Fantastic Foxes – Y2

These pupils were given the half term hero awards this half term. However, all children have settled so well back in to class and have taken everything in their stride. We are so proud of our Fantastic Foxes!

Art

For our Art lessons, we focussed on drawing and printing and took the opportunity to get outside in nature. We enjoyed using Nature as inspiration for some fabulous pieces of work These pictures show our observational drawing of a landscape and using materials found in nature to create something fantastic!

Computing

In Computing, we have been building on our vocabulary and coding knowledge built in Year 1. We have been using Purple Mash software to build algorithms to control a program. We have also been ‘debugging’ programs to fix problems with algorithms.

English

This half term’s unit has focussed on creating a non-chronological report of where we live. Firstly, we learnt the features of non-chronological reports and read lots of different ones. We then researched various landmarks in Burnley and discussed the places we like to visit. Finally, we created our own report to showcase our learning!

 Geography

In Geography, we have been learning about the place we live. We have learnt that we live in Burnley, which is in England, which is in The United Kingdom, which is in Europe and have looked at all these places on the map. We have also used Google Earth to find where we live, but also to go to lots of different places in the world!

History

In History, we spent several weeks learning about Guy Fawkes, who he was, what he did and what he believed in. We have since moved our learning on to other people who have made history. This picture shows the children’s predictions as to who the other great history makers are and what they may have done!

 Maths

Place Value – We have used our outside area as much as possible in Maths, making it active and also using concrete materials to really understand the place value of numbers to 100.

 P.E

Fantastic Foxes have loved their P.E lessons this half term. We have been practising our fundamental skills of running, jumping, hopping, throwing and catching through a range of games! One of our favourites was Queenie (one person –queenie – throws a ball backwards, the others try and catch it and then queenie chooses who they think have got it)

Science

Our Science topic is focussed on animals, including humans. We have learnt about the different animals in the world and studied their life cycles. We have also been learning how to keep animals safe and healthy. To do this, humans need to eat a range of different food groups. This picture shows us investigating the question: ‘Do all satsumas have the same amount of segments?’ We found out that they didn’t!

We also compared a range of cereals and ordered them on how they tasted before then ordering them on the sugar content in each.

Music

Year 2 have filled in a rhythm grid by choosing a crochet – Ta, quaver twin – Te Te or a rest, they clapped it and repeated it to create an ostinato, a short repeated pattern. Some children asked to use semi quavers.

RE

Our topic this half term was ‘Christianity – The Church.’  During this unit of work, we were aiming to answer the question ‘What unites the Christian community?’

Firstly, we looked at Christian symbols and what they represented.  For example, the cross is a symbol of Jesus’ death; a fish used to be a secret symbol for people who were not allowed to be Christians; candles represent Jesus being the light of the world and a dove is a symbol of peace. 

Next, we learned about places of worship and what might be found there.  We looked at what can be found in a church.  For example, pews, a font, and alter, a pulpit, a lectern and stained-glass windows. 

Our next lesson was to discover what worship means for Christians.  We learned that Christians worship through singing hymns, listening to stories from the Bible and praying.  We wrote our own prayers.

To finish our topic, we found out about the church community.  We discovered that lots of people belong to the church including people who play music in the services, people who clean the church and people who run children’s clubs.   

PSHE

Our topic this half term was ‘Being Me in My World’

As part of this topic, we identified some of our hopes and fears for this year. 

We then spent time thinking about the rights and responsibilities for being a member of our class and school. 

During this topic, we have also listened to other people as well as contributing our own ideas about rewards and consequences.   

Trip – The Singing Ringing Tree

To enhance our Geography and English units, looking at the place we live, we decided to visit a famous landmark in Burnley – The Singing Ringing Tree. It was magical to hear the steel pipes making their music as the wind blew! The Year 2 children were mesmerised!

 

Maths

Fantastic Foxes have impressed us so much with the effort put into their Maths learning this half term. They have used their prior knowledge of addition and their understanding of place value and are now excellent at adding! We began using base 10 to represent our numbers, before moving on to drawing pictures to represent the numbers. Most pupils can now add two, two-digit numbers using the column method.

English

Following on from the Fantastic Foxes’ interest in Francesca Simon’s Horrid Henry books, we decided to theme our English learning around this series of books. We spent much of the half term reading and analysing the books and learning some by heart using talk for write techniques. We then gathered our own ideas using our own experiences to eventually write our very own. There were some fantastic characters produced, including Terrible Teddy, Amazing Amy, Long Lewis and some very exciting plot lines!

