Welcome to the Yellow and Purple class page!

2023-24

Earth Day - w/b 22.04.24

Today, the children in year 2 embraced their creativity in celebration of Earth Day. Children immersed themselves in our printing activity where they painted their hands to print a tree. They used the palm of their hands and fingers to print the trunk and branches and used their fingertips to print leaves. Throughout the activity, children gained an understanding of our world and enhanced development in learning the importance of saving trees as much as possible. This is so humans and animals can breathe in more clean air rather than toxic air that is being produced by air pollution. Happy Earth Day!

Computing - w/b 22.04.24

This week for Earth Day, we sorted items into the groups on our word wall, where we were challenged against people around the world and placed on a leaderboard. We had great fun sorting items carefully into three groups- ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’. It is important for us to reduce the amount of energy we use, for example, turning off the lights when we are not using them or walking to school to reduce air pollution. We can reuse items by using them again instead of throwing them away. We can also do this by giving it to someone who needs or wants it. For example we can give our old clothes or toys to our younger siblings. We can recycle by putting rubbish in the recycle bin instead of the general waste as it can be taken away and turned into something new.

English - w/b 15.04.24

This week, the children in year 2 have been looking at the book, “10 Things I can do to help my world” by “Melanie Walsh”. This book explores the three R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle. Children have thought deeply about why it is important to protect the world and what they can do to help. Pupils used their inferencing skills to predict what the book is about based on the front cover. They then enjoyed sorting out different objects into piles for reduce, reuse or recycle.

Art - w/b 25.03.24

This week in art, we used Howard Hodgkin’s technique of layering to paint our own masterpieces. We developed skills in knowing that a coarse, thicker brush can create texture, dry painting can be used as mark making.  We used colour mixing to produce a greater number of secondary colours, specifically tones and shades. We also identified the difference between tints and shades. After painting our masterpieces, we began to explore how moods can be reflected through colour i.e. dark colours may reflect sadness.

Mathematics - w/b 18.03.24

This week in mathematics, the children in year 2 have been measuring length and height using standard units of measurement in centimetres and metres. Initially, children made an estimation of the length/height that they thought various items around the classroom would be. Following this, children enjoyed using a ruler or a metre stick to accurately measure the items to check whether their estimation was close. Children also learnt how to round to the nearest cm.

Vising a Farm - w/b 11.03.24

This week we visited Foxburrows Farm. As we entered the farm we started drawing the key features of the farm. The farm has a huge car park, a farm entrance and lots of animals to see. There was a pig sty, sheep barn, hen house, stables for dwarf ponies, duck ponds for the ducks and a ferret’s pen. We labeled our maps with a key so we could show other classes the map of this farm. We also looked out for animals and their offspring. We found lambs, rabbits and chickens. We were able to group these animals in the type of animal group they belong to.

PE - w/b 04.03.24

This week during PE, the children in year 2 have been focussing on ball skills using their hands. They used their bodies to help aim, positioning their fingers and feet accurately. They also learnt to throw a ball using control towards a target. They played fun warm up games which included throwing and catching a ball in a zig zag format. In addition, they played a game of ‘Beat the Ball: Racing Rounders’ which consisted of throwing a ball under arm around a circle of 5 attempting to beat the beanbag that was also going around.

Reading - w/b 26.02.24

This week for reading, we visited our school library as well as Manor Park Library. We explored a wide range of books including fiction and non-fiction. We found books based on topics we have been learning about in History (The Great Fire of London) and Guided Reading. We spent time reading books on our own, with our friends and some of us read to our parents. We also borrowed some interesting books and returned books we have already read.

RE - w/b 19.02.24

Year 2 learnt about the creation story during RE day. We explored the similarities and differences between the beliefs of Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu creation stories. During the lessons children sequenced the events of the creation stories which are evident in the Bible, Qur’an and the Torah. Additionally, children were involved in oracy lessons where they created a freeze frame based on each day of creation from the Bible. Children were also given the opportunity to explore artefacts from different religions and were cautious to be respectful.

PHSCE - w/b 05.02.24

This week for Children’s Mental Health week, we have been encouraged to voice our thoughts to create a positive change to our mental health. Every morning, we came in and jotted down what we wanted our teacher to know about us. We had discussions about different topics like ‘How and why do things change?’ and ‘Do we need rules?’ On Friday we will be making worry monsters so we can write our worries down and leave them there as this will really help worries to not bubble up into a huge problem.

Mathematics - w/b 29.01.24

This week in Mathematics the children in year 2 have been learning about money. Children have learnt to identify notes and coins as well as the value they hold. Additionally children have explored the significance of the symbols ‘£’ and ‘p’ when dealing with money. Throughout this topic, the children learnt how to count, compare and calculate money as well as learning how to find change and completing two-step problems that involve real life situations.

History - w/b 22.01.24

This term for History, we have been learning about the Great Fire of London. The Great Fire of London started on 2^nd September 1666. It started in Thomas Farriner’s Bakery on Pudding Lane and it lasted for 5 days. The fire spread so quickly because the houses were made from wood and straw. Also the wind blew westwards causing the flames to spread even more. St Paul’s Cathedral was destroyed. There was no Fire Service at the time. People used leather buckets and water squirts to put the fire out but this didn’t work. Luckily the fire was put out after the King ordered the houses to be pulled down or exploded. Furthermore, we had a hot seating session and wrote diary entries as Samuel Pepys, who recorded the events in detail.

