Autumn 2023

Science week

It has been such a fun science week in Class 2! We've enjoyed exploring, experimenting and learning about the work of real life scientists. We started off by learning about how to support wildlife over the colder winter months and built hibernation habitats for hedgehogs and ladybirds. We set up a bird feeding station and have made a wildlife observation area by our big window so that we can keep track of the birds who come to visit. We've learned about materials and their properties with some fun hands on activities and had a go at using scientific equipment to test our hypothesis. Thanks to generous donations from our class families, Class 2 children were able to start planting some plants and bulbs in our patio gardenn! The highlight of our week was a visit from a real life scientist, Mrs Kahts, who gave us a wonderful session on veterinary science! We are very proud of our curious, creative scientists in Class 2 and grateful for the ways in which our class families have supported our inquiries.

The Great Fire of London 1666

Class 2 have been time travelling to year 1666, to a narrow London street called Pudding Lane. Rats run riot, red crosses are painted on doors and dirty water is poured on the streets...The city is bustling with people, and the wooden houses feel warm in the aftermath of an exceptionally hot summer. A strong easterly wind is picking up as glowing embers crackle in an open oven at a baker's house...with disastrous consequences that shaped our capital. We have loved learning about this momentuous event!

Remembrance Day

Class 2 have been reflecting on Remembrance Day and peace. The children were keen to share their family stories of service and sacrifice. With tremendous support from our class families, we have been trusted with touching stories of war time memories, eyewitness accounts and stories of sacrifice. These personal accounts have helped Class 2 children develop their understanding of the past and make connections. We have reflected on wartime love stories which endured years of service and separation. We learned about great grandparents who built Spitfires, flew Flying Boats, drove tanks, worked in hospitals and saved lives on the battlefield. We reflected on the great sacrifice of risking your life in pursuit of peace. During our class discussion, Class 2 came up with so many thoughtful suggestions on how to bring about peace: We need to talk, not fight. We need to be kind and say sorry. Maybe meditate! Peace is in our hands.

Autumn 1 Fab Finish: Washingpool Farm Trip!

The highlight of our week in Class 2 has to be our visit to Washingpool Farm! We spent a lovely day outdoors learning about farming and harvest produce, examining soil conditions ('very wormy', say the budding agrologists!) and preparing a leek and potato soup together. We even got to take part in the very last potato harvest of the season! Visiting the farm was a wonderful way to apply our topic learning into practice and spend some time exploring in nature. Class 2 students did themselves (and us!) very proud.

Literacy focus: The Sea Saw by Tom Percival

Class 2 have been exploring Tom Percival's The Sea Saw in Literacy this half term. The children have been learning new vocabulary to describe the Bear's adventure; they have discovered how prefix un alters a word and have written missing posters, thank you-notes and name tags. We have partnered up to write and illustrate story maps and have developed our very own story prompts to an actual book! To finish off this fun topic, Class 2 authors gave their books alliterative titles to pique a reader's interest. It has been lovely to see the children be so creative and focussed in their writing - we are very proud of them!

Nature walk to Symondsbury Estate

The children have been busy making house point charts featuring animals from our local habitat, and tried very hard to spot a few of these minibeasts on our nature walk to Symondsbury Estate. We spotted so many different creatures, including an orange slug! Class 2 enjoyed a lovely play time on the beautiful nature playground before heading back to school for lunch.

Reflection: Self Portraits

This half term we will focus on the value of Reflection across all subkect areas. During class worship the children were invited to ponder on the many meanings of 'reflection'. They came up with some very thoughtful insights, such as 'It means that something shows you back at you, like a mirror' 'To reflect means to to think about something you have done or said' 'A pond or a lake can reflect...you can see your own self'

We developed on these ideas through our art project. The children worked in pairs, looking at their reflections in the mirror and drawing a detailed self portrait. Class 2 finished their art work with water colours. It was lovely to see how much care and reflection went into our first self portrait activity, and how detailed the children's artistic expression is becoming.

Welcome to Class 2

What a joy it has been to start the new school year with Class 2! We are inspired by the children's energy, joyful spirit and clever questions. Our first autumn topic invites the children to ponder where food comes from. We kicked off our inquiry by picking apples and plums merely 62 steps away from our classroom and agreed that food really couldn't get much more local than that! Class 2 were delighted to share their apple harvest with our school community.

We are so much looking forward to learning together this year!