Science

This half term saw us continue our study on Animals, including Humans. We focused our learning on keeping healthy and safe with a focus on hygiene and what we put into our bodies. Pupils were also interested in medicines so we found out how they are made, prescribed by doctors and that we should never have anybody else’s medicine.

Geography

This half term, we have continued to look at ‘The Place We Live’, and have spent time studying maps of the local area and identifying the features around us. We were particularly interested in how the local area has changed in the last 20 years and discussing the reasons for these changes.

History

In our History lessons, we have continued our theme of ‘History Makers’ and have been focusing on the influential women from the past, including Margaret Thatcher, Malala Yousafzai and Hatshepsut. We have learnt about them and described the work that they did which was so important. We have also begun to compare these history makers and evaluate whose work we think is the most significant.

P.E

This half term, we have been practising our jumping and throwing skills. We have developed different games to help us to improve our skills in lots of fun ways.

DT

Our final week of term was spent designing, making and evaluating a vehicle which would be used to transport visitors to Burnley around the landmarks we have studied. We were so impressed with the children’s ideas, creativity and team work! Pupils were asked to design their vehicle with safety in mind before building it using different resources. They even measured their axles and used a saw to cut it down to size to attach wooden wheels to their vehicles.

PSHCE

This half term our unit was ‘Celebrating Difference’. We investigated the differences between us all and discovered that these differences make us who we are. We also realised that we enjoy each other’s differences and the world would be very boring if we were all exactly the same! We discussed how to celebrate each other’s differences and the importance of being kind and ensuring our classroom is a safe and fair place to be.

Computing

This half term, as we have had many pupils self-isolating and using their computers at home, we had a big focus on staying safe online. We learnt what information was safe to give out online and what information is definitely not safe. We learnt how to communicate appropriately through e-mail and to ensure you only speak to people who you are sure you know well. We enjoyed practising this by sending e-mails to each other and teachers. We also learnt what to do if pupils came across something that made them feel uncomfortable.

R.E. & Art

In R.E this half term, we have studied different festivals in ours and others’ cultures. We used skills learnt in Art to create Rangoli patterns for our Diwali cards. We also learnt what all of the items represent on the Christingles that we made.

Music

Year 2, Fantastic Foxes, now know that structure describes how different sections of the music are ordered; intro, verse, chorus etc. Using the Charanga website we looked at the structure of several songs and carols. We learnt that structure means organised sections, that the melody is the tune and that the words are called lyrics and asked ourselves – Do they tell a story in this song? The year 2 children also enjoyed time composing with glockenspiels.

With Mr Garrett, we rehearsed our Whoops-Daisy-Angel nativity songs, learning to sing with good posture and diction after warming up.

Christmas

In the run up to Christmas, the Fantastic Foxes got to work decorating their classroom, making Christmas cards for their families, creating exciting Christmas decorations and also making Christingles. We were also lucky enough to have some visitors into school to help us to build our own Timber reindeer out of natural materials.

English

We have been focussing our learning around stories in English, with children listening to staff read and then completing activities based around the book. Children (and staff) have made reading dens in their homes which they can read books in and have loved it. We then moved on to learning all about birds, firstly reading books about birds, saying facts that we know and asking questions that we would like to find out.

Brilliant Book Awards

Year 2 have been taking part in the ‘Brilliant Book Awards’. We have been given the task of reading 4 different books and then voting for our favourite. We can’t wait to finish all of the books and decide which will be crowned the best and win the Brilliant Book Award 2021!

Maths

In Maths, we have had a focus on arithmetic and solving problems using our place value and addition knowledge. We then moved on to learning about Volume; measuring, comparing and investigating capacity. Finally, we moved on to learning about Time; looking at the clocks all around us and learning how to tell the time and be able to sequence it too.

Art

Over the last half term, we have been looking at different artists and then creating our own pieces of Art using the same techniques that the artist used. This picture shows a natural sculpture in the style of the artist Andy Goldsworthy who used natural materials to create sculptures.

Computing

In Computing we have been using Purple Mash to consolidate our skills, including coding, debugging and programming. We have taken the opportunity to learn how to use emails so that we can keep in contact with each other, and in particular how to keep safe on the internet. We had a ‘Safer Internet Day’ where our pupils read a story and completed activities which taught us to not believe everything we read on the internet. This picture shows some of our creations linked to DT using the 2design and make program. 

