2022-23

Our Journey Through Summer 2

This half term we are continuing with the theme ‘connections’. We have started the half term with a focus on our values Friendship and Trust.  We talked about what the words friendship and trust mean to us and created friendship bracelets.  We also investigated all the multiplication bonds which we have been learning this year, looking for what’s the same and what’s different.  Some children noticed that the answer 12 appears in the 1’s, 2,s, 3,s and 6’s.  We also found out that the number 30 appears in all the bonds we have been learning!

Look at the photo’s below to see our final Year 2 journey:

D&T

In design and technology, we had a visit from Phil the beekeeper. He taught us all about where honey comes from and how it is made. He brought in over 2,000 of his bees and we raced to see who could spot the queen bee quickest. We also sampled some of the honey which the bees had made, and used this honey to make our very own honey baked flapjack which was delicious! 

Maths

Measuring - length and height

We have been exploring the best way to measure the length of height of different things.  Sometimes we just used our ruler and measured in centimetres. Sometimes we used a metre stick and measured in metres and when the area was too big (like our playground) we used a trundle wheel.

Art

In our Art lesson this term, we have been doing obervational drawings of the rubbish found in River Thet. We have been improving our pencil work and exploring how we use shading in our work and tone. We then took this a step further by mixing paints together to bring to life the combinations of colours on our pictute. 

Active RE

This half term we have continued with our Active RE sessions. We have started to explore the stories in the New Testament and thought about out the meaning of these for Christians. 

Sports Day

Despite the rain, Year 2 had a great Sports day. We played some team games which included the bean bag throw, hurdels, obstacle course and weaving in and out of cones. We then had a running race where each child ran for their house colour.

Day of Welcome

Friday 16th June was the Day of Welcome. During the day, we talked about what it would feel like to have to suddenly move away from what we know and start again.  We explored how we, at Drake, make everybody feel safe and welcome and wrote down positive statements to add to our schools tree of welcome.  In the afternoon,we joined year 4 for a little tea party,shared our favourite books and played games. 

Forest School

This half term, the children are exploring the new Forest School area. They are looking at the new tress and other plants as well as enjoying building dens.

Earhart’s second Forest School session was a rather one!  We still had great fun building dens, making fishing rods and so much more. 

Visit from Lily Woodham

We had a visit from a professional womans footballer, Lily Woodham. She led an assembly where she spoke about her journey to becoming a footballer and how she lives a healthy life to ensure she is fit enough to keep going. Later in the day, she took us through our paces with a fitness circuit. We jogged, did sit ups, star jumps, mountain climbers, push ups and practiced kicking the ball.

English - Persuasive Language

To start our English unit off, the children searched through the model text to select words which they thought were persuasive. They then had to make a ‘phone call’ to their friend to persuade them that the Wolf should become a vegetarian!

 Maths - Measuring and comparing mass

We have been looking at items around our classroom and predicting which we think will be heaviest. We have used balance scales to compare two different objects and weighing scales to read the dials on a scale which tell us how heavy these are. We have been looking at grams and kikograms, recognising that their are 1,000kg in a gram. 

Science - Longitudinal Study

Our longitudinal study this year has been to look at the difference in our environment during the 4 Seasons.  We have looked at the different plants which grow,how plants change throughout the year and the different insects which can be found. Our final session left us excited to see all the Summer flowers,plants and insects. 

Our Journey Through Summer 1

This half term, our values focus is Respect.  We have stared by talking about what respect means, how we show respect to each other and the importance of respecting our environment.  We are also building on our knowledge of multiplication bonds and exploring multiplying by 6.  We have looked at what comes in 6, counted in 6’s, looked for patterns and made links with other bonds.  Some of the things we have have already noticed are:

”Multiples of 6 are always even numbers.”

”If you double the multiples of 3, you get the multiple of 6 because 6 is double 3.”

”Every other multiple of 3 is a multiple of 6.”

”There is a pattern with the ones in multiples of 6:  0, 6, 2, 8, & 4.”

