Welcome to our Class Page
Please have a look at what we will be learning about this term: Y2 Spring Curriculum Map
13th March 2020
Another lovely week has flown by in Year Two!
In Literacy, we have been reading The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark. We acted it out and retold the story in our own words.
In Maths, we have been practising telling the time using quarter past and quarter to the hour. Mrs Pritlove was so impressed we’re now going to move on to telling the time to 5 minute intervals next week!
In Science, we have been finding out which animals and plants live in different habitats such as the rainforest, desert, polar regions and the ocean. We thought carefully about why these animals live in these habitats and how they are adapted to doing so. Our class tadpoles have started to turn into froglets so we’re hoping to see a few frogs jumping around soon…just not around the classroom hopefully!
We are really enjoying our Music lessons with Mrs Boughton. She has been teaching us how to use the instruments and play as an ensemble. Watch out Britain’s Got Talent!!! Here we come!
6th March 2020
Wow! What an amazing week we have had! It has been jam packed with Science and World Book Day.
We have had so much fun conducting experiments. We’ve made volcanoes, thunderstorms and fireworks to name just a few things! We hope you enjoyed finding out about everything we have learned on Friday.
Thank you so much for your help with the costumes for World Book Day. The children looked fantastic. We loved visiting the library and writing book reviews all about our favourite books. Don’t forget Readathon has now started so try to collect as many sponsors as you can.
28th February 2020
What a lovely first week back Year Two have had this week!
In Maths we have been busy finding fractions such as halves and quarters. Mrs Pritlove wanted the ‘bigger half’ of a hot cross bun but we told her this wasn’t possible and for something to be half it must be equal. We are so clever!
In reading we have been learning the poem ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’. This non-sense poem was written 149 years ago by Edward Lear. Lear wrote ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ for a friend’s daughter, Janet Symonds, who was born in 1865 and was three years old at the time. Mrs Pritlove loves this poem because of the made up words and silliness within it. It would be lovely to hear some of your favourite poems. If you want, you can bring in a poem you have found and read it to the class next week.
We loved tossing pancakes in our Tuesday collective worship this week. We learned all about why Easter is important to Christians and why people eat pancakes at this time.
Next week is jam packed with Science week and World Book Day on Thursday. What an exciting week we have ahead! See you all on Monday.
14th February 2020
What a lovely last week to the term we have had! We have thoroughly enjoyed our Brunel history topic this term and finished it off by learning how a suspension bridge works. First we made a bridge by attaching string to the top of water bottles. This was not a great design as the bridge kept falling down! We found out that the cables on a suspension bridge are firmly rooted to the ground. The weight of the traffic on the deck pulls on the cables creating tension. Did you know that tension means to pull something tight? A suspension bridge works so well because the forces on the bridge are all spread out. How fascinating! If you are ever passing through Bristol, keep your eyes peeled for Clifton suspension bridge Year Two!
We discovered that ‘bio’ means life and ‘ography’ means writing. So a biography means a piece of writing about someone’s life. We have been reading a biography all about Brunel this week. We were amazed to find out that he nearly died twice. Once it was because he performed a magic trick for his children that went a bit wrong…oops!
Please take a look at this link: https://gridclub.com/activities/brunels-britain It’s a fantastic website with lots of info on Brunel, videos to watch and games to play too.
Mrs Pritlove has been overwhelmed by our acts of kindness this week. In honour of Random Acts of Kindness week, we have been demonstrating just how lovely we all are. There have been hugs and tickles galore. Everybody took great pleasure in performing to Sanctus on Wednesday and we hope they liked our little quotes of kindness (attached secretly to their cars).
Have a fabulous and restful half term Year Two. See you all when we get back.
7th February 2020
Ready, Steady…Cook! On Monday, we rolled up our sleeves and made our healthy fruit smoothies. They were very popular with the client (you’re welcome Year One) and tasted delicious. Some of us liked the healthy oats and others weren’t too sure about the texture. All of us had such fun making them though!
