Year 2 Newsletter

As part of our Year 2 literacy lessons, we have been looking at a book called The Koala Who Could and writing in response to it. The book focuses on Kevin, a koala who likes things to stay the same. But one day a worrying noise turns into an opportunity for Kevin to step outside his comfort zone and to discover that his friends were right after all - the world is a wonderful place to explore!

So far we have written a lovely description of Kevin's home in the Australian outback, and a letter from Wombat to Kevin trying to persuade him to come down. 

Today we read up until Kevin hears a worrying sound and we discussed all the possibilities of what it could be. Was it a roaring bushfire or maybe an animal trapped in a net? Perhaps it was two kangaroos about to box or a chain-saw cutting the tree down? Maybe it was a stampede of animals or even a lost baby animal?

We were given different scenarios of what could happen next and we used drama to bring them to life. Each group had a narrator to read the possible story ending and the children added speech and actions to make it more interesting.  

When the children had rehearsed, they performed them to the class and the teachers were so impressed! Everyone did a brilliant job, and the narrators read loudly and clearly.

Over the next couple of weeks we're going to be planning and writing our own ending to Kevin's story. What do you think the worrying sound might be?

Year 2 Ducklings: What an egg-traordinary time!

As part of our science learning, Year 2 had duckling eggs to help us understand animal life-cycles. When the eggs first arrived, they had to be put in an incubator to keep them warm. We were surprised to hear cheeping inside the eggs. After a day of being in school, we observed some wobbling and cracking. The ducklings were hatching! They used their egg tooth to carefully chip away at the egg. When they hatched, they were all slimy and wet. They were so tired that they fell straight asleep.

When they had dried off, they moved into the brooder and then had some fun exploring. They were so small to begin with, but quickly grew over the week that we had them. By Wednesday they were huge, and had started to grow some white feathers!

We were able to carefully hold them and cuddle them. They were so soft but so squirmy! We had to stay calm and quiet so that the ducklings didn’t get scared.

After the ducklings had grown a bit, we were able to take them swimming! They used their webbed feet to push themselves along. Some of them loved it, and even dived under the water. They whizzed along so quickly, making lots of splashes! 

We have had the best time with the ducklings and we were sad to see them go. We will certainly miss their company and their cheeping but we know that they're going to have a great time at their new pond!

         

Year 2 ducklings have arrived! How egg-citing!

Year 2 really is filled with egg-citement at the moment! Our duckling eggs have finally hatched! 

The children watched eagerly as the ducklings popped out of their eggs, looking rather tired and wet! We had a few gasps of 'ewww, they're so slimy!' but generally on the whole the children can't believe how cute they are. We also can't believe how big they are! How did they fit inside those tiny eggs?!

The ducklings needed a good, old rest after all that hard work and so we have been letting them sleep for the last day or two. 

Now the ducklings have all fluffed up and are looking much more duckling like! We can't wait for some duckling cuddles. They're getting more and more confident and they love having their voices heard (they just don't stop cheeping, even when they're sleeping!). 

Egg-cellent news: Year 2 ducklings have arrived!

 The year 2 duck eggs have arrived and are all set up in their incubator. 

We're hoping they'll hatch anytime from tomorrow to Thursday. A few of the eggs have started wobbling and we can already see a little crack in one of them. 

We have their brooding cage all ready set up for them to move to when they have dried off. 

The children (and teachers) are egg-stremely excited about meeting our new classmates!

Year 2 Newsletter

Year 2 have had a great start back to school. We are all really enjoying being back together and we have certainly been very busy!

As part of our transition back to school we have been looking at the 5 Ways to Wellbeing - connection, keeping active, taking notice, keep learning and giving. We have danced in our classrooms, gone for a walk around the school and even given each other massages. 

 

In this week's topic lesson we learnt all about castle attacks. We started by discussing the different castle defences. We read the statement: ‘Castles are too well defended. There is no point attacking them.’ We thought about whether we agreed or disagreed and discussed in our trios. We then learnt about the different forms of castle attacks.

We brought our learning to life and acted out the different forms of castle defences and attacks outside. Warhol put up a mighty castle defence with a portcullis, boiling water, bow and arrows, battlements and a drawbridge. Kusama class attacked by mining under the castle walls, launching heavy stones with trebuchets and using a battering ram to break through the castle walls. Then it was Warhol’s turn to attack and Kusama defended their castle. It was a well fought battle with only a few casualties…

Until next time...

Year 2 spot dragons!

Whilst the Spring term didn't quite begin as we envisioned, it has still been absolutely fantastic with the year 2 children impressing us each and every day with their 'can do' attitudes and giant smiles. The year 2 teachers have been blown away by the hard work and enthusiasm that the year 2 children have been tackling their work with, and it has been such a pleasure to see what they have been doing.

We know that the children wouldn't be able to do it without their families and so we would like to thank all parents for supporting us and their children's home learning in this tricky time.

We kicked start the term by travelling back in time and dressing up as significant people from history and used today's technology to share our stories! We then discovered that our classroom had been invaded by a pesky dragon who had stolen a princess all because he was a bit grumpy! We wrote wanted posters to warn everyone. Stay tuned to find out what happens next!

In Maths we have been learning about multiplication. We have been practicing our times tables and really hope to become fluent in them. Well done to all those children who have been having a go at the weekly maths challenges.

In Science we are investigating how plants begin to grow. We have planted bean seeds in a jar with damp kitchen roll and are hoping we can see them germinate!

In History we have begun our topic which is all about castles. We have looked at who lives in a castle and then made some very beautiful drawings and paintings of these people. 

Let's see what next week brings! 

Year 2 Santa Dash!

 On Friday, Year 2 had a wonderful time dashing through the mud decked out in a whole range of Christmas attire! The Christmas songs kept us going and there were smiles all around! 

Well done year 2!