To bring History to life we designed and made our own Tudor houses. We used recyclable materials like cereal boxes and tissue boxes. We then painted and used coloured paper to decorate the houses in Tudor style. At the end of the week, we will be burning the houses to experience what people went through in 1666. We can’t wait!

Reading - w/b 15.01.24

This week in Year 2, we have been reading the book ‘Man on the Moon’ by Simon Bartram’ as part of our English power of reading book. We have used our inferencing skills to predict what the story might be about and also created questions to find out more. We incorporated the story into our PE lessons too where we used dance movements to create a sequence of the character Bob getting ready in his amazing space suit before he blasts off into space as he works on the magnificent, rocky moon.

English - w/b 08.01.24

This week in English we used our inference skills to predict what our new book was about. We looked for clues from the illustration. We knew the main character was interested in space because he had lots of ornaments and pictures of the moon in his living room. After we made our own predictions we composed questions we could ask the character. Bob the main character then sent us a letter along with the book ‘The Man on the Moon’ to provide us with more information. We were not surprised to find out he was an astronaut as most of us predicted this. However, we were amazed by the job he had to do on the Moon like cleaning up the moon, doing somersaults and cartwheels. We are learning more about Bob and cannot wait to share what we have learned throughout the course of this term.

Christmas - w/b 11.12.23

The pupils in Year 2 have been working very hard to rehearse for the nativity performance. They will have the opportunity to perform in front of the whole school and to their families soon! Therefore, we have been working on developing our oracy skills including projecting our voices and ensuring not to have our backs to the audience when performing. In addition, we have been thinking carefully on selecting the right actions for our beautiful Christmas songs.

Science - w/b 04.12.23

For Science this term, our topic is ’All living things and their habitats’. We have been learning about things that are living, dead and never been alive. We also explored habitats and microhabitats. This week we went on a mission following the Now Press Play experience to discover a suitable habitat for planet Doom as it is getting closer to extinction. As we travelled in our spaceship we found a green and blue planet named Earth. We spotted the land and ocean. We dived underwater, however we were struggling to breathe. We found out that fish use gills which are on the side of their mouth to help them breathe underwater and they use fins to travel through the water.  

We also travelled through the jungle and rainforest where we acted as monkeys who use their long arms to climb up to the top of the trees. We went through a very dry sandy desert where we acted out as camels who store water in their humps to get them through their days. It was an amazing experience because we found out how animals adapt to their habitats, unfortunately we were not able to accomplish our mission due to the fact that humans are destroying the planet by cutting down trees, capturing a range of fish with nets and putting the ocean with plastic.

Exploring the News - w/b 27.11.23

Pupils in Year 2 have been exploring the news articles from our virtual newspaper, ‘First News’. Children have read different articles to find out about what has been happening in the world around them. They used this platform to develop their knowledge in different subject areas. This was  a great opportunity to learn about exciting new scientific developments in space as well as gain insights about children’s rights around the world!

Geography - w/b 20.11.23

Classifying geographical features was one of the skills we learned in our geography topic, "Where do I live?". We discovered that whereas physical features are created by nature, human features are traits derived from human thoughts and deeds. We examined and made a list of every physical and human characteristic while walking around the school grounds. We provided evidence for how these characteristics are physical or human.

Oracy - w/b 13.11.23

This week during our Oracy lesson, Year 2 have practised their linguistic Oracy skills by carefully selecting their choice of vocabulary when describing a setting. Children were encouraged to talk in full sentences and had the opportunity to listen to and help develop their peer’s ideas. Children also demonstrated the physical strand of Oracy by projecting their voices and focussing on their clarity and pronunciation of words when discussing whether they would rather for it to rain popcorn or slime. Alongside this, children developed their cognitive Oracy skills by providing justifications for their opinions.

PHSCE - w/b 06.11.23

For PHSCE, we discussed what anger is, how people show anger and scenarios of what could make someone feel angry. We learnt that there are good and bad types of anger. The good type does not hurt anyone. The bad type leads to damaging people or things.  We explored strategies we can use to manage this emotion. These are some of the strategies: do some exercise, take some time to think, count backwards from 20, take a deep breath etc.

RE - w/b 30.10.23

In RE, year 2 pupils have learnt about different parables from the Bible and how important they are for Christians. Children explored the parables: ‘The Lost Sheep’, ‘The Good Samaritan’ and ‘The Wise and Foolish Builder’. We uncovered the key meanings behind the different stories and had also created role plays based on them. Through these short stories we discovered that we should never lose hope, we should forgive others and that we should always follow rules in order to be successful.

PHSCE - w/b 16.10.23

In PHSCE, we have been learning to explore steps to achieve our goals. We began this topic by discussing our dreams and goals. We explored steps we need to take to achieve these. We developed our understanding of perseverance and how we could overcome this by trying very hard. We then discovered what it means to work as a team. We worked in small groups to create an imaginary dream bird that might live in the garden of dreams and goals. We worked cooperatively and used key skills when working together, such as using our listening and sharing skills. It was important to be helpful and kind if we didn’t agree with something.

Art - w/b 09.10.23

The pupils in Year 2 have been creating works of art inspired by Dale Chihuly and Henry Moore. They have been working with different mediums such as graphite sticks, wax crayons and ink pens to create their own representation of famous artwork focusing on curved and spherical patterns.

