Spring 1
This half term we have been up to lots of different things!
In literacy, we came back to school and wrote about our Christmas – food, toys, activities, people etc. We then moved onto using our history unit on significant people, primarily Florence Nightingale. We started off by writing instructions on how to wash hands, seeing as this is also something we do numerous times a day. We got to practise using imperative verbs by bossing our friends around! In history, we compared hospitals from then to now and all the differences Florence Nightingale had made. We wrote a setting description using this knowledge and had the challenge of including expanded noun phrases and conjunctions to make our work more interesting. To finish off, we wrote a diary entry as Florence Nightingale. We used all our learning in history to write as if we were Florence herself.
In maths, year 1 children learnt about place value within 20 where we looked at the importance of where each digit is, using number lines, comparing numbers and ordering them. Our next unit was addition and subtraction within 20 where we counted on, used number bonds, doubles, counted back and found the difference. Year 2 children learnt about money, where they looked at pounds and pence through coins and notes, made the same amounts, compared amounts, calculated with money, made a pound and found change. We then moved onto multiplication and division where we looked at equal groups, the multiplication symbol, arrays, grouping and sharing, the two-times table and dividing by 2.
We started a new unit in science called ‘exploring everyday materials’. We identified and named materials, distinguished the difference between an object and the material it is made from, described the properties of materials using a range of scientific vocabulary, identified objects that are natural and those that are manmade, predicted and identified if an object will float or sink and explored which materials are best for different objects. We completed lots of experiments together, such as floating and sinking and absorbency, and learned about fair testing.
In history, we learnt about significant people through our key question: ‘Why do we remember people?’. We looked at Louis Braille and what he’d done to change the lives of those who are blind, researching Braille and different examples of where it is used. Then we moved onto Florence Nightingale and her achievements and impact on hospitals and hygiene. Rosa Parks was the final significant person we looked at due to her achievements on society and the rights of black people. We role-played the historic bus scene and paused throughout to get an understanding of how individuals felt at that time. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about these individuals.
Art for this half term was based on Joan Miro and surrealist art. We learned about magical realism by creating our own drawings based on Joan’s work of ‘The Farm’. We then created an artist book with all our printings in. We used a range of objects and paint to experiment the marks they made to create our own pictures. Our final challenge was to create a surrealist sculpture from clay, so our last few lessons involved designing a sculpture and practising making it with playdough, making the sculptures and using slip to attach the different parts together and completing our creations by painting them.
Our question this half term in RE was ‘What does it mean to be a Jew?’. First of all, we looked at their place of worship and researched what would be found in a Synagogue. Those following the Jewish faith also follow the ten statements, which are linked to Christianity. We put them in order of what we found the most to least important. Next was the Jewish holy book: the Torah. We were shown a real Torah scrolls and were great at remembering the rules to show respect. Sabbath is the Jewish day or rest and we explored the different ways this is prepared for. After this, we had a go at making challah bread. We learnt about some Jewish festivals, such as Hanukkah, which linked back to our Autumn 1 learning when we looked at Purim, another Jewish festival.
In PE, we started off the half term with an enrichment day. We participated in sports that are different and not always taught in school. We got to go zorbing and play laser tag. Even though these are unusual sports, they still required us to practise a range of skills we need to know in PE. We have also been learning about the importance of working as a team and how communication is vital to PE in our lessons. We have been playing team games to practise these skills and realised that we need everyone to put the effort in to be successful.
Spring 2
This half term we’ve managed to squeeze in lots of exciting things!
In literacy, we read the book ‘Billy and the Beast’. We predicted what we thought would happen by just being given the name. We were given pictures from the story, before reading it, to predict what characters might be saying and what could be happening. After reading the story, we planned and wrote out own version. We had to think about a who the beast could be and key features such as other main characters and settings. We learned about the three main parts of a story by breaking down each section and identifying what needed to be included. After this, we wrote Mother’s Day acrostic poems. We then celebrated World Book Day by reading the story ‘Tidy’. We created posters about littering and looking after the world, and wrote some interview questions that we would love to ask the author. We finished off the half term by reading ‘Handa’s Surprise’, linked to our Kenya topic in geography. We tasted fruit from the story and created expanded noun phrases to use when writing the story. We acted it out to remember the order of the animals and fruits and then wrote our own version of the story.
