Wednesday 6th December

We have begun to think about our DT projects & are getting our logos prepared to draw up on acetate. Next we will be measuring and cutting wood for the frames.

It's not just advent, it's assessment season! We have been working with the children on various activities to show what they have learnt since joining Year 2. You can help by continuing to read regularly and practising your times tables.

This week Mrs Dewing wrote us a letter asking us to help her write to Father Christmas/Santa Claus. We have everything crossed for a new trim trail!

In English we have been comparing the poem 'Twas The Night Before Christmas with The Nutcracker! We watched parts of the ballet and were fascinated by how the story was told through dance. This inspired our PE lesson last week and there were some fantastic soldiers and mice dancing in the hall.

If you have any questions or comments, please do come and see us.
Mrs R & Miss Tovell

Tuesday 21st November

What a super start to the week we have had!

In English we have been focusing on spelling Year 2 Common Exception Words. We have investigated rules and tricks for spelling the word 'Christmas'. We have begun an acrostic poem to help us apply these skills. One child suggested that,once the poems are finished, we could send them to Father Christmas!

In SPaG (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation), we have been reading and writing words with the word 'all' in e.g. fall, ball, hall. Then we have been adding suffixes to these words e.g. called, smallest, falling. We have also explored making compound words e.g. foot+ball= football

In Phonics the children have been learning the Phase 5 sounds, consonant blends (e.g. str, cl, mp) and reading longer words including lots of different sounds.


In Maths we have been relating multiplication to repeated addition e.g. 5 + 5 + 5= 15, 3 x 5=15.
The children have learnt different strategies to help them visualise and imagine what a the times tables means or looks like in real life e.g. 4 x 5= 20 could be 4 five pence coins being worth 20p in total.

A slip will be coming home to ask you to bring in a shoe box for your child's DT project.
Please come and see us if you have any questions.

Our topic work this week will be based on Wednesday's trip to Time & Tide museum. We are sure your child will tell you all about it!

Just to remind you that we return from our trip at about 3.15. To ensure that the children are returned to you safely, we will dismiss them from Miss Tovell's classroom upon our return.

Today we have been busy designing our own nightlights by bringing together lots of the skills we have learnt in our topic work. Your child will need to bring in a shoe box for their project soon. We will send a slip of paper home with all the details on, but basically, they need a shoe box please!

In English we looked at the basic elements of a story structure and challenged the children to write their own stories. They were allowed to choose the character and setting.

In Maths we have been looking at place value as a tool to help us add and subtract. The children use equipment called Base 10 in class. It is made of rods of 10 and single cubes. We have looked at how to draw "chips and peas" to represent the ten rods and ones. This is a powerful tool to have and we will be doing lots of practising in class.

Have a lovely weekend,
The Year 2 Team x

This week in English we have been developing our vocabulary skills by describing fireworks. Two children managed to think of similes! One was "orange as a volcano" and the other idea was "as white as a snowflake". We have been describing fireworks by using colour words for our adjectives e.g. turquoise, lilac, neon yellow, cobalt. (Those were all ideas from the children!)
Next we thought about using onomatopoeia to help us describe how the fireworks look, sound and move.  The children were amazing and came up with wonderful ideas. Why not ask your child what ideas they thought of?

In Maths we have been practising our place value skills by working with tens and ones, and using the signs <   >  and   =  to compare the numbers. We have looked at not being tricked by numbers with the same digits e.g. 12 and 21.

Last week in Topic we learnt about the life of Guy Fawkes and some of the events of the Gunpowder Plot. We will continue to work on these skills this week by creating a timeline, deciding if Guy Fawkes was a hero or a villain, and sketching Guy Fawkes.

We have been thinking about why some people choose to wear poppies and why. We watched the very poignant film:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04p4zsl
It provoked some thoughtful but age appropriate discussuions.

Mrs R & Miss Tovell have enjoyed seeing your ideas and activities in your home learning books as they come back.  Remember to read at least 5 times a week!