Science - w/b 02.10.23

For science we have been exploring the suitability of everyday materials for a boat. We began by thinking of an investigation question and then predicted what we think is the most suitable based on the properties of each material. We were then given the task to create a boat that would be waterproof, aerodynamic and hold cargo. We worked in small groups and used a variety of everyday materials to create a boat. We used 1p coins as cargo to test which boat could carry the most pennies before it sank. We observed to see what happened during this experiment. We can conclude that cotton wool and fabric are the least suitable materials because they both absorbed a lot of water and sank to the bottom. We also found that wood, metal and plastic are better materials to be used for boats as they are waterproof and strong.

Reading - w/b 25.09.23

The pupils in Year 2 have been using their inferencing skills to predict what might happen in the story ‘Snail and the Whale’. Children used their Oracy skills to articulate their thoughts and give reasons for their ideas. Pupils also acted in roles of the characters to suggest what they might be saying to each other in the book.

Mathematics - w/b 18.09.23

The pupils in Year 2 have been learning about partitioning numbers. They have been identifying the tens and ones in 2-digit numbers and then exploring ways to partition it in different ways. For example, the number 36 can be partitioned into 30 and 6, 20 and 16 and 10 and 26.

English - w/b 11.09.23

This week, pupils in Year 2 have been learning about poems from the anthology ‘A Caribbean Dozen’ by John Agard and Grace Nichols. We have been exploring what rhymes and similes are and had the opportunity to engage in oracy based lessons where we used our physical and social skills to perform poetry to each other.

Welcome Back! w/b 04.09.23

This week, Year 2 settled into their new classes and demonstrated a very positive attitude towards their learning. They have become familiar with the learning values and have participated in a number of group activities. Children are really looking forward to developing and building upon their skills and knowledge. What a great start to the year!

Welcome to the Yellow and Purple class page!

2022-23

13/07/2023- PSHCE

For PHSCE, we created a self-portrait of ourselves and described what we like so we could give this to our new teacher in Year 3. We focused on using our artistic skills and followed a step by step guide to help us.

6/07/2023- Art

For Art, we have been exploring the work of Anselm Kiefer. He is a German painter and sculptor. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac.  The works are interlaced with books, wedges and other materials, and stacked and balanced on layers of lead. Using his work as an inspiration we arranged and stuck blocks for our own tottering tower. We used a range of mediums to print free flow patterns around our tower blocks. We incorporated different patterns on our tower to resemble the work of Anselm Kiefer. We also tore a variety of coloured tissue paper to represent the flames on our collage to show that the tower is burning down.

27/06/2023- The Art Work of Faith Ringgold

For art, we have been exploring the work of Faith Ringgold. Faith Ringgold is well-known for her artwork, writing and her role in the civil rights movement. She is also a popular mixed media sculptor and performance artist. She is best known for her narrative quilts. Ringgold started working on narrative quilts, also known as story quilts, in 1980, which she is famed for. She painted the quilts with original stories and narrative images set in the context of African American history. Using her work as an inspiration, we created our own piece using a wide range of mediums such as painting, oil pastels and collage.

21/06/2023- Mathematics

This week in Mathematics, the children have been learning how to draw and interpret pictograms. They have been exploring how they can use the key to represent different data. They have looked at using keys of 2, 5 and 10, and explained why it is important to have a key that represents different amounts. The children also discussed why it is important to use the same shapes/pictures to represent their data.

15/06/2023- RE Day

For RE, we have been learning about what it means to say sorry. We discussed ways of showing we are sorry and the importance of forgiveness. We learnt that ‘actions speak louder than words’. There are many ways we can show how sorry we are. We created our own artwork to represent forgiveness/saying sorry.

08/06/2023- Reading

This term, Year 2 will be reading ‘The Magic Finger’ by Roald Dahl. This week, the children have been exploring the front cover of the text and making inferences of what they can see. They thought that the Girl on the front cover was worried, as her face was red and she had sparks coming out of her finger. The children wrote a prediction about what they think might happen in this story. What do you think will happen? 

24/05/2023- Design & Technology

This week for DT, we used our pizza designs to make our own healthy pizzas. We got all the ingredients that we will use for our pizza and used the claw and bridge method to cut the fruits and vegetables. We then assembled our pizza according to our design. Our pizza was then placed in the oven to cook. Once it was ready we ate our delicious and scrumptious pizza!  

17/05/2023- PSHCE 

During our PSHCE lesson, we discussed what medicine is and what it is used for.  We know that medicine can come in many forms such as tablets, liquids, creams or inhalers. We also discussed how to be safe with medicine; it should always be given by a trusted adult, as they know how much to give and what time to give the medicine. The children explored and sorted different items that they would need adult supervision for and items that they could/could not put inside their bodies. 

11/05/2023- Coronation Party!

For the King’s Coronation, we found out key facts about King Charles III, we made our own crowns by decorating templates of jewels and putting all of these together to form a beautiful crown. We all made Union Jack flags to wave while we had our very own tea party in our classes. We enjoyed the delicious cheese sandwiches, scrumptious cakes, and a range of healthy fruits.

04.05.2023- Our Learning During Climate Week

Last week, Year 2 took part in Climate Change Week. During the week, the children looked at the importance of recycling, reducing and reusing materials. They devised a leaflet on how plastics are dangerous for the environment and how plastics affect animals in the sea. In Science, the children carried out a comparative test looking at what makes ice melt quicker, as heat is affecting our planet. Finally, they created artwork of sea creatures, using recycled materials. 

