive whiteboard such as children playing near the road and running out into the street. We learned about the safest places to cross such as on a pelican crossing, zebra crossing and toucan crossing. Our favourite part of the day was riding our bikes and scooters around the playground! We practised getting off our vehicles and pushing them safely across the road. We now know so much about keeping safe.
During Art this week we practised our sketching skills by drawing the second half of a picture taken in forest school. Mrs Pearson was impressed by our attention to detail.
During our RE lesson, we learned about a special pilgrimage Muslims make to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is very special to Muslims as they believe it is where their prophet Muhammad was born. Mrs Pritlove was then very impressed with how well we reflected upon our own special places. There were some very thoughtful ideas shared by us all.
In Maths we have been learning to read scales in divisions of 2, 5 and 10. Perhaps you can have a go at reading some scales at home such as measuring scales in your kitchen.
In Literacy we have learned to use commas in a list. On Wednesday, we found Hoppity looking through holiday brochures…we think he’s hoping for a break! We wrote him a packing list for different destinations just in case he does decide to go away. For a beach holiday we decided he would need sun cream, a swim suit and a hat. To go skiing we thought he would need skis, a scarf and gloves.
We have had such a fun week.
See you all next week Year two!
21st January 2022
Year Two have been many different things this week including: historians, artists, musicians and dancers. What a busy week we’ve had!
In History we learned all about Isambard Brunel’s famous ship the SS Great Britain. Did you know that you can visit this ship in the Great Western Dockyard, Bristol? It’s a fantastic family day out! We wrote first-hand accounts as if we were on board the ship. Our detailed descriptions of the sounds, smells and sights were amazing. Mrs Pearson could really feel as if she was there from reading our diary entries.
In Art we learned about the artist Andy Goldsworthy. We talked about what a ‘sculpture’ is and gave our opinions on his creations. We learned that he uses a lot of natural materials in his work and were amazed by his creativity.
In Music we practised finding and keeping a steady beat. We also practised simple rhythmic patterns using long and short and simple melodic patterns using high and low. We listened to the song ‘Maple Leaf Rag’ by Scott Joplin. He was known as the ‘King of Ragtime’ and wrote over 100 pieces of music. We also learned the song Rainbows and next week we hope to add instruments to our performance.
In PE we continued to learn dance moves for our ‘Under the Sea’ dance. We moved gracefully like turtles and rapidly like shoals of fish. Mrs Pritlove was very impressed with how well we worked with our partners to sway like seaweed and dive in and out of the waves like dolphins.
In Science, we learned to recognise and describe the importance of humans eating the right amounts of different types of food. We now know there are five main food groups: carbohydrates, proteins, dairy, fruits and vegetables. Take a look at our healthy lunch boxes below.
This week, we learned a new skill of writing questions. We learned that they ask something and require an answer. They start with a capital letter and end with a question mark. We practised using this skill by writing a range of questions for the characters in our class novel ‘The Giraffe, the Pelly and me’. Mrs Pritlove laughed at some of our questions such as ‘Does your beak have a seatbelt?’ and ‘Why would you throw everything out of the window?’.
In Maths we have been using all the knowledge we have gained about multiplication and division to derive statements. We learned that if you know one multiplication statement such as 2×5=10 then you can work out 3 other number sentences eg: 5×2=10, 10÷2=5 and 10÷5=2. Keep practising those times tables Year Twos!
Thank you for another fantastic week Year Two! Remember next Wednesday is Wheely Day and you can bring a scooter or bike to school for the day. Don’t forget your helmets too!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
14th January 2022
In Maths this week, we have been practising quick recall of our 2x and 10x tables. We have been using counters to build the times tables and are beginning to understand that odd numbers cannot be shared equally between 2 whilst even numbers can.
We have continued to practise the skill of writing statements in Literacy. We watched a video about a missing bear and an elk and made WANTED posters to help others find them. Please let us know if you see them anywhere!
