W/B 11.12.2023

Maths

In maths this week we have continued our topic of shape. The children have learnt how to count vertacies, edges and faces of 3D shapes. The children were then able to identify the shapes through their properties and spot patterns and similarities with the shapes. 

English

In English, we have continued with our book "Room on the Broom". The children have written their instruction writing for a recipe about a weatherproof broom. They have worked hard to include expanded noun phrases, imperative verbs and command sentences. They have produced fantastic pieces of writing. 

Wider Curriculum

This week we the children have performed their Nativity! They performed their dress rehearsal on Tuesday for the whole school and did an amazing job! On Thursday we had our afternoon and evening performances. The afternoon did have some technical difficulties which we are really proud of the children for dealing with during the performance. Thankfully, the evening performance had a lot less technical issues and went fantastically! Well done to all of the children for their hard work and great performances! All of the adults in the Year 2 team are very proud of you all!

W/B 04.12.2023

Maths

In maths this week we have continued our topic of shape. The children have learnt how to draw 2D shapes using rulers, squared paper and geoboards with bands. They have also learnt about symmetry (vertical and horizontal).  

English

In English, we have started our new book "Room on the Broom". The children have been recapping expanded noun phrases and adjectives. They have written expanded noun phrases on their plans in preparation for their instruction writing for a recipe about a weatherproof broom for the witch.  

Wider Curriculum

This week we the children have continued their work on the Nativity! We have learnt dances to accompany the songs and we are now in the final push for our performances next week. Please remember that we are performing at 2:30pm and 5:30pm on Thursday 14th December. Children will need to be back at school for 5pm to allow them to get changed ready for the evening performance. 

W/B 27.11.2023

Maths

In maths this week we have started our new topic of shape. The children have been learning how to recognise 2D and 3D shapes and recapping their names. The children have also been looking at counting sides of shapes. 

The children have also completed their end of term challenges papers (assessments) in maths.

English

In English, we have started our new book "Room on the Broom". The children have been recapping imperative verbs and practicing using them in command sentences. The children will be writing instructions of how to make a broom for the witch next week. 

The children have also completed their end of term challenge papers (assessments) in reading and grammar. 

Wider Curriculum

This week we have completed some Geography lessons where the children have learnt about compasses and directions. The children have also learnt about keys on a map and learnt how to read them and how to use the key to determine where things are.

The children have continued their work on the Nativity and most children are already off script! They are working really hard on learning their lines!

24.11.23

Maths

In maths this week we have continued practising addition and subtraction crossing ten which means exchanging our one 10 for ten 1s or ten 1s for one 10. We then moved onto to applying this to more challenging topics such as missing number problems and comparison problems.

English

In English we have finished off our informal letter writing to the aliens telling them to stop littering on the moon! The children have done a fantastic job editing and publishing their work so it their best work with their best handwriting.

Topic

We have continued to look at habitats in science and also camoflauge. The children took part in an experiment of colouring in a moth to camoflauge it in its surroundings and seeing if other children could find it. We have continued to practise our nativity and started blocking it out with actions.

WB 13.11.23

Maths 

In maths this week we have been doing subtraction with 2 digit numbers crossing 10. The children have had practise with physical resources practising exchanging one 10 for 10 ones. This then progressed to drawing the base 10 in their books and crossing these out to find the answer.

English

In English this week we have begun to write our informal letters including features such as fronted time adverbials, conjunctions and different sentence openers.

Topic

In topic this week the children we have finished our art unit by analysing and evaluating our Kadinsky paintings. We have also started practising our Nativity songs and lines!

WB 06.11.23

Maths

In maths this week we have continued addition with 2 digit numbers but are now moving on to crossing a multiple of ten. For example 36+25.

