Mini beasts has now become MEGA BEASTS!

After some consideration it has been decided that due to the fact that the children have previously studied mini beasts in Year 1, the topic will now evolve into the BIGGER, MORE VICIOUS.............MEGA BEASTS! 

We are talking savage sharks, romping rhinos and wonderful whales. The children will become mini Attenboroughs as they dive the depths and scour the savannas to learn all there is to know about the beasts of the world. 

Literacy.

The children will be using the new class i pads to conduct detailed research into mega beasts, displaying their findings in a series of information texts, news reports and scientific diagrams. 

Alongside this, they will look at fictional texts such as 'The Snail and the Whale' by Julia Donaldson. Using this as a stimulus, the children will be looking into moral issues for example caring for the environment and mega beasts in captivity. 

Numeracy

Using Mega beasts as a starting point, the children will be collecting and grouping data then using their results to create bar charts, line graphs, pictograms etc. They are then going to use these diagrams to develop their own questions based on their findings.

The first week back will see the whole school take their maths lessons outside to stretch the children's understanding of practical maths. Activities and sessions will be designed to utilise the wonderful space we have here at Glyncoed Primary School. 

Year 2 Summer Term 1

                Land Ahoy!

Yo-ho-ho me hearties. Get your sea legs on,it's time to sail the salty seas.Navigate,investigate and explore the world-just like Captain Cook.

This new context is going to provide lots of exciting learning opportunities.

PUPIL VOICE is of course very important and the children's own ideas linked to this theme are valued and encouraged so along with the children's own  ideas here are some of the activities the children will be experiencing this half term.

Outdoor Area 

Another continuing focus this term will be the important use of the Outdoor Area.We will be asking the children for ideas on where to build a pirate ship and through role play going on many adventures involving maps,treasure and skulduggery !!

Literacy

The children will be sharing first hand experience of going on a boat trip or describing boats they have seen.They will be writing a creative story about a ship wreck developing their story with a beginning,middle and end and  including lots of exciting events.The children will be listening to a story about the life of Captain Cook.Sharing their ideas on his character and listening carefully to other's views and opinions.They will be writing an information booklet about his life.The children will also be writing about finding hidden treasure buried by pirates. They will be imagining who the treasure belongs to and explaining their thoughts.

Numeracy

The children will be exploring standard weights by finding out how much cargo a toy boat can carry before it sinks. They will be recording their results in a simple table.The children will also be making large maps and using co-ordinates to  find hidden treasure. This activity will reinforce their understanding of positional language and has good links with ICT where they will  direct a programmable toy to the correct spot.

Personal and Social Development

Our whole school SEAL topic this half term is Relationships and Our whole school value is Happiness.

This context focuses on Health and Well Being. The children will be finding out what was like to live like a pirate at sea for long periods of time.

Knowledge and Understanding

Geography

The children will be identify seas in the UK labelling them on a map.They will navigate for Captain Cook locating on a world map the countries Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand Tahiti and New Foundland . 

History

 The children will write a historic profile of Captain Cook, Grace Darling or a Famous pirate. They will make a timeline of different explorers. Marco Polo, Christopher  Columbus, Sir Francis Drake Sir Walter Raleigh, Harry Hudson, Captain Cook and Ellen MacArther.

Science

 The children will be looking at a range of different boats, identifying and naming the materials they are made from. They will be investigating how to strengthen materials to make their boat stronger.

Creative Development

Art

 The children will be drawing or painting a boat from first hand observation, looking carefully at colour,shapes and form. They will be looking at examples of pirate flags finding out about  the symbols and colours. They will be making their own flag using textile paints.

Design and Technology.

 The children will be making a telescope that moves in and out so they can spot pirates from afar.Also in the Outdoor Area they will be making a raft out of sticks and finding out how many children can they fit on without falling into the shark infested waters!!

Dance

The children will be making a pirate dance. They will be working together in small groups thinking of different actions associated with pirates and linking these movements together to music. They will be performing and evaluating each others efforts.

