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Orchard Primary

& Pre-School

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Orchard Primary & Pre-School

"Small enough to care, Big enough to inspire"

This week we have learnt...

Spring 1 Week 5

 

We have taken 140 photographs this week which means it must have been a fairly exciting week. On Tuesday Year 2 attended the gymnastics festival at Flics in Worcester. The session was lead by some of the Pershore High School leaders... children that Mr Bayliss taught when they were in Year 2. This week we've also been taste testing our Victorian lemon curd, finishing of our final Grace Darling mission (rescuing the survivors from the Forfarshire / sea), completing out final observations of our cress experiment and creating some William Morris inspired stained glass windows. PHEW! I guess that's where the 140 photos have come from. 

Spring 1 Week 4

 

This week we've been learning about Victorian children; at school and in the workplace. We learnt some Victorian school rules and made comparisons between our lives at Orchard Primary. We then on Wednesday this week role-played some of the jobs Victorian children may have had: chimney sweeps, bird scarers and servants. Hopefully Year 2 realised that these jobs wouldn't have been as fun every day without our friends around. In D&T this week we also made our own Victorian treat... Mrs Wheatley's famous Victorian lemon curd. We will taste test our creation next week and this will form the basis of our instructional writes over the next two weeks. 

Spring 1 Week 3

 

This week we've continued to embed our knowledge of the Grace Darling rescue through our Commando Joe missions as well as beginning to look at Victorian foods. In our D&T lesson this week we tasted two Victorian foods, one that the richer Victorians may have eaten and one that the poorer Victorians may have eaten. We tastes Victoria Sponge Cake and GRUEL!!! I think everyone in Year 2 would have much rather to have been at one of Queen Victoria's tea parties instead of in the work houses eating gruel!

Spring 1 Week 2

 

This week we've continued to learn about the Victorians in our topic; specifically Victorian toys. We've compared Victorian toys to our favourite toy at home, made our very own thaumatrope and have designed a ball & cup ready to make next week (these photos will be uploaded all together next week). On Friday 17th Year 2 dressed up as Victorians because we received a special visit from 'The History Man'. This was a fantastic opportunity to learn and have a hands on experience with real life Victorian artefacts. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves! 

Spring 1 Week 1

 

It's the first week back after the Christmas break and we've hit the ground running. On Monday we were visited by a mystery lady dressed very strangely; we asked questioned and used the props she was holding to make guesses of who she could be. We learnt that she was Grace Darling, a Victorian heroine, and our topic this 1/2 term will be all about the Victorians. In History we learnt a little about Queen Victoria and some of the inventions / laws that have impacted our lives today and created a human timeline. In COJO we've began acting our missions pretending to be Grace Darling to help us understand the story as well as how brave she was. This week we had to get from the lighthouse to the row boat in the night before our boat was washed away. In Science we are focusing on plants and started off our topic by refreshing our knowledge of some of the key vocabulary from Year 1. 

Year 2's Christmas Performance 2024

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Autumn 2 Week 6

 

The end of the Autumn term is fast approaching but Year 2 are still full speed ahead! In Science this week, after our research / investigation, last week created our own material that could bend, squash, twist and stretch... SLIME! (sorry about that folks) It also involved lots of measuring like we've been practicing in our Maths lessons. This week we've also created an art project focusing on texture; Year 2 created the texture of oceans using a combination of chalk, paint and salt as well as a technique of scraping paint away to give the illusion of wood for our pirate ships. In Literacy we've been learning about diary entries; in order to write about life as a pirate... Year 2 spent a lesson acting out some pirate chores: scrubbing the deck, washing the captain's parrot, getting dressed (this chore had to go first), carrying the cannon balls, making the stew and unknotting the rigging. 

Autumn 2 Week 5

 

This week in science we tested materials that could bend, twist, squash and stretch. Although we found only a couple of materials that could do all four, next week we will be making our own material that can (prepare to get messy). In geography we learnt about compass directions and grid references and practiced compass directions out on the playground. In D&T we created our junk model pirate ships, applying our knowledge from last week of floating materials. Although a couple of ships toppled over, they all floated! Buddy our cheeky class elf delivered our Christmas tree and class decorations on Monday so Year 2 hung their penguin decorations that we finished last week. We also won the attendance award AGAIN this week... because that's how we roll in Year 2. 