In Reading sessions we found out lots of information about Roald Dahl. Here are the webistes we looked at, should you wish to revisit them at home:
https://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/about
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/35579345
During RE, we finally got round to making our Christingles. We learned that many Christians make these around Christmas time to remember Jesus as a light of the world. We also learned more about Muslim prayer. We tried on topis (the hat worn by boys) and acted out the prayer movements performed when Muslims pray.
In our Art lesson we completed detailed observational drawings. We watched ‘Austin’s Butterfly’ and learned about improving our artwork by looking closely and drawing details. Here is the video we watched: https://vimeo.com/160874546
Another fun week was had by all! Well done for continuing to work so hard Year Two!
7th January 2022
Happy New Year!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson are very impressed with how well we have settled back into school this week. It sounds like we have all enjoyed a lovely Christmas break and have come back ready to learn.
In Maths we are starting to learn our 2x, 5x and 10x tables. The aim is for us to be able to recall these automatically by the end of the year. Lots of practising or quick recall during car journeys or by using online games could be really fun! One of our favourites to play in class is Hit the Button. Here is the link to it if you want to play it at home: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
We have started to learn a new skill in writing lessons. We learned that a statement tells you a fact, opinion or idea. It starts with a capital letter and usually ends with a full stop. We have started to read our class text ‘The Giraffe, the Pelly and me’ by Roald Dahl and wrote some interesting statements about the grubber (an old-fashioned sweet shop).
In Phonics we are learning to add the suffix -ing and are getting used to all the rules. For example, we learned that words ending with an ‘e’ need the ‘e’ to be dropped before adding -ing, like hope=hoping.
Our RE focus for this term is going to be Islam once again. We learned that the Qur’an contains the most important words to Muslims-they guide their everyday lives. Mrs Pritlove was very impressed by our insightful contributions to a discussion on words that are important to us. We came up with ideas such as: family, friends, school, creativity and imagination.
This term we will be learning about the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In our History lesson this week, we started to find out about his life and why he is famous. Here is a link to a really useful website if you wish to find out more: https://gridclub.com/activities/brunels-britain
We are so glad to have you back Year Two and look forward to a really fun Spring Term together.
17th December 2021
We finally made it to the end of term. Woo hoo! We have a had a wonderful final week full of festivities.
In Maths we have been learning to use positional language and are beginning to use the vocabulary of clockwise, anticlockwise, left, right and right-angled turn. We enjoyed using the BeeBot app to guide the BeeBot using these words.
This week, we have learned all about how to take photos using the iPads. We learned about the effect light can have on the quality of a photo and looked for clues to spot whether a photo was real of fake. We decided that to take a good photo you need to think about positioning, hold the iPad still and frame the object carefully. We had great fun editing our own photos using the Pixlr app too.
In Geography, we finished writing our city guide leaflets all about London. If you fancy a visit over Christmas then we will be able to tell you just where to go!
During DT we designed our own fruit smoothies and look forward to making these after the holidays.
Obviously, no Christmas would be complete without a party and we had so much fun during ours on Friday! We played bowling, took part in a lucky dip and did lots of dancing. It was brilliant!
We hope you all have a lovely break and enjoy your Christmas celebrations. MERRY CHRISTMAS YEAR TWO! We will see you all in January. 🙂
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
10th December 2021
WOW What a week we have had!
The week of our nativity finally arrived and what a celebration it was! The children’s performance was absolutely amazing and we hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you for providing all the costumes and helping the children to learn their lines. They did themselves proud and put on such a brilliant show. Well done Year Two!
In Maths this week we have been practising more multiplication skills. We learned how to use arrays to multiply and demonstrated our knowledge of commutativity too.
We finally finished reading ‘The Princess and the White Bear King’ and were happy to learn that the princess found her happily ever after. We have been learning the story off by heart using our own story maps and will be thinking about the setting and characters in more detail next week.
We also received another shocking letter but this time it was from Santa! He informed us that he would not be able to deliver any presents this year as he had to stay home to trim him hairy beard and look after a poorly Blitzen. We wrote back to him immediately and thankfully he must’ve been impressed by our letters as he replied informing us that he had changed his mind! Phew!