If you're looking for something extra to do at home...
why not use coloured pens to practise writing colour words?
or...
keep learning those timestables
or...
make sure that you recognise all the numbers to 20, then 30 then 50 then 100
or...
anything else that will make your learning brain bigger!

week commencing 30th November 2017

This week the children have been learning about the Gunpowder Plot, Bonfire Night and Guy Fawkes.

We have started introducing more comprehension activities in class so that the children understand that the text they read has a meaning and learn how to to look for the answers in their reading.

The children have been learning about the purpose of adjectives, nouns and verbs in sentence structures and have created simple firework poems to apply this knowledge.
Gold -  sparklers - fizzing
Blue - catherine wheel - spinning
(adjective - noun - verb)

In maths we have been adding 10 to any given number and recognising that although the 'tens' number changes the 'ones' in the answer remain the same because of the zero.
3 + 10 = 13
13 + 10 = 23

We took the verbs from our English work into PE and used our bodies to created the movements as we became human fireworks.  Ask your child to show them how fireworks zoom, twirl, spiral, explode and pop!

Homework starts again this week - there will be a discussion activity each week as well as the challenge to read school books five time a week. Look out for the reading menu in the front of the children's homework books this week.

We have been busy learning about the festival of Diwali and the story of Rama and Sita. This has been fascinating and linked really well with our theme of Heroes and Villains. The children have learnt how and why Hindus (and people of other faiths) around the world celebrate this lovely festival.


This week it is International Week at Garrick Green and our focus is on the United Kingdom.
All children have been put into one of three school teams. See if your child can remember which team they are in.

We have been finding out and writing facts about Ben Nevis, Snowdon, Slieve Donard and Scarfell Pike. Today the children have made traditional breads from different parts of the UK. To link with this, in maths we have learnt about reading scales and measuring. 



Some ideas for home learning activities...

• retell the story of Rama & Sita for someone at home
• make and decorate a diwali lamp
• Watch the video at:   https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/lets-celebrate-diwali?collection=lets-celebrate-celebrations 

• practice saying where you live. Can you say your address? 
• find where England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are on a map
• bring in photos of you in any of those countries for the UK boards in our classrooms
• find out more facts about England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland e.g. naming and locating the capital cities

• learn to say your ten times tables off by heart
• ask an adult to ask you questions such as "What is five times ten?" see if you can answer straightaway
• use your marvellous mathematical measuring skills to help cook at home

Week commencing 2nd October 2017

What a fantastic start to Year 2!

We have been...

• enjoying the new layouts of the classrooms
• learning the routines and expectations of Year 2
• doing lots of team games that require lots of concentration and team work
• working and playing hard

In our topic work we have been investigating logos. We looked at examples such as The British Red Cross, RSPCA, Norfolk Constabulary and Air Ambulance. Then we looked at the logos of Superheroes. We learnt about the features of a successful logo and then used that to design our own.  

In English we have been having daily SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) lessons and reading and writing words with the Phase 3 and 5 letters and sounds. We have been developing our knowledge of how to write a perfect sentence and trying hard to apply this in our own work, 

We hope you have begun your Super Reading Challenge. Remember, the task is to read your school reading book "Teacher Book" for 15 minutes at least five times this week.  You can change your book as often as you like and we do give daily reminders in class for children to do this.

 In maths we have been looking at place value and number formation.  We have been using apparatus to understand how two and three digit numbers are partitioned into hundreds, tens and ones.

Mrs R and Miss Tovell are really please with how the children have settled into Year 2, watch this space for news and information. We will (do our best to) update the blog on Friday afternoons. 

Do come and see one of the Year 2 team if you have any queries or concerns. 

week commencing 19th June 2017

This week is Art Week in school and we are redecorating the main corridors and library with displays based around the author Sue Hendra's work.
Every child in the school contributes to each display and the new boards should be on display by the end of next week - we hope you enjoy seeing the change to the school and talking to your children about which parts our classes created.
Alongside this the children have been thinking about their fundraiser towards the cost of the recent trip to West Runton and many of them will be bringing home a poster they designed (as well as a letter from us) to explain all...
In English we will be learning more about Sue Hendra and writing a non-fiction narrative of our week including facts about her.
The children will finish the week by creating their own story using some of Sue Hendra's work as inspiration.

