Trotts Hill Primary School and Nursery
Welcome to Year 2
Mrs Burr and Mrs Kramer are the class teachers and Mrs Paice is the classroom assistant and will be supporting in class every morning and most afternoons. Mrs Taylor gives additional support every morning.
Year 2 is the final year of Key Stage 1 and we continue to build upon the foundations developed in Year 1 whilst preparing the children for Key Stage 2. The children will be encouraged to continue to develop their independence and further develop their creativity.
Year 2 is a very exciting and busy year where children will be continuing to develop a range of skills and knowledge alongside discovering and learning lots of exciting new things. The children will be encouraged to develop their 'Behaviour for Learning'.
We will work very hard but also have lots of fun learning together.
This year we will cover a variety of skills, knowledge and understanding including the following topics:
The children will be participating in PE and outdoor skills on Wednesdays and Thursdays in Spring Term.
They will need to bring in their PE kits on these days.
The children will also have the opportunity to be involved with many pupil groups around the school.
We look forward to helping Year 2 develop and grow.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday- Mrs Burr
Thursday and Friday- Mrs Kramer
Please find below the PowerPoint and Resources for the parent workshop on the 1st November.
Below is the presentation Mrs Burr, Mrs Kramer and Mrs Paice delivered on Wednesday 11th July at the New to Year 2 meeting.
Year 2 2023-2024
LI: To create a microhabitat.
Today in year 2 the children made their own bug hotels. We hope to see lots of visitors in the coming weeks.
LI: To recognise equal and unequal parts.
LI: To explore a 'tree' microhabitat.
LI: To measure in millilitres.
LI: To compare mass to find lighter and heavier.
LI: To learn about the importance of Purim for Jewish people.
After learning about the festival of Purim and listening to the story of Esther, the class made their own Hamantashen and decorated their biscuit bags with symbols and names from the story.
This week the children have completed their learning about the Great Fire of London by burning their own houses. The children all created their own houses which we shared as a class before taking them outside to set alight and starting our own Great Fire!
Thank you to all of the parents who attended the maths workshop today. As promised, here are the slides.
Below also is a really useful online rekenrek tool.
Year 2 have been learning a dance during the Spring Term with Mr Sapsed. The dance is based around the poem 'Into The Blue' by Hilda Offen which is about floating along on a balloon through the sky.
LI: To understand the difference between seeds and bulbs by dissecting and observing.
Year 2 have commenced their dance learning with Mr Sapsed. They have loved using the parachute and props to bring our English poetry unit to life. We have been reading the poem 'Into the Blue' by Hilda Offen.
LI: To label the parts of a plant.
We also went on an observational walk and although it's winter we saw lots of plants with berries and flowers and lots of plants that have died off from last year but still have seeds attached.
Today we carried out an investigation about buoyancy as part of the whole school maths/science day. We based it on a picture story book. The children started by testing out a paper boat made with 12 squares. They then predicted how many pennies the 8 square boat would hold, followed by 4 squares. Using this knowledge, they then predicted the 16 and 20 boat. The children filled in their results table. We then wrote a class conclusion. To test our theory, we then made a boat with 84 squares and predicted the mass. (Most predictions were 100 and over). We were surprised that the boat held 184 pennies!
Conclusion:
The larger the boat, the more mass it can hold. The smaller the boat, the less mass it can hold. The load also needs to be spread evenly across the boat.
Year 2 were joined by Kate from Stevenage Museum to start the term with a workshop on the Great Fire of London. The children showed off an impressive knowledge of 17th Century England. She brought many artefacts for them to interact with and explore.
The adults in Year 2 had a surprise delivery from the children after school today. Thank you very much for our lovely and generous gifts! Have an amazing Christmas full of family fun, fresh air and... chocolate!