In Science this week, we thought about what animals need to survive. We had some interesting discussions around what was ‘nice to have’ and what was actually needed for survival. In the end we all agreed it was shelter, air, food and water. We went out into Forest School to build our own shelters…and although very muddy, we managed to create some great shelters.
In DT this week we discussed food traditions at Christmas time. We talked about what different people around the world like to eat at this special time of year and what we traditionally enjoy in our own homes. It made us all a little bit excited for all the Christmas treats!
A little note to say that our class Christmas party will be on Friday afternoon next week. Please can children bring in party clothes to change into on that day.
Thank you.
3rd December 2021
The Christmas countdown has well and truly begun in Year Two!
This week we had a surprise visit from Santa! He obviously came in the night as he left behind snowy footprints and set up a beautiful Christmas tree in our classroom. It looks magical…thank you Santa! We have also been opening our British Sign Language advent calendar every day. Here is the link to the playlist if you want to learn them at home too: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAoW1zMlmOlmIEpKYSpXG6uini3lm87EC . So far we have learned the signs for ‘advent calendar’, ‘Christmas tree’ and ‘secret Santa’.
During the week, we were horrified to receive a letter from Mrs Moss explaining that we had to stay in school to work during the Christmas holidays! We immediately wrote back and thankfully managed to convince her otherwise. Phew! Mrs Pritlove assures us it was because our writing was so good…we managed to include many of the skills we have learned so far this year and we made sure our handwriting was neat too.
Our Maths lessons have focussed on multiplication this week. We are beginning to understand what the x symbol means and have started to solve multiplication problems using repeated addition and arrays.
During RE this week we looked at different nativity scenes from around the world. We travelled to Vietnam, South America and Russia. We found the different scenes fascinating and even had a go at designing our own nativity scene too.
We have started to write our fact files all about London in our Geography lessons. We have discovered lots of facts from our research and are looking forwad to putting it all into a leaflet for tourists to read.
As we filled up our PomPom jar last week, we decided to all bring in our favourtie teddies. We enjoyed sharing these in circle time and talking about why they are special to us.
We look forward to seeing you all for our nativity play next week!
26th November 2021
Wow this term is flying by!
In Maths this week we have started to recap our knowledge of 3D shape. We identified and described the properties of cylinders and cones and were able to sort a range of 3D shapes, describing their similarities and differences.
Our writing blew our teacher’s socks off this week! We watched a video about Santa delivering presents and his reindeers being left no carrots! Our recounts of the main events from the video were very detailed and we managed to include a whole range of skills taught since September. What extraordinary Year Two writers we are!
In RE we discussed different ways in which Christmas is celebrated in Church. We learned about Advent and made our own advent wreaths. We have, of course, also been busy practising for our nativity…not long to go now! Please can any costumes be sent in as soon as they are ready.
Thank you to everyone who sent in a baby photo for our Science lesson. The children loved guessing who was who and had lots of ideas about how they had changed and will continue to do so as they get older.
During our Geography lesson we compared the weather in all parts of the United Kingdom. It was cold everywhere this week! Brrrr!!! We are getting very good at locating these countries and their capital cities on a map.
We cannot wait for another fun week of learning next week. Keep up the hard work Year Two!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
19th November 2021
This week has been full of kindness in Year Two as we have been thinking about anti bullying. We designed and made our own superheroes who we thought would demonstrate all the qualities it means to be kind.
On Friday we had a fun filled RE day linked to our vision of the Mustard Seed. We discussed what this parable means to each of us and explored why the parable of the Mustard Seed was chosen for our school. As a new school we thought of ourselves from tiny beings growing into fully formed adults. We thought of our school growing into a bigger one. We each made a mustard seed and then thought about “Our small steps to big dreams!” We think of our Christian Values as the birds nesting in the trees. During the day we reflected on how we can grow spiritually into the best we can be and discussed our aspirations for ourselves and the world. We had great fun making our own mustard tree and adding our aspirations onto each of the leaves. We also loved exploring the resources available in our wonderful reflection room.
In reading lessons this week we have continued to read a little more of The Princess and the White Bear King. We discussed some tricky language such as ‘lavish’, ‘enchantment’ and ‘numb’. We also made some sensible predictions about what might happen next based on what we’ve read so far.
