Y2 weekly newsletter 8.12.23

Wake up, Wake up, come and see the new born king! This week has been full of nativity practises ready for our performances next week. We can't wait to show it to everyone.

In maths this week, you have completed both of your arithmetic and reasoning papers. I am so proud of how hard you have worked with both of these papers. It was lovely to see you put all of your skills and knowledge together to help you work out the answer. We have also started our new shape topic this week. You recapped all of the names of 2D and 3D shapes that you had learnt in Y1. You were then introduced to a pentagon and hexagon. You also built upon your knowledge by learning how many sides each 2D shape had and how you can count them.

In English, you continued your learning about the night gardener. You learnt how to write in the past tense and how some verbs are changed by adding 'ed' to the end and with some you have to change the whole spelling of the word. You then used this knowledge to write a short paragraph for a diary entry in past tense. These were lovely to read through. You have also learnt what a comma is and how to use them in lists. First, you analysed William's diary entry about the topiaries and spotted where he had used a comma. Then you had a go at using commas in lists yourself. You were great at this! Towards the end of the week, you completed your SPaG assessment and I was so proud of how much you could remember.

Why do we have seasons? In Geography, you learnt about the four different seasons and why we have them. You found out that the earth is on a tilted axis and as we spin around the sun sometimes the UK is closer to the sun (summer) and sometimes it is further away (winter). You then found out what happens in each season. You then created a poster in small groups about the season you were given. These looked fantastic and your illustrations clearly showed some of the changes that happen during your season.

In computing, you continued to build upon your digital photography skills. You learnt how to capture the perfect photo by ensuring that your focus is clear, you have got everything in your frame and your main object is in the middle. You practised taking the perfect pictures of a friend, classroom display and a close up of some crayons. It was great to see you think carefully about whether you needed to put your camera in to landscape or portrait mode. You then learnt another new skill of lighting. You took several pictures in different areas and you rated how good the lighting was. You then learnt about how you can make a lighting better in an area by using artificial lighting (flash, torch, turning a light bulb on) or using natural lighting (opening a blind). You then retook your photos in the darker area and used a torch to create artificial lighting.

In PHSE, you focused on an animated short clip called boundin which was about a lamb and a Jackelope. The poor lamb was liked by everyone but when he was sheared everyone laughed at him. The Jackelope explained to the lamb what he still should be thankful for and this cheered the lamb straight up and helped the lamb to understand that you should focus on what is on the inside and not what is on the outside. You then thought carefully about what you should be thankful for. "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus". 1 Thessalonians 5:18

In forest school this week, you finished your art topic by learning how to do a wax resist. You went on a hunt to find different coloured leaves. You then had a go at drawing the leaf with an oil pastel and then you carefully water coloured over the top. It has been amazing to see how your drawing skills have progressed over your art topic and it has been great to complete this learning in forest school. Your leaves were so impressive and realistic! You then moved onto learning about the names of evergreen leaves and you used these to build your own advent wreaths in your teams. You really enjoyed this task whilst learning about the importance of advent wreaths in the Christian faith. You then finished your lesson off with building fires.

What a busy week it's been with all of our festivities and nativity practices. We are all feeling tired now as we are coming to the end of term. However, I am so proud of your dedication that you show to your learning. Have a restful weekend!

Miss Haynes