From next Monday we will be immersing ourselves in concert practices and our topic The Great Outdoors, which we intend to be the main teaching for the rest of the term.

Finally, we wanted to acknowledge how hard the children have worked this last half term and the positive attitudes they have had to everything we've asked them to done - they should be very proud of what they've achieved.

week commencing 8th May 2017

As you may be aware, May is the month where all children in year two undertake statutory assessment tests, known as SATs, in English and Maths.

We have started these this week and will be continuing with them throughout the rest of the month.  The children are working with one of the teachers in small groups and have responded well to the tests so far - they may also have mentioned our mini 'breakfast club' to you, which is just a part of us ensuring that they don't feel anxious about the tests.

Learning in class has continued as normal and this week the children are using all of the skills gained this year to compose and write their own stories .  In maths, we have been practicing our reasoning skills by completing some orienteering style trails.

Upcoming events:
School photos will take place during the morning of Monday 22nd May

This week we have begun an exciting carousel of activities in English and Maths.

In writing we are working on applying key skills such as:

• spelling "Common Exception Words" correctly
• including the 4 different types of sentence in our writing
• punctuating our sentences correctly
• using adjectives in expanded noun phrases e.g. beautiful, blue butterfly
• using conjunctions such as "but, when, because, and"  to join two sentences
• form all letters correctly with flicks ready for joining

In maths we are re-visiting key concepts such as:

• partitioning numbers into 100s, 10s and 1s e.g. 378= 300 + 70 + 8
• solving missing number problems e.g. 🔺 x 5 = 30
• using drawings of "sticks and crosses" to help solve addition and subtraction problems
• identifying and naming 2D and 3D shapes
• using the = sign in different places in a calculation e.g. 35 = 20 + 15,    11 = 21 -10

We have new Guided Reading books and have started to have some wonderful discussions in our groups. 

On Friday, we will begin our new topic "The Great Outdoors"!

w/c 17th April 2017

Welcome back and we hope you enjoyed your Easter break

This week is Science Week and to build on previous years work we are introducing the children to several fields of Science over the next few days - each with an investigation or experiment for them to complete.

Over the course of the week the children will be learning about:
Chemistry (removing dirt)
Botany (regrowing plants)
Nutrition (sugar content)
Geology (rocks)
Microbiology (bacteria)
Vulcanology (volcanoes)
Physics and Engineering (winches)

Why not see how much your child can tell you from their learning this week!!

Week beginning 13th March

This week in English we are looking at acrostic poems.

We looked an example about the castle. All of the letters down the side of the poem spelt out the word castle and all of the sentences were about the castle. We are thinking of ideas for our own acrostic poems to spell out NORWICH CASTLE. As a challenge we are trying to use the 4 different sentences types too.

In Maths we have been looking at symmetry and spotting lines of symmetry in different 2D shapes. We have also begun to look at symmetrical patterns and solve word problems involving symmetry. For our daily maths sessions we are solving words problems to use and apply a range of skills.

On Friday we will be using clay to make sculptures of famous monarchs.

We have been really enjoying our football sessions on Wednesday. It's great to get outside and learn new skills.

Please would you each bring in a small sturdy box e.g. a shoe box. We will be using these for DT before the Easter holidays.

Week ending 10th March

This week is art week!

Every child is being involved in the creation of 2 displays to show some of their learning about life in a castle and by the end of the week we will have a new display in each classroom to show for their efforts.

Alongside this we have been extending our Norman theme with a range of adult-led activities.

On Monday we looked in depth at the story of the Battle of Hastings as shown on the Bayeux Tapestry and used our measuring skills to see how far across the playground it would stretch.

Throughout the week in small groups the children will be having a go at creating a strip of embroidery to go with the artwork and completing some non-fiction writing about our local Norman building, Norwich Castle.

In maths we have been practising our reasoning and arithmetic skills and we have been looking in detail at the relationship between multiplication and division calculations (e.g if 6x2=12 

then 12÷2=6).

In PE we continue to have some specialist sports coaches in to lead football skills workshops in a Wednesday afternoon.  Unless it is raining these sessions take place outside so please feel free to provide outdoor trainers and tracksuit bottoms if your child needs them.