During phonics lessons we have continued to learn alternative spellings for the phonemes of which we are familiar. We are getting better at recognising which grapheme to use in each word depending on where we hear the sound. This week’s focus were the z, sh and or sounds.
This week’s writing lessons have focused on a new skill of writing exclamation sentences. We watched a mesmerising film called The Clocktower and have started to retell the story by including sentences which contain this skill. Here is a helpful song we listened to to remind us what an exclamation sentence is: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vfk_sOZ3aOo
We finished learning about subtraction this week and will be starting to look at 3D shapes next week! Whilst practising for our nativity play of course. Thank you for all the help you have given towards helping the children learn their lines.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
12th November 2021
Wow! Another week of brilliant learning in Year Two this week! Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson have been very impressed with our attitudes as we continue to demonstrate our learning powers…particularly ‘Don’t give up’ and ‘Keep improving’.
In DT this week, we thought carefully about fruits that grow in the UK and those that don’t. We learned about how weather conditions affect what foods we can grow and located countries on a map where our imported fruits are from. We then made our own fruit salads, practising our chopping, cutting and peeling skills. Our combined ingredients were delicious!
In RE we learned a new word: Incarnation. We recapped the Christmas story and next week will be thinking about how ‘God on Earth’ is reflected through artwork.
Our ICT lesson focused on the use of voice activated devices. We thought carefully about whether these devices were real people and made thoughtful contributions to a class discussion on what kind of questions it would be suitable to ask Siri/Alexa and which we should discuss with an adult.
In Maths we have been developing our subtraction skills. We learned that we can use known facts to calculate with larger numbers. For example if we know 7-2=5 then 57-2=55. We also learned to take away 9 by taking away 10 then adding one.
In Literacy we continued to learn how to write commands. We made crowns just like the princess in ‘The Princess and the White Bear King’ and then wrote our own instructions on how to create it. We also pretended to be tour guides and gave detailed commands on how to make the most of a visit to London. Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson were very impressed with our use of bossy verbs and we are even remembering to include so previously learned skills such as expanded noun phrases and conjunctions too!
Parents, today (Friday) you will have received a letter detailing any lines your child has been given for our nativity. You should also have received information on any costume that they will need. We hope you are as excited as us about this! Please do come see us if you have any questions. Thank you for your continued support.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
5th November 2021
What a fantastic start to the new term Year Two! You have come back enthusiastic and ready to learn.
In Maths we have started to learn how to subtract 2 digit numbers. We discovered that subtraction is not commutative whereas addition can be done in any order! We received an exciting new piece of apparatus called a ‘rekenrek’ this week and are already beginning to learn how to use these to recall number facts to 20.
In Literacy we have been learning all about commands. We helped Mrs Pritlove to make a magic potion by giving her commands such as ‘First add the crushed bones’, ‘Next pour in the frog juice’. We discovered that a command is a type of sentence that instructs you to do something. It must contain a bossy verb.
This week we have had a huge focus on climate change linked to the very important COP26 summit. The entries we received for the half term homework were amazing! The children have been thinking really hard about our school value of responsibility and how we can care for our world. Thank you so much for helping the children with their projects.
We have started a number of new topics in Science (Animals including humans), RE (Why does Christmas matter to Christians?), Geography (The UK capital cities) and DT (cooking). We kicked off each topic by thinking about what we already know and telling Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson what we would like to find out. It’s going to be a fun filled term! With a bit of Christmas sparkle added in of course!
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
22nd October 2021
Year Two have enjoyed a busy week and we’ve made it to half term! Yippee!
In Maths we continued to learn how to add using partitioning and recombining. Our place value knowledge is really developing and Mrs Pritlove was very impressed with how we used this to partition two 2-digit numbers and then add them together.
In Literacy we wrote instructions on how to trap different creatures. There was a huge variety including ghosts, zombies, dinosaurs and even unicorns! We tried so hard to include the skills we have learned so far this year including conjunctions and expanded noun phrases.
We finished our History topic on Glorious Gloucester by predicting what Gloucester Quays may look like in the future. We also recapped all the learning from the term using our dual coding maps. Parents you could try asking children to talk through this at home to see what they remember.
Our ‘Boats at Saint Marie’ collages are now complete. We think they look fantastic! We enjoyed using a variety of different textures to create this famous Van Gough painting.
Unfortunately this week Hoppity, our class bunny, broke his school bag! We investigated which material would be best to make him a new one. After testing the materials using water we discovered that the best material would be plastic as it was waterproof. The paper and fabric bags went soggy and even ripped! We decided that these absorbent materials would be no good at all.
We have had such a fantastic term and the children have worked their socks off! Well done Year Two! Enjoy your well earned half term break and we’ll see you in a week.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
15th October 2021
Year Two have had another lovely week this week.
In Maths we have started to practise our addition skills. We have been recalling our number bonds to 10 and our doubles to 20. We noticed that if we know these facts then we can work out other facts too. For example if 2+8=10 then 20+80=100.
In Literacy we have been learning how to trap a dragon! We read instructions that guided us on how to tempt the dragon into a pit using a large lump of meat. We then used the story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ to write our own instructions on ‘How to trap an angry giant’. It would appear that 100 tasty jacket potatoes and a large cage is all you need!
We were very lucky to have a visitor on Monday who taught us some new PE skills. We refined our throwing and catching skills and played lots of fun running games.
Our recorder skills are coming along nicely and we are learning to play a range of notes. Mrs Pearson is very impressed with how well we can now hold the recorder and put our fingers in the correct positions.
In RE we learned about the Muslim holy book of the Qur’an. We found out that this book contains many special words for Muslims. We offered some lovely ideas as to what words are important to us. Mrs Pritlove was impressed by our insightful suggestions such as ‘I love you’, ‘You are special’ and ‘Mistakes help you to learn’.
It’s hard to believe we are nearly at half term! Only one week to go. We look forward to seeing you all next week for Parent’s Evening.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
8th October 2021
This week Year Two have been busy bees!
In Computing we learned about how technology can help us in the outside world. We demonstrated how a scanner and till works by pretending we were in a supermarket buying items. We recognised that technology can help us to do things quicker and more accurately. It can also help us to remember things that we might forget and can save humans time.
In Science we conducted an experiment to find out which material would be best to build a boat for a lego man. We learned the meaning of new vocabulary ‘waterproof’ and ‘absorbent’ and found out that the lego man was best to build his boat from plastic or metal. The paper and cardboard went very soggy and even ripped!
In Art we explored the background of the Sunflowers painting by Van Gough. Van Gogh painted this for his friend, the artist Paul Gauguin. He chose the colour yellow to represent happiness. He made lots of paintings of sunflowers. We found out that this is one of Van Gogh’s most popular and famous paintings. We had a go at painting our own vases of flowers too!
In Literacy we watched a film about a girl that dived into a washing machine and found herself under the sea. We used this clip to write some lovely sentences that included our new skill of co-ordinating conjunctions. Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson were very impressed by our ability to join two main clauses together.
In Maths we have been exploring 3D shapes and counting the number of edges, faces and vertices. I wonder what 3D shapes you have in your homes…Can you go on a shape hunt and find out?
It was wonderful to see so many of you at our Harvest Festival celebration on Friday. Thank you so much for coming. It was a delight to be together again.
Mrs Pritlove and Mrs Pearson
1st October 2021
What another fun filled week of learning in Year 2!
During Literacy we have learned a new skill of using co-ordinating conjunctions. We have been trying really hard to join two main clauses with one of these words: and, so, or, because, if, but. During our reading sessions we have been looking closely at another of Aesops Fables. This week it was ‘The lion and the fox’. We discovered a very important message in the story about how we can learn from the mistakes of others.
In Maths, we have been learning about the properties of 2D shapes. We were fascinated to discover that a square is actually a special type of rectangle. We also learned that pentagons and hexagons can be ‘irregular’ and still be categorised under the same name. Everyone has really been putting Skye’s learning power to good use this week and having a go at adding and subtracting 10 using a jotting.
