Year 2 have been getting into the festive spirit over the last week. It all started with their incredible production of 'Lights, Camel, Action!'. The children worked so hard to learn their lines as well as the songs and we could not be prouder of them. Lots of budding actors and actresses!  The children also had fun at their Christmas party which involved lots of fun games including 'pass the parcel'. A surprise guest appeared during the afternoon - we hoped it wasn't a cheeky elf like the one in our classroom. Luckily, the elf let us take a picture before heading back to the North Pole to help Father Christmas with last minute preparations. Year 2 also enjoyed a winter's walk down to the church to watch Year 3's wonderful Christmas assembly. Thankfully a Christmas dinner was waiting for us on our return to warm us up. What a magical week! 

There were lots of excited children in year 2 today, when they saw a new addition to our class. Our little elf arrived on our newly decorated tree without a name. After much deliberation, the class voted and decided its name would be 'Bauble'. Bauble will be closely watching everyone on the lead up to Christmas. I am sure everyone will be on the 'nice' list. Mrs Daly hopes that it is a good elf who doesn't get up to mischief...watch this space! 

All of the children in KS1 have adopted a 'reading dog' that they can look after for the year. The children were able to choose a dog, name it and make a tag. Their dog will be kept in school, so they are able to read to it during school time. The children in Year 2 were very excited and fell in love with their dogs instantly. They were very creative with their names! We have a Jeffrey, Popcorn, Cookie Dough and even a dog called Ice-cream! 

After their visit to the library bus this afternoon, they snuggled up with their dogs and read their new stories. 

As part of their PE unit the children have enjoyed lots of team building games to help strengthen their communication and collaboration skills. Last week, the children worked hard in teams to pass a hoop around the circle without breaking their hands. It was a lot harder than it looked! The children were great at providing support for their peers. 

Year 2 have been busy this week preparing to write a narrative based on the story of Paddington. In order to more deeply understand the characters in the story, the children have been exploring character's feelings and motives through drama including freeze frames and hot seating. Lots of budding actors and actresses- well done year 2! 

Shortly after our beloved Queen had passed, the children in year 2 decided to make some cards to send to our new King, to show that they were thinking of him and his family at such a sad time. The children did not expect to receive a reply as they knew the King would be extremely busy and would receive thousands of letters from around the world.  

A month after her passing, the Royal Family announced that King Charles had received over 50,000 letters and cards. We cannot begin to imagine how many he has received since. 

To our astonishment, a very important letter addressed to the children and Miss Dunlin arrived in the post today, marked with the Royal crest. The children were so excited to have received a thank you from the King and humbled to know that their kindness was appreciated. 

What an exciting day! 

Shiver me timbers! Year 2 transformed into fearsome pirates today for their 'Land Ahoy' topic! They all looked incredible! We were amazed at all their treasure chests too!

They began their day discussing what they already knew about pirates and what they want to find out during the next few weeks. After, they followed instructions on how to make a pirate hat as well as how to draw the Jolly Roger (this is all part of their new instructions unit). They have also been learning a sea shanty (we will upload a video when they have finished learning it). 

During the afternoon, our young, fearless pirates noticed our treasure chests had been stolen! Alas, we had some riddles and clues to help us to find them. The hunt took us all over, including Mrs Eyre's office! Finally, the children found the chests in the 'older pirate's room of rest'. What joy, when the children found their chests full of gold treasure! 

The young pirates definitely needed refreshments after their voyage and followed instructions to make a pirate 'grog'. Delicious! 

To help us further develop our character, the children finished off the day learning how to speak like a pirate. They learnt phrases such as 'batten down the hatches', 'shiver me timbers', 'yo ho ho', 'ahoy maties' and 'booty'. They even used a code to work out what their pirate name would be. We are all definitely excited for our new topic and ready to learn about some real-life pirates! 

The children can't wait for our next topic, 'Land Ahoy'. We have a fresh, new topic display to fill and what better way to spend a Wednesday afternoon than to create some wonderful artwork to showcase on it. Miss Dunlin was amazed at all the budding artists in class. What dedication all the children had when observing and sketching pirate ships! 

What an incredible 5 weeks Year 2 have had in Forest School! Their last session was certainly jam packed! They started with further valuable lessons around the fire pit and practised some more with the flints. Great determination and resilience were evidenced amongst all children and eventually we got a roaring fire. The children showed kindness whilst making some bird feeders for our resident bird 'Robin'. Can you guess what the children mixed together? After lunch, we practised our science skills and predicted what would happen when certain ingredients were mixed together. Lots of children predicted 'playdough' and they were right! The children learnt that a mixture is formed when you mix more than 1 substance and that its physical properties may change. Finally, the children worked in small groups to practise a trust exercise. Children enjoyed listening to their group leader's instructions of how to navigate a rope course all whilst closing their eyes- it was much harder than it looked! Thank you to all the staff who have supported the children during Forest School. Lots of brilliant learning has taken place (as well as some yummy treats too!). 

