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Year 2

Staff: Mrs Waring / Mrs Jeffrey / Mrs Graves

Contact info. – emma.waring@panshanger.herts.sch.uk    kathryn.jeffrey@panshanger.herts.sch.uk

Music taught by Mr Mitchell (Tuesday)

Summer 1

Reception have had great fun exploring our topic “The Great Outdoors.”

We read the story “The Oak Tree” and talked about all the things in our own lives that an oak tree might have seen. We explored some key events in the past and talked about the differences and similarities between life then and our lives now.  We discussed out own experiences of walking through woods and all the different creatures that might live there.  We thought about why creatures might choose to live in the woods and how the habitat is suited to them.

We planted our own sunflowers and talked about the different stages that they may go through as they grow. We learnt the different names of parts of the plant and the different jobs that they do. We used various materials to create our own beautiful sunflowers including clay, paint and collage resources.

Foundation Stage were very lucky to go on our school trip on a coach to Foxholes Farm. The children had the chance to explore the Farm.  They showed great care when handling and feeding the animals.  We met some very cheeky goats who did not want to wait for their food!

In our role play area we had our very own camper van. We used maps and leaflets to explore different places that we could travel to.  The children then used all of their outdoor learning skills to pitch a tent and camping area on our school field. We spent the week based in the tent. The children had great fun creating a list of toys to take and setting up their own tables to work on. We finished our camping week with songs and marshmallows around our campfire.

Spring 2

We had lots of fun when our visitors came to show us some orienteering activities. We played some team games and then set off around the school to hunt out the markers and choose some numbers. Then we had to try to make our target number. We did another challenge in class to try to locate all of the markers. It was quite tricky – some of the markers were hard to find. After Easter, we will do some more outdoor learning activities like this.

In maths we have been busy measuring. We have used different types of rulers and measuring tape to measure items shorter than a metre and longer than a metre. We have also used our measuring skills to do some science investigations. We investigated the statement “Your foot is the same length as the distance from your elbow to your wrist.” We had to make very accurate measurements and compared all our data. We found out that is was false. Only about half the class had the same measurement for their foot and their arm.

In Art we have been looking at sculpture. We began by making drawings in space using strips of black paper. Then we tried making cardboard sculpture using the slot technique. We looked at some sculpture by the artists Naum Gabo and Anne Ryan. We noticed that their sculptures were of people in different poses. We have been practicing our sketching skills and even drew each other. Some of the poses were quite tricky to draw. After Easter we will use all these skills to make a piece of sculpture.

Autumn 2

In Art we have been looking at artists who use lines and spots in their artwork. We explored painting spots using different painting tools and have practised our drawings skills creating different types of patterns. We particularly liked looking through viewfinders at natural objects to try and draw the shapes and patterns we could see. We produced our own paintings of plants and added dots and lines to our paintings.

In Science we have been learning about keeping healthy. We have explored where foods come from (plants or animals) and which are healthy. We have also tried out different exercises to find out which ones get our hearts beating faster. We also learnt about the scientist Louis Pasteur who discovered how germs spread. We experimented with glitter germs to see how easy it is to spread germs by touch. We also found out how to wash our hands properly to get rid of them!

In gymnastics we have been working on performing balances on the floor and on the apparatus. We can hold our balance still before moving to another position.

We designed healthy snacks for Santa because he eats too many mince pies. We tasted different fruits and vegetables and decided which ones to use to make a funny face rice cake snack. The best part was tasting them!

We had lots of fun doing the Santa run and were very pleased with our medals.