Tag Tails, Skeletons and Teddy!

This week we have had lots of help from our Ashton Park girls Jemma and Verity - they helped Y2 make skeletons out of toilet rolls and kitchen rolls - the pictures are on Mrs Hillberg's camera so we will put them on next week's blog. You can see them for yourselves though if you pop into our classroom during profile evening on Wednesday. Many thanks to Jemma and Verity! We said a sad goodbye to Verity on Friday but we are lucky to have Jemma with us next week, too!
On Tuesday we played Tagtails as part of our KS1 Virtual Festival - again the pictures are on Mrs Hillberg's camera so we'll put THEM on next week, too!
Well done to everyone in Y2 who played well and fairly.
On Friday we had our Sports Day, everyone was a star! Look at this picture of the children in the Sack Race.
There was a surprise for Y2 on Wednesday - when they came in from play Teddy had made a secret visit! Dogs aren't usually allowed in school but Mrs Shore had special permission from Mrs Roberts to bring her dog in to meet the children on her planning day. The teachers were as excited as the children because we couldn't wait to see Y2's faces when they entered the room!
Finally - apologies for last week saying there was a photo of Dan, our Community Police Officer on the blog, there wasn't but it's here now!

Dancing, policemen and a trip to the countryside!

Y2 had something of a whirlwind this week. We started off with our May (in June!) Dancing on Monday. Although it was really hot everyone did well and thanks to all the lovely parents who came to support us! There was some great dancing there mums!

On Tuesday Dan, our community police officer spent some time in Y2. He helped us to practice for our assembly - you can see the picture of us singing 'Dem Bones' to the rest of the school. We had a dramatic moment when Dan was called away to deal with someone stealing from a shop in Bedminster but when he came back we had a long chat about it and spent time talking about right and wrong and taking responsibility for ourselves. In the picture Dan is asking the police radio controller to say hello to Y2 at Luckwell across all the police radio network in Avon and Somerset!

Wednesday was the highlight of our week - our trip to Avon Valley Country Park. It was scorching hot but fun was had by all as you can see from the photographs! Thanks to mums Lorraine and Rachel who emailed me pictures from their mobiles to add to the blog.

Finally, on Friday Y2 spent an hour in Y3 with Mrs Christmas choosing the topics they are interested in next year. I'm told that they have chosen Egypt and India - I will look forward to seeing what they do!

Bodies and Goodbyes!

This week we have had a big focus on English and worked on similes - the children were AS GOOD AS GOLD and AS WISE AS AN OWL thinking of lots of similes to write about to publish for their profile. We also moved onto to using a 'net' in tennis - look at the pictures to see you can make anything out of unlikely items if you think about it! Pete, our tennis coach, is off to Wimbledon next week (which is fine for us as we're on our trip on that day!) and has told the children to watch the players on the t.v. and look really closely at their technique.
Y2 had a big goodbye and thank you to do this week because Mr Ellershaw finished his placement with us on Thursday. We all want to say a big thank you to him for the fun lessons and his hard work. Before he trained to be a teacher Mr Ellershaw was a scientist and I think Y2 will all join me in saying that he certainly used his skills to make science really fun in our classroom. Here's a great picture of Ollie showing what his insides might look like!
We all wish Mr Ellershaw good luck when he takes up his teaching post in Y6 at Southville Primary in September.

Eggshells, Bones and Staying Safe

This week we have continued to find out about the human body. We have focussed on teeth and looked at what happens when eggshells (which have a similar composition to teeth) are left to sit in various liquids for a few days. Look at the picture which shows the children holding up eggshells in water, orange juice and cola.
We have been newspaper reporters and written reports for our 'newspaper' The Luckwell Times about the explorer Indiana Ellershaw's discovery of bones at a secret location near school........... we are in the process of publishing our work for display in the classroom next week.
Finally we were all reminded how to cross the road safely when we were visited by the Road Safety Roadshow on Wednesday.
Have a lovely weekend and remember to stop, look, listen and think before you step out!

Bones, More Bones and Tennis!

Y2 have continued the science feel from last week and have been looking at the human skeleton and how it moves. Monday afternoon was spent drawing life sized skeletons of children in the class. The children worked well in their teams and all of them helped out with the drawing.

Wednesday morning was Y2 tennis. This week the children concentrated on movement and ball control. They practiced side stepping and moving forward and backward. They even got to have a small rally with each other at the end of the lesson. The weather was lovely and sunny and the children enjoyed a great morning of tennis.

In ICT the children looked at human skeletons as well as those of other animals. Some children even looked at dinosaurs to investigate any similarities between them and human bones. The children learnt lots of interesting facts and so did I.

In maths this week the children used the knowledge they had learnt in science to measure each others bones. This included the head, spine, legs and arms. We also looked at patterns in bone size and answered the question ‘is the length of the forearm of a person equal to the length of their foot.’ You will have to get that tape measure out to find out!

Darwin, Millipedes and Anyone For Tennis?

Welcome back to the start of the summer term.

Y2 had a packed three days in school this week. The children have been learning about evolution and how animals adapt to their habitat. They also had time to imagine how they would look as cavemen! Tuesday was Darwin Day and the school celebrated Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday. In the afternoon the entire school had a ‘mix up’ and children from different classes worked together in small groups. The children explored the school grounds to investigate the different plants and mini beasts we have. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and everyone had a great time.

At the end of Tuesday afternoon Y2 had a visit from ‘Harry the millipede.’ The children enjoyed watching Harry move and some were even brave enough to give him a gentle stroke. Apparently, it is possible to calculate how many legs he has by counting each of his body segments, multiplying this number by four and subtracting ten from the total. Parents, your homework has been set!

Wednesday morning was celebration assembly for Y2. The children showed the school the work they had done on timelines. Several children described events that had happened in the world or in their families during 2001 to 2009. It was good fun and we had some interesting stories.

Wednesday morning was also the beginning of Y2 tennis. The children used the outside courts and began learning some simple racket techniques and movement skills. Once again, the weather was great and the children enjoyed themselves.

So be prepared Murray, Federer and Sharapova, Luckwell are coming!

Painting, Weeding, Toys and Goodbyes.

.Y2 had a busy end to the term. On Monday afternoon Y2 completed their work on Matisse’s ‘The Snail.’ The children painted their own interpretations of the painting from the drawings they had done last week. We had some lovely, colourful and imaginative work.

The theme in numeracy this week was estimating and measuring the size and weight of different objects. The children had fun doing this and some children even worked in the playground. We had some great estimates that were very close to the actually measurements.

On Wednesday afternoon Y2 continued ‘Citizenship’ and helped weed the playgrounds. The children really worked hard and enjoyed being outside on a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

On Thursday the school said “goodbye” to our French assistant, Amandine. During assembly, Amandine read a story to the school in French and Y2 helped by acting out the animals she was describing. The children really got in to their performance and we had some brilliant representations of eagles, elephants and crocodiles. The stars of Coronation Street better watch out!

On Thursday afternoon Y2 celebrated their hard work and good behaviour with ‘Toy Day.’ Lots of games were played and the children enjoyed a large feast. Y2 would like to give a big thank you to the parents who supplied all the ‘goodies!’

All that is left to write is have a happy holiday and we will see you all next term.