Look at the photos below to follow our Summer 1 journey.

The King’s Coronation 

To celebrate the Kings’s Coronations, the children made crowns and flags.  They dressed up in red, white and blue and took part in a coronation picnic where a child from upper Key Stage 2 played the National Anthem.  
The children found out what happened almost 70 years ago when the late Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her coronation, looking at photographs of the street parties and learning that the Coronation was televised at the request of the Queen.  They compared the route of the processions and and listened to the speech given by King Charles at Christmas.  The children then wrote and delivered their own speeches before sitting for their own ‘Royal Portrait’. 

Cambridge Botanic Gardens

On Tuesday 25th April, Year 2 visited the Cambridge Botanic Gardens. We explored the gardens and glasshouses where we really enjoyed looking at the cacti and the tropical plants. We had a workshop on seeds and the plant lifecycle. We held a real 'coco de mer'- the biggest seed in the world and found out that orchid seeds are the smallest seeds in the world, they look like dust! We had a guided tour of the gardens, compared the different trees and found the largest tree in the gardens, a Red Wood tree. 

Skills Escalator afternoon 

On Friday 21st April, we went to the Charles Burrell Centre to take part in a Skills Escalator afternoon organised by West Suffolk College. The afternoon gave the children the opportunity to meet with local businesses, companies and the Police to find out a little bit about their work.  
BT showed us a robot which allows people to ‘be in the room’ when working from home and gave us the opportunity to show off our programming skills when using a small robot.

Pentaco brought a piece of machinery which we were able to sit in and see if we could remember how to move different parts - hard hats and Hi-Viz jackets were worn as we we imagined we were on a construction site. 
HSBC explained how cards work and were amazed with our knowledge of coins and notes.  They tested our knowledge with a quiz!

Baxter Healthcare explained that they have to be make sure they protect patients when making medical equipment by thoroughly washing their hands.  We then washed our hands, used a special gel and shone a UV light over our ‘clean’ hands.  Some of us had to wash them again!

UK Power Networks reminded us of the dangers of electricity.  We tried on some of the protective clothing which the engineers wear and noticed that the thick rubber gloves are very difficult to work with. We also became a human circuit!

Norfolk Police explained the different items which they carry with them: handcuffs, a baton and pepper spray.  We tried on different pieces of uniform, arrested each other and sat in the Police car.

Active RE

This term, the children will be learning about Christian stories from the Bible through a combination of RE and PE.  They have started at the beginning of the Bible, with the first book called Genesis, learning about how Christians believe the world began and the story of Adam and Eve. They played a game, where they were the snake from the Garden of Eden, tempting people and getting bigger.  

Science - habitats

To start our Science topic off, we have looked around the school grounds in search of different habitats. 

Maths -   Volume and Capacity

In Maths, we have been finding out the difference between volume and capacity, investigating the capacity of different containers, filling containers up to a given volume and read the scales on the containers. 

Our Journey Through Spring 2

This half term, we will be focussing on the values Courage and Love.  The children have looked at families and seen how different families are but that they have one thing in common, love.  We have talked about courage and created courage jars with words of encouragement which will help us to find courage.

Look at the photo’s below to see the learning this half term.

Art
This half term, we are continuing to explore botanical art work taking inspiration from Georgia O’Keeffe.  We have used soft pastels, oil pastels and water colour pencils. Evaluating the effect of these media and deciding which will be more effective when completing our final piece. 

Science

In Science we are learning about plants.  We have drawn a flower and labelled the different parts, identifying the importance of each part.  We have explored the difference between seeds and bulbs and how a seed germinates.  Our cress experiment is giving us the opportunity to watch the germination process as it happens.

Maths

We have been exploring position, direction and movement.  The children enjoyed looking at quarter turns, half turns and full turns both clockwise and anti-clockwise. 

Ancient House Museum

On Friday 3rd March, Year 2 spent the day at Ancient House Museum finding out about the Duleep Singh family and Kings and Queens of Britain.

