Class 2

Monday morning was a fabulous start to the week when Mrs Cassidy, acting as our guide, took us on a tour of the village.  It was a beautiful day, albeit a little cold, with just a hint of Spring! 

Our main objective was to identify locations and features of the local area and notice the way in which these have changed in recent years.  In addition we also looked at the different materials that the buildings were made of.

We began at the vicarage which is a beautiful Victorian house set within a walled garden. From here we walked down to Main Street and the Community Centre, a very important facility in the village.  We passed two churches, one old and one new before stopping across the road from what used to be the Police Station.  I wonder if you realised that there used to be a jail in Witton Park?!

These days, unfortunately, there isn’t a Post Office in the village, but it is served by a mobile Post Office which we were lucky enough to see.

On the way back we stopped off at the cemetery where we saw looked at some of the grave stones.  One in particular was interesting; it belonged to a young man of 18 who had lost his life in a mining accident, as recently as 1950 - a sharp reminder of the kind of industry that had shaped the village originally.

We returned to school and it was straight down to business.  In Design Technology (DT) the children had to design and build houses using sheets of cardboard.  An important part of their work was to decide which tools and materials were best suited for the task.

On Wednesday afternoon we had some very important visitors; Andrew, a fireman, came with some of his friends to talk to everyone about fire safety.  He told everyone not to touch matches or lighters and to make sure that candles were not put in dangerous places e.g. on top of the television.  Everyone was given some homework too – they had to make sure they learnt their home address and they also had to make sure that their fire alarm was tested!

In Literacy this week we have been studying the book Handa’s Surprise.  We have been focusing on re-telling the story, both in writing and through drama.  We have also been thinking especially hard about the adjectives we can use to make our work more interesting.

In History our topic is Houses and Homes and it has kept us very busy this week.  We have been using a variety of different materials to make houses, including paper, sellotape, glue and Lego bricks.  We have used ICT to discover more about homes too.

In Literacy we have been learning how to write non-chronological reports.  It can be quite tricky because it is not just about remembering capital letters and full stops.  These reports impart information so we have to use headings, topic words related to the subject and we have to remember to label our pictures!  It may be tricky but the results, our reports about Sound, are super!

This week most of our pictures are connected with Numeracy activities.  The majority of our work has been practical, as the children have focused on shape, repeated patterns and symmetry.  You can see examples of patterns they have constructed as a group and as individuals. As for the symmetrical patterns and pictures, I’m sure you’ll agree they’re fantastic!

In History we are learning about Victorian homes and the ways in which they are different from our own homes.  The children have been writing about items that they might have found within a Victorian house.  Some items are things that we still use, for example the candle stick, but I’m not sure about the butter pats!

Do you remember the masks that we were painting in class last week?  Well on Friday (as many of you will know) they were used in our French assembly.  There are lots of pictures of the assembly, on the website already but this one really shows off those fantastic masks!

On Wednesday morning we had Mrs Wade in Class 2.  We read ‘Handa’s Surprise’ together and then everyone had to write about their favourite part of the story in a booklet.  As you can see there were some lovely illustrations to accompany the writing.

In Numeracy we usually begin with some mental maths; this week we have been ‘Around the World!  It is a game in which the children pit their mental maths skills against each other.  Everyone sits in a circle (we have two circles – Year 1 children sit inside the ring made by the Year 1 children) and one child stands facing the person sitting next to them.  The quickest to answer is the one who stands and moves on to pit their skills against the next child in the circle until we have been right around the world!  Each circle has their own questions and everyone is very keen to play.  It is amazing how good they are getting at their 2, 5 and 10 times tables, not to mention adding and subtracting!

This half-term PE lessons are focused on Dance and Athletics.  In Athletics we are working to develop our jumping skills.  In the picture Gemma is demonstrating the way in which we need to launch and land on the balls of our feet, bending our knees and using our arms to help propel us forward.

These girls are painting character masks.  They are to be used very shortly in a special production.  Watch this space to see what for!!