Thank you to all who helped the children to learn their lines and came to support the children during their performance. I am sure you will agree that the children produced a fantastic assembly! With only the day of the performance to practise using a microphone, we are very proud of how they performed their lines (there were a few nerves beforehand). We would also like to thank everyone again for donating food to the local Foodbank, we know it is going to a great cause. Thank you also to St Andrew's for hosting. We loved every minute, including the very wet walk home! 

As part of their 'traditional tales' literacy unit, the children in year 2 have been producing work based on the story 'Hansel and Gretel'. They continued our work in Forest School this week by retelling the story and role playing the characters.  The children got into small groups, made gingerbread houses and got into character. Can you tell who they are supposed to be? Miss Dunlin was very impressed with the detail in their houses! Super imagination Year 2! 

They only needed their imagination for so long as the children were able to enjoy a real gingerbread biscuit and hot chocolate, yum! 

Later in day, the children made a clay pot based on a design they had created last week. The children were able to manipulate the material into their desired shape as well as using tools to add finer details. Let's hope these pots hold the marvellous mixtures they invented in their poetry unit!

The children in Year 2 had a very busy day at Forest School! We began by learning how to be safe around the fire as well as learning the 'respect' position when kneeling around the pit. This helped them when they began to use flints to help start the fire. This was a team effort and the children showed lots of resilience when trying to make a spark. Once the fire was roaring away, the children were able to toast marshmallows and make smores as a reward. Lots of happy children! During the afternoon, the children went foraging for different materials that they could use to make a pattern/simple picture. Luckily there were lots of natural materials to do this. After, they went to make our own special mixtures and potions in the herb garden. They used their senses and imagination to create some wonderful mixtures. They all smelt amazing, particularly the sleeping potions which contained lots of lavender! 

The children in year 2 had a visit from Labrascals this week and it was so much fun! They looked at a range of ingredients and just like George (from George's Marvellous Medicine), they mixed them together to make some explosive and colourful concoctions! Luckily, Miss Dunlin did not zoom through the ceiling like Grandma! The classroom however did get very messy as did some of the children! Their favourite part of the morning was making slime and in order to take it home, the children had to describe their mixture using 3 adjectives. Thankfully, everyone succeeded!

If any parents are interested, Labrascals are running some workshops in the half term at various locations including Barton. They also run birthday parties! The kids loved every minute...as did the adults! Here is the link for more information...

Half term workshops | Lab Rascals Limited

Year 2 had a brilliant time in Forest School today! The children learnt how to make the dish, 'apple crumble'. They began by carefully peeling the apples and cut them safely using the bridge grip. Once all the apples were prepared, they were transferred to a cooking pot where they were stewed. The children carefully measured ingredients to make a crumble for the top and got a little bit messy mixing the ingredients. Whilst the apple crumble was baking, the children had their lunch. 

After lunch, the children worked in teams to create a den. They demonstrated excellent communication skills and had super imaginative ideas to make their dens more exciting. As a reward, the children were able to eat the dish they had created in the morning in their carefully constructed dens. They even washed and dried up! Well done children! 

This week, the children in Year 2 spent some time thinking about the Queen and what she meant to us. We talked about things that will always remind us of her, most of the children thought of Corgi dogs. With this in mind, the children carefully followed instructions of how to draw one. The results were terrific! 

We also thought about the feelings of others and how the Royal Family must be feeling at this sad time. We shared ideas on how we can make others feel happier and decided that we would send, His Royal Highness, The King, cards to show that we are thinking of him. The children took lots of care to make these and were very excited to hear that Miss Dunlin would actually send them to Buckingham Palace! 

The children in Year 2 were very excited to be the first into the Forest School this year! Thankfully, the weather was kind to them and stayed dry for much of the day. They began with a very important safety talk and walk around the area to refamiliarise themselves with the learning areas including the bird hide, pond, fire pit and story telling area. The children also recapped how to lift wood safely and practised by making dens in small groups. 

During the afternoon, the children were able to conduct a simple experiment to see what happens when soil is mixed with water. They had lots of fun manipulating the mixture and discussing what happened when more water was added. Luckily, their topic includes 'muck' and 'mess' because it got very messy!  

Finally, we were shown how to care for the chickens. All their hard work was certainly worth it as they were rewarded with 6 eggs. 

Lots more to look forward to next week! 

The children in year 2 have had a great first week back and enjoyed getting stuck into our new topic, 'Muck, Mess and Mixtures'. Within our literacy unit, we have been looking at different ingredients and thinking about which adjectives best describe them. The children came up with some brilliant vocabulary as a group and learnt how to write expanded noun phrases independently.