In maths, year 1 children finished off learning about addition and subtraction within 20 where we looked at related facts and missing number problems. Our next unit was place value within 50 where we counted to 50, made groups of tens and ones, partitioned numbers, estimated on number lines and looked at 1 more and 1 less. We also learnt about length and height where we compared, measured using objects and measured in centimetres. Our final unit was mass and volume, where we measured and compared mass, measured and compared volume, and measured and compared capacity. Year 2 children finished learning about multiplication and division by doubling and halving, multiplying and dividing by 2, 5 and 10. We then looked at length and height with measuring in centimetres and metres, measuring in grams and kilograms, measuring in millilitres and litres, comparing, using the four operations and temperature.
We continued our unit in science called ‘exploring everyday materials’. This time, we had to build a structure strong enough to withstand wind, build a waterproof structure, understand the properties of glasses and its uses, understand that materials are used to create a variety of furniture, explore a variety of fabrics and understand their different properties, and explain the uses of materials and why they are suitable. Each lesson, we worked with a partner to explore the materials to use and make additions to our structures. We also tested whether they could withstand a hairdryer (wind) and water (raindrops). Our structures were brilliant and passed the tests.
In geography, we started our learning about Kenya through our key question: ‘Where on Earth?’. We began by having a special visitor in school to teach us about and how to play African drums. We then looked at where Kenya is in the world, the continent, location and ocean. We spent a lesson researching Kenya using the laptops and found out lots of facts about it, including currency, animals, rivers etc. After learning about all this information, we moved onto national parks and wildlife by comparing a game reserve and national park. We investigated each of their features and identified them on maps using keys and symbols. We created our own national parks, giving them a name and drawing our own symbols and key. Our next lesson involved looking at African animals and their significance to Kenya. The ‘Big Five’ are what Kenya is known for. We learnt about why they are called the ‘Big Five’ and their
link to tourism. We finished off the half term by looking at the Maasai tribe and their national park. We researched lots of facts about their culture and how it may differ to our own. It was very interesting to see these differences in life.
DT for this half term was based on pop-up designs. We went down the avenue of pop-up cards for Mother’s Day. We researched pop-up features in books and cards that we had in the classroom, their uses and what they add to the product. We explored materials that we could use, alongside the techniques, such as a fold and cut mechanism and a stand mechanism. We then designed our cards, labelling the mechanism we would use, the resources and the features it would include for our lovely mums. We used our designs to create the cards as carefully as we could, ready to present at our Mother’s Day tea party. We finished off by evaluating whether out finished product showed a part of Mother’s Day, was functional, appealing to a special person, neat and well-made. We were very proud of our creations and our grown-ups were impressed!
Our question this half term in RE was ‘Why does Easter matter to Christians?’. First of all, we looked at Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, as these were celebrated during half term break. We looked at their importance within the Easter celebrations for Christians and what happens during this time. We then learned about Palm Sunday, made our own palm leaves from handprints and lollipop sticks, and then acted this out together. The next event to look at was The Last Supper on Maundy Thursday. We acted out our own last supper with bread and juice, pausing throughout to get the feelings of Jesus, Judas or another disciple. Good Friday was then looked at and the significance of symbols. We ate hot cross buns and discussed why the cross is important to Christians. We learnt about Easter Sunday and its meaning to Christians. We looked at the events leading up to the resurrection and what happened after. This led us into learning how Christians celebrate Easter. We discussed Easter eggs, Simnel cakes, going to Church, eating hot cross buns and so much more.
In PE, we started off the half term with looking at what we already knew about football. We learned how to dibble, pass and shoot, practising these techniques one lesson at a time to best strengthen each one. After we were secure with these, we looked at positions and how we would use these skills to help in a team. We learnt who we would usually be passing to and how to move into a space and defend. We put all of this learning together and practised by playing several games in different positions.