We are so proud of how Year 2 performed and sang in their Christmas showcase. They really are made for the stage. Their singing is beautiful, actions enthusiastic and acting excellent. They sang Stable Under the Star, Sleigh Ride and Jingle Bell Rock. They performed the story Santa's Beard by Matilda Tristram and Tom Duxbury (and Mrs Burr and Caitlin Burr!).
Today, we visited St Hugh and St John Church to experience the Christmas story. The story is sequenced into four scenes and acted out by volunteers, dressed in character. The children were really engaged and a credit to the school.
LI: To understand the importance of the hannukiah in the celebration of Hannukah.
Today Mrs Paice visited Year 2 to tell them all about Chanukkah and the traditions in her family. She told us the story about the Maccabee brothers and how their miracle led to the Jewish festival of light. Mrs Paice taught us some songs and also read us a lovely story. We then played the traditional Driedel game (although we only won counters, not chocolate gelt!). Thank you so much to Mrs Paice for giving up her time.
LI: To identify features of non-fiction books.
Year 2 have been looking at non-fiction books and finding their features such as contents, index and glossary pages as well as sub-headings and diagrams.
Year 2 were really fortunate today to be visited by Mrs Lederman, a member of the Stevenage Jewish Community. Mrs Lederman explained to us where the Jewish faith began and who it began with. She also talked to us about what is important to Jewish people and how they became spread across the world. The children were really interested to see Hebrew script from the Torah and especially as the books open the other way around and the artistic script is written from right to left. We also found looking at a map Judaea fascinating and how some of the cities are still there even thousands of years on. Year 2 asked sensible questions about how long Mrs Lederman spent at her synagogue and what she did there. Stevenage synagogue is only a small community of around 60 members but they meet for a few hours every week to read from the Torah, pray, sing, eat yummy food and receive challah (bread) and wine.
Mrs Lederman explained that being part of the Jewish faith is of course about praying to God but also about being part of a worldwide Jewish community. She has visited synagogues in different parts of the world where they speak different languages but the faith, beliefs and universal Hebrew language is the same.
Year 2 would like to send huge thanks to Mrs Lederman for giving us her time. (Plus she let us try on kippahs (hats) and made us some delicious challah!)
Year 2 had a wonderful time making the sandwiches that they designed. Once they had made them all the children and adults sat down to enjoy a very special lunch together. Thank you to Mrs Poole for the addition of biscuits for dessert.
Tiny, our class mascot, has already had lots of adventures. He's been to the cinema, bowling, the Science Museum, swimming and eaten birthday cake, pizza and MacDonalds!
Today Tiny met Pepper, Mrs Masterton's tortoise. We were very lucky as Pepper is due to hibernate any day now. He is 9 years old and is pretty speedy. We're not too sure if he was that impressed with Tiny (he knocked him over)! He also wee'd, which of course was hilarious.
Year 2 had great fun tasting a range of different breads and sandwich fillings as part of our Design and Technology. Next week, we will design our sandwiches based on our personal choices from the tasting. Finally, we will spend the morning making our sandwiches and having them for our lunch together.
LI: To identify numbers on an empty number line.
We got out the rulers and sticky notes for an Active Maths lesson looking at number lines.
Year 2 has continued to enjoy the alternative version of Rapunzel. This week we went outside; wiped our memories and pretended we had never been into a forest before. The children wrote down interesting and inspiring noun phrases about what they saw, heard, smelt and touched. The vocabulary generated was excellent. Well done!
This week, we started learning about traditional tales. We have looked at the Ladybird version of Rapunzel as well as more modern versions by Bethan Woollvin and Chloe Perkins. Today, we acted out the story trying to use dialogue and fairy tale language. We loved putting on voices for the characters and using our bodies in character.
A good start in maths, looking at representing and partitioning numbers in different ways.
In science, started our new topic of Animals, including humans and looked at offspring. We discovered that some offspring look like their parents, whilst others, like tadpoles, do not.
In RE we looked at symbols and the children looked for examples of a Christian cross, an Islamic star and moon and Jewish Star of David in various books.
