Tidying our local environment

We are shocked and saddened to see so much litter around the perimeter of our school. We do not think it is acceptable for members of the public to throw litter in our playground or to chuck rubbish on the floor where we have to walk!

We think it's really important to take pride in our local environment and to think about the animals who have to live in these habitats. We have been learning to empathise during our PSHE sessions and to think about ways that we can improve our community and well-being.

The litter patrol (year 2) decided that enough was enough and we decided to take action in the hope that we could influence others to do the same.

We hope to spread the message that littering is not okay and that everyone has a responsibility for their own litter. Put it in the bin if it is not recyclable.

Fitness Fanatics!

 In year 2, we have had a real push on health and fitness. During lockdown, we were not as active as we usually are, so we decided that our physical and mental health needed improving!

In our PE lessons, we have started each session with Miss Fortner's fitness routines to ensure we get our heart rate pumping as this is vital part of preparing your body for physical activity.

As well as this, we have been focussing on Yoga to help improve balance, posture, coordination and the importance of calm, self-love and relaxation of the mind. Thanks to Yoga bugs and to Jannine in the office for the recommendation!

To end our physical week, we were treated to a spectacular Paralympic session thanks to Aspire sports UK! We enjoyed the range of activities on offer and it was great way to appreciate Paralympic athletes and sports. Check out our Twitter page to see photos of each class!

   

Awesome Aboriginal Art

Our new topic is all about Awesome Australia! First, we researched different Australian animals during our computing lesson. We used a search engine and key words to do this.

Once we found out the animals that live there, we then decided which animal we would like to use for our Aboriginal artwork.

To start off our art lesson, we explored a variety of aboriginal dot paintings as well as the colours, techniques and patterns they used.

After we were familiar with the techniques, we practised how to create various dot sizes and patterns using eco friendly cotton buds!

Next week we will be transferring the skills we learn onto our chosen animal. We are really excited to see the end result!

Great Gymnastics!

 In PE this week, we have been learning all about different types of rolls in gymnastics. 

We started off with a pencil roll and we had to make sure we kept our arms straight above our heads and keep our legs straight too as well as pointed toes. 

We then tried a teddy bear roll where we had to sit in straddle position with our legs straight. We held on to the front of our knees and rolled onto the side of our shoulder onto our back. 

                                  

After that, we tried an egg roll where we had to tuck our knees tight into our bodies. As we wrapped our hands around our knees we then rolled onto our backs.

Finally, we tried the hardest roll of all - the forwards roll. For this roll, it was really important that we kept our chin close to our chest so that we didn't put our weight onto our head.  

We had so much fun learning the various types of rolls and next week we will be extending our learning further by linking sequences together.

Coding Champions!

During our Computing lessons, we have been looking at how to create instructions (algorithms) for our Bee Bots to follow.

To begin with, we had our own treasure maps and we had to use directional language to explain how we can reach the Pirate treasure!

After we had created our algorithms, we used a large version of our treasure map to program our Bee Bot to move from our starting position to the treasure.

We then realised that we could get to the treasure in more than one way, but we would need to re-programme our Bee Bots in order to get there.

We used trial and error to get to our final location and had to do some debugging along the way if we hadn't chosen the correct command for our Bee Bot to follow.

Tens and ones in part whole models

 During our Maths lessons this week, we have been looking at tens and ones in part whole models.

We have been practically partitioning numbers into tens and ones using a variety of concrete resources.

 

After this we applied what we had learnt pictorially. 

We then started to explore ways to partition 2 digit numbers into different combinations of tens and ones. Next week we will use our part whole models to record addition statements. 

 Year 2 spent the afternoon exploring primary and Secondary colours. Firstly, we identified the primary colours and looked for items around our classroom. After this, we looked at what primary colours we would need to mix in order to create secondary colours.

Before we began mixing our paints, we practised how to hold our paintbrush correctly. 

We then used a colour wheel to paint on the primary colours. Once we achieved this, we then mixed together two primary colours in order to create a secondary colour.

We had lots of fun investigating the colours we could make out of mixing the primary colours together. 

Miss Fortner and Miss Merrick then challenged us to make lighter/darker versions of the colours we had created and we will be looking at further into tones and shades next week!