Spring Term 1
General
In Spring 1, we also took part in Internet Safety week and talked about Children’s mental health and what is important to each of us
English
In English, we looked at poetry for the Owl and the Pussy cat and created our own shape poems. We also began reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit. We learnt a lot of new words that Beatrix Potter used that are not often used today. During our reading unit and gave our own opinions on what we have read.
In year 2 we have explored writing non-chronological reports. We had to consider how to properly use headings and subheadings to make the information easily accessible for our readers, as well as using incredible describing words to paint a picture for our reader to visualise. In reading, we have continued to work on our summarising and only using the most important information. We have studied some incredible texts like ‘Coming to England’ by Floella Benjamin and ‘The Quangle Wangle’s Hat’ by Edward Lear.
Maths
In year 1 maths we have been looking at the composition of numbers to 10. We have been using bar models, part-part-whole models and lots of different representations of these numbers. It really helped using numicons and 10’s frames with double-sided counters! We also looked at 2D and 3D shapes and their properties and everyday 3D shapes in the environment. We investigated repeated patterns, whilst comparing the similarities and differences through reasoning.
In year 2 maths, we completed our unit on addition and subtraction of two digit numbers. We really worked on our partitioning skills to help us add and subtract as efficiently as possible. Children then began our multiplication unit and we were so excited to show off our skip counting skills from 2, 3, 5 and 10. We learnt about even and uneven groupings, how to organise objects into equal groups, commutative law and the language used for multiplication.
Science
Throughout Spring 1, we explored everyday material and their properties. We discovered key words like absorbent, opaque, transparent and translucent. We carried out an experiment to see which materials were waterproof and which were not. Did you know that there are so many different materials around our classroom that have very unique textures? We sorted and categorised them!
History
Phase 1 historians explored the lives of two very influential people - Mary Anning and Sir David Attenborough. We looked very closely into their lives as well as the different worlds around them to compare and contrast their lives. As the term went on, our conversations grew deeper and we wondered what questions we could ask them both if we had the chance. At the start of the term we asked “why do you like animals?”, but as our knowledge grew so did the complexity of the ideas and stories that we were curious about. We finished the term considering their legacy and how they both inform the world for us today.
Art and Design
During Spring 1, our Phase 1 artists learnt all about printmaking. We experimented with different colours, materials and stencils to create lots of different effects. The result was a finished art piece that incorporated all of the learning that we were so proud of! It was so nice to reflect on how we are all unique and different, an idea which really shone from the artwork
Design Technology
In Design Technology, Phase 1 students deep dived into knowledge about different materials, linking our Science learning. We considered the properties of materials and used great language to describe them. We were trying to answer the question - ‘Can you build with bread?’ and had to be problem solvers to try and come up with creative solutions, we even made makeshift cement out of icing sugar!
Computing
For computing we looked at programming and using the Beebots. It was incredible to see how we could give the Beebot an instruction and watch it follow the instructions. We spent time learning how to get a Beebot from one starting point to another, as well as working on our direction. We really worked on our problem solving skills this term, if the Beebot didn’t quite do what we asked!
RE
This term's focus in RE has been on Judaism and the many celebrations that Jewish people take part in. We learnt about Shabbat, Passover and what makes up a Seder plate and the celebration of Sukko which takes place around harvest time.
PSHE
In PSHE this term, we have worked hard to set ourselves some powerful goals. We considered the steps in reaching these goals and what we might do to overcome obstacles along the way.