The children have discovered that to work this kind of calculation out they need to exchange ten ones for 1 ten. They had practise with practical resources like base ten to physically exchange ten one blocks for 1 ten block and then finding out the answer. For example:

In English this week we have finished writing up our non-chronological reports and moved on to a new unit of writing. It is based on the Book Man on the Moon by Simon Bartram and genre of writing is an informal letter telling the aliens to stop littering on the moon. The children are learning features such as contractions this week to create an informal style.

Next week:

English - learning about time adverbials, sentence types and conjunctions.

Maths - Subtraction crossing a ten.

WB 30.10.23

Maths

In maths this week we have been looking at subtraction and a range of different subtraction questions that the children will come across.

Firstly the children have looked at subtraction crossing over a mulitple of ten but in using practical resources, this then progressed to doing this with digits and applying this to 2 digit numbers. The children have been taught two methods and been encouraged to choose the method that works best for them.

English

In English this week we have started a new unit of writing based around habitats. We are writing a non-fiction text called a non-chronological report based on pond habitats. The children have had to gather research about pond habitats and organise this into paragraphs under question subheadings. They have also included key features of the genre including conjunctions, title, subheadings, bullets points and scientific language.

Here is what they are aiming for:

Wider curriculum

This week the children have been continuing their Mix it unit in art. The children had to make a printing tool in art out of clay and then create a colour printing piece of art laying different primary colours on top of one another. 

In history we have been exploring activists and more specifically Emmeline Pankhurst and Roza Parks. The children have learned the impact they have had in history and why they are considered a significant individual.

Next week:

English: Writing up our non-chronological report.

Maths: Addition calculations crossing and no crossing 10

Wider curriculum: Exploring Greta Thunberg and modern day activists.

W/B 16.10.2023

Maths

In maths this week we have continued to work on addition and subtraction. The children have been focusing on addition: adding by making 10, adding 3 1 digit numbers, adding to the next 10, adding across 10 and finding 10 more and 10 less.

The children have used part whole models to aid them as well as concrete resources such as base 10 and tens frame to aid their learning.

English

In English, we continued our work on the text “The Lonely Beast”. The children have created their own beasts that attend the Lonely Beast’s welcome home party. The children have written character descriptions including newly learnt literary devices; adverbs, similes, expanded noun phrases and preposition. The children have loved being creative and making their own characters and have produced some fantastic character descriptions.

Wider Curriculum

This week we have continued our DT topic “Remarkable Recipes”. The children have been learning about the design cycle and how we need to consider the brief when designing our product. The children were given this brief: 

Design, make and evaluate a new school meal for school kitchen staff to make a new lunchtime meal.

From this, we worked on all areas of the design cycle and decided upon a vegetable casserole recipe. On Thursday, the children cooked their recipe and tested their product. The children loved getting to cook and then eat their recipe! On Friday they completed their design cycle and evaluated their product. See some pictures of the children preparing the food below:

W/B 09.10.2023

Maths

In maths this week we have continued to work on addition and subtraction. The children have been focusing on number bonds to 100 and finding/using related facts to complete number sentences and solve patterns. The children have also begun to add and subtract one digit numbers.

English

In English, we have started our new text “The Lonely Beast”. The children have been working on expanded noun phrases, similes, preposition and subordination. They will then be creating their own beasts next week and writing character descriptions.

Wider Curriculum

This week we have started our DT topic called “Remarkable Recipes”. We have had a very busy week of learning about food, prep and cooking! The children first learnt about kitchen tools, their uses and how to keep safe when cooking. We then discussed where our food comes from and why we cook it. We read recipes and followed them to ensure we knew how to follow a recipe. The children made some tasty Eton Mess and loved getting to taste their dish.

W/B 02.10.2023

Maths

This week in maths, we have started our addition and subtraction topic. The children have recapped number bonds to 10 and learnt about related facts. The children have recapped which numbers are parts and whole and have learnt how they can be interchangeable when looking at related facts. 

English

In English, the children have been practicing their poems for poetry slam in their house teams. On Thursday, we recorded their performances ready for the school to vote for the best poem next week. 