DT

Our DT has focussed on designing and making. Linked to Computing, pupils enjoyed researching buildings and structures, before designing their own and then building them. We also researched our favourite fruit, designed a fruit kebab and then made them! We also enjoyed eating them afterwards!

Geography

In Geography, we have been spending a lot of time in the outdoors. We have been on lots of walks looking for physical and human features of Geography. We have created videos of ourselves showing the environments around us. We have also used Google Earth to have a look at a bird’s eye view of our local area and spotting features, before finding and following the route of our walks on the map.

History

In History, we have been studying famous history makers. We have had a focus this half term on Queen Elizabeth I, Grace O’Malley, Marie Curie and Hatshepsut. Pupils enjoyed researching them and their impact on History, creating posters on each and then deciding which of them, in their opinion, has had the greatest impact on the world.

Music

Fantastic Foxes have been set many musical challenges over this half term, using lots of software to create their own music. This picture shows a song created by a Fantastic Fox using Chrome Music Lab.

PE
Mr Coates has been setting some exciting P.E activities, challenges and work outs for the Foxes. This picture shows one pupils completing her Minecraft Yoga.

PSHCE

This half term, we have had a big focus on feelings and understanding them. We have also been thinking towards the future about our personal dreams and goals. This picture shows one pupil’s goals and how he is going to make his dreams come true.

R.E.

We have been learning all about Judaism in R.E this half term. We have learnt what they believe and how they show their beliefs. This picture shows a mini Sukkah that pupils were tasked with building.

Science

The Fantastic Foxes have been amazing scientists this half term and have been completing a range of experiments. They have been predicting, hypothesising, testing and concluding. This picture shows our absorbency experiment, pupils tested different materials’ absorbency.

Wellbeing

Each week, on a Friday, we give pupils a wellbeing challenge to complete. This picture shows pupils filling a ‘Gratitude Jar’, writing or drawing all of the things they are grateful for inside.

Geography

After last term’s enquiry into ‘What is the physical and human geography of my local area like?’ we have moved our learning on to studying our location in more detail in relation to our region, the United Kingdom and also the continent of Europe. Next, we will be using what we have learnt to find the similarities between our own location and that of Kampong Ayer, which is in a small country of Brunei on the island of Borneo in southeast Asia.

History

The Fantastic Foxes have enjoyed learning about Sappho, who was a young girl who lived in Pompeii 2000 years ago. Our focus so far has been think about how historians and archaeologists go about obtaining the evidence they need to reconstruct and interpret the past and particularly the distinction between primary and secondary evidence. We will be moving on to learning about destruction and reconstruction of the iconic city of Pompeii.

Science

In this unit pupils have had the opportunity to closely study plants and trees in the natural environment, taking measurements and making observational drawings. We have learnt what plants need to be able to grow and also planted a seed and a bulb – we will be observing them closely and comparing them as they grow. We have also studied the germination process and talked about our own experiences blowing dandelion seeds!

English

Pupils absolutely loved our short poetry unit – we focussed on ‘Scissors’ by Allan Ahlberg. It is such a hilarious poem and pupils enjoyed learning and performing it to their peers. We then used the structure and theme to create our very own poems.

In the final week of term, we began a special masterclass with Luke Temple, author of ‘Blubber Monster’. Luke introduced us to his book and we took part in some activities which he had designed for us. One of the activities asked us to become his illustrator and we read his description of the Blubber monster’s castle and drew it ourselves. We will continue the masterclass after the holidays. Pupils were so enthused and many have purchased signed copies of his book!

Maths

Fantastic Foxes have been wearing their subtraction hats this half term. They began using concrete materials, including base 10 before moving on to pictorial and abstract methods. We have even begun to use the column method that we learnt when adding two-digit numbers together. Many pupils decided they wanted to practise even more at home and as a result have made huge improvements!

Computing

Using the 2Calculate spreadsheet, we have learnt to open, edit and save sheets, enter data into cells, allocate a value to an image and manipulate data using copying and pasting. Fantastic Foxes have worked hard to produce spreadsheets which can help to solve simple mathematical puzzles, including creating a shop which can show how many coins are needed to pay for an amount.

Art

In our Art lessons, we have been studying a range of artists from past and present. Pupils explained their likes and dislikes about their styles and have had a go at recreating some of them.

DT

Over the last few weeks, we have been preparing for our DT week, which will find us researching the materials to build a structure that will be strong and durable before building a structure with chosen materials and evaluating our designs and choice of materials. Keep your eyes peeled for some exciting work ahead!