Autumn 2 Week 4

 

This week in science we have been testing materials that float. We had great fun testing each material (as well as which could make the biggest splash) and challenged a few misconceptions that we had. We then in D&T used our knowledge of the materials to design our 'junk model pirate ships' ready to build next week. Who will be successful in keeping their ship afloat? In computing this week we were introduced to our second key word - de-bugging. We learnt that a bug was a problem in our algorithm and de-bugging was fixing our code. We were challenged with writing the algorithm for Beebot before sending him on his way; it had to be one set of instructions unlike last week when we chunked the instructions into smaller steps. 

Autumn 2 Week 3

 

This week in Science we completed an experiment around transparent, translucent and opaque plastic and glass items. We used torches to shine at the item to make our decisions. In geography this week we've been looking at maps. First we looked at some real life maps and discussed the purpose of a key. We then designed our own treasure maps (using the Dinosaur Who Pooped a Pirate book); practicing creating our own keys. In Friday assembly, instead of Celebrations we performed our CIN song to the entire school (Heather Small - Proud). I'm sure you'll all agree that we are super proud of Year 2's effort!

Heather Small - Proud

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Autumn 2 Week 2

 

I'm not sure how we've fitted it all in but this week .... on Tuesday we had Wonderdome. Year 2 went on an adventure into space and learnt all about our solar system. We had an amazing experience but because of how dark it was in the dome the photos didn't come out very well. In Science we have also began investigating materials and completed an experiment around how paper, wood and cardboard could be manipulated. Which materials would bend, tear, stretch etc. In literacy we finished our Story Map and created Tom hill sliders to practice re-telling our story as well as embellishing the sentences verbally before we began writing the story the following day.  We then created pop-up pirates (alongside stitching our penguins) using the same skill to begin learning the parts of a pirate ship. Hopefully everyone knows crow's nest, mast, sail and rigging now. As well as all of this we've had Children In Need, dressed as pirates (as you do) and even squeezed some phonics and maths in...

Autumn 2 Week 1

 

We've jumped straight back into life in Year 2 for our Autumn 2 topic. On Monday in literacy we were presented with a feelie bag of items. We quickly worked out that our new topic may have something to do with pirates. We hot - seated a pirate to think of all the questions we'd want to ask a pirate or what we'd like to learn about pirates during our topic. In D&T we continued to create our penguin bauble;  these are really starting to take shape and Mrs Marks thinks we may only be 2 or 3 weeks away from completion. In computing we practiced being robots and completed our first lesson looking at instructions / algorithms. In art we created Armistice Day artwork to show our support to the Poppy Appeal. We listened to audio from WW1 trench and drew, using charcoal, the images that we were thinking of. We then layered our pictures with poppies as we learnt that this was the flower that grew on the battlefields after the war. On Monday we will be participating in our school Remembrance Service where everyone in Year 2 will lay a poppy as part of the service.

Autumn 1 Week 8

 

 That's our Autumn 1 (8 week) half term wrapped up! In our final computing lesson we put our understanding of computers, input and output to the test. We learnt that a BeeBot is a computer with input and output! Next half term we will use this knowledge when we start to look at programming.In Science this week we looked at the differences between carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. We learnt what these words meant and applied them to all of the animal groups we've learnt this 1/2 term. We also completed our first Now Press Play mission of Year 2. In our mission we were required to put our knowledge of animal groups and what they eat to the test and track down some animals that had gone missing after a plane crash. We learnt that humans are an example of mammals. We knew that animals needed air, shelter, good and water but do humans (particularly baby humans) need additional resources for survival?  

Autumn 1 Week 7

 

 In Science the children looked at their amphibian habitats from the previous week. Although we didn't manage to lure any amphibians into our habitats we did get lots of insects including one poisonous caterpillar ... no touching! In our final Steve Backshall mission we came across a whale trapped in a discarded fishing net. We couldn't find any whales so we were going with dragons stuck in fishing nets. In our final mission, we discussed teamwork, communication and the character skills we demonstrated. We will be back for more Commando Jo in the Spring term. 

Autumn 1 Week 6

 

This week Year 2 were fortunate enough to visit the Cotswold Widlife Park. This was a perfect opportunity to put all of our animals knowledge from the past 6 weeks to the test as well as having a talk about penguins from a zoo keeper. The pictures speak for themselves and Mr Bayliss can't wait to write the our trip recounts over the next couple of weeks... hopefully our