26.4.2023- RE Day

Last week, Year 2 were learning about Islam and Christianity during RE day. During this lesson, the children watched a video about Ramadan and fasting. They then discussed why Muslims fast during Ramadan and why these reasons are important to them. They found out that Muslims eat special food during Ramadan. Dates are one particular food, which is eaten by most Muslims around the world. The children created their own Ramadan plate of food by sticking and drawing pictures of foods they would like to eat if we were fasting.

19/04/2023- English

This week for English we have been exploring our new book called ’10 things I can do to help my world’. We have been discussing the importance of throwing rubbish in the bin and talked about making good choices about what we can do with our rubbish. We discussed how we can all do our part in helping the environment every single day! We explored what the Three R’s represent. Reduce - To use less of something.  Reuse- To use something again instead of throwing it away. Recycle- To save materials and make them into something else. We looked at various objects and sorted them into groups. We also justified why we placed objects in these groups developing our cognitive oracy skills. 

29/03/2023- Art

This half-term, Year 2 has been looking at the abstract artwork of Howard Hodgkin. They have been exploring how to make different secondary colours, as well as making different brush strokes.The children created a background wash and then represented a part of our school building in the style of Howard Hodgkin. They were being Responsibility Avengers, by taking pride in their work.

22/03/2023- Mathematics

In Mathematics, the children have been understanding the relationship between multiplication and repeated addition. During this lesson, children worked in groups to create arrays for the 2 times tables. They used counters to show how many counters were in a group and how many times that had a group of 2. They also discussed what patterns and connections that they can make between the multiplication calculations and the repeated addition calculations. 

16/03/2023- Science

For science, we have been learning about ‘animals including humans’. We classified animals into groups in different ways. We talked about how some animal offspring’s look similar to their adult. For example, a lamb looks like a sheep, however some animals look different from their adult, for example a tadpole looks different to its adult frog. We had the opportunity to meet some farm animals. We identified the types of animals they were.

10/03/2023- PE

In Gymnastics this term, Year 2  has been learning 4 different rolls, these are log roll, egg roll, teddy bear roll and side roll. They have been learning how to safely jump from a height and land using bent knees. Yellow and Purple Class have safely learnt to do a forward roll. The children have been building a floor sequence and using a bench to assist in jumping to the floor.

2/03/2023- RE

For RE, we have been learning about Easter. Easter is the most important Christian festival as it marks the belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus and takes place in March or April. Christians start to get ready for Easter through observing ‘lent’. This is a period of 40 days leading up to Easter which traditionally sees some Christians give up something to mark the period when Jesus was in the wilderness. Using our knowledge of the Easter story we re-created the events of Palm Sunday using freeze frame and a variety of emotive facial expressions to show how people at that time would have felt seeing Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. This activity developed our linguistic, physical, social and emotional skills as we work on voice projection, building our confidence in speaking and using our body language in different ways.

22.02.2023- English

This week, during our English lesson we looked at a picture of a scene from the book ‘The Lonely Beast’. We talked about what we could see and predicted what we thought might happen. We used adjectives to describe what the Beast looks like and talked about how the different characters are feeling. We also performed a freeze frame in groups to show the Beast entering the city. We focused on our facial expressions to show how frightened the citizens were. 

09/02/2023- What is Bullying?

This week, we revisited what bullying means and how we can identify it. We understand that bullying is consistent and on purpose. This definition allowed us to discuss and use role-play to show how we can stand-up for ourselves if our friends or even if we feel like we are being bullied. We also spoke about being courageous and who we can talk to if we ever felt unhappy or upset. 

31/01/2023- Science

This week during our Science lesson we recapped the different parts of a plant and what they do. We explained how a plant changes as it grows. Pupils also put the stages of a plant’s life cycle in order. They observed plants and trees in the Forest School and drew some plants and trees that we observed, discussing what stage of growth it currently is in. We also learnt about what seed dispersal is and discussed the importance of this.

26/01/2023- English

This week in English, we created our own alien plans and used these to construct our aliens. We used card, googly eyes, foam stickers, pipe cleaners and felt. We described our aliens using adjectives and noun phrases. We discussed the different parts we were making to our partners. We also talked about the different personalities our aliens have. We made some comparisons with each other. 

20/01/2023- Mathematics

This week for Mathematics, we have been exploring a variety of 3D shapes. We identified and named the 3D shapes correctly, we counted the number of faces on each shape. Faces are the flat or the curved surfaces of a 3D shape. We looked at the 2D shapes that are on each 3D shape. This helped us to identify the name of the shape quickly. We also looked out for whether the shapes have flat or curved faces. We found out that a cube and a cuboid both have the same number of faces.

12/01/2023- Man on the Moon

This week, we read the book ‘Man on the Moon’. The children discussed what happened in the story as a class and then they discussed the parts that they liked the most. They worked in small groups to act out some of their favourite parts of the story. The children also had to justify why they liked that part of the story.

When acting out the parts that they liked, the children  also had to ensure that they projected their voice and made eye contact with the audience.

8/12/2022- PSHCE 

This week, Year 2 have been discussing what makes them feel anxious. As a class, they discussed situations that make people anxious and shared times that they have felt anxious. They have also discussed what happens to our body when we’re feeling anxious. Finally, they came up with different strategies that they could use when they feel anxious.