We met Sam, a soldier from the Norfolk 9th Regiment, who fought in the first Anglo-Sikh war.  He explained that the uniform was very hot, made from wool, and he fought in temperatures hotter than we had last Summer during our heatwave!

We learnt about the Duleep Singh family and their importance to Thetford.  Maharaja Duleep Singh came to the throne in Punjab, the land of the 5 rivers, when he was just 5.  He was excited to Britain when he was 15 and was befriended by Queen Victoria, who was godmother to some of his children. 

We found out that Frederick Duleep Singh, the youngest son of Maharaja Duleep Singh,  was a Major in the Norfolk Yeomanry and served with the General Staff at the start of World War 1.  Ancient House was gifted to Thetford by Prince Frederick. 

Sophia Duleep Singh, who our garden is named after, was a Suffragette and campaigned for women’s rights, often taking part in protests. Her sister, Catherine, was a Suffragist and also campaigned for women’s rights by writing letters. 

Thomas Howard was the 3rd Duke of Norfolk and was uncle to two of King Henry VIII wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Unfortunately, both of his nieces were beheaded! We acted out the story of King Henry VIII, Thomas Howard, Anne and Catherine. 

We ‘met’ Queen Elizabeth I.  She said she enjoyed hunting, hosting grand feasts and dancing.  We shown how to greet Queen Elizabeth I and taught a dance that she enjoyed doing.  She told us that we could identify her as important person by her makeup, gowns and jewellery, of witch3 she loved pearls! Queen Elizabeth I visited Thetford in 1578 on her summer tour and stayed in The Priory. 

We learnt that Queen Elizabeth II also visited Thetford in 1993.  People lined the streets, handed her flowers and waved the Union flag.  Did you know that it’s called the Union Jack at sea and the Union flag on land? We will be keeping our flags for the coronation of King Charles III in May.

Our Journey through Spring 1

This half term has started positively.  Our Values day got the children thinking about their aspirations, what they would like to be when they are a grown-up and what they would like to be able to do by the end of Year 2.  We have future Vets, Teachers, Piano Teachers, Artists, Police Officers, YouTubers, Footballers and Train Drivers amongst us in Year 2!

We have started exploring our new multiplication bond, finding out what comes in 3’s and looking for patterns when counting in 3’s.

A mysterious egg has appeared and we have predicted what we think might be in the egg.  We have examined a picture, asked questions and given our views on what might be happening.

In Science we are looking at animals, including humans where we have taken part in lots of sorting activities.

We have also started to learn the glockenspiel! Look at the pictures below to see how busy we have been in our first week back:

The end of the half term

This half term has finished with both classes filling their marble jars and earning their reward.  Tabei class came to school in the pyjamas and Earhart class brought a soft toy to school with them.  Earhart read stories to their guests when they visited the school library. 

Art

This half term, we have started to explore botanical art work with a focus on work by Georgia O’Keeffe.  Georgia was known for her enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers and New Mexico landscapes.  We have also looked at work by Andy Warhol and Yayoi Kusama.  Next half term, we will be creating a piece of botanical art, inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe and using the skills and techniques of the artists studied this half term. 

Earhart visit Thetford Library

On Friday 3rd February, Earhart class visited Thetford Library.  The children listened to stories, found out how many libraries there are in Thetford, learnt that joining the library is free and that they can take out up to 15 books in one go.  The children then spent some times looking at books and hunting for books written by authors they are familiar with.  Look at the photos below to see the children enjoying their time at the library:

English 

This Half Term we are using the story 'Kassim and the Greedy Dragon'.  We have created a story map and  started to learn the story with actions, which we will use later this half term to create our own stories.  Below you can see our symbol maps and a sneak preview of us retelling the story.

Spring Term Music

We are learning to play the Glockenspiel. We have investigated  how best to make a sound, read music, learnt songs and played a tune for our partner to copy.  We have also been exploring music by different composers and have  listened to music by Handel, expressing how we feel. 