Wider Curriculum

On Wednesday, we went to Didcot Railway Centre. The children had a fantastic day learning all about the railway and doing lots of fun activities like; riding on a steam train, learning about train signals, building bridges with Lego and learning more about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The children had a wonderful time and were really well behaved!

W/B 25.09.2023

Maths

In maths this week we have continued learn about place value. The children have focused on comparing and ordering numbers and objects this week. They have learnt how to use the symbols <, > and = to compare amounts. The children have also recapped and learnt how to count in 2's, 5's, 10's and 3's. 

English

In English, we have continued our work on the text 'Beegu'. The children have planned an instruction piece of writing where they explain a simple playground game to Beegu. The children were able to choose which game they wrote instructions for and ensured that they included all of the literary devices learnt last week. On Friday, the children wrote out their playground games using their plans.

Wider Curriculum

In topic, the children have learnt all about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The children have found out how he created the Great Western Railway and will learn even more about him during our trip next Wednesday!

In science, the children have learnt about how important exercise is and the four main exercise categories. The children have been set the task of completing an exercise challenge where they complete their exercise once a day for 7 days. We will then analyse the data in next Monday's science lesson. 

In art, the children have looked at several different pieces of artwork by famous artists and have compared and analysed them to focus on the primary and secondary colours used within them. 

W/B 18.09.2023

Maths

In maths this week we have continued to work on partitioning numbers. The children have learnt how to represent numbers in expanded form. They have also been learning about 10’s and 1’s on the number line. On Friday, the children learnt about estimation and estimated where numbers would be on a number line to 100.

English

In English, we have started our new text “Beegu”. On Tuesday, we had some mysterious items on our playground. The children wondered if something or someone had had issues with the windy weather and crash landed! The children have learnt about imperative (bossy) verbs and how to use them in command sentences. The children have also learnt how to use adverbs at the start of a sentence.

Wider Curriculum

In science, the children have learnt about the human life cycle and the different stages of a human life. They have also learnt about humans need to survive and stay healthy. As well as this, the children have been learning about the 5 main food groups and have looked at the Eatwell guide to understand what it means to have a balanced diet. 

In topic, the children have been learning about Neil Armstrong and the space race. The children learnt all about his mission to the moon and even got to experience what it would be like on the rocket and on the moon during a POV simulation of the mission. The children absolutely loved this and it was a great way for them to understand how Neil would have felt during the incredible mission. 

W/B 11.09.23

Maths

In maths this week the children were learning about partitioning numbers to 100 and also writing numbers to 100 in words.

In partitioning the children have discovered that the numbers can be partitioned more than one way. For example:

English

In English we have continued reading The Hike and have incorporated all our learned skills of expanded noun phrases and time adverbials to write our retells of The Hike.

Topic

In topic we have continued learning about significant individuals and more specifically famous explorers such as Christopher Columbus. In art we have started our Mix it topic and have recapped identifying and mixing our own secondary colours and painting these on to a colour wheel.

W/B 04.09.2023

Maths

This week we have started our first topic in Year 2, Place Value. We have been looking at numbers to 20, 10s and 1s in number and place value charts. The children have been learning how to use lots of different resources to help them with their learning such as, Tens Frames, Dienes and Rekenrek.

English

In English, we have read the book “The Hike” by Alison Farrell. We have talked about how we can use adverbials for time to begin sentences as well as writing single clause sentences. We have also been focusing on recapping our key aspects of sentence structure, capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. The children have also begun to learn how to start using cursive handwriting using our new handwriting tool Letterjoin!

Wider Curriculum

In topic, we have started this terms topic called “Movers and Shakers”. Movers and Shakers. We have learnt about Dawson’s model and used the ideas to decide if the Wright brothers were significant people (they invented the aeroplane!) The children have also learnt about 3 significant explorers; Roald Amundsen, Vasco de Gama and Captain James Cook.