Friday 24th October
This half-term has flown by and I'm immensely proud of every single child in Wales class. We have had a brilliant first half-term, they have worked so hard and it has been a pleasure to teach them. This week, the children were engrossed in their History lesson learning about the origin of Bonfire Night and the famous plot by Guy Fawkes and 12 others to kill King James I that failed. We had fun acting out the scenario of Guy Fawkes hiding under the Houses of Parliament guarding the 36 barrels of gunpowder, we understood how he must have been feeling and the children wrote a short diary extract from his point of view.
Later in the week, we created some Bonfire Night inspired pictures using oil pastels to draw a range of fireworks and then the children were challenged to draw the Houses of Parliament. I was so proud of their stickability as it isn't an easy building to draw but their pictures all looked amazing and they couldn't wait to take them home to show their families.
Friday 17th October
In Geography this week we've been exploring the sights of Paris in France. We are very fortunate to have Mrs Cornforth working in our school who was born in France and she shared one of her favourite children's books with us called 'Un Lion a Paris' (A Lion in Paris). The children loved sharing this story and discovering some of the most famous landmarks in Paris. We hope soon that Mrs Cornforth will come read the story to us in french. The children learnt how to use symbols in maps to identify the key features and worked with partners to create a map of Paris for the Lion to use when exploring the 'city of love'.
Friday 10th October
KS1 Indoor Athletics Festival
We were lucky to earn a place to take a group of 15 children to a KS1 Indoor Athletics Festival at Gateshead College this Thursday. The children went with Mrs Priestley and Mrs Hunter and had a fantastic morning taking part in seven athletic activities including throws, long jump, hurdles and many team games. The children blew Mrs Priestley and Mrs Hunter away by their positive attitude, impeccable behaviour and real team spirit. We are very proud of all of them! Throughout the year we will have many other sporting opportunities for our Year 2 children to participate in.
Those who stayed at school were equally as amazing and had a wonderful morning taking part in their fundamentals PE lesson and enjoyed some autumn art using their observation, sketching and drawing skills. The autumn sketches they produced are fantastic and they all thoroughly enjoyed their morning.
Friday 3rd October
National Poetry Day Fun!
We had such an exciting time celebrating National Poetry Day! We created amazing acrostic poems at the beginning of the week all about play, filled with creative ideas and fantastic vocabulary. Everyone took great pride in publishing their poems beautifully to share with others. Together, we also learnt and performed My Magic Telescope by Sean Taylor. We added fun actions and lots of sign language to help bring the poem to life. The children used their creativity, teamwork, and imagination to put our own twist on the poem.
Friday 26th September
Science- Investigating Materials
Wales class were all young scientists this week investigating which material would be the most durable for Traction Man's new suit! Working in teams, they used their observation skills to test and compare different materials, recording their results carefully. Everyone showed fantastic teamwork as they shared ideas and worked together to find the best superhero fabric. There was lots of fun, laughter, and brilliant scientific thinking as Wales class became real-life superhero suit designers for the day!
Friday 19th September
Music Workshop- Sea Theme
We always look forward to welcoming Gateshead Authority Music Company to deliver one of their music workshops and this workshop didn't disappoint. The children absolutely LOVED it and a real buzz could be felt in the room. The children had the chance to play a range of musical instruments from drums to a large harmonica. We even finished the workshop with a whole key stage singalong to Sponge Bob Squarepants. A lot of fun was had by all and we are already excited for our Spring term workshop.
Friday 12th September
Take One Book- Pip and Egg
We always look forward to our termly Take One Book weeks where we delve deep into a new picture book and explore the author, illustrator, characters and themes of a story. The children loved this story of Pip and Egg based on the true meanings of friendship. We danced around the classroom to Toy Story class 'You've got a Friend in Me' and discussed the qualities of a friend.
This beautiful book captured the children's interest as the Pip and Egg grow up, begin to change and go their own way but true friendship always finds its way back to each other. I wonder what our next book will be? The children in Language and Literacy reading group are enjoying digger deeper into their current text 'Long Way Home for Wolf' by Rachel Bright and Jim Field.
Friday 5th September
It has been a brilliant first week in Year 2 and the children have settled into class really well. I am so proud of every single one of them for their amazing listening skills, enthusiasm and such great teamwork all week. We've had a fun-filled first week with parachute games, friendship jenga and creating some collage artwork to show how we are all unique but fit together as 'Wales Class Family'.
We look forward to Meet the Teacher next week and we know it is going to be a great year!