Year Two: Otters Class
Mrs Cavanagh and Mr McGovern
Mrs Davies, Mrs Scottow, Mrs Makolski, Mrs Vata & Mr Bates
Welcome to Year Two and Otters class.
Year Two have really enjoyed this half-term, filled with lots of learning and fun! As we finally bid farewell to winter and welcomed the refreshing days of Spring, we have had an action-packed half-term full of exciting activities and valuable learning experiences.
In English we really immersed ourselves in the captivating story of Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story, exploring the wonders of hibernation and the changing seasons. We got to grips with how the characters felt as we read through the story and explored why different events may have occurred. This was our first narrative non-fiction book, so we really improved our knowledge of nocturnal animals too! The unit of learning ended with an opportunity for us to become real-life documentary presenters, learning from the greats like Sir David Attenborough. We wrote our own scripts and then presented them, recording and celebrating our achievements by watching them as a class.
In Maths, our budding mathematicians mastered multiplication and division, with 2, 3, 5 and 10, while also learning about weighing and measurement. It’s been incredible to see how confidently the children are applying these skills! We have also been very impressed with how many children are improving their knowledge and understanding of the four operations, especially those who have logged in and enjoyed Numbots.
We have now completed our learning journey about the history of flight, learning about two incredible figures in history: Amelia Earhart and Tim Peake. Their bravery and achievements in the world of aviation and space exploration inspired us to dream big!
In Science, we’ve been diving into how animals, including humans, survive in different environments. Our Geography learning has also supported our understanding too. From the Arctic to the Antarctic, the children discovered the unique adaptations that help creatures thrive in these extreme climates. They also learnt about staying healthy and hygienic, understanding the importance of clean habits, a balanced diet and regular exercise for a strong body.
We explored the world of Mechanical Animals, discovering how simple machines work together to create movement and functionality. The students loved getting hands-on and seeing their ideas come to life! We’ve been busy using sewing techniques to create our very own pouches. The children’s creativity and attention to detail were truly impressive!
Our Skipping Workshop was a fantastic way for children to build coordination and have fun while getting active. The Mother’s Day Market was also a huge success, with children creating thoughtful gifts for their families. The Sponsored Bounce was a highlight this term, with everyone showing great enthusiasm while supporting our fundraising efforts. World Book Day was a celebration of stories, where children dressed as their favourite characters and shared their love for reading with friends. A particular highlight was the Bedtime Story event, with lots of children enjoying a story with a biscuit and hot chocolate!
We’ve also been busy planting a wildflower garden, and preparing our woods for the summer months, ensuring that we have a beautiful space for our outdoor learning. We really enjoyed our trip to St Mary's Church, with our Walk Through Easter event. Thank you so much to the lovely volunteers for making us feel so welcome.
Looking ahead, we can’t wait for even more exciting adventures and learning opportunities in the coming two half terms. Very well done Year Two, have a good rest and we look forward to seeing you after the Easter break!
Please see our Learning Web below which outlines our learning for next half term:
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Wow, what a very busy and exciting half term in Year Two!
In English we completely immersed ourselves in the story 'The Dark' by Lemony Snicket. We really got to know the story by first looking at the illustrations, the choice of vocabulary and then the characters. We particularly enjoyed producing freeze frames of the scenes within the story and then having the opportunity to discuss how the character's feelings and emotions changed as the story went on. Using our value of being kind, we then decided to make a glow jar, for whenever there was a powercut and all was dark. Learning how to write instructions (and of course, how to make a glow jar) we then made our very own, which we were very proud of! Finishing the unit with a focus on non-fiction, we researched some of the many nocturnal animals, then wrote our very own fact files to show what we had found out. We are looking forward to our next story in the next half term!
In Maths we developed our understanding of money, using many different notes and coins. Recognising and identifying money was our first focus, then this quickly shifted to solving problems with money, even learning how to calculate change! We have begun our next unit on multiplication and division, working hard to apply our knowledge of the 2, 5 and 10 times tables to group objects and record multiplication sentences as arrays.
Our science unit has been all about materials. We particularly enjoyed the investigation sessions, using our working scientifically skills to test materials in different ways. We finished our unit learning about the importance of recycling and limiting the amount of plastic we use.
We have also been very busy with our Art and Design Technology lessons. Using the concept of maps, we created 2D and then 3D versions of our maps and then studied the work of abstract artists. We enjoyed using viewfinders to then create our very own abstract maps of our own. In Design Technology we have been working very hard to design and then make a moving monster. We know how important it is to consider design options before we begin making a product, thinking carefully about what will look good and work best.
Our team building and invasion lessons in PE have been a real hit! We know our school value of working together and are able to work with our peers to solve problems, by playing lots of fun games which have all involved a lot of movement.
We have welcomed lots of visitors to school this half term and really showed everyone what wonderful work we are capable of. A particular highlight was the Samba and Drama workshops, using our voices, our bodies and some very loud instruments to express ourselves in different ways.