29.11.2022 Purple Class Visit Manor Park Library

Purple class visited Manor Park Library this week and were given a short introduction about the Library and what it offers. We got the opportunity to explore a range of picture and storybooks. We found out that all books were put in a specific order so people can find the book they are looking for when they visit the library. We made sure we put all the books back where we found them and in the correct way. We listened to a story ‘Five little aliens in a flying saucer’ . It was like a song book so we all joined in!

24/11/2022-  Library visit 

This week, Yellow Class visited Manor Park Library to develop their love for reading. The children were told about the different types of books that they can read at the library, including: picture books, board books and non-fiction books. 

The children spent some time reading and enjoying different types of books. They also had an interactive story session, whereby they read ‘We’re going on a Lion hunt’, which all the children thoroughly enjoyed.  

16/11/2022- Oracy

This week in English, we recalled some parts of the story ‘Anna Hibiscus’ in chronological order. We focused on developing our linguistic and physical skills by using a range of vocabulary from the story book, using different tones of voice, using gestures and making good eye contact. We tried our best to project our voice so our audience can hear us. This helped our audience understand this part of the story even better! We enjoyed acting out as different characters from the story.

9/11/2022-PE

This week in PE year 2 have continued to explore and develop their dodging skills. They have also started to use their dodging skills to explore attacking and defending in teams and what they can do to be successful at both. Shortly, they will progress to using tag rugby belts to start to play a basic game of tag rugby. 

2/11/2022-PSHCE

During PSHCE, the children in Year 2 were learning about ways to cope with anger. The children discussed what happens to the body when we are angry and reasons why we may get angry. 

Later the children discussed ways to cope with anger such as: taking some time to think, counting backwards from 20, taking deep breaths, doing some exercise and walking away from a situation. 

20/10/2022- Black History Week

This week for Black History Month we have been learning about Mo Farah. Sir Mohamed Farah is a runner for Great Britain.  Mo was born in the African country of Somalia in 1983. He moved to London at nine years old. He loved football. Mo was very good at running. He started running 5,000m and 10,000m races. Mo won many races. He was World and European champion. He won four Olympic gold medals.

Using Mo Farah as an inspiration we have been exploring the Newham Migration story and exploring where our families come from. We spoke about our heritage and how some of our families migrated to the UK for different purposes. We worked on developing our cognitive oracy skills by thinking about the content of what we share.

12/10/2011- RE Day!

Year 2 had the most amazing time during RE Day! They started the day by exploring some artefacts, which immersed them into their learning. Their RE topic was about - Why Jesus told stories. The children learned about 3 parables: The Lost Sheep, The Good Samaritan and The Wise and Foolish Builders. 

The children sequenced the story of The Lost Sheep and acted out the story of The Good Samaritan. They also discussed the meaning behind each parable and why those stories are important to Christians today. The children had a lot of fun and worked extremely well with each other.

6/10/2022-Science

In science we were given the task to create a boat that would be buoyant. We worked in small groups and used corks, elastic bands, paper and sticks to try and create a boat. Parents also joined us during this session. We used 1p coins as cargo to test which boat could carry the most penny coins before it sank.

28/09/2022-Reading

During Guided Reading, the children have been looking at different texts about animals. This week we have looked at a piece of text about Humpback Whales. The children have been learning new vocabulary such as: endangered, popular and appearance. 

We have chosen to look at this piece of text, as it relates to the story that we are reading in English, ‘The Snail and the Whale’. Children have been learning interesting facts about the Humpback Whales, such as how they are endangered and that they are able to hold their breath underwater for up to 45 minutes!

22/09/2022- Mathematics

This week in Mathematics we have been learning to partition 2 digit numbers in different ways. We have been using a range of manipulatives to represent numbers. We also worked systematically to find all possible ways we can partition numbers. Some of us were able to spot patterns when partitioning in tens.

14/09/2022- English

This week, Year 2 have been looking at poems and similes. They have been reading poems and discussing the impact of adjectives and similes. They learnt that similes compare two things using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. 

At the start of the week, the children worked in pairs to write similes. They also used adjectives to describe the nouns, in order to make their work even more interesting to read. Throughout the week, they have worked independently to write their own similes and they have also compared different poems. 

Year 2 have made a great start to the school year!

07/09/2022- Welcome back!

This week Purple and Yellow class settled in Year 2 really well. Children were given the opportunity to share their amazing holiday adventures and memories with each other. Some children bought in their fantastic time capsules, keeping everyone in suspense about what could possibly be in there!  Children played games as a team to pass a hoop around a human chain without breaking the chain, this became a challenge when a time restriction was set! Children also created paper bridges and tested whether they were strong or not. They found out that communication was key in building a strong bridge. Children are very excited about the exciting new topics they will be learning about and can’t wait to get started!

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Year 1

2021 - 2022

20/07/2022- Making Appreciation Cards

This week we have been making friendship cards and writing letters to our friends to show appreciation. Showing our teachers and friends that we value them and explaining how they have helped us.

14/07/2022-DT

This week Year 1 made the houses that we planned during our D&T lessons. The children used lolly sticks and chose what resources to use to stick it together. They chose from blu tack, PVA glue, or tape to stick the house together. The children were encouraged to try different ways of sticking and not give up when the house fell apart but instead to try another way.

04/07/2022 - Visit to the Tower of London

This week Year 1 visited the Tower of London where we got to take a step back into history. We were able to walk around the historical grounds and see what it was like to live there. We also walked through the 'Superbloom' exhibit and saw the beautiful flowers that had been planted in the mote.