We had a really fun science lesson on Tuesday where we looked at the importance of being hygienic. First we sprayed our hands with a special spray that shows up bacteria. Then some of us didn’t wash our hands at all, some of us washed them in cold water, others in warm water and finally some of us used warm soapy water. Mrs Lewis then shone an awesome infrared light onto our hands to show the germs. We found out that the warm, soapy water was the best way to remove harmful bacteria as we could hardly see any bacteria on the hands that had been washed this way. The unwashed hands were filthy…YUCK! We now know just how important it is to regularly wash our hands, especially if we are going to eat or after going to the toilet!
Just a reminder that next week is the last week of Forest School for Year Two.
Have a lovely weekend Year Two. See you on Monday.
31st January 2020
Are you kept awake at night by the sound of dragons crunching bones? Or snakes hissing loudly? If so, Year 2 have the answer! This week, in Literacy, we have been writing instructions on how to trap very annoying creatures. We thought hard about the layout of our work and making it interesting for the reader.
In Maths, we have been placing numbers on scales and estimating the values in between. Mrs Pritlove tried to trick us by showing us scales that jumped in 2s or 5s or 10s but we were too clever for her and soon worked the missing numbers out!
During History this week, we learned more about Brunel’s fantastic achievements. Did you know that he designed the Clifton Suspension bridge? We loved learning to be engineers ourselves as we tried to design and build our own strong, sturdy bridges. We soon realised what a clever engineer he was and how difficult it must’ve been to design and build a bridge on such hilly terrain.
In Science, we learned about healthy eating and eating the right amounts of food from each food group. We are linking this to our DT and have designed fruit smoothies for the Year Ones. We hope you look forward to tasting them next week Year One!
24th January 2020
It’s been a GIANT week of learning in Year Two this week.
In Maths we have been learning our 2x, 5x and 10x tables by playing lots of games. Keep practising everyone!
In Literacy we have been learning how to trap a dragon. We found out that a tasty piece of meat works quite nicely when placed over a large hole in the ground! We have written some very clear instructions on how to trap a giant. So all the giants out there better watch out….Year Two may be lurking in trees with a metal cage ready to capture you!
Our historical enquiry into the life of Brunel was extended this week by looking into the design and building of the magnificent SS Great Britain. We enjoyed pretending we were there for the very first voyage from Bristol. We used all our senses to smell sweaty crowds of people and hear noisy fog horns. Some of us felt nervous about being on the boat and others were excited to travel the world. Next week we will be learning about Clifton suspension bridge and becoming engineers ourselves!
Thank you for another fun week Year Two. See you on Monday.
17th January 2020
Wow what a wet but wonderful week we have had this week!
In Literacy, we have been learning to use conjunctions in our writing. Did you know that Isambard Kingdom Brunel wanted to be an engineer when he was older? He was a famous engineer because he invented lots of great things and knew he would succeed one day if he worked hard. We were fascinated to find out that he designed and built a railway track that connected London to Bristol.
In phonics we have been practising adding suffixes to the end of words. So far we’ve learned to add –er, -ing, -ed and –est. There are so many rules to remember but Mrs Pritlove has been very impressed with our continued hard work. We are very good at remembering our vowels now…ask us about African Elephants In orange Underpants!
Next week, in Maths we will be learning our 2x, 5x and 10x tables. We have learned some very fun songs to help us with this. Here are the links should you wish to see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wwydguSKOU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_awKlEMyleA#
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYRTtwZGwj8
It would be brilliant if you could continue to practise these with your child at home too- thank you.
During our Computing lesson, we collected data on our favourite animals. We then used software to present this data in a graph. It seems everyone loves lions…grrrrrr!!
Our reading session this Friday was super fun! We had to find the most unusual place to read around school. You wouldn’t believe where we managed to enjoy a book! You could find us nestled up enjoying our books in the fridge (brrr that place was a bit chilly), under the tables and even upside down!
Thank you for a great week Year 2. Have a lovely weekend.
10th January 2020
Happy new year to you all!
We have been very busy this week enjoying our learning. In Maths we have had a great week learning about dividing, using this knowledge and our knowledge of the commutative law we have been able to solve different number problems.
In English we have been learning how to use the past tense correctly and have written about all the fun we had over Christmas. We have also been learning about the different parts of the body.
Thank you for sending in the baby photos (if you haven’t already done so it is not too late). We have loved playing guess the baby and so have the children!
Please remember that forest school starts again next Thursday.
20th December 2019
Year 2 have had an amazing week ensuring that Christmas was not cancelled! They have all saved the day for Santa by investigating materials for a new sack so that he can deliver all of the presents on time. Fantastic investigation work Year 2!
All of the children enjoyed a fantastic parting gift from Pickle – a fantastic new book corner to encourage their love of reading! Thank you Pickle, we absolutely love it!
Christmas crafts, parties, Christmas lunch and Christmas concerts – Wow what a busy week and a lovely end to the Autumn term.
Well done Year 2, we are so proud of all of your hard work this term. Enjoy Christmas with your families and don’t forget to eat lots of chocolate. We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.
13th December 2019
Year 2 have been very busy this week using their very best persuasive writing. Mrs Moss was considering keeping the school open over the Christmas holidays!!! Luckily Year 2 saved the day and used all of their persuasive writing skills to convince her that this was not a very good idea. Well done Year 2!
The whole school has been alive with music this week while we have been practising for our iSingPop concert. You are in for a real treat because it is sounding fantastic. We can’t wait to record our very own CD on Monday and perform for you on Tuesday.
Our PE lesson with Montagu Academy has been full of laughter this morning while we learn some new Rugby skills.
Our class elf, Pickles, has been very kind to us this week. He has given us 2 stars to put on our tree because we have been working so hard.
Next week we have lots going on with our concert, Christmas lunch and Christmas party. What a lovely festive week to look forward to!
6th December 2019
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… and our elf, Pickle, has been up to mischief already! We have been writing all about his exploits using an exclamation mark as a signal to the reader. For example; Pickle has stolen Mrs Pritlove’s favourite pen! Oh no! Mrs Pritlove was very proud of our writing! Yesterday, he brought us a lovely present to use in our classroom – a postbox for all our Christmas cards!
Our science lesson this week was a practical investigation. We wanted to know whether materials could bend, twist, squash or stretch so we tested lots of different items such as a wooden egg cup, a sprig of rosemary, rubber bands and even an empty hot water bottle! Miss Amey was pleased to see us using our scientific vocabulary in our discussions and in the sentences that we wrote as well.
During Computing, Mrs Pritlove asked for our help to make a honey sandwich. We tried to give her instructions but she was getting it all wrong. For example, we told her to put the honey on the bread and she placed the whole jar on the bread! We also told her to put the bread together but she didn’t do that right either! After making lots of mistakes we realised that our instructions needed to be more precise. We then had lots of fun using the BlueBots and practised inputting precise instructions into them too.
Our Geography lesson was super exciting this week as we took a walk around Olympus Business Park with Year 1 to identify physical and human features. We are going to make maps of the area, including a key to show the features.
We have been busy practising our iSingPop songs and lines. We are really looking forward to performing soon!
Just a little reminder: Some children do not have their PE kits in school this week. It is important that they stay at school until the end of term as we have a weekly lesson every Friday. Thank you!
We look forward to seeing you all at the Christmas fair this evening for some festive fun!
Miss Amey and Mrs Pritlove
29th November 2019
Another wonderful week of learning and fun in Year Two!
Lots of super subtraction again in Maths for us this week. Each step gets a little more challenging but, just like Marshall, we haven’t given up. We can subtract two 2 digit numbers and we are starting to be able to use the inverse operation to check our answers are correct.
In Reading and Literacy we have continued our learning with The Princess and the White Bear King. This week we have innovated the story and written our own version of the opening. Our new story is called The Prince and the Royal Reindeer! We made sure to include the targets we have learnt so far this term, such as coordinating conjunctions and expanded noun phrases. We have been identifying where we have used these targets and also editing our own work to make improvements. Miss Amey is so proud of what we have achieved.
In Science we have been working on how to make a prediction. We have learnt that this means thinking about what would be the outcome of a test. We are answering one of two questions next week through testing and we are looking forward to seeing if our predictions were correct or incorrect.
In forest school, we had a lovely time cooking toffee apples over the fire! To do this, we rolled half an apple in sugar and cinnamon. Then, we carefully put our apples onto a long stick with a sharpened end. After that we slowly cooked them over the flames until they turned a golden brown. Some of us really enjoyed how they tasted but some really didn’t like them!
22nd November 2019
How quickly this week has flown by!
We have had a fantastic week and all the children have been working their socks off! We all enjoyed learning about how to stay safe on the roads through our Road Safety week activities. We had a special assembly on Monday, lots of activities on Tuesday afternoon and then a brilliant ‘wheelie day’ on Wednesday! See our pictures and quotes below.
In Maths this week we have been tackling subtraction. We have taken away tens and ones from two digit numbers, with and without exchanging tens. We have used Marshall’s learning power “Don’t give up!” and because of this we are all doing really well.
In English we have started a narrative story writing unit. In our reading lessons we have been reading The Princess and the White Bear King which we have learnt by heart using words and actions through a technique called ‘Talk for Writing’. We have developed the main character of the princess through drama techniques, such as hot seating, telephone conversations and a conscience alley. We are going to write the story next. Ask us about the links we’ve made to other traditional tales and the power of three…
We have talked a lot this week about how to keep the germs at bay by washing our hands correctly. Miss Amey taught us how to wash our hands with soap while singing ‘Happy Birthday’. You need to sing it twice to make sure you have washed your hands completely and remember to wash the backs of the hands, in between the fingers and thumbs. Hopefully this will mean that we are passing less nasty bugs around!
Forest school update: We only have a few weeks left for our turn at Highnam woods this year but we have enjoyed every minute! The weather has definitely taken a wintery turn so please could you make sure that your child has a hat and gloves so that they can participate fully during these last few sessions.
Reminders: Please read at least three times weekly as part of homework. Also, spellings will be tested on Monday 25th November.
Miss Amey
8th November 2019
We’ve had a wonderful first week back in year two. Everyone has worked so incredibly hard to show our school values and give 100% in our learning, so thank you so much!
In our maths lessons we have started looking at addition. So far we have added two digit numbers to one digit numbers and tens. We have used base 10 to help us add the numbers together and we are doing so well!
In our writing lessons we have been learning how to use coordinating conjunctions (and, so, but, or, yet) in our sentences. We have picked this up really quickly and are already starting to use these independently – incredible!
We all had a really interesting time on our school trip to the Gloucester Waterways Museum. It was a great opportunity to deepen our understanding of the development of transport and the use of canals in our local area. We looked at all the artefacts in the museum, had a workshop on a boat and had a chance to sketch pictures of the iconic Gloucester warehouses. There was a very helpful volunteer called Doug who took us on a walk around the docks (in the rain!) to see the dry docks and locks.
Have a restful weekend and we will see you Monday!
25th October 2019
Another amazing week in Year Two with these Clearwater superstars! We have really enjoyed our new daily mile – it’s a great way to wake up first thing in the morning.
We were so proud of our Wow assembly. Thank you so much for coming to watch us!
On Monday, we became the teacher in our reading lesson and read a story to the reception children. It was good practice for our reading skills, including comprehension as we had to read around the story and explain what was happening to the younger children.
In Maths we have finished shape and are look at calculation now. We will be looking at addition and subtraction first, beginning with number bonds to 20. We can say our rhyme already to help us remember but we will be exploring these in more detail.
We were absolutely amazing writers on Tuesday during our Big Write. We had to write a diary entry explaining what we’ve done at forest school with no help from any adults. It was hard work but we all enjoyed it!
Thank you grownups for attending the parents evening meetings. It was a great opportunity to share how well the children have settled and what brilliant learning they have been doing so far!
I hope you all have a fantastic half term and that the children all have a well-deserved rest. I am looking forward to seeing you all ready and raring to go in term two!
18th October 2019
What a super penultimate week of term we’ve had in Year Two! Only one more week of school and fun learning before everybody can have a well-deserved rest during half term.
In Literacy we have been so amazing learning how to write different sentence types. Now we know all about statements, questions and exclamations. Our handwriting is getting neater every day, and we are all showing our class power of ‘cool concentration’ during writing lessons.
In Maths, we have been exploring shape. It was fun finding 2D and 3D shapes around our classroom. We have been sorting shapes of everyday objects as well as looking at their properties.
We have really enjoyed practicing our WOW assembly for Monday morning. We can’t wait to share it with you!
Thank you so much to the parents who were able to attend our ‘Welcome to Year Two’ information session. I have some extra handouts which you are more than welcome to – just ask me on the playground or after school. Wednesday’s reading session was lovely, so thank you to those who made it as well!
I am really looking forward to our parents evening meetings – it will be a great opportunity for you all to see just how hard the children have worked in this short amount of time!
Just a reminder that homework is due in Monday 21st October. The children will have a little break from homework over half term but we will expect them to continue reading with you – home, library and school books are all equally welcome!
11th October 2019
Another busy week in Year Two!
Check out our photos forest school. This week we made dough and then baked our own bread over the fire! It was so much fun. Sophie told us that our listening skills were brilliant!
We also really enjoyed designing and making a waterproof jacket for our class friend, Henry Horse. We had to decide which materials were most suitable for this purpose. It had to be flexible as well as waterproof. Most of us ended up using a plastic bag which we could manipulate easily. When we dropped water onto Henry using the pipettes, we checked to see if any had been absorbed or leaked through.
4th October 2019
What a fab week we’ve had in Year Two! Every day there is something new to discover and learn.
In maths we have reviewed the 2D shapes we knew and have met some more – pentagons, hexagons and octagons. Did you know that a square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square? We are looking forward to exploring symmetry in shape next week!
In Literacy we have been busy beavering away using commas to list. We know that we can use these in our narrative writing to expand a noun phrase so that it is descriptive, interesting, fascinating and fun to read! We noticed how we had to use commas to list in our history and ICT lessons – they seem to pop up everywhere now we’ve learnt about them! I wonder if you can find more in the books you’re reading at home?
In history we have continued to explore transport past and present. We looked at the evolution of cars this week.
Our recorder skills are really progressing well. We are absolutely brilliant at keeping time and counting a 4/4 beat. We have learnt to always keep our left hand at the top and our right hand goes below when holding the recorder. We also know how to play the notes B, A and G already!
Everyone loved performing our special song ‘Cauliflowers Fluffy’ during the Harvest Festival for our parents and carers on Thursday. We were so excited to share our beautiful singing and actions with you all. We hoped you enjoyed it as much as we did!
During Forest school this week we made our first fire! We listened carefully to the rules so that we knew how to stay safe and enjoy this fun activity.
A few reminders:
• As it gets colder and wetter, please could you ensure that your child always brings a coat into school. We do like to go outside as much as possible, even if it’s raining a bit!
• Please make sure that your child brings their homework folder in for Monday so that we can hand out their new homework for Tuesday.
• On Monday 14th October there will be a special ‘This is Year Two’ information session for parents and carers. It will begin straight after school (3.05) and last approximately 20 minutes. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
27th September 2019
A super week of learning and fun in Year Two, well done everybody!
In maths we have been counting up and back in 2, 3, 5 and 10 as well as completing number sequences up to 100.
In Literacy we have learnt to use expanded noun phrases in our writing. We were so creative on Friday writing our Prove its!
During science this week we completed our science investigation to test whether hard materials were absorbent. We found that wood was actually a bit absorbent, while glass, plastic and metal definitely were not!
In our history lesson we learnt all about how trains have evolved from past to present. We met a significant historical figure called George Stephenson and found out about the steam locomotive he made call ‘Rocket’.
Forest school was fantastic fun, as always! We played lots of games, looked for more bugs and listened to a story.
Just a little reminder that homework is due in next Monday 30th. Thank you for your support with this. We will set next week’s homework on Tuesday as usual.
Have a wonderful, restful weekend and we’ll see you ready and raring to go on Monday morning!
20th September 2019
Another jam-packed week of fun and learning! Well done everyone for your hard work this week.
In our English lessons, we have practised using full stops as well as remembering to use capital letters. Our daily handwriting sessions are helping us all to remember to join correctly and write our letters on the lines.
During maths, we have been ordering and comparing numbers – quite a tricky skill! There have been some brilliant discussions of how to use the less than, greater than and equals symbols.