Have a well deserved rest Year Two and we can't wait to see you for more fun next half term!
Please see our Learning Web below which outlines our learning for next half term:
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We have just come to the end of what has been a very busy second half-term in Year Two.
In English, we completely immersed ourselves in the story 'Grace and Family'. We started by reading the story 'Amazing Grace' to help us gain an understanding of the background to the sequel. Once we knew enough about Grace, we explored how her emotions and feelings would change as she came up against and overcame lots of different challenges. We used role play, speech and expression to demonstrate these feelings in the first ever Fetcham Village Infant School Reading Theatre! Sticking with the theme of emotions and feelings, we sensitively wrote a postcard from Grace to her family, explaining what she had been up to in her time in Ghana and how much she was missing home. These postcards were absolutely fantastic and allowed us to demonstrate how much empathy we could feel for Grace.
In Maths we have been exploring shape, as Shape Detectives! We built on our knowledge to name both 2D and 3D shapes. Using what we know, we were able to write detailed descriptions of different shapes, using vocabulary such as vertices, edges, sides, vertex and face. We are very confident with shape and are even able to spot 2D shapes on the surfaces of 3D shapes!
In Science we have been super busy learning about microhabitats. We explored the microhabitat of worms and built our own class Wormery. We understand how different animals are suited to different environments and were able to make an environment suitable for a worm to thrive in. We then planned and carried out a real woodlice experiment. We wanted to find out what sort of environment a woodlouse prefers. Using lots of different science equipment and resources, we wanted to see whether they preferred a dark and wet environment or not.
In Geography we developed our knowledge of Kampong Ayer and explored what life is really like to live there. We also made conclusions in History, discussing whether we would like to go to school in the past, or nowadays. We chose now!
With two fantastic class assemblies to captivated audiences, we really enjoyed having the opportunity to show off our amazing work and achievements so far. We topped this off with two brilliant performances of 'The Innspectors' at the end of term, dancing, singing and acting as well as the West End! We even sang two of our 'Innsepctor' songs in our Nativity visit to St Mary's Church.
A fantastic first term in Year Two, very well done! Have a brilliant rest over the Christmas holiday, and we are very much looking forward to an exciting Spring term!
Please see our Learning Web below which outlines our learning for next half term:
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Wow, we have had a very busy first half-term in Year Two! Here's a taster of what we have been getting up to...
In English, we have been studying the book Traction Man by Mini Grey. We learnt the story, by answering comprehension questions and demonstrating our understanding. Using actions and voices, we acted out key parts of the story as a class. Plotting the key events on our story maps helped us to understand how the exciting plot of the story developed. We studied the language within the story and then innovated it using ideas of our own. We have learnt how to use capital letters, finger spaces, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to make our writing accurate. We then learnt how to add lots of description using adjectives and expanded noun phrases too. Our half-term ended with us becoming real life authors, using all the skills we had learnt within our own superhero story innovations!
In Maths we began the term learning about place value, developing our knowledge of one and two-digit numbers. We learnt how to partition and solve problems by partitioning in different ways. Following this, we learnt how to estimate numbers on a number line and then used our comparison skills to state whether numbers were less than, equal to or greater than another number.
This then led to our work on addition and subtraction, where we used lots of different resources to help us further understand addition to ten, over ten, and to 100. We then applied this knowledge to similar subtraction questions, subtracting from ten, over ten and from any ten number. We have worked very hard in class to remember our number bonds, which has really helped us solve some very tricky questions!
In Geography, we have learnt all about life in Kampong Ayer. First we learnt about where it is and what the weather is like there. We understand now, that the Equator and the proximity of countries to it, has a great impact on the climate within a country. Learning about how people travel, how people live and how people enjoy their lives there has really helped us make some great comparisons to life here in the UK.
In History, we have completed a very interesting sequence of learning all about how life has changed within schools. We had great fun learning all about how children were sanctioned in the past, what they ate for lunch and where their toilets were! After speaking to our visitor, Mrs Rigby, and asking her some brilliant questions, we all decided we really appreciate how our school is now!
In PE, we have been exploring how to use our bodies to move in different ways, both with high apparatus and low equipment.
Our learning about rights and responsibilities helped us to write our class learning charters. We understand that we have rights as children, and that we have responsibilities too.
This has truly been a fantastic half-term Year Two. Every one of the Year Two team are so very proud of how well you have settled in to your new classes and how very hard you have worked. Have a fantastic break and we are very much looking forward to seeing you all for another exciting half-term!
Please see our Learning Web below which outlines our learning for next half term:
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Welcome to Year Two and Otters class. Here you will find useful information about what we have been learning and what we will be learning over the half-term.
The children in Otters class have made a very positive start to the year. We are very much looking forward to working with you all and making this year a very successful one!
Please see our Learning Web below which outlines our learning for this half term:
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Please do contact our Year 2 Lead, Mr McGovern if you would like further information on our Year 2 curriculum.
Follow these links to support your children's learning at home: