Class 2

Our recent writing activities have seen us exploring the book The Dark by Lemony Snicket, using it to inspire our descriptive writing and to create letters giving both advice and persuasion. The children have also crafted poems inspired by the dark and will continue to read on to find out just what the Dark has in store for Lazlo and what is hiding in the chest of drawers.

Forest School Visitor

Class 2 welcomed a new visitor to our school this week when James from the Ecology team at the Lower Mill Estate joined us. He shared some of his fascinating finds that he has come across while conducting surveys, checking on animals and working on sustainability at the site. The children loved looking at the skulls, snake skins, beaver fur and birds nests. We then escaped to the outdoors, braving the cold, on a nature scavenger hunt and found nearly all of the items on the check list (a pine cone in a tree without pine trees proved rather a challenge).

Stay and Share

We were so lucky to be joined by so many parents at our first ‘Stay and Share’ session of the year. Parents/guardians came to look at the fantastic work the children have completed so far this year and talk to them all about their learning. What fantastic families we are blessed with here at Team AK.

Interfaith Day – 12.11.25

On the 12th November, the children celebrated Inter Faith day by reading the story “Have you filled a bucket today?” and discussing what it means to be a bucket filler or a bucket dipper. The children then watched a video all about different people’s (from different faith’s/world views) thoughts on what it means to live a good life and created some art work inspired by these thoughts which we made in to a quilt.

Computing – IT

This term, the children have been considering IT – what is does it mean, what is it and how does it make our lives easier? We looked at how IT is all around us and the every day tasks that have been made easier because of it. We ran a shopping activity which involved looking up item numbers, costs, adding up and working out change that proved to us how easy we have it when we do the weekly shop now!

DT – Ferris Wheels

The children had a fantastic -time at the end of term designing and building some fantastic ferris wheels. Their creativity and independence in creating and building blew us away and they showed fantastic team work in helping one another when people got stuck.

The Secret Sky Garden

In English this term, we have been inspired by the story The Secret Sky Garden. We began by writing detailed setting descriptions, using rich vocabulary to bring the sky garden to life. The children then created imaginative adverts to encourage others to become a good friend, followed by letters applying to be a friend themselves, thinking carefully about kindness, empathy and shared interests. We also explored poetry, writing descriptive poems based on the sights and sounds of the story. Finally, we compared the main characters, looking closely at their feelings, actions and how they change throughout the book.

Why is God important to Muslims

In RE this term, we have been exploring the question, “Why is God important to Muslims?” We learned how Muslims describe Allah as the one God who is compassionate, powerful and always present, and we looked at some of the 99 beautiful names they use to express these qualities. We also studied the story of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad, understanding why Muhammad is such an important messenger in Islam. Finally, we found out what the Qur’an is, why it is considered the word of God, and the special ways Muslims treat it with respect.

Science – Animals including Humans

We began science this year by learning about animals, including humans, looking at how different animals grow and change over time, what they need to stay healthy, and the importance of exercise, hygiene and a balanced diet. We also explored how animals are grouped, the stages of human life, and how we can make choices that help keep our bodies strong and well.

Wild

Our English for the beginning of year 2 has focused around a book called Wild by Emily Hughes. The children considered character’s emotions, wrote descriptively about settings and people, made plot predictions and finally, retold the story of the little girl who was raised in the wild. We were very impressed with the children’s story writing skills already!

Geography – United Kingdom

In geography, we have been exploring the United Kingdom. The children have located and identified the capital cities of each of the four nations and begun to explore how the cultures, scenery and lifestyles can be different in some ways as well as spotting similarities.

Learning Metaphor

We have begun the year exploring our learning metaphor “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Romans 12:2. The children have been exploring the idea of transformation, relating this to the life cycle of butterflies and reflecting on how they wish to transform over their time in year 2.

We also explored the story of Zacchaeus from the gospel of Luke where Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus. The children considered the thoughts of the people that were part of this story and wrote these ideas in their book.

The children have also brightened up the classroom making a beautiful butterfly window display.

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Den building in forest school

Class 2 build dens in forest school. The children worked really well as a team to build their structures, with no rope to secure the branches. After they’d added leaves to cover the branches, Mr Jackson put their dens to the test to see how weather proof they were and poured water over them! There were some wet but very cheerful children!

The Trunk Theatre

Class 2 had a visit from The Trunk Theatre who delivered an exciting performance all about The Great Fire of London. The children had lots of fun joining in and even redesigned London!

Art days

Class 2 produced some fantastic art with Mrs Dyminski. They used art foam to create animals inspired by a the picture book The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright and produced stunning prints. They also used their colour mixing skills to create beautiful colour wheels using watercolour paints.

Felt Pouches

Class 2 have been learning to sew. They have used running stitch and cross stitch to make a binca bookmark. Next they designed and made a felt pouch. We were lucky to have lots of parents and grandparents come in to help. Here are their amazing pouches – I wonder what will be stored in them?!

Moving Monsters

The children enjoyed learning about levers and linkages to create their fantastic moving monsters! Watch out – they bite!

We The Curious visit

Class 2 enjoyed a trip to We the Curious in Bristol. They took part in a space workshop where they had lots of fun building and launching rockets as well as learning lots about what it’s like being an astronaut. They also visited the planetarium for a fantastic tour of space and the solar system. The children enjoyed exploring the exhibits – there was so much to see and do!