30/06/2022- Science

This term we have been looking at Seasonal Change in Science and the children have been exploring the differences between the four seasons. Here we are making seasonal trees. The trees have four sides and each side represents one of the seasons. We looked at how the leaves all look different depending on the season and showed this on each side of the tree.

22/06/2022-Reading

In Year 1 we have been reading lots of books this week. The children have had the chance to choose a book from our book  corner and read it to their classmates during DEAR (Drop Everything and Read).

16/06/2022-Mathematics

This week some of  the Year one children have been working on different ways to make numbers 18-20. For this activity the children were using playdough to fill up a plate with food. Next, they had to write a calculation to show the way they made the number 19.

9/06/2022-Emily Brown and The Thing

This week in English we have started looking at our new text Emily Brown and the Thing. We started the week by thinking of a prediction for the text. Some children thought that Emily Brown would be teleported into Space and look at gleaming and shiny stars.  The children are excited to see what happens in our new story. 

12/05/2022- Discover Story Centre Visit

On May 11th the Year 1 classes went to the Discover Centre in Stratford for a story workshop on The 100 Story Hotel. When we arrived there, we were greeted by a guide and played some games to make sure that we hadn’t forgotten our listening hats. Our guide read the  story ‘The Odd Dog Out’ and we created soundscapes for the pictures. Soon after, we entered The 100 Story Hotel and tried to solve the mystery of the missing story. Through working together, we eventually discovered who stole the story.

6/05/2022- Religious Education

This week we have been learning about Hinduism. We learnt about the 5 duties of a Hindu and then created a dart board thinking about the most important belief and least important belief. Swipe right to see examples of our work.

28/04/2022- Art

For Art this week, we have been looking at the artist Eileen Agar and trying to reproduce her work. The children printed objects that were related to an animal so they could use them in a collage. They printed leaves for a monkey, snowflakes for a polar bear and shells for a crab. Eileen Agar is known for using different materials in her collages; it is for this reason the children are getting the resources together to finish off their final products.

22/04/2022- Mathematics

This week we have started looking at multiplication by making groups and counting in 5s. For this activity we investigated a problem of making 4 equal groups and 3 unequal groups and showing all the different ways we could show them using double sided counters. The children enjoyed the opportunity to investigate an open ended problem.

01/04/2022- Science

This term for Science Year 1 has been learning about ‘Animals Including Humans’. We have been putting animals into different categories like what they eat or their species. We know that carnivores only eat meat like a lion, herbivores only eat plants like a horse, and that omnivores eat both meat and plants like a human. The highlight or the term was when the farm came to visit and we were able to meet some of the animals that we had been studying.

25/03/2022-English

This week we have been working on becoming independent writers by using our writing checklist to extend our writing. We then looked at how we can underline key learning such as conjunctions. Here is an example of our work.

17/03/2022- Reading

In Year one this week, Mr Ervalho asked the children to summarise what they do for reading and this is what they had to say: 

“In Year 1 we know how to read quietly and calmly. We read with our partners. We can read as quiet as a mouse. We help each other read words that we don’t know. In Year 1 we learn new words. In Year 1 we read a story book with our partners. We read our stories slowly. We take care and share our books in Year 1”. Year 1 pupils

10/03/2022-RE

This week Year 1 has been learning about the parable ‘The Prodigal Son’. It is about a son who asks his dad for money and then spends it all and is forced to return home embarrassed. But instead of the father shaming him for being wasteful, the son is welcomed back home and embraced. You can see that we freeze framed the part of the story where the son comes back home and is greeted by his father.

03/03/2022- PSHCE

In year 1, we have been looking at friendship and what it takes to be a good friend so we role played a scenario where children were upset and what we could do to console them. The children came up with ideas like giving them a hug, playing with them, telling them a joke, or making them laugh. 

24/02/2022- Geography Parent Workshop

On the 22nd of February Orange class had their Geography Theme Term Parents Workshop to recreate the local area using junk modelling to recreate some of the buildings in Manor Park. The children have been learning about Our Local Area and had a visit from Barnaby Bear who came to Manor Park and took some pictures of the buildings he saw as he visited our school. The children then had to recreate these buildings using various pieces of junk and were able to make the local Post Office, Tesco, and Manor Park Library. It was a very exciting workshop that both the children and parents enjoyed!

10/02/2022-Mental Health Week

For Children's Mental Health week, the children in Year 1 created a calm picture. They drew things that made them feel calm and happy. The children were also listening to relaxing music while they created their drawings.

04/02/2022- Computing

This week in our Computing lessons we revisited our learning from last week and had a discussion about how to be safe online. We then moved onto looking at recipes and how they are written in a simple format so that everyone can understand the instructions. Next, we wrote instructions on how to make a sandwich. We made use of key vocabulary such as: recipe, first, second and then.

28/01/2022-Mathematics

This week Year 1 has been looking at making ‘Related Facts’ and using manipulatives in order to be successful at this. The children used counters, cubes, 10 frames and double sided counters to make fact families. They worked systematically to ensure that they didn’t miss any number facts along the way. The children were able to find all the number facts for a number for both addition and subtraction.

20/01/2022- Florence Nightingale

Over the last few weeks Year 1 has been learning about Florence Nightingale and the impact that she had on nursing. We had a ‘Now Press Play’ workshop where we listened to a story about Florence Nightingale and her time in Crimea during the Crimean War. The children learnt about how Florence helped the soldiers by cleaning the hospital, giving them good food, and administering medicine. The children role played the story as they listened to it and were able to get a sense of the impact that she had.