PSHCE

Our topic this half term was ‘Healthy Me’, where pupils learnt what they need to keep their bodies healthy and how to make healthy life choices, including using medicines safely and creating a healthy relationship with food. We also looked at some things that make us feel relaxed and some that make us feel stressed.

R.E

As Easter approached, we studied the Easter story and learnt about Jesus’ death and resurrection. We studied the way different people celebrate Easter and what it means to different people.

P.E

After the extended period of time away from school during lockdown, we decided to focus on developing pupil’s fundamental skills. These have included travelling, throwing, catching, running and jumping. We have created game situations which have given pupils the chance to improve these skills and have fun whilst doing so.

Music

The Fantastic Foxes have joined in with The Lancashire Music Service Jump Up and Jump in too. We enjoyed learning with Emma and Tim.

We composed our own short patterns using claves and asked our friends to copy. We tapped out the rhythm to Mrs. Brown is the best – getting faster each time.

We sang some Easter Songs and played a sound lotto game.

Science

This half term we have been out in all weathers, searching for living things and their habitats. Thankfully, the day we decided to walk to Towneley Woods was a perfect day for it. The Fantastic Foxes had an amazing time walking through the woods and spotting all of the living things. We saw squirrels, trees, lots of different plants, minibeasts, horses and more!

Geography

We have continued our study of Kampong Ayer, in particular, looking at how our homes compare with the homes of people who live there. We found out that Kampong Ayer is built on a river and their houses are on stilts! We studied the outside and inside of people’s houses and focussed on the similarities and differences to our own.

English

‘The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea, on a beautiful pea-green boat’.

If you recognise this classic poem, then you may recognise the structure of our own poems that the Fantastic Foxes have written this half term. We studied many classic poems, including ‘Duck’s Ditty’ from ‘Wind in the Willows’ and then chose this one as our favourite. We used the same ideas and structure to then write our own versions, which we then performed to the class.

Maths

In Maths, we have been consolidating our multiplication tables and are feeling very confident with our 2s, 5s and 10s. Some pupils have even asked for extra homework to learn their 3s, 4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, 11s and 12s! I am very proud of their commitment and determination. We have been using our times table knowledge to find the pattern between multiplication and division and have been sharing and grouping objects to solve division equations. Super Mathematics Year 2!

History

Fantastic Foxes have all absolutely loved our History unit learning all about Pompeii and the destruction caused by Mount Vesuvius. Pupils have been going home and teaching their families all about the volcano and what happened in AD 79 and have been making connections between the lives of the people who lived there and their own. Ellie-May has even bought her own book to read at home to learn even more!

PSHCE

This half term, our focus has been on ‘Relationships’. We have been learning how to understand friendships, family and other relationships. We have also looked at conflict resolution and developing our communication skills to help with this. It was also ‘Mental Health Awareness Week’, which we combined with our PSHCE lessons to focus on keeping our bodies and minds healthy.

Computing

Pupils have loved using Purple Mash to learn about and create spreadsheets. We learnt that they can help you when planning and organising. We also learnt some shortcuts using the keyboard, including Ctrl + C to copy and Ctrl + V to paste. Pupils then moved on to learn how databases work and studied how we can make simple and complex databases to answer questions using ICT.

 

DT

As part of Springfield’s involvement in the ‘Brilliant Book Awards’, Year 2 were asked to read a range of books sent to us from Lancashire School Library Service and then vote for our favourite! We created our own post boxes to post our votes through to get the result. The post boxes had to link to one of the books, and we had some very creative ideas! We sent these across to the School Library Service who replied to say they absolutely loved them.

Art

We linked our Art to our Science work, looking at animals in their habitats this half term. We enjoyed creating pieces of Art to reflect different animals. We looked at using a range of materials to create specific effects and used layering in our art work too! Our final pieces of Art were a scene from a world habitat, with animals you would find there layered on top.

Music

This half term Fantastic Foxes have been learning to group percussion instruments into two groups:- tuned and untuned percussion. We now know that tuned percussion instruments include: xylophone, glockenspiel and timpani. Untuned percussion instruments include: a drum, maracas, castanets, cymbals, a tambourine and claves.

The children enjoyed creating music in these two groups. The tuned percussion group played glockenspiels and used the notes C, E and G. The untuned group kept a 4/4 beat and played drums. We listened to percussion players via YouTube and played a listening game where we had to name the percussion instruments we heard but could not see.