Year 2 had a great time starting to make their safari animal toys. They practised threading a needle, cutting from a pattern and attaching two materials together. Next week, they will be adding stuffing to their toy so that it will be lovely to cuddle when they take it home.
Year 2 have had a wonderful day at Woburn Safari Park. We have watched the bird show, saw the sea lions being fed and been on a safari tour. We were surprised when four monkeys tried to escape on our coach! Our visit linked to our English learning on Tinga Tinga Tales and our geography learning on Kenya.
Year 2 have been reading the story 'Lila and the Secret of Rain'. It is a story from Kenya and links to their geography topic this term. They acted out the story and used body percussion to add sound effects to each part of the story. Next week, they will retell the story and write a diary entry as Lila.
Week Beginning Monday 5th June 2023
Year 2 boarded an airplane and took a flight to Kenya as part of their Geography learning. Once their passports were stamped and they had watched the online safety advice, the plane took off to Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi. Once they had landed, they searched the savannah for safari animals. Nerasaiah, a young girl from a Maasai tribe, took them on a tour of her village in the Maasai Mara and shared her day-to-day life. They found out about Maasai jumping contests and had a try themselves. They made Maasai necklaces and looked at the different patterns used. Finally, they learnt a Kenyan song“Jambo Bwana” The title means “Hello, sir” in Swahili.
This week, year 2 have been practising solving different maths questions in the form of a treasure hunt. They had to solve different questions to crack the code.
For the past three weeks in English, year 2 have been reading the story 'How to catch a star'. Today, the children retold the story using lots of adverbs and adjectives.
In Science, year 2 made their own bug hotels. The children investigated what materials they would need for their bug hotel and have taken them home to observe which mini-beasts they attract.
This term in PE, year 2 are learning and improving their ball skills. Today, the children began with a warm up game before practising using their fingertips to move a ball around a cone. The children then moved on to rolling their ball to hit the cone as a target. They kept score of how many cones they hit and were very successful.
This week in Geography, year 2 learnt about the North Pole, the South Pole and the equator. The children learnt that the countries closer to the equator are hot and the countries closer to the poles are cold. The children then looked at the animals that live in different climates and match animals to their descriptions.
This week in computing, year 2 used the data they collected in Science about mini-beasts, to create a pictogram on 2count on Purple Mash. The children then used their pictogram to help them answer some questions about the number of mini-beasts found. We also linked our learning to statistics in maths and answered mathematical questions.
This week year 2 have been finding fractions of different numbers. The children have practiced making and drawing groups to find 1/2, 1/4, 1/3 and 3/4. They also recognised that 2/4 and 1/2 are equivalent fractions. Today the children used counters and cubes to make 4 groups for each number and count three groups to find 3/4.
Year 2 are currently reading 'Billy and the mini monsters' so we themed today's learning around the book. The children came in dressed up as characters from the book or from a book of their choice. First, year 2 created their own monsters using lots of different materials and thinking about the different features. They then wrote a character description of their monster and scored it out of 10 on scare factor. These were then put on display on our classroom door.
Year 2 came into school on Tuesday dressed as superheroes. We are reading the book 'Traction Man' in English so linked our day to the story. We carried out a science experiment to find which material would be best to make a waterproof coat for Traction Man. We used Purple Mash to design our own superhero. We also had our own mission to save the pots and pans from the evil scissors by completing an obstacle course.
Today year 2 spent the morning exploring different artefacts from Stevenage museum linked to the Great Fire of London. The children were able to compare houses, lighting and the fire service from 1666 to today. They also thought about what people may have saved from the fire and why they did this as well as learning what an eyewitness may have experienced during the fire. The children then went outside and recreated the fire of London by burning our model houses that we have made. The wind moved the fire from house to house just like it would have done in 1666.
For the next three weeks in English, year 2 have linked their writing to their current history topic - The Great Fire of London. The children are aiming to write a report about the Great Fire of London by the end of the three weeks. This week, the children looked at the features of reports and gathered as much information as they could about the Great Fire. They sorted the information into different subheadings.