A visit from the local Fire and Rescue

On Wednesday 18th January, Year 2 were lucky to have a visit from the local Fire and Rescue team.  The children found out exactly what the firefighters do and all the different emergencies they attend.  They were taught what do do if items of their clothing caught fire ‘STOP, DROP and ROLL’ and learnt about the importance of fire alarms in the home.  The children also had the opportunity to look around the fire engine, find out about the different equipment and how it is all used.

Last Week of Term

This week, we have performed our Nativity to Little Pirates, Reception, Year 1 and our grown ups.  We have worked incredibly hard learning our lines and some traditional Christmas songs.  We have also enjoyed our Christmas party, where we played musical statues, Twister and took photos with Christmas selfie props.

Christmas!

This week, we have been very busy preparing for Christmas! We have created decorations for our class trees, upcycled  old books, which were destined for the recycling bin, into beautiful folded Christmas trees.  We took part in a star lantern workshop, which really tested our resilience and perseverance.  We finished our Christmas decorations week by making paper bag stars!  Have a look at the pictures below to see how busy we have been this week:

Our Journey through Autumn 2

We started this half term with a focus on our values, Kindness and Forgiveness.  We have investigated our multiplication bond and looked at what comes in 10’s. We have explored multiplication and division, looking at the relationship between them and used arrays to support our understanding.  We have also looked at the properties of 2-d and 3-d shapes.  In English we have looked at the features of non chronological reports, researched facts about the United Kingdom and planned a leaflet to persuade people to visit the different countries of the UK. In Science, we have continued to learn about materials and planned a fair test to investigate the stretchiest material and investigated the structure of bridges. Please look at the pictures below to follow our jouney.

New Menu Tasting

We had the opportunity to try the new menu.  We thoroughly enjoyed the samples and are looking forward to our full size portions next half term. 

Earhart Go Orienteering!

On Wednesday 19th October, Earhart class joined other Year 2 classes from Thetford at Redcastle School for a morning of orienteering! The children enjoyed working in their teams, following a map to hunt for clues to complete the task.  One of teams won the challenge! 

Problem Solving

On Tuesday 4th October we spent the whole day completing problem solving tasks.  We took part in a workshop, led by the Problem Solving Company, which required us to work cooperatively to complete a pentominoes task, a number bonds task and a shape task.  During this, we listened to each other’s ideas, critiqued our finished tasks and made improvements.

In class, we completed additional tasks which required us to think logically, work systematically and most importantly have fun! We realised that 1 task can sometimes take a long time to complete because, as said by a child, ‘the possibilities are endless’.

Look below to see at how busy we were:

Time and Tide Museum Visit!

On Thursday 29th September, Year 2 visited the Time and Tide museum in Great Yarmouth. We went on an epic adventure around the world joining many different Explores! We looked at artefacts, travelled through a jungle, climbed a mountain and put on our ski's to travel through the snow.  We learnt that an explorer needs to be brave, curious, respectful, observant and resilient. 

Our journey through the Autumn Term

This term our Theme is Explore! We have been using manipulatives in Maths and exploring our multiplication bond 5.  In English, we have been looking closely at illustrations and making predictions.  We received a message in a bottle and started developing Explorer skills when looking at an atlas. In Science we have been starting our work on materials, which even included a material hunt! Forest Schools has now moved to Fredericks Woods.  We compared our new Forest School site with last years site. Listening carefully to the sounds and exploring our new surroundings. Look at the photos below to see our journey.

Music

In Music, we have started to investigate pulse and rhythm.  We identified the difference between pulse and rhythm, clapped the pulse and played the rhythm on instruments. 

Transition Week

This week, Merian and Rashford have become Earhart and Tabei! The children have been getting to know their new classes and find out about the Year 2 routines.

During the week, they have talked about their worries, created worry monsters, explored our learning powers and school values and created their own superhero characters.  The have shared their aspirations and made an aspiration catcher.  Have a look at the pictures below to see the fun which they have been having.