In Science we have been looking at different ways to describe sound, which has linked to Music this term.  Here the children are listening to notes being played on the piano and deciding whether they are high or low pitched.

Continuing our work on traditional tales, this week we have been looking at Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Prior to beginning our writing we have made storyboards; these will act as picture prompts, enabling up to remember all the important details of the story that we need to include.  As you can see, a lot of thought and hard work have gone into them.

Since our return to school we have been busy practising our times tables.  In the picture you can see some Year 1 children with the number line they created to help them count forwards and backwards in steps of five.

Last week we listened to the story ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’.  The children have enjoyed acting out the story and adding sound effects.

In Literacy we have been looking at traditional tales, specifically ‘The Three Little Pigs’.  We used puppets and figures to act out the story and have written letters from the wolf to say sorry to the Three Little Pigs! We have also been busy practising for our assembly next week which is based upon the story.

Our topic in RE is Special People. The children have been sharing photographs of people who are special to them and talking about what makes them special.

At last … our final week at school before Christmas!  What an exciting week we have had too!  It began with an exciting DT project that involved considering how successful vehicles moved. Should the wheels be attached to the chassis? If not, why?  Would axles be useful?  Where should they be placed on the chassis?  What size wheels should we use? 

Once these questions had been answered, everyone spent time designing their own vehicle before moving on to build them.  As you can see from the pictures this involved the use of materials such as cardboard boxes, straws, dowel and tape.  It also included using a junior hacksaw to saw the dowel to the required length – once we’d measured it of course! As for the finished products … they’re the vehicles of your dreams!!

Tuesday afternoon was the Infant Christmas party and we all had a fabulous time with lots of games and lots of food!  In the picture you can see everyone playing musical chairs.

On Wednesday we had a special visitor Santa!.  The children were so excited when they came into the hall and discovered who it was!  He couldn’t stay long because he’s so busy but he left everyone with a present.  Thank you Santa!!

Following Santa’s visit we had our Christmas dinner.  It was really tasty and everyone enjoyed themselves.  They also enjoyed the chocolates around the candles that were the centre-piece of each table.  Thank you to all the kitchen staff and dinner supervisors!!

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Our time this week has been taken up with final rehearsals for the Christmas production.  However, we have also begun to make Christmas cards.  All we can tell you at this stage is that the process involves using buttons!  As you can tell from a couple of the pictures everyone loved rummaging in the button box – including Miss Walton!

Of course there has still been time for play.  The dolls and Small World are, as ever, everyones favourites. 

This week we enter Advent, the period when we start to prepare for the birth of Jesus.  With this in mind we have been learning about the Advent wreath and what each candle signifies, i.e. Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.

In Literacy we have been considering how to write adventure stories.  We have looked at Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree and some of the Oxford Reading Tree, Magic Key adventures.  Using Small World the children then built castles as a way of helping them to focus on a castle adventure story which they then wrote.

Our class has also had a very important task to do this week; to bake approximately 100 gingerbread people.  Each of these biscuits then had a slip of paper, with a person’s name on, wrapped around it.  On Thursday, in morning assembly, each child was given one by St Nicholas, as a gift.  When the slips of paper were removed everyone found the name of the person whom St Nicholas would like them to pray for, each day, for the next year …

… and of course they had a lovely biscuit to eat, courtesy of Class 2!

Although we have been spending a lot of time practising for our Christmas play, we have also found time to look at the clock – lots of them in fact!  We have been learning to tell the time you see, using lots of different resources.  We have worked in pairs with small clocks; we have used games on the computer, large clocks and traditional board games.  Specifically we have been looking at o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to the hour.  So… if you want to know what the time is you know who to ask!

On Wednesday afternoon the whole school had a special treat -  a visit from Wizard William

Class 2 has been a very busy place this week!  In Science we have been looking at Forces, specifically pushes and pulls.  In the picture you can see the children pushing and pulling cars.

 We have had special visitors in school this week; Ben and Jet the police safety dogs have been in school reminding all of us that we MUST NOT SPEAK TO STRANGERS!

