Year Two weekly newsletter 8.11.24

What a first week we have had back! We have had firework celebrations, our first forest school session and a super transport day.

Friday was our exciting transport theme day, and what a fantastic time we had! The day kicked off with everyone playing with their favorite transport toys brought in from home. We then learnt about the Montgolfier brothers and their incredible invention--the hot air balloon. Can you believe their first passengers were a sheep, a duck, and a rooster? After that, we got crafty, making our own mini hot air balloons.

In the afternoon, we had a special visit from PC Nick, who talked about the different types of transport used by the police. The highlight was getting a turn sitting in the police car with the sirens on--so cool! We wrapped up the day with snacks and a cozy showing of the film Up. A huge thank you to all the parents for the fantastic costumes; everyone looked amazing!

In English this week, you started exploring your new story, The Night Gardener. On Monday, we uncovered clues to guess what the story might be about. One blanket hid leaves, a trowel, and gardening gloves, while the other had litter, school trousers, bricks, and a sign saying "orphanage." We discussed what these clues could mean, learning what an orphanage is, and guessed at the story's setting. You then saw an image of unhappy people living on Grimloch Lane, which led to a discussion on the word "grim" and how these characters might feel. You brought the picture to life by creating freeze frames, each of you becoming a character and sharing a line describing their feelings.

On Tuesday, you read The Night Gardener and were captivated by the uplifting story, where the mysterious gardener brightens Grimloch Lane with his beautiful topiary creations, bringing joy to everyone. Later in the week, you studied an example setting narrative, exploring the rich vocabulary it used, and even crafted your own simile poems after learning what a simile is. What a creative start to this enchanting story!

In Steps to Read, you dove into the world of poetry! You explored a variety of interesting poems, learning about rhyming couplets and how they work. After reading each poem, you answered comprehension questions to deepen your understanding.

In maths this week, you were introduced to column addition and subtraction. You began by using tens and ones blocks to build a practical understanding of the method, and you picked it up incredibly quickly! Moving on to written work, you practiced adding and subtracting by always starting with the ones before moving to the tens, and making sure to keep all numbers neatly aligned in the same column. By the end of the week, you were confidently adding large numbers--what fantastic progress!

In RE, you began exploring the concept of "good news" and what it means in both everyday life and religious contexts. You started by discussing how people share news today--through things like social media, phones, and newspapers--and then compared this to how news was shared in biblical times. You learnt that in the Bible, angels were often the messengers who brought God's important news to people, delivering messages of hope and joy. After this, you reflected on moments in your own lives when you received good news, thinking about how it made you feel and who delivered it to you, whether it was a friend, family member, or teacher. You enjoyed sharing these stories with each other, seeing how "good news" can bring people happiness and bring them closer together.

In your courageous advocacy work, you explored the connection between emotions and actions. You began by passing a smile around the circle, noticing how that simple gesture could brighten your mood and create a warm atmosphere. This led to a discussion about small acts of kindness, like smiling, that can easily be shared every day. You then examined different pictures of actions, thinking carefully about how each action might make others feel. Finally, you matched action cards to various emotions, learning how our actions can have a big impact on those around us, spreading positivity and kindness.

This week, you had your first Forest School session, and it was packed with exciting activities! You began by creating outdoor artwork in the style of artist Andy Goldsworthy, using natural resources collected from around the field with your partners. The pictures of your creations looked fantastic! Afterward, Mr. Hadfield shared some fascinating artifacts with you, including bird nests, animal fur, and skulls, which sparked a lot of curiosity and discussion. To wrap up the session, you learnt how to safely make small fires and enjoyed roasting marshmallows over the flames. It was a productive and memorable experience in your first session of Forest School in Year Two!

In Computing, you expanded your skills in digital photography, focusing on how to take landscape and portrait pictures. You explored the school field, practicing with both formats and deciding when each one worked best. You discovered that landscape orientation is ideal for capturing wider objects, while portrait works better for taller subjects like people and trees. It was a fun and hands-on way to learn about photography!

We had a jam-packed music lesson this week. To begin with, we looked at this term's social question – How does music teach us about the past? We discussed our ideas and wrote these down in our books. We looked back on our lives so far and how important music has been to us. We have good and bad memories through music. Previous listen and respond songs made us think of classical music and how old some of the composed pieces we have heard of actually are. Our practical job using percussion instruments was really good. Using the instruments, we had to: change the sound; sound like an elephant; slow it down and speed it up. These were four challenges we did using different instruments. Year 2, you were brilliant in this lesson. You showed great sharing, great playing and great focus. Well done!

Year 2 have all completed a fitness challenge this week. They have been challenged to complete as many reps of different exercises as they can in 60 seconds whilst recording their own results so they can see how their fitness improves over the year. This will be repeated in spring term and finally in the summer term and they can compare their results. They were responsible for counting and recording their own reps so it is a personal challenge and each child is on their own journey to improve their fitness

What a fun and exciting week you have had team.

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Haynes