Have a look at what we’ve been learning…
KS1 Sports Day
Key Stage 1 made use of the dry weather this morning by having their sports day. Unfortunately, because of the current restrictions in place, the only audience they had were a group of ducks but this didn’t dampen spirits! Staying in their bubbles the Year 1 and Year 2 children worked hard for points for their colour teams. They had to compete in a bean bag throw, a football dribble, an obstacle course, the wheelbarrow race and many more fun games. Everyone had a fantastic time and tried their very best and they all enjoyed an ice lolly at the end. The teachers would like to say a very big well done to each and everyone one of them!
Thrill and Skills for Life
Sam from Thrills and Skills for Life came into school this week to work with us on our team building skills. He is army trained and told us all about his life in the army and how important it was to work together on tasks. He had two army ponchos from Belgium and he explained how they could be used for various tasks, including moving someone from one place to another. He showed us how to work as a team to pull it across the grass safely and correctly and then we all got a turn being pulled – it was so much fun! We worked in two teams and had races whilst following army commands.
Saltburn
Despite being a little bit worried about the weather forecast, Year 2 had a wonderful visit to Saltburn this week. When we arrived we headed straight for the beach where we braved the cold North Sea and had a paddle. Then we sat and enjoyed our packed lunches but we had to be quick as the tide started to come in! After our lunch, we walked along the promenade to look at the beach huts and funicular lift before going for a walk along the pier where the waves were crashing beneath us. We then popped into the amusement arcade to try our luck on the games machines before heading back to the promenade for a well-deserved ice cream. Luckily the weather stayed dry and all the fresh sea air meant the bus was very quiet on the way home. We had a lovely day looking at all the things that we have been learning about in our History lessons.
Year 2 Church Visit
Year 2 went to visit another of the churches in Wolsingham today as part of their work in RE. This week, we visited St Mary’s and St Stephen’s church. Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions we weren’t allowed inside but we were able to explore the outside of the building. We noticed lots of features that we hadn’t seen before such as the numerous stone carved heads on the walls. When we returned to school, we were then able to compare it to St Thomas’s church which we visited previously.
Stranger Danger
The police came into our class today to talk to us about Stranger Danger. They explained to us that everyone we don’t know is a stranger no matter what they look like. PC Jack explained what we need to do if we are ever confronted by a stranger and we tried it out in class – we have to shout “Stranger, Stranger, Stranger” as loud as we can and then go and tell someone who we trust about what has happened.
Poem recitals
This week in English we have been looking at poems by James Carter. We found out that he writes humorous poems and carried out lots of work based on his poem “Anyone seen my dragon?” First we looked at the features of the poem, and then used these to plan and write our own versions. Then we practised reciting the original poem and our own. We hope you enjoy listening to them. Click here to hear some.
Geography Messy Maps
In Geography, this half term, we have been looking at different maps and plans of Wolsingham. We started our work by going for a walk around the town to identify key human and physical features. Then we looked at aerial maps and drew our own street maps using coordinates and keys. To complete our work we worked in small groups to create a ‘messy map’ of the town where we had to use a range of resources to recreate an area in Wolsingham. One person from each group then explained their map to the rest of the class using geographical vocabulary.
Geography Fieldwork
This half term Year 2’s Geography work is focused on the town of Wolsingham. We have been looking at various aerial and street maps of the town to see how the land is being used. On Tuesday, we used our fieldwork skills and went for a walk around the town to think about three important questions:
- What can we see in Wolsingham?
- Who can we see in Wolsingham?
- What are people doing in Wolsingham?
Once back in the classroom we discussed what we had found and have now started to create our own maps of the town.
Captain Tom 100 Challenge
Year 2’s challenge was to go out and collect 100 natural objects and make a long line using them. Before we did so, we decided to do the Maths and work out how many objects we should each collect and how to organise them once collected; so we had to use our division skills. Whilst outside, Mrs Wilkinson made a grid of ten for us to put our items in so we could double check how many things we had before making our long line.
Christmas Party Time!
Year 2 had a lovely time at their party. They played a range of games including Musical Statues and Musical Bumps and Pass the Parcel. What a lovely way to end the term!
Investigating Materials
This half term Year 2 have been focusing on materials and their properties in Science. They explored all the materials that we see around us every day and discussed why certain materials are used for certain things. This week they tested to see which materials were waterproof and found out that some materials are absorbent.
Play Scripts
After reading a play script in our guided reading sessions Year 2 wanted to explore writing and performing their own. We chose the story of The Snowman by Michael Morpurgo and after reading the text in class we then watched the film version and compared the two. Then we worked in groups to create a play script based on what we believed the characters were saying to each other. We also had to think about the settings and design suitable scenes and stick puppets. Finally, we had lots of fun filming them.
Christingle
As part of Year 2’s work in RE they learned about Christingle celebrations which take place on the Sunday before Christmas. They all made their own Christingles and learned about the significance of each part of it.
The orange represents the world.
The red ribbon represents Jesus’s love for the world.
The candle represents Jesus being the light of the world.
The four cocktail sticks with dried fruit on represent the four seasons of the year.
Measuring in Maths
Year 2 have been focusing lots of their Maths work on measuring over the last couple of weeks. They started looking at capacity and mass and then moved on to length. After learning about centimetres and how to measure and draw lines accurately, they then moved on to metres. They went out into the playground and were given an instruction card with a shape with measurements on which they had to measure out and draw on the ground. Everyone worked brilliantly in their groups and drew the shapes well.
Autumn walk
Year 2 went for a lovely Autumn Walk on Tuesday to spot the signs of Autumn and search for things that they could use in their art lesson this week. They spent time searching in the trees and walking through the fields collecting brightly coloured leaves, twigs and conkers. They will be using the things that they found to create a piece of Harvest artwork for display in the KS1 corridor. Mrs Wilkinson was especially proud of each and every child in the class as a passer-by stopped to comment on how sensible and well-behaved they all were being – well done Year 2!
Maths Investigation
Friday is Maths investigation day in Year 2. This half term we are focusing on ‘Trial and Improvement’, this means we have to keep trying different methods with something until we get the right answer. This week we had a four coloured cube problem. We worked with our friend to try and make a cube where all four colours were shown on each face of the cube; this was quite easy! Then the challenge was to make a 9 x 9 cube using 9 colours – this proved a little more tricky; but we never gave up trying. If you’d like to have a go at it, click on the following document: RS Four Colours.
First Days Back in Year 2
The Year 2 children started off their work this year by looking at board games and playing some in our Maths lessons. After taking a look at existing games and identifying their features, they designed and made their own based on a theme of their choice. They then created counters to accompany their game and had to carefully cut out and assemble a dice. They wrote some simple instructions for their game before playing them with their friends.
