Year 2 - Autumn 2 - Week 1

We have had another fantastic week in Year 2, filled with exciting new learning and lots of opportunities to develop our confidence and creativity. The children have worked incredibly hard throughout the week and have shown great enthusiasm across all of our subjects.

In English, we started our new class story, The Night Gardener. We enjoyed exploring the story's characters and setting, as well as discussing some of our new star vocabulary and unfamiliar phrases. As part of our sentence accuracy work, we learned about adverbs and how they can describe how an action is being carried out. The children then practised writing their own sentences using a range of adverbs. We also focused on similes, discussing why authors use them and identifying similes that we hear in everyday life. After revisiting parts of The Night Gardener, we thought carefully about similes that linked to the story and ended the week by writing our own simile poems. We were so impressed by the imaginative ideas and descriptive language that the children used.

In Maths, we have continued developing our addition skills. We explored how making 10 can help us solve calculations more efficiently and practised adding three 1-digit numbers by looking for pairs that make 10 first. We also learned how to add by bridging through the next ten, using our knowledge of number bonds to help us calculate mentally. Throughout the week, the children have been building confidence with these strategies and beginning to explain their mathematical thinking more clearly.

In RE, we began our new topic by discussing the meaning of good news. We watched a clip from Newsround and talked about the different ways news can be shared and why it is important. The children then created their own news reports, sharing examples of good news from their own lives. We heard wonderful examples, including parents getting new jobs, receiving swimming certificates and being awarded Star of the Week. It was lovely to see the children reflecting on positive events and celebrating one another's achievements.

In Science, we started our exciting new topic on materials. We recapped our learning from Year 1 by discussing the properties of everyday materials such as glass, plastic, metal, brick and wood. The children enjoyed sharing what they already knew and using scientific vocabulary to describe different materials and their uses.

In History, we began our fascinating topic on The Great Fire of London. The children were given a series of clues and challenged to work out what they thought might have caused the fire. They loved investigating the evidence and thinking like historians, asking thoughtful questions and making sensible predictions. We cannot wait to find out more as our learning continues.

Well done, Year 2, for another brilliant week of learning! We are so proud of your hard work, enthusiasm and fantastic attitudes.