Week commencing 27th February

This week in English the children have been creating their own story using a single image as the prompt.

They have been answering a series of questions about the picture and using their knowledge of spelling and grammar to write interesting and detailed answers.  These will then form the basis of their story.

The picture has been taken from the Bayeux Tapestry and after the children have created their own stories we will be introducing them to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest.

In phonics we are using proper nouns (names of places or people) and making sure that these are always capitalised in writing. The children are also practising this skill in their stories this week.

In maths we are revisiting shape and exploring the names and properties of 2D and 3D shapes.
The children have been using the vocabulary of 2D shape (sides and corners) and 3D shape (edges, faces, vertices) to describe the properties.

For topic, we are visiting Norwich Castle Museum to learn more about life in a castle during different periods of history.

week commencing 20th February 2017

This week is International Week and we have been learning about the Arctic.
The children have used Atlases to find and name the 7 continents and 5 oceans as well as finding the 8 different countries that make up the Arctic region.

The children were very excited to receive a letter from Santa Claus from his home in Finland and they used their map work to find the city he lives in (Rovaniemi).

In maths have been comparing the temperatures between Norwich and Rovaniemi and finding the difference between the two.  This has also raised some interesting discussion about minus temperatures.  We have also been solving maths problems related to Santa and the Arctic.

In English we have been learning about arctic animals in both our comprehension and writing and the children are producing a factsheet about an animal of choice.

In PE we have been harnessing some inner peace with Arctic yoga.

Just a reminder that all permission slips and money for the visit to the Castle Museum next week are due by this Friday  many thanks for your support with this.

Week ending 10th February 2017

This week in English we have been continuing with our letter writing skills.  The children are writing to Queen Elizabeth I to let her know what they have discovered and to ask her any further questions they have.  The focus points are to use each of the 4 main sentence types (command, question, statement and exclamation) as and to concentrate on forming all letters correctly.

Phonics this week is concentrating on spelling common exception words (also known as tricky words) correctly.  You may have noticed the list in homework books last week - this is a set list under the current curriculum that all year two children must be able to read and spell accurately every time by the end of there time in year two.  Most of our children can read these words well and any extra practise they can do with their spelling at home will always help them.

In maths we have been solving worded problems for addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.  The children have been able to choose their own way of solving the problem as long as they can show how they got to the answer.  It has been lovely to see how surprised they are when they realise that they CAN do it!

We would like to ask that if you go away in the UK during the holidays to please send in any photographs or a postcard so that we can update our UK maps in class - many thanks.

Week ending 3rd February 2017

Apologies for the delay in updating our blog.  As you can all imagine this has been a busy term with a new topic to introduce, lots of activities involving the Trust, planning the recent maths and celebrating international festivals.

Our topic this term is Off With Their Heads and the children will be learning about a wide range of things as outlined in the topic web sent out two weeks ago.  So far we have revisited the main countries of the UK and learnt about royal residence in each of these and have looked in more detail at the features of castles and what the purpose of each part was.
To continue with this theme in English the children's favourite pirate, Sir Francis Drake has sent them a letter suggesting they learn all his 'marvellous monarch' Queen Elizabeth I ad the children have been replying to him with their questions about her.

Our main focus points in English this term remains spelling and handwriting and we are encouraging the children to be more adventurous in the way they structure their work to include each of the main sentence families: commands (e.g. Write back soon), questions (e.g. How did Queen Elizabeth become queen?), exclamations (What a brilliant piece of writing you did!) and statements (e.g. The children are learning about castle.).

In maths we have been looking at fractions and how to halve, quarter and third both objects and groups of objects.  The children have been shown how to work out the answer to a fraction question by using division. We then used our knowledge of quarters in geometry to navigate Red Riding Hood through the forest using positional directional language.  The children then created their own mazes and wrote commands for users to follow them.  This week they have used all existing  knowledge of halves and quarters and related it to time.  We then used our five times tables to tell the time to the nearest five minutes.

We are always happy to talk to you about what's happening in school, so please do come and speak to us in person if you have any questions.