In science, we recapped previous work on floating and sinking and discussed why sometimes metal can sink but other times float. We tested this theory by using clay to make different shapes.
For our bonus Forest School day, Year 2 focused on the story of The Gruffalo. We started by reading the story then began to measure the ingredients to make our very own gruffalo crumble recipe. The weather stayed dry however it was very cold! The children smiled and had fun chopping apples and cooking up a delicious feast despite the icy conditions. They even lit their own fire! Some great resilience Year 2!
Well done to the children in Year 2 who showcased their half term projects last week. They all looked amazing and we could see just how hard they had worked (with the help of their grown ups). They all stood very confidently and explained how they created their models. We are all very excited to start learning about the history of flight!
With just under 2 weeks until Diwali, children were captivated during a morning workshop learning all about the Hindu religion as well as the festival 'Diwali' and the story of Rama and Sita. It was so wonderful to dress up, have our faces painted, act of the stories as well as hold real life Hindu artefacts.
During science this week, year 2 looked at different objects to see which could change shape. They investigated whether each object could be squashed, stretched, bent or twisted.
Thursday 12th October was the 25th anniversary of the Harry Potter books and we celebrated with a Harry Potter day. We learnt how to pot a Mandrake in literacy and sequenced each step. In maths we looked at number patterns to help Harry Potter break a code for the Room of Requirement. During the afternoon, we followed a live lesson with the actress who plays Luna Lovegood and the illustrator of the books to draw our own Hogwarts. The children worked so hard and they all did a brilliant job!
Last year's pupils (now year 3), planted some carrots. Current year 2s were able to harvest them and will be able to plant their own vegetables soon now the vegetable beds are empty.
We linked our literacy unit to Forest School this week by following a set of instructions of how to make a bread twist. We made them extra yummy by adding Nutella, honey or brown sugar. The children all worked so well together and were great at measuring different ingredients (super maths!). A lovely treat to end our time in Forest School.
For the last few weeks, the children have been learning about harvest as well as learning their lines and songs. Some children were very nervous prior to presenting but you would not have known with all their confidence and super delivery. We were very proud! Well done Year 2!
This week in Forest School, Year 2 began with a 'mindfulness' nature trail which included following insects and listening to the birds. After, we got into small groups and listened to our teams instructions to make our way along a trail. During the afternoon, the children made the most amazing pieces of art based on Carl Warner's work. It then developed into a 'Neil Buchanan's Art Attack' the children all made giant houses. The children even hung up the bird feeders from last week so they were ready for the birds. All that hard work, ended with a hot chocolate break.
We had a very special visitor in this week to teach us how we can save other's lives. The children were fantastic and were able to practice key skills learnt on each other. They even learnt how to put someone in the recovery position and how to give CPR!
A very VERY wet forest school today. Luckily, we had the help of our amazing volunteers who created lots of dry spaces for us. Whilst trying to convince the children that they wouldn't melt, their smiles returned as children took it in turns to make smores...mmmmmm yummy! Feeling sorry for the birds, the children made a tasty treat for them also.
A very busy day in forest school this week which included a word hunt. The children had to sort the words into categories including 'nouns' and 'adjectives'. After, they went on a walk to describe different features they could see. In maths, children used nature to partition tens and ones. During the afternoon, children made a den to exact specifications followed by roasted marshmallows on the fire. As the rain started to fall, Mrs Heathcote gave us a quick demonstration of how to use a survival tent. It was very cosy!
There seems to be too magic happening in Year 2 this week as we seemed to have conjured a frog in our classroom! It was a very strange thing to see whilst we were about to begin our afternoon lessons, that's for sure! The children loved having a closer look before putting it safely back in the pond area.
Wow, what an exciting morning year 2 had today!
Labrascals came in to work with the children and together, they created some wonderful mixtures based on our class text, George's Marvellous Medicine. Foam was frothing, smoke turned blue, fiery, fearsome smells filled the room, sparkles crackled and things went bang BUT luckily, no-one went through the roof like Grandma in the book.
Once they created their marvellous creations, they were very excited to make slime. This allowed the children to mix ingredients, describe their slime and understand how things change state. Luckily, we didn't make too much of a mess in the classroom but mess is part of our current topic after all.
This week in forest school we started by cleaning out our chicken's coop and went through our Forest School safety rules. After this, the children had an opportunity to demonstrate their safe handling of wood and worked together by communicating clearly. During the afternoon, we had a special lesson on wandmaking. The children created some wonderful wands! Finally they created potions and used their imagination and creativity to describe some wonderful ingredients :)
Each week, the children work together to earn table points. These can be earned in lots of different ways e.g. being responsible for ensuring their table is tidy. At the end of the week, we add up the scores and the table with the most table points enjoy a biscuit, drink and iPad time. Lots of happy faces from the blue table this week. Well done!
In maths this week, the children have been making numbers to 100 whilst using base 10. We had some brilliant discussions and our incredible mathematicians, were able to make lots of different ways to show the same number.
The children have been immersed in our class literacy story this week, 'Room on the Broom'. They loved hot seating each other by taking on the role of the witch and developed their empathy skills whilst discussing the text.
Year 2 jumped straight into science during their first week back to investigate which material was most absorbent by adding water to each and watching the effects. Super team work everyone!