13/01/2022-Grace and Family

This week Year 1 had been reading their new book ‘Grace and Family’. It is about a little girl, Grace, who visits her father in Gambia and has an amazing time there. We started our week by thinking about what the story could be about and what questions we want to ask about it. Next, we started reading the story and thinking about how Grace felt at the beginning of the story and started writing sentences about her emotions.

17/12/2021- Making Wreaths

This week Year 1 had been getting ready for Christmas by making wreaths. The children coloured in baubles and then cut them out and added them to their wreaths. These preparations come on the heels of our trip to the Methodist Church where we learnt about modern Christmas celebrations like decorating the tree and house as well as us learning about the Nativity and the importance of Christmas to Christians.

9/12/2021- Methodist Church Visit

On December 8th Year went to the Manor Park Methodist Church Christmas Journey. The children were able to learn about the Christmas story and the birth of Jesus. They met the wise men and learnt about the gifts that they gave Jesus, they met a shepherd and explored what he does, and even met Mary and Joseph. The children had a fantastic time and enjoyed learning about the Christmas story.

3/12/2021- Science

This term for Science we started off looking at Seasonal Change and what the similarities and differences are between the four seasons. We looked at Autumn and what the weather is like and how it differs from the other seasons. The following lessons we have been working on Investigations and using our senses to look at different fruits.

26/11/2021- Why Do Christians Give Gifts?

This week Year 1 continued to learn about Christmas and why Christians give gifts to one another at this time. We learned about the Three Wise Men and the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that they gave to Baby Jesus. The children discussed the reason Christians give gifts and it is because the Wise Men gave gifts to a special baby. It is because of this that Christians give gifts to one another at Christmas.

18/11/2021-Mathematics 

This week we have been Exploraptors and have been learning about addition and subtraction and comparing them to see which was greater than or less than. We had practical lessons using double sided counters and a number track to work out some subtraction number facts. We also made towers out of cubes to compare them with our partners, and compared different number facts to see which was greater than or less than.

11/11/2021- Reading in Year 1

Year 1 has been enjoying reading this week. We have been reading in class, the Library and the Reading Garden. We have been sharing books with one another and delving into a book. The children particularly liked reading outdoors in the Reading Garden. The library was an amazing experience as well because it was the first time we used the library.

5/11/2021- How Do Christians Celebrate Christmas?

This term we are looking at 'How do Christian celebrate Christmas?’. We started this by looking at gifts that we have received and how it made us feel when we received these gifts. The children were able to describe how they felt with words like thrilled and overjoyed. Then we moved onto thinking of a special person to give a gift to and what gift we could give them. The children thought of people like their mums, dads and siblings and wanted to give them thank you cards and rings.

21/10/2021- Mathematics

This week in our Mathematics learning we created a bar model. We used different manipulatives to make a number and then wrote the fact families. The children have enjoyed using a manipulative of their choice to make the number.

14/10/2021- Provision in Year 1

Over the course of the term the children have been enjoying the provision that has been set out for them. We have enjoyed painting a bus that was used as part of a role play, we went shopping at Tesco for snacks and we have enjoyed making spaceships from Lego. The children have had the opportunity to talk about the things they are doing and sharing their ideas with others. 

7/10/2021-Reading

During our free flow time the children have enjoyed reading the books in the book corner. Pupils have the opportunity to choose a book of their choice and delve into it with a friend or alone. One of the most popular books in year 1 is a story book called ‘Chocolate Cake’ which is about a boy who wakes up in the middle of the night to eat a whole chocolate cake and another favourite is ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes the Avengers’. The children love reading stories and having stories read to them.

30/9/2021- One More, One Less

Year 1 has been looking at Place Value this term in Mathematics. Here are some pictures of children exploring numbers and counting this week. We played snakes and ladders to explore counting, we looked for one more and one less using a ten frame, and we challenged our partners to see who could reach the end first in the ‘Incy WIncy Spider’ counting game.

23/09/2021- Poetry

This week Year 1 has been reading the poem ‘Kimmy’ by Eloise Greenfield which is about a dog and how he loves to play football with its owner. The children went to the hall and explored  different ways to use the ball. We discussed what a verb is and how to move the ball, for example, throw it, roll it, catch it, kick it, and sit on it.

16/09/2021-London Bridge

Year 1 has been looking at the nursery rhyme ‘London Bridge’. They explored this nursery rhyme by playing a game, where two children made the London Bridge using their body and dropped their arms to illustrate the bridge falling down as they walked under it. They sang the song beautifully whilst playing the game. We have been using drama as a way to delve deeper into a text.

10/09/2021- Back to School for Year 1

Our Year 1 pupils have settled well into KS1 this week and are becoming familiar with the routines and structure of the school day.  

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Reception

2020-21

This week In Blue class during free flow the children have loved pretending to be the teacher and writing sounds. We have had a focus on pretending to be the shopkeeper and customer and using 1ps and 2ps accurately in our play.

This week we have been celebrating Diversity week and learning about Brazil. We learnt about the flag and what the colours represent. We then wrote about them and remembered to use a capital letter, finger space and full stop.

This week in Reception we have been investigating how the ball can roll fast and slow using guttering and colourful balls. 

The children have been using the balance bikes and trying to find space and negotiate how to move their body to ensure they stay balanced on the bike. 