This week year 2 have been learning to divide. In this lesson, the children used counters and cubes to share into equal groups.
This term year 2 are beginning their dance unit. They have linked their dance lessons to their current history topic - The Great Fire of London. The children are learning about physical theatre and how they can use their bodies to represent the fire and the burning buildings.
In French, the children have been learning to count up to 20. They learnt a song to help remember the numbers then matched the digits to the words. Some children then came up with their own tune to remember the numbers.
On Friday, year 2 visited St Hugh and St John's Church to learn about the Christmas journey. Volunteers led the session and ran four stations to help the children learn about the Christian Christmas story. The stations included meeting the shepherds, meeting Anna and Simeon, meeting the wise men and making crowns. Year 2 then watched Mary and Joseph perform on stage explaining their part in the Christmas story. We ended the morning by learning and singing a new song with actions. The children had a fantastic morning.
This week in maths, year 2 have been learning to add two 2-digit numbers. On Monday and Tuesday they practiced adding numbers which didn't need to regroup such as 23 + 45. Then on Wednesday and Thursday, the children moved on to adding numbers which need regrouping such as 47 + 36. The children used base 10 to make the calculations and drew representations to support them with their calculations.
This week, year 2 received some letters from different coloured crayons complaining about the way that they have been used. The children then found out that the letters were written to Duncan and shared in 'The day the crayons quit'. Year 2 spent lots of time reading the letters and understanding what each crayon wanted from Duncan. They created their own crayon with it's own sign explaining why it is going on strike.
As part of Science and Maths day, year 2 made their own balloon buggies. They were asked the question 'Does the size of the bottle affect the distance the balloon buggy travels?' The children made their own predictions. Daniel - I think the size of the bottle won't make a difference because the same amount of air has to come out of the balloon. Harry - I think the bigger bottles will go further because more air can get behind it. Gabby - I think the smaller bottles will go further because they are lighter. The children then went to the hall to test their buggies by blowing up their balloon and comparing how far they travelled. We concluded that the larger bottles tended to travel further than the smaller bottles.
In PE, the children were learning co-ordination skills through skipping. The children began with 2-footed jumps and moved onto galloping, hopping and turning while skipping. Year 2 showed excellent perseverance this lesson.
This week in DT, year 2 have been learning about eating healthily. They designed and made their own sandwiches using cutting, grating and peeling skills. We then enjoyed eating our lunches together and were very full afterwards!
In Science, year 2 were investigating the question 'Do taller people have larger feet?' They made predictions about the question and discussed different ways that they could investigate this. As a class, year 2 decided to use cubes to measure their feet and cubes to measure their height. They then looked at their results to spot any patterns. The children noticed that usually the taller children had the bigger feet, however this was not always the case as some smaller children had the same size feet as the taller children.
In PE, year 2 were learning new rolls in gymnastics. They learnt the barrel roll and the straight roll and were practicing their techniques.
In English, year 2 have started learning about 'Traditional Stories'. We began reading 'Rapunzel' and discussed who the characters are in the story so far. The children role played the witch and the man and used their body language and facial expressions to express how their character was feeling. They then can up with a list of adjectives to describe both characters.
In RE, year 2 looked at the different signs and symbols of Christianity. We discussed what each sign and symbol represented and thought of some actions to help us remember them. We have also looked at different crosses and talked about how they were similar and different and which one we liked.
This week in year 2, we have been learning about number and place value. We used lots of manipulatives to represent numbers in different ways.
The children completed their Dt sewing and created some wonderful African animals.
Year 2 have been making their African toys. The children cut out their shapes for their animals and followed their design. The children focused on a running stitch and a back stitch.
Year 2 continued their investigations linked to measure but focused on larger lengths. The children investigated meters this week.