Music

The children will be listening to sea shanties and making up their own playing the musical instruments to the beat and the rhythm.

Physical Development

Our P.E day will continue as Monday this term. A big thank-you to the parents who have been sending their children into school with a P.E kit This is an essential requirement for health and safety reasons.

This term we will be focusing on Games.The children will be sending and receiving a ball by throwing and catching,batting and kicking.They will also be directing small apparatus at a target and making up their own games,developing rules to make their games safe and fair.

So let the adventures begin me buckos!

Ahrrrrrr…….it's a sailor's life for us !!

The Year 2  Team

Mr Davies,Mrs Gallivan and Mrs Patching

SPRING TERM 2- Gardeners' World

Get your green fingers ready for a term of exploring the environment with our next topic Gardeners' World! 

Literacy

The children will be growing wild flowers, studying the life cycle from seed to flower and writing instructions on how to grow seeds. 

The children will be enjoying texts for example:

The tiny seed by Eric Carle (The children will be sequencing events and re-telling the story.) 

Jack and the Beanstalk (Studying the original story and looking at alternative endings. Look at the story from different character perspectives.) 

Numeracy

There will be a focus placed on number work this term and reasoning skills to strengthen the children's understanding. 

We will also be looking at:

Weighing

Measuring 

Clocks- Analogue/Digital

ICT

After a very successful term using the i pads to create i books, we will be going one step further in our topic "Multimedia" by learning how to make an i movie! Exciting times lay ahead! 

Kerbcraft

Our Kerbcraft training will be continuing. The children will be learning how to choose safe places to cross the road, they will be helped to recognise dangers and hazards and identify alternative crossing places. They will be taught how to use a safe strategy for crossing near parked cars- when avoiding them is impossible. 

Helpwr Heddiw and Welsh Reading.

In a recent visit from the Welsh challenge advisor, our children were graded as "Outstanding" in their use of everyday Welsh. We were extremely proud of them! This term, alongside continued oral development, they will be learning the Welsh alphabet, so they can read Welsh stories confidently. We hope to take this new skill out into the playground where they can play Welsh games. 

PE/Games

This will continue on a Monday afternoon. Please ensure the children bring appropriate PE kit. 

Knowledge and Understanding

Geography 

The children are going to be finding out about plants in our local environment and comparing them with plants in contrasting environments around the world.

Science 

The children will be labelling the different parts of a plant and learning their different functions.They will be planting wild flowers ,making observations and recording their growth in a diary .The children will be using their senses to find out about different herbs.

Creative

Dance 

The children will be learning Welsh Dancing in our lead up to St David's day.

Music

The children will be learning Welsh Songs which we will be performing on St David's day.

Art 

The children will be making observational drawings of real flowers and making flowers out of collage materials focusing on different textures.They will be making a flower tile out of clay and taking part in a Art competition celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday by designing a medal.

Design and Technology

The children will be planning ways they can improve our outdoor area.Planting a sensory herb garden and growing plants to encourage insects.

Outdoor Learning 

The outdoors will be a big focus with this new context It is important that the children have the correct footwear so please could they bring into school their own pair of wellington boots clearly labelled.They can keep them in school all week and take them home on the weekend.Thank you.

Year 2 trip to Cardiff Castle- Wednesday 3rd February 2016

All the children had a fantastic time at Cardiff Castle. They were lucky enough to meet a real knight, Sir Devlin The Dragon Slayer! They took part in a series of workshops to learn how to become a brave knight. He showed us his armour, weapons and captivated the children with his wonderful dragon tales. Mrs Olsen and Mr Davies almost had their heads chopped off but the children were kind enough to save them! 

We saw some beautifully decorated rooms, including the children's nursery and the banqueting hall where President Obama had a meal during his trip to Wales.

The children's behaviour was golden throughout the day. They are a pleasure to take on school trips. 

Launch Day  Friday January 8th

Dress up as princes or princesses!

Or would you rather be a dragon or some other monster?

Now is your chance.  

We look forward to seeing all of your costumes on the first Friday after Christmas.