This week during free flow we have been making 10 in different ways using double sided counters. We then moved onto recording in different ways. Some of us recorded the number sentence as dots and some used the numbers. We are really enjoying playing with numbers. 

This week in Reception we have also been looking at building our fine motor skills using different mediums. We have been using theraputty, bolts and tracing over lines, we have had new and exciting activities every week to support the development of all the muscles in our hand and arm!

Child Initiated play is defined as play that is instigated, led and controlled by us rather than the adults. A child led play scenario allows us to control the direction and narrative of our play experiences. It is only Monday morning and we are already so engaged in our learning. The provision set out by our teachers supports us having our own ideas and play with what we know, we choose how to use the resources and learn through these first hand experiences.  

It is too cold for our water play at the minute but we still love exploring and discovering how these giant marbles travel along the guttering. We enjoy problem solving and building the runs for the marbles, we were trying to get the marbles to land in the large bucket. We worked together and felt a great sense of achievement when the marble hit the bottom of the bucket. 

Construction Play is proven to make a difference to the way we think and complete tasks. It's a form of play that aids our growth and development. Construction play can be crazily vast. Simple things such as counting bricks, measuring weight and moving objects all contribute to making a us think outside the box. We all have different ways of learning and thinking (at different stages too). Open-ended activities allow us to grow and develop to our full potential. 

When we engage in this way of playing, we will start to ask ourselves the question 'what if?' - an indication we are challenging ourselves. For example, we may stack blocks as high as we can until they fall down or put a particular amount of water into a bucket when using scales to see how full it should be before it becomes unbalanced. These simple things are constantly stimulating our brain.  Playing with a variety of building and creative products helps build our self-confidence and encourages our independent learning too.

New Reception Starters!

Our Reception classrooms and outdoor area are all set up ready for our children to explore! Red and Blue classes will start their phased return from next week and we look forward to welcoming them very soon!

2019-2020

We have made a great start in  Reception to the new year and the start of our new topic. This week we have been learning about all the different people who help us. We were focusing on police and role playing different scenarios that police might help people with. Here are some of us role playing a police officer arresting robbers who stole money.

Our families found out about how we get taught in our PE sessions in today's Family Friday. Mr Mason showed our families that we have been working on our balancing skills and all our gross motor skills. He encouraged our families to help us take risks by jumping of the equipment and performing tricky balances. 

In the classroom our families had the opportunity to work on our fine motor skills with us. We love it when our little brothers and sisters learn alongside us.

We were making monsters today that had 8 features. The number 8 is the number we have been thinking about this week. We added eyes and horns and mouths to make the number bond to 8. We are really good at talking about numbers and about what we notice, sometimes we even surprise our teachers with the comments we make!

At Family Friday today our parents and carers looked at our special books and filled in some star moments with us. We have lots of significant moments in our learning that happen at home so our parents can fill in a star moment to capture this, it helps our teachers assess our learning and is  a great way for our parents and carers to contribute to our special books. 

Over the last few weeks we have been learning to ride bikes without stabilisers.  We are learning how to balance on them first, then how to hold onto the handle bars, and finally how to ride them. Here are two of us that are riding a bike on our own for the first time. It has been a great learning experience!

We enjoyed using the big blocks to make a castle for a Giant. We used tools to role play being builders and have been stacking the blocks to make walls. When they have fallen we have been Solvatops and tried different techniques to make the walls stronger.

This week we have continued settling in and getting used to our new routines. We have spent a lot of time exploring the activities left for us like making music with our friends and playing in the water tray. We are looking forward to seeing what fun activities we get to try next week!

2018-19

As part of our space themed term we had a visit from the planetarium. We all went along to our school hall where we found a huge inflated dome! We were so excited when we were lead into the dome to start our interactive session. The technology inside the dome allowed us to see images in 360 degrees, which meant the whole of the inside of the dome became filled with incredible images and videos. We saw rockets, planets and shooting stars moving all around us!

We all had so much fun on our end of year visit to Old McDonald's farm. There were lots of different animals at the farm; including meerkats, pigs, wallabies, rabbits, ponies, cows and many more. We were lucky enough to get the opportunity to get hands on and meet some of the animals face to face like the Shetland pony. Did you know the Shetland pony is the smallest horse breed? They have short legs and a shaggy coat, we loved getting to stroke them. We spent time exploring the farm and seeing all the other animals and especially enjoyed eating our picnic lunch!

We were all very excited to go to the library, as many of us had our own library cards and some had never been before. When we arrived we were treated to a funny story called ‘Funny Bones’ which we all enjoyed very much (even the parents!). Then we had an opportunity to see and read a range of books the library had available for children, before we were able to choose and take a book home using our own library cards. We all had a fantastic time!

As part of our topic on plants and minibeasts we all set off for an exciting adventure to Wanstead flats on a marvellous minibeast hunt! We looked for creepy crawlies under logs and stones and we spotted insects in the air. We became nature detectives on our quest to find out about different habitats and the insects that lived in them. You could be become a Nature Detective! Next time you go to the woods or play in your garden, try and find some minibeasts. Where do they like to hide? How many did you discover?

We went to the forest to meet the special characters from one of our favourite stories, The Gruffalo. We were able to explore the forest to find the different characters in their different hiding places. We carried out lots of fun activities while we were there such as; making stick houses for the mouse using sticks that we found, hiding under the fallen leaves pretending to be hibernating hedgehogs and playing hide and seek with our friends. This was definitely a visit we will never forget!