Blackfell Primary School

Super Sculptures

Year 2 looked at the works of Henry Moore. We identified the human form within his sculptures and discussed what we thought the stories behind his artwork might be. The children then used pipe cleaners to portray their own sculptures and gave their artwork a name. In groups, children discussed the shapes and lines needed to create sculptures like Henry Moore. In our next art lesson, the children will be transforming their pipe cleaner models into clay sculptures! We can't wait to share them with you!

Making Super Sculptures

Year 2, have been working on their super sculptures. Using the pipe cleaners we created as models, we then used plasticine to recreate our life sculptures. Once we created our individual sculptures we grouped them to develop a scene of sculpture with meaning. We had a story to resemble each masterpiece. For example, year 2 created 'the family' and 'yoga'  alongside other sculptures with meaning. I am very proud of year 2 for their imagination and attention to detail in their sculpture masterpieces! Well done! I can't wait to see where this art unit takes us next!

Music- I.G.Y

First we warmed up by using our imagination to find the pulse, clap back rhythms and warm up our voices using the warm up games to ‘zootime’. Next we listened and appraised the song ‘I.G.Y’ by Donald Fagen. We listened to the facts about the song, looked at where the song fits in the history timeline of music and used our knowledge to write facts and our own individual feelings about the song. We revisited the song ‘zootime’ and discussed the similarities and differences between the two songs. We then created various compositions of the song ‘zootime’ as a whole class and thought the musical notes we had chosen

sounded great. Well done Year 2!

Super Sculptures - The Finale

To complete our art unit of Super Sculptures we have designed and made our own sculptures using clay. We explored the work of other artists including Barbara Hepworth. Our sculptures were also made with inside and outside spaces. We all got very creative in making them. Once the sculptures were made we allowed the clay to dry, then primed and painted them. We decided to go for metallic paint to give the sculptures a metal and industrial appearance, linked to the local community. We have had so much fun creating our masterpieces and can't wait to share them with our families on parent's evening! 

What is a seed?

Year 2, have been exploring seeds and their purpose. They questioned how a seed becomes a plant and what a seed needs in order to grow. In order to explore our theories of what a seed needs to grow we have generated an experiment where we have planted some seeds under different conditions to see what elements are most important for a seed to grow. We are recording our results daily. 

Fire Engine Fun!

What a Wonderful Morning! The children will be creating fire engines in DT this term and had the opportunity to explore a fire engines features up close. The children all had a turn to sit in the driver seat, wear some of the kit, explore the features and squirt the hose! Children discussed the purpose of a fire engine and how the different features are used and also received some tips on how to stay safe if near a fire. We had such a wonderful morning and it has given us so many ideas for our fire engines. Thank you so much to firemen Scott and Andy for taking the time to spend the morning with us! 

Habitats

This half term, year 2 have been learning about 'Animals including Humans' in science. In part of this unit of work we explored what all living things need to stay alive and identified that they all need a supportive environment in which they can live and stay healthy. We then looked into different habitats and what they provide different types of living things. We matched some different animals with their environment from a description of what they need to sustain a healthy life. From this we were able to find differences in animals and plants, and how they are adapted to live within certain environments. 

Non-Chronological Reports

In literacy we have been identifying the features of Non-Chronological reports. To help us to better understand the features and how they are used we identified the features from different reports and pieced them back together. W looked at headings, images, subheadings, captions, subject related text, glossary etc. Year 2, will now plan and  write their own reports based on our history unit 'explorers'. 

World Book Day

Today was World Book Day and we have had such a fantastic day. We came to school dressed in our pajamas and brought some of our cuddly friends from home to meet the class. We shared our favourite stories from home with our teacher and friends and compared some different genres of books. Year 6 then came to our classroom to read a story with us, which was a real treat! We also did some really exciting activities including writing a book review, designing a book cover and playing detective with some well known fairytales. We also had milk and cookies with our cuddly friends and listened to some fantastci stories including, Supertato: Bubbly Troubly and George's Marvelous Medicine! 

Comic Relief

In support of Comic Relief we dressed in red today and donated some food to our local food bank. We wore our red noses and had a discussion on comic relief and the importance of the charity and it's work. In PSHE we talked about charity and it's meaning and designed a poster for our local food bank. 

Music-Feel Like Jumping!

First we had fun warming up our bodies and voices, finding the pulse and clapping back rhythms. Next we listened to the facts about this week’s song. We found out that this song was Marcia’s first biggest hit in ‘1967’ in Jamaica and here. She had been singing from a young age and was a very influential woman in the history of ‘reggae music’. We listened and appraised the song ‘Feel like Jumping,’ by discussing the on-screen questions. We were able to discuss as a class the style indicators of reggae music from previous lessons, how the song made us feel and looked at where the song fits in the history timeline of music. 

Well done Year 2! You have a good knowledge of 'Reggae' music!

Drama - The Easter Story!

We watched ‘The Easter Story’ to help us recall the key events. First we decided, as a class who should play ‘Jesus’ and ‘Judas’. We then looked at the freeze frame image from the story and Miss Brooks selected different children to act out the scenes. The children were so enthusiastic and even added their own speech. The whole class enjoyed taking part, worked as a team and encouraged each other. Well done Year 2!

Music-Zoo-time!

This term our music unit will help us to appraise a range of songs in the style of ‘Reggae’. Our first song is Zootime by Joanna Mangona. We discussed the on-screen questions before listening to the song. This was to help us to write about our thoughts and feelings. We learned this style of music is called ‘Reggae’. We thought the song was loud, full of fun, included silly lyrics, male and female voices could be heard and we were able to name some of the different instruments we could hear. Well done Year 2!

Fitness

Year 2, have took part in a range of fitness activities to develop components of fitness. We have begun to explore and develop agility, balance, co-ordination, speed and stamina. During this PE lesson children had the opportunity to work independently and with others and developed their team building skills. The children were very determined to complete the activities and had a great time. We love PE in year 2!

The Moon Landing 1969

Year 2, have been learning about Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 Mission to the moon in 1969. We compared Neil Armstrong’s mission with the famous voyage of Christopher Columbus and thought about the objects we have today because of the advancements in technology throughout the ages and how the moon landing has impacted life on Earth.

We watched the moon landing and discussed what it might have been like to be the first humans on the moon. We then role played the mission to the moon and pretended we were Neil Armstrong—thinking about his feelings and the discoveries that were made. 

Ball Skills

In PE this term pupils have been developing their fundamental ball skills such as throwing and catching, rolling, hitting a target, dribbling with both hands and feet and kicking a ball. Pupils have worked independently, in pairs and small groups. We have had a great time in our PE unit this term. Super work Year 2!

Using Dictionaries

We have been exploring vocabulary in literacy and the meaning of unfamiliar words. We have been using dictionaries to find the meaning of these words and to check our spellings when we edit and improve our work. We have also bee trying to make our sentences more interesting by choosing exciting vocabulary. We used a simple adjective and found synonyms (words with the same meaning) using a thesaurus to make our sentences more interesting! Year 2 have really challenged themselves with their sentences and have created some wonderful improvements in their story of 'The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch!'

Thank You Year 2!

A Big thank you to all the year 2 children and parents/carers who made my last day at Blackfell Primary School so special! The children have all worked so hard this year and have made wonderful progress. They are a fantastic group and it has been my absolute pleasure teaching them! I wish them all he luck for their future! Mrs Reeves