What a successful Autumn Term. The children worked hard all term and our finale was the Christmas Concert. We were very proud of both of our classes. They did so well and more importantly- they enjoyed it!

We have valued the support you have given us throughout the term and we look forward to building upon our home-school links this term.

Our new, exciting theme is Towers, Tunnels and Turrets.

We are looking forward to seeing the models that the children have been busy making over Christmas. We are always amazed at how good these models are.

The children will be exploring castles, both real and fairy tale.

Literacy.

Listening and responding to the traditional fairy tale of Rapunzel, describing what is happening at each point in the story. They will act out the story , taking on the role of different characters.

Children will write a report for the fantasy newspaper "The Fairy Tale Times" thinking about headlines, captions, photographs and sub headings.

Read Anthony Browne's book "The Tunnel."

Comprehensions about famous buildings around the world.

Maths

Problem solving activities involving towers, using standard units to measure and record the height of the highest tower.

Naming and describing 3D shape from their castle models.

Read and interpret data about towers.

Measure the longest distance their catapults will fire.

Coordinates for mapping routes to find Rapunzel.

Listen to WW2 stories about "The Great Escape."

Science

Test the strength of your fortress against attack.

Investigate how the weight of a projectile thrown at the castle will damage it. Use paper, play dough, rubber or hollow plastic.

Learn about tunnelling animals e.g. rabbits, badgers, worms 

History

Look at pictures of castles from different periods. Order the castles from oldest to newest and explain their sequence.

Learning about famous people who stayed in Cardiff Castle. Understand why Castell Coch was built.

Geography.

Look at photographs of great castles and towers around the world. Match the tower to its location using world maps and globes. (Leaning Tower of Pisa, Caerphilly Castle, Big Ben, Shard, Eiffel Tower)

Look and describe images of world famous tunnels (Channel Tunnel, Thames Tunnel, Tunnels through Alps).

Children to map out and draw keys for so that the prince can find Rapunzel.

Look at amazing structures from around the world e.g. the Pyramids, Statue of Liberty, Sydney Opera House etc.

Art and Design.

Build stacks and towers using natural materials in the outdoor environment. Name and take digital images of the tower for display.

Build a new tunnel for Rapunzel using a variety of construction materials.

Work outdoors to create tunnels out of natural materials.

Construct a bridge using marshmallows and spaghetti.

Investigate different shaped, famous bridges.

Build a fortress to protect the three little pigs.

PHSE

Work as a class to consider what real life dilemmas they have face. Respond to questions about whether they made the right decision and how it made them feel.

PE

Defend and attack games. Balance and coordination. Be a soldier attacking a castle. Play dodge games with an opposing partner.

Set up a castle assault course where children plan creative use of equipment.

How exciting is this!!! We can't wait.

The Y2 Team.

Welcome to Year 2's Class Page

Year 2 Teachers are Mrs Patching, Mrs Coleman (AM), Mrs Gallivan (PM), Mrs McCrann (AM) and Mrs Salmon (PM)

Year 2 Teaching Assistant Miss Alsept.

  Boom ,boom ,boom, parrup ,bah -dah TISH !!

Our context for this half term is 'Beat Band and Boogie.' This is a music based topic which is going to teach the  children  new skills linked to songs and  sound. We will be learning new musical skills that the children will enjoy performing  in our Christmas concert.  

Please see our gallery for class photographs 

Dates for your diary

17th November 2015 Year 2 trip to Cefn Mably Farm Park

Homework

We hope you have had fun making your musical instruments over the half term holiday and  thank you will bringing them into school to show us. They are on display in our Year 2 area.Homework will continue to be sent home weekly focusing on Numeracy, Literacy and Personal and Social Development. The reading book is an important piece of daily homework. 

Find Five Golden Minutes

All children are encouraged to read with their parents every night and the parent comment in the homework diary is a very important link between home and school.We will celebrate the children who have at least 3 signatures in their homework diary every week in a special assembly at the end of each half term. Also Bug Club is a great resource for children to enjoy reading books at home. Passwords are in the front of the Homework books.