We have had great fun too, this week, using the Bee-bots!  They are little robots that we can programme to go in different directions.  We have been using them to learn about directions, going left, right or straight ahead.  This links to our Maths work, our Geography work and, of course, ICT –very cross-curricular!

Also in Maths we have begun work on Time.  In the pictures some children are doing independent research into Seasons, whilst others are ordering the days of the week.

Last but not least, we have also begun to make things for Christmas. In the picture you can see some children making Rudolph faces.  I think you’ll agree we’ve definitely been busy, busy, busy this week!

In RE we are studying Judaism.  In these pictures you can see that the children have built a synagogue in the Small World.  They can also be seen sitting in two groups on the carpet, girls on one side and boys on the other.  This is how people sit when they attend the synagogue; men and women are separated. You can also see that Charlie, the puppet, is wearing a Kippah.  This is the headdress that all Jewish men wear in synagogue.

In French the children have been looking at the story of the Three Little Pigs with Mrs Beards.  They all made puppets of the characters out of envelopes. As you can see they are fabulous!! 

In PE the children continue to develop their gymnastic skills, practising log rolls, teddy bear rolls and exploring different ways of travelling.

As Bonfire Night approaches we have been considering how we can keep ourselves safe.  We watched a special safety video on Espresso about keeping ourselves safe when using sparklers and then spent time designing posters to advise others how to stay safe.  As you can see the results are fantastic!

In Maths we have been doing Data Handling.  In these pictures you can see that the children have sorted themselves in different ways.

This week in literacy we have been looking at instructions. We have considered how they are written, we have followed them to make things and then we wrote our own instructions for making a sandwich.

In the pictures Year 1 children are following instructions to make a flip book and Year 2 children are following instructions to make magician and pirate hats.

Also this week we have had a special visitor in Class 2, our School Governor, Mrs Wright.  Whilst she was in she helped to judge the Year 2 ‘Come Dancing’ Contest.  Year 2 children had designed their own ‘Mr Men’ Dance in PE and Mrs Wright helped to pick the winner!

This week in both Numeracy and Science we have been measuring things!

In numeracy we have been measuring each other to see who was the tallest and who was the shortest.  We have also been ordering straws in height order, tallest to shortest.

In Science we have been measuring children’s hands to see if the older children have larger hands.  Children from Class 1, Class 3 and Class 4 helped us.

In Science we are learning about our senses.  Following a practical tasting session last week, this week, during our Poetry day, we wrote Senses poems.  Here are a few:

  I smell spicy chicken curry.

I taste cheesy lasagne.

I hear the hot heater blowing.

I touch the wooden table, it is hard.

I see the big whiteboard.

By Abigail

I see the rain coming down.

I can hear people talking.

I can taste the delicious chocolate cake.

I can touch the smooth table.

I can smell the spicy chicken curry.

By Kelsey

I smell dinner in the hall.

I taste pizza.

I hear rain drops.

I touch my skin.

I see colours.

By Ally

Also during the poetry day we composed a rhyme to help us remember our number bonds to 10.  Later in the week we worked together to find pairs of numbers equalling either 10 or 20.  

My litany

         Thank you for the food

         Thank you for our family

         Thank you for my friends

         Great God.

         You will be there I hurt my self

         You will be there to help me

         Great God.

         EMILY

Maths - This week we have been looking at 2 D shapes and patterns. 

Our Hiatory topic is TOYS . As an introduction to this topic the children had a Toy Day when they brought in their own toys to study and compare.

Literacy

 In year 1 this year we have 10 children - 6 boys and 4 girls.

In year 2 we have 15 children - 6 boys and 9 girls.

Literacy:  Children have been grouped for Literacy and have started work using the Read, Write, Inc scheme

Numeracy:  As well as written work children make use of practical resources and ICT as they tackled subtraction this week.

PE: the focus this term is on Gymnastics. Here children practise walking as a monkey and a Caterpillar ...… before working on their balancing skills, Individually and with partners.