During DT week, we had a great (and tasty) time exploring how smoothies are made. First, we researched different fruits around the world, explored how to prepare these fruits safely and hygienically using a range of tools and then completed market research by taste testing! The next part of our project was to design and make a fruit smoothie that we could enjoy for our playtime snack. The smoothies were wonderful and enjoyed by all. However, not all of the strawberries made it into the blender as Mrs Colclough saw some children sneakily placing them into their mouths. Sweet, juicy strawberries are far too tempting...cheeky 2C! There are more photos in our photo album.

Last half term, 2T learned about the Titanic, exploring its history, voyage, and the events that led to its sinking. We looked at what life was like on board for different passengers and crew, and discussed why the disaster has remained so important in history. Alongside our lessons, we received some fantastic homework projects. These were very creative, with 2T presenting their ideas in a variety of ways. It has been great to see such effort and imagination, and everyone should feel proud of the work they have produced!

2C had great fun when we embraced our new science topic which is 'changing materials.' Children were able to recall knowledge from our materials topic in Autumn 2 and were keen to explore as scientists how different materials can be changed using a range of forces. Our favourite part was moulding the playdoh, but we also liked scaring Mrs Noble when we tested how far balloons could be stretched. Poor Mrs Noble! There are more pictures in the album.

2T started their new science unit about different materials. We tested different objects to see if we could change them by twisting, squashing, bending and stretching. We then challenged ourselves to make different creations with our clay by using these different methods. There are more photos in the album. 

In Maths, 2T have begun learning about money, exploring different coins and notes and their values. In the first few lessons, we identified various coins and notes and discussed why we use money in everyday life. This week, we are focusing on adding coins and notes together to find the total amount.

Year 2 had an amazing time on our trip to Peak Wildlife Park last Thursday! The children were brilliantly behaved and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

We were lucky to see a wide range of animals and were able to link what we observed to our current science learning, particularly around habitats, adaptation, and animal needs. One of the highlights was a talk from one of the park keepers, who shared lots of interesting facts and answered the children’s questions.

The children also had the exciting opportunity to walk with and feed the wallabies, which was a real highlight for many. To top it all off, we even saw Nanuk and Noori, the polar bears, which caused plenty of excitement!
🐻‍❄️🐧🦜🦋🐑🐢🦓🐇

There are more photos in the photo album for you to browse through.

❄️ Today’s Geography Lesson: Exploring the Polar Regions ❄️

Today, the children learned all about the North Pole and South Pole 🌍. We practised finding both poles on a map and globe and used the correct geographical words Arctic and Antarctic with confidence.

We talked about what the polar regions are like, describing them as cold, icy places, and learned about different icy features, including glaciers, icebergs, ice floes, and ice shelves. The children explored the differences between the Arctic and Antarctica by sorting geographical vocabulary and discussing where each place is located.

They also labelled photographs of different ice formations and described what they could see using geographical language. To make the learning extra exciting, the children even had the chance to touch “icebergs” and snowy materials, helping them imagine the cold polar environment!

A fantastic lesson full of curiosity, new vocabulary, and hands-on learning ❄️🧊

There are lots more photos in the photo album.

Last half term, Y2 became activists in PSHE and thought about how they could be responsible and take care of our local environment. They carried out a litter picking event in the streets surrounding school and talked to some members of the public to explain what we were doing and why we were doing it. 

What a fantastic job they did! We have added more photos to the album.

Last week in 2T, we were busy collecting and exploring our own data! The children gathered information by asking questions such as “What is your favourite minibeast?”, “How do you travel to school?” and “What is your favourite fruit?”

Using the data they collected, the class created pictograms on the iPads to show their results. They then compared the information to identify the most and least popular choices and noticed how the results differed for each question.

The children really enjoyed seeing how data can help us understand our class in a fun and visual way!

WOW - What has happened in our classroom!?
When the children got to school, the classroom was extremely messy, there were lots of strange monster pictures around, warning signs, weird recipes to follow and some huge, strange...FOOTPRINTS! We had great fun trying to guess what had happened, and then we followed the recipes to make some gross monster concoctions. The children (and teachers) are very excited to learn more about our class story for this half term now... More photos are in our photo album.

Over the last week, we’ve been busy innovating our story Katie in London! We changed the characters, chose new places for them to visit using our Geography learning, and came up with a fantastic bank of adjectives to make our writing really engaging. We’ve also been learning how to use the conjunctions but, and, and because to extend our sentences and add more detail.

Today, we re-read and reflected on our stories to see all the wonderful features we’ve included. Miss Tench has absolutely loved reading your innovated versions — she’s so proud of all your hard work! Miss Tench can’t wait to see the amazing new stories the children will create after our trip to Hanley Park. They’re going to be even better!📖🦉🎢 There are more picture in our photo album,

Y2 are geographers! 

So far this term we have been using atlases to learn more about the United Kingdom. However, this week we took our skills as geographers to the next level and learnt all about digital mapping. We were able to zoom in on the physical features of Scotland and England to find out more about their location and the landscapes of each country. The children were amazed by the wonderful places around us and were keen to explore!

On Tuesday 26^th November, Y2 were very fortunate and were invited to perform with other schools around the city as Songbirds at the Victoria Hall. We were able to take part in the rehearsal and understand how it would feel to perform under the shining lights on the big stage! Some children then represented St. Mark’s during the evening performance to a huge audience. They demonstrated our school values beautifully and made us all burst with pride.

On Wednesday 2^nd October, Y2 were sent a fieldwork mission! We received some directions which led us to a special landmark in the city centre. Each direction took us to a new landmark, and we then discussed whether it was a human feature or a physical feature. With our peers, we thought about how we could use landmarks as a reference point to help us to find new places. Which landmarks and features could you find in your local area?