Autumn Term 1
Autumn 1 in Phase 2
We have had a great start to our Phase 2 year. The children have settled in and we have got to know our classes well. They are focused and ready for their learning across all subjects - well done Phase 2.
English
In Autumn Term 1, we have been learning to write poems about emotions and focusing on poetic features such as rhyme, assonance, similes and alliteration. We produced some amazing poems that children should be very proud of. We have also written a narrative to describe. Zooming in on a door, we have focused on writing to clearly set the scene so the reader can create a clear picture in their head. We have been focusing on having a clear structure written in paragraphs, using lots of precise adjectives to describe a noun to create amazing noun phrases, as well as using adverbs and conjunctions to join clauses. Children have really enjoyed imagining they are approaching the door and writing in the first person.
Guided Reading
This term, we have been reading the fictional story ‘Operation Gadgetman’. This story is about spy kits, crooks and a kidnapping! We have been living alongside Beans and her friends, Ann and Lousia, searching for clues to find Dad! We have been very excited throughout this book and it definitely kept on our toes. We have been using our own spy knowledge to discuss and pick out fishy characters, predicting who may or may not be their true self and using our inference skills to explain why we are so certain of them. The class discussions and debates have been intense! We really feel like we have been apart of this story and who knows… maybe we have some MI5 agents in the making.
Quotes:
“It’s really exciting, and it has lots of detail,” Rhea.
“It’s inspirational because it has lots of interesting parts and I find it really interesting,” Jasmine.
“It’s kind of fun and a bit funny, like at the beginning when the animal crunchies exploded,” Pablo.
“I think there are loads of surprising events,” Imogen.
Maths
In the first few weeks of this half-term, we were mastering numbers up to 10. This included counting in our 2, 5 and 10 times tables, gaining automaticity with our times tables. We have now progressed to counting in multiples of 2, 5 and 10 from different and less familiar starting points. As well as this, we have also been counting in our 20s, 25s and 50s.
The pupils have worked incredibly hard partitioning numbers in a variety of different ways using part-whole models.
To help us add and subtract 2-digit numbers, we applied our knowledge of number bonds to 10. Once we had mastered this process, we were able to complete an increasing number of challenging questions, as we could apply our previous knowledge.
Science
Over the previous seven weeks, we have devolved into rocks, including; types of rocks, changes that can affect rocks, what makes soil and fossils. In our first couple of lessons, we identified different rocks by looking at their characteristics and how they are formed. After that, we looked at how rocks change due to erosion, heat and pressure. We then examined the soil with a microscope, looking at if the soil is just dirt or made up of multiple other items. Our final lesson also inspired our trip this half term, which was to the Natural History Museum.
History
This half-term, we have gone back in time to explore The Stone Age. We started off by reminding ourselves of the acronyms; BC (showing a number of years before Christ was born), AD (used to show a particular number of years from the year when Christ was believed to have been born), BCE (used in the same sense as BC) and CE (used as the same time period as AD). We also looked at how other religions have their own different calendars and that not everyone uses these acronyms.
After reflecting on prior knowledge, we then looked in detail at the 3 different eras of The Stone Age: Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. We looked at what life was like in these times and used precision and inference skills to imagine what life was like during these periods.
Art and design
In Art this term, we have been focused on drawing and painting. We have used techniques such as graffito, tonking, impasto and wax resist to create some terrifying mysterious creature. We listened to the poem “the hippocrump” by James Reeves to create a picture in our heads, we then drew our hippocrump on A2 paper using oil pastels, before using sgraffito and water colour to add more texture. We are really proud of what we created.
Music
Quotes:
“We have been learnt how to play different instruments, which has been super fun,” Oscar.
“We learnt lots about different rhythms and beats,” Jasmine.
“ I like the forbidden rhythm,” Pablo.
“I have found music really fun with the fun song,” Rael.
RE
This half-term, our focus has been “How did the World begin?” We have explored the environment around us and the Christian story of creation. We have looked at the harvest festival and the idea that Christians celebrate harvest to give thanks for the crops, which have been safely harvested and also to help people in need.
PE
In PE this half-term, we have been busy! We have been building up our fitness with specified fitness sessions as well as working on our football skills and technique.
Fitness: we know the importance of good health, physical exercise and a healthy diet, and we have been talking and learning about ways to keep our bodies healthy and safe. We can now explain how our body reacts to different kinds of exercise, why we need regular exercise and why exercise is important.
Football: we have been going back to basics and looking at the most efficient skill for football, dribbling and how to keep the ball in our possession. For this we needed good focused control, balance and coordination.
Quotes:
“It’s been very fun because I love football,” Abigail.
“It’s nice to learn different skills and sports because even if you think you don’t like it, if you try it - you might find you do like it,” Harper.
“It’s something everyone has been able to take part in,” Chimoabi.
“It teaches us good sportsmanship,” Rayaan.
PSHE
In PSHE, we learnt about being ourselves and how everyone is unique. We looked at consequences and rewards and put these into a nightmare school and a dream school; focusing on why expectation are needed and how they could be implemented.
Events or trips
This half-term, Cousteau had their sharing assembly, where Cousteau parents got to see and hear the children’s work for this half-term. We are proud of Cousteau for sharing their knowledge and getting their parents to join in with the tongue twister we have been learning in Music.
We also went on our first school trip of the year to the Natural History Museum, to embed our half-term learning of Science by looking at what the rocks and fossils exhibit they have to offer. We thoroughly enjoyed this, and had a great time sketching our favourite artefacts. Well done Phase 2, we are looking forward to our next school trip with you.