In science, we planned an investigation to test the hypothesis ‘Hard materials cannot absorb water’. We are looking forward to seeing whether this is true or not next week!
For history we have created a giant timeline in the hall! We learnt that one hundred years is called a century and chronologically ordered a variety of canal boats according to when they were used. Did you know that the first canal boats were horse-drawn?
Our forest school experience was such fun this week! We were able to make stick men, play a hide and seek type game as well as go on a bug hunt! Some of us collected HUGE bugs, including harvestmen spiders, in our pots. We learnt the best places to find different types of mini beasts.
We are using the Clearwater learning power masks in our lessons to help us do our very best! I wonder who will wear them next week?
Henry the Horse has enjoyed going on adventures each Friday. If your child arrives home with Henry feel free to take him out and about with you to explore! Don’t feel pressured to write in the diary – only if you and your child wish to. Please bring Henry back into school for Monday morning.
Reminder: Homework will be sent out next week on Tuesday 24th September. There will be a spelling list to practice as well as a phonics sheet. The children will already have learnt the skill at school. Additionally, for Year Two, I will include a maths activity sheet. This is optional and not a requirement.
Have a fantastic weekend and I will see you all bright and early on Monday!
Miss Amey
13th September 2019
What a busy week we’ve had! Everyone has settled in so well to our new year two routine and showing such enthusiasm towards their learning – what a great start to the year!
On this page, I will keep you updated with our weekly learning, key dates, requests, any homework requests and, of course, photos of what the children have been doing! Please do check regularly.
This week in maths, we have started looking at place value and using the concrete resources to help us understand which are the tens and ones in a two digit number. In literacy, we revised where and when we need capital letters and have written some super sentences!
During our science lessons we are looking at materials this term. This week we carried out an investigation to explore which type of paper towel would be the most suitable to wipe up Miss Amey’s spilt water!
This week we also began our forest school sessions in Highnam woods. Everyone was incredibly sensible throughout the entire afternoon and displayed excellent listening skills in the forest. We heard the rules first and then we were able to play some games.
We also restarted our PE sessions with coach Kieran. PE lessons will be every Friday morning.
My PPA will be covered by Mrs Pritlove every Tuesday afternoon who will be teaching Art and PSHE to the class.
Key information and reminders:
Water bottles for in class (water only)
Uniform and PE kits to be clearly labelled
Wellies – if your child’s are not in school already
Reading – It is important that you read with your child as often as possible. Every day is ideal however a minimum of 3 times per week is expected. Please use your child’s reading record to record any reading; please note you can read other books from home, bed time stories and do not feel you need to write a comment every time you read with your child. Please note the importance of questioning your child when reading to check their comprehension skills and understanding of the text. The guidance from Year 1 is the same, so please check this at the front of their reading records.
Our reward system is as follows: If a child has read and their reading record is signed 3 times every week, each half term, those children will receive a small prize. If a child reads 3 times in a week, they will be awarded a sticker in their reading record to record this. In school your child will read at least once a week with an adult as well as having explicit reading lessons. Your child will change their book once a week on a given day (children will not change books on the same day).
Homework
Year Two homework will start the week beginning Monday 23th September. All homework will be ticked appropriately as to whether it has or has not been handed in from each child.
Phonics homework: Homework will be set every Tuesday. Homework will need to be handed in every Monday in order to be marked and new homework set for the following day.
Phonics homework will be related to classroom learning to support and consolidate understanding.
Spellings: Lists will be set every Monday. The children will do a spelling test the following Monday and be given a new list. Please help your child to practise these lists using a ‘look, cover, write, check’ approach.
Thank you for all your support in and out of school and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask!
Miss Amey
6th September 2019
What a fab first week!
Year Two have made this big transition to a new class, new school AND new teacher look easy with their excellent behaviour and mature attitude. They have listened well and have helped create some important classroom ‘Golden Rules’ to keep everyone safe and make sure we always do our best learning. I am very impressed so far, so well done everyone!
We’ve already started some trickier Year Two learning in our maths and literacy lessons as well as spending plenty of time in our new hall appreciating the huge amount of space. There is so much to look forward to this term already – forest school, trips to exciting places and learning the recorder!