Year 2 have been investigating measure. This week they have been looking at height and length. The children have been measuring using non-unit measures.
Year 2 linked their maths learning to their class book and completed a lesson linked to George's Marvellous Medicine. The children had to measure different amounts to create a special medicine for George.
Year 2 took a virtual trip to Kenya via Trotts Hill Travels! The children experienced flying in an aeroplane, going on safari and learning about the different weather and climate in Kenya. The children looked at compass points and investigated different people living in Kenya.
Year 2 investigated different habitats in our school grounds. They then classified the different animals found.
As part of history the children focused on the Jubilee. The children got into role and act out a significant part in Queen Elizabeth's life.
Year 2 have been investigating different feelings and learning what to do if they feel sad or worried. Year 2 made some worry monsters.
In art Year 2 investigated patterns in our school environment. The children looked for patterns in nature and linked to insects.
Year 2 have started their new topic in art focusing on insects. The children started creating their first page of their sketch book looking, in detail, at different insects and their patterns.
The children had a wonderful time following their designs to make their vehicles. The children focused on making and measuring their axels and chassis base.
In Maths Year 2 investigated 3D and 2D shapes. The children went on a shape hunt around the school.
Year 2 were learning about compass points in Geography. They created their own compass points.
Year 2 have been practising their dance each week ready for their performance in a fortnight.
Year 2 were investigating the Jewish festival Purim. The children made Hamantaschen biscuits and enjoyed them at home.
Year 2 used the Forest school area to create their own settings for Traction Man. The children had to think about keeping Traction camouflaged, protected from the rain and the sun.
Year 2 had a wonderful day dressed up as superheroes. The children learned about their new book Traction Man and completed different activities linked to the book.
As part of E Safety day Year 2 looked at the importance of keeping logins private. They discussed how they would react if people online asked for their personal details and acted out their responses.
Year 2 had a wonderful few weeks learning different yoga poses and routines.
Year 2 read a new book- Vlad the flea. The children then thought about the main characters: Vlad and Boxton. The children got into role and interviewed each other. Each time the children had to role play either Vlad or Boxton.
Year 2 went on a virtual shopping trip and bought different items. The children took turns being both the customer and the shopkeeper. The children had to focus on their accuracy when counting money.
Stevenage museum visited Year 2 today. The class investigated different artefacts linked to the Great Fire of London. The children learned about old buildings, structures and new and old lighting. They asked interesting questions about the different artefacts.
As part of our Maths and Science themed week, the children observed a real fish and looked at all the features closely.
The children have been using number line to support their understanding of subtraction across the 10s.
Year 2 had a surprise this week. All of the white board pens had left the classroom but had left a message! The children got into role and imagined how it would have felt being the whiteboard pen. They thought of ways to persuade them to return.
Year 2 had a special visitor today who shared their great knowledge about Chanukah. The children learned about it and investigated different traditions.
Year 2 worked very hard with their home learning. They investigated The Plague and looked at plague doctors.
Year 2 have been learning about a new book; The Day The Crayons Quit. This week the children have been investigating the book and learning about the characters.
Year 2 have started a new History topic on The Plague. As an introduction to this, they looked at evidence and wrote about what they could see. This begins their learning and they are looking forward to learning more and more.
Year 2 made sandwiches and had an indoor picnic. As part of DT week the children investigated where their food came from and then designed, created and ate their own sandwiches.
Year 2 investigated an island. The children created islands and investigated how they flooded.
This week Year 2 were learning about number lines. The children had blank number lines today and had to place different numbers.
Year 2 pretended to be Rapunzel, escaping the tower. The children thought about what they would see, hear and feel alone in the woods.
The children investigated different types of bread. They described the smell, taste and appearance of a variety of breads.
In Science this week the children investigated that different food groups. they then discussed what fruit they had eaten, and created interactive bar charts to show this.
Year 2 had some visitors this week. The quiet Critters have visited the classroom. The children each wrote a recount about the experience.