We’ve continued with our Science topic on Materials. We loved exploring how different materials can be described as ‘transparent’, ‘translucent’ or ‘opaque’ depending on how much light was able to travel through the object.
In our Art lesson this week we started recreating Van Gogh’s painting of ‘Boats at Sainte Marie’ using collage techniques. We will be building upon this each week, choosing and using different materials thoughtfully and precisely.
Next Friday morning is our Harvest Festival service. Just a little reminder that only one adult can attend per family. We look forward to seeing you there.
Mrs Pearson & Mrs Pritlove
24th September 2021
What a fabulous week of learning in Year 2!
During Literacy we have continued learning how to use expanded noun phrases in our sentences. Everyone is trying hard to remember how to use capital letters, commas, full stops and finger spaces correctly. During some of our reading sessions we have been developing our comprehension skills – using our learning power, ‘Cool Concentration’ to find the right piece of evidence from the text to back up each answer.
In Maths, we have been learning to order numbers from smallest to greatest by using our Place Value knowledge of Tens and Ones. Children have also been using different methods and resources (e.g. Dienes, 100 square) to support their calculations involving ten more and ten less (e.g. 45 – 10 = 35). Everyone has shown a determined attitude to improve their mental calculations. We have already noticed their confidence increase with repeated practice of counting in 2s, 5s, 10 and doubles (e.g. 7 + 7).
We’ve started our Science topic on Materials. We loved exploring how different materials changed by bending, squashing, twisting or stretching. There were lots of interesting group discussions using our new Science vocabulary (smooth, transparent, bumpy, translucent, transparent, flexible, waterproof).
Our Computing lesson this week was all about the uses of technology, where we spotted different IT equipment around our school. It would be great if you could share how technology is used in your job or day-to-day routine so children recognise further benefits.
A busy week, well done Year 2 – incredible enthusiasm for learning !
A couple of reminders:
Homework:
Homework has been issued today. Please return this by next Thursday. Note our spelling test will take place on Thursday, 30th of September.
Please continue to read at least three times a week at home and record this in the reading Record when you do. If your child reads five times they will enter the Regular Reader draw to win a book!
Thanks again for your support,
Mrs Pearson & Mrs Pritlove
17th September 2021
We have been so impressed with Year 2’s learning this week. In Maths, we have been learning to use different symbols (<, > and =) to compare numbers as well as order 2-digit numbers from smallest to greatest. Children are becoming more familiar using Dienes and jottings to show their understanding. We also continue to practise counting to 100 in tens and ones daily.
Literacy has been lots of fun as we have explored different settings and books, such as ‘Traction Man’ to inspire our writing. Our focus has been writing expanded noun phrases, like ‘fearless, courageous hero’. Children recognise that expanded noun phrases give more detail to the noun by adding one or more adjectives. Next week we will be using these in our sentences.
Our detective skills were on show during History for our topic Gloucester Docks. In groups, we investigated different artefacts, including photos of dockers loading timber into the warehouses, sack hooks and iron Lewis Keys. Some of their predictions about what the Cadbury’s milk churn and land chains were used for came true as the class studied each artefact closely. We are looking forward to more discussions – they are so rich with questions!
Finally, we were delighted to achieve all our stars for lining up smartly – we were rewarded with a slightly longer break.
Enjoy the weekend!
Mrs Pearson and Mrs Pritlove
10th September 2021
What an amazing first week!
Year Two have shown excellent behaviour and a ‘can do’ attitude with all our new classroom routines. At the start of the week, we created our classroom ‘Golden Rules’ to keep everyone safe and to make sure we are successful with our learning.
In Maths, we have been developing our understanding of place value. Children have been enjoying using Dienes to represent two-digit numbers, partitioning these into tens and ones (e.g. 42 = 4 tens and two ones). The class have also been learning how to split numbers in different ways (e.g. 42 = 40 + 2; 42 = 30 + 12; 42 = 21 + 21). In Literacy, we have been writing descriptive sentences and trying hard to remember to use capital letters and full stops.
Well done everyone! Enjoy the weekend.
Mrs Pearson and Mrs Pritlove