Blackfell Primary School

Year 2 Autumn 2023-24

Getting to know you!

To start our time in Year 2, we played a game of bingo. We had to find children who share similarities and differences. We discussed how some of the information about us is the same but we all have differences. We then went through good choices and bad choices and the importance of rules in school.

Science- Material Hunt

In Science we have discussed different materials and their properties. We have begun to consider why different objects are made from that given material. We enjoyed going on a material hunt in the key stage one area!

Walk Wise- Session 2

Year 2 had a great second session outside with Lyndsey from Walk Wise.

Black History Month- Claudia Jones

Year 2 have enjoyed learning about Claudia Jones. We found out lots of facts like how she was born in The Caribbean and fought for equal rights in America. We learnt about protests and made our own signs about treating others equally. We then went on our own mini protest in Key Stage One with our messages. We are looking forward to learning about Nottinghill Carnival later in the week.

History- Sources

In History we learnt about sources. We discussed different sources that provided us with information about The Great Fire of London. We sorted out the sources into the headings: pictures, writing and objects. We talked about what each source could tell us. We then picked one from each heading to explain more about.

DT-How are materials cut safely and accurately?

Today we discussed and practised how to use scissors safely and accurately. We discussed, how we should hold scissors, always cut materials in the direction away from our bodies, what we should and should not do whilst using scissors e.g. run, always concentrate on what you are doing and hand over scissors correctly. We practiced cutting straight lines, wavy lines and zig zag lines. We then cut out shapes to either assemble a Christmas tree or a snowman. We cut out the shapes as accurately as we could following the safety rules. Well done Year 2!

RE - Why does Christmas matter to Christians?

In Re this term we have been looking at the Christmas Story and the real meaning of the Christmas Story to Christians. The children have learned about Advent wreaths, the people who appeared in the Christmas story and the gifts that were given to baby Jesus. As a class we set up the school nativity scene, looked at the Botticelli painting Mystic Nativity and looked at real Frankincense and Myrrh.

Christmas Decorations

Year 2 were joined by the company Ground Works, they spoke to us about sustainability and using recycled materials. We then created our own wool and cardboard Christmas decorations. Thank you for working with us!

Meeting Baby Lucy- Science

We have begun to learn about humans in Science and have been finding out about how we change from babies to adults. As part of this, we were lucky enough to meet Oliver's little sister, Lucy! We all had lots of questions for Mum and enjoyed finding out about her! Thank you for visiting us!

Baking Gingerbread biscuits

Year 2 had great fun backing Christmas Gingerbread biscuits following Santa's recipe he had sent us. They were delicious. Good job Year 2!

Maths- Place Value

In Maths, we have been revising place value to 100. We have explored a range of different representations including, diennes, ten frames, numicon and place value. We are super stars with numbers up to 100. Well done year 2!

Walk Wise

We have started our Walk Wise programme with Lyndsey from Sunderland council. We have already learnt lots from sneaky traffic to the green cross code. We are looking forward to our next session!

R.E- The Holy Book Qur'an

Today in R.E, the children learned about the Muslim Holy Book Qur'an. They learned about what it told Muslims, where it cam from and the rules for using The Qur'an.

It's safe to be seen!

We have enjoyed our last road safety session with Lyndsey today from Sunderland Walk Wise. She spoke to us about the importance of being seen, particularly as the dark nights have begun. We spoke about hi-vis clothing. We learnt about different jobs that use this clothing and even had the chance to dress up! We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about how to keep safe and hope we have shared something with home too!

The Bear and The Piano- Conjunctions

Year 2 have thoroughly enjoyed listening to their new text in Literacy- The Bear and the Piano. In their first session they were able to ask questions and make predictions using props from the story. We then enjoyed a lesson where we were able to join sentences using coordinating conjunctions such as and, or and but.

Science- What material's are waterproof?

Year 2 have been investigating which materials would be good to use for a bucket. We ensured our test was fair and made predictions based on what we had learnt so far. We then observed which materials allowed the water to soak through and which did not.

Fun in the Snow

Year 2 had great fun with Year 1 in the snow! From making snow angels and snow men! A great time was had!

Literacy- How to Catch Santa

In Literacy, we have been reading the text How to Catch Santa by Jean Reagan. After sharing the story, we enjoyed working in groups to develop some other ways of catching Santa. We had to remember to be kind and crafty! We are now using some of these ideas in our own set of instructions.

A Midwife Crisis

Year 1 and 2 put on a fantastic performance of A Midwife Crisis. We had so much fun learning the parts and singing songs! A huge well done for your final performance to the Mayor of Sunderland! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Rapnuzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair!

We have been learning the fairytale Rapunzel in Year 2. In this lesson we were challenged to frieze frame and order the main events. We quoted some key phrases and discussed the beginning, middle and end.

Online Safety

In Computing we have been learning about how to keep safe online. We have considered who it is safe to share information with and what information is private. We know that if anything does not feel safe online, we should always tell a trusted adult.

World Mental Health Day

In year 2, we have celebrated World Mental Health Day which took place on the 10th October. The theme for 2023, set by the World Foundation of Mental Health, is ‘Mental health is a universal human right’. We started off by discussing what Mental Health was and what we could do to make sure we were happy. We then took part in one activity a day this week to help improve our mental health. We have enjoyed: listening to music, talking to one another, yoga, mindfulness colouring and being outdoors.

Disco, disco!

Year 2 had a brilliant time at the disco! We loved dancing and some of us even got up on the mic! The hotdogs and crisps went down a treat too!

DT-What is a decoration?

We discussed...What is a decoration? Where we might see them? When would we use them? Why would we use them? In groups we sorted the decorations by the types of materials they were made from, what shape they were, how colourful (from the least colourful to the most colourful) and from the least to most festive (Christmassy). We thought about how it stays on the tree and the materials you could use to hang them. Finally we explained why we liked them or did not like them and why?

Anti-Bullying Week

Year 2 enjoyed learning about Anti-Bullying week today. We shared the story: "Giraffes Don't Dance." We discussed how the giraffe may have felt when the other animals laughed at him and then discussed what messages we should share with the other animals.

Christmas Movie Night

Key Stage 1 thoroughly enjoyed their movie night where they watched The Grinch and enjoyed getting cosy in the classroom!

Christmas Dinner

We all thoroughly enjoyed taking part in Christmas dinner day! Our lunch was delicious and we enjoyed listening to Christmas Music in the dinner hall. We were even lucky enough to see Santa too!