Activities Taught This Term

Literacy

Our literacy this half term will be based on "Our Amazing Body." We will be asking the children what they want to find out about our bodies. We will discuss healthy eating, how to keep fit and how to look after our teeth. We will find out about the different types of teeth and compare our teeth to the teeth of some animals. 

We will also read "Funny Bones " story books and think about a different "Funny

Bones" character we could create. As part of PSE we will read a book called "Can't you sleep, little bear?". We will discuss emotions and feelings.

We will also still be working on our English targets which include understanding alphabetical order, punctuation and writing in a series of extended sentences.

Reading, of course, is always really important and we have been so pleased with the support of all of our parents who read with their children most nights. It is making a huge difference in reading fluency.

Oracy is another strand of English and the children will be able to show off their abilities in this area when we perform our Christmas Concert in December.

Numeracy

The children are going to be exploring vocal sounds. Identifying and making long and short sounds. They are going to be identifying the difference between rhythm and pulse. Making loud and soft sounds and explaining why they like or dislike a certain piece of music.The children will be learning a Christmas concert called 'The Bossy King' and performing it at Glenwood Church.

PE

The children will be taking part in body schooling actions with superstars in YEAR 2. Our PE day is Monday. Could all children make sure they bring a PE kit to change into The children will also be listening to music and performing movements to express their ideas , emotions or feelings and repeat dance phases.

Knowledge and Understanding

Science 

The children will be investigating sound. They will be sorting and comparing sounds and making simple explanations when carrying out simple experiments like finding out how the level of water in a jam jar effects the sound made when tapping the jar.

The children will be investigating their sense of hearing and plotting a range of sounds heard inside and outside.

History

The children will be finding out about the history of music and describing how it has changed over the years. They will also be describing how musical instruments have changed over the years.

Geography

The children will be getting the outdoor beat  !! They will be collecting lots of natural and man made objects from outside and finding out what kind of sound they make when they are tapped with a stick or stone. Back in the classroom they will be making a simple map showing where  they made good sounds. 

Creative

The children this half term will making observation drawings of musical instruments using charcoal and drawing pens.Outdoors they are going to be making 'Movement Canvases'Using large canvases outside to stomp feet in trays of paint then march across it in different directions. talking about the patterns they see forming and the colours they see blending.

 ICT

We are going to be starting our new Scheme of Work using the ipads and laptops to support the children's learning in the classroom.We are starting this half term investigating the app Popplet. 

Welsh

We will be concentrating on the role of 'Helpwr Heddiw' in our Welsh lessons as well as taking ten minutes to practise Welsh each day.Each day a child will be asked to help organise games and help teach the children simple phrases.

Pupil Voice

This is where the children get a say in what they want to learn. Pupil voice takes place at the beginning of each new context where the children's ideas can be included with the schemes of work to bring the curriculum alive . We also have weekly pupil voice sessions where the children can build upon or develop the following weeks activities.

Outdoor Learning

This is favourite part of the children's learning in school. We try to use the outdoor area every day to develop skills across the curriculum.The children have a chance to put forward their own ideas which are included each week.

General Information

Uniform – school uniform is compulsory. All pupils need to be wearing the school t-shirt (blue/white), school trousers or skirt and a school jumper. Suitable black shoes must also be worn.

 Jewellery – please ensure pupils are not wearing jewellery to school that they are not able to remove for PE and games sessions.

Water bottles – pupils are allowed to have  water bottles in class. Please ensure they have lids and contain only water.

Absences – children should not arrive at school until after 8:40 a.m. as they are unsupervised before this time. Latecomers need to sign in at the main reception. If your child is absent please call the school or provide a note explaining his/ her absence. Holidays during term time will no longer be authorised by the school.

School trips – children are encouraged to attend all educational trips which form part of their learning. Costs are kept to a minimum and all pupils are expected to contribute as a  lack of funds can lead to trips being cancelled. We are always in need of parent volunteers.

We would like to thank you for your support.

The Year 2 Team