Year 2 News

Book Week 2025 –

'Book an Adventure'

This year’s Book Week theme, 'Book an Adventure', gave our Year 2 students the perfect chance to explore stories in creative and exciting ways. Throughout the week, the students read Spiro by Anna McGregor, a delightful picture storybook that follows the adventures of a curious little spider.

To celebrate the story, the students engaged in a variety of hands-on activities. They began by creating their own spider crafts, carefully attaching them to paper webs, and writing about what life might be like “If I were a spider.”

As part of their learning, they explored the spider life cycle, sequencing the stages from eggs to spiderlings and then to an adult spider. Students also worked on a cut-and-paste activity, sorting spider facts into categories such as what they are, what they look like, what they eat, where they live, and interesting facts.

The students then labelled a diagram of a spider, discovering fascinating details about body parts including the abdomen, pedipalps, fangs, and spinnerets. The children loved learning how each part helps a spider to survive.

To finish the week, Year 2 students used the four main characters from Spiro — Spiro the spider, the moth, the fly, and the stink bug, to create and perform their own puppet plays. The students showcased wonderful imagination, teamwork and storytelling skills, bringing the characters to life in new adventures of their own.

On Tuesday morning, the highlight for many was the Book Week parade. The Year 2 students looked fabulous in their colourful costumes, dressed as an array of favourite book characters. The excitement and creativity on display made the event truly special.

It was a fantastic week filled with reading, fun and adventure. The Year 2 students thoroughly enjoyed immersing themselves in the world of Spiro and discovering just how many adventures books can take us on.

Book Week Parade

Maths

Problem Solving with Matharoo!

In our Maths sessions, our Year 2 students have been diving into worded Matharoo problems at differentiated levels to build their problem-solving skills.

Working in pairs or small groups, the students enthusiastically tackled the challenges and showed great persistence as they worked through different strategies. A highlight of the session was using whiteboard markers directly on their tabletops to show their thinking. This hands-on approach allowed students to share ideas, try new methods, and easily adjust their strategies along the way.

The classroom buzzed with excitement and collaboration as students thoroughly enjoyed this fresh and engaging way of completing a maths task.

In addition to problem-solving, students have also been working through our Maths Daily Review PowerPoint. This review helps consolidate previously taught concepts, giving students regular opportunities to practise and strengthen their understanding. Using their personal whiteboards, students record and display their answers, which not only makes learning interactive but also encourages participation from everyone.

A very big thank you to Mrs Ball for creating these wonderful PowerPoints. They have quickly become a much-loved part of our maths sessions, helping students to feel confident and ready for new challenges.

Measurement

The Year 2 students are also developing their skills in measuring and comparing objects based on length, capacity, and mass. They have been exploring length using both informal and formal units of measurement. In the sandpit, they have been estimating and testing the capacity of various containers using informal units.

Throughout these activities, the students have also learned to identify the appropriate units of measurement for both length and capacity.

Year 2 – Sharing the Planet

This term, our Year 2 students have been exploring the Unit of Inquiry Sharing the Planet, with a focus on how living things grow and change over time. To support their investigations, our classrooms have become home to some very special guests – mealworms!

Students have been making regular scientific observations of the mealworms, using magnifying glasses to look closely at their features and behaviours. Each student was encouraged to make predictions about what the mealworms might eventually turn into, sparking curiosity and lively discussions.

As part of their science learning, students have also been developing their skills in drawing detailed and labelled diagrams of minibeasts. This has helped them to not only record what they see but also to learn the importance of accuracy in scientific illustrations.

One of the highlights of the unit has been the excitement students show each day as they arrive at school ready to check on the mealworms. Their observations are helping them understand how living things change over time and the important role that each creature plays in our world.

Year 2 are thoroughly enjoying this hands-on approach to science and inquiry learning, and it has been wonderful to see their engagement, curiosity, and enthusiasm grow along with their knowledge.

Bees with Mr Bray

We are so lucky to have an expert beekeeper on staff! To help us with our Unit of Inquiry, Mr Bray kindly offered his time to come and talk to the Year 2s about bees.

Firstly, Mr Bray spoke about how bee behaviour changes throughout the year depending on the weather. Bees need to stay over 30oC to stay healthy. So, in summer they leave the hive, searching for nectar and pollen. In winter, they stay in the hive, keeping the hive warm by moving their wings about.

We learnt that there are different jobs within a beehive. The first job bees do is to keep the hive clean, as bees get older, they may go and find nectar and pollen and finally, the most senior bees keep the queen bee safe. The queen bee is the only bee to lay eggs, so she is worth looking after!

We got to see different types of bee hives, including a plastic man-made one and a wax, bee made one. We saw a smoker, which beekeepers use to keep the bees relaxed when they are collecting the honey. We also saw and got to try on the special clothes beekeepers wear to keep them safe from the bees. We found out that bees only use their stinger when they feel threatened.

We watched a slow-motion movie of a bee going through its lifecycle. We also watched how bees can defeat a hornet by working together.

Finally, we got to taste some honey which Mr Bray had collected from his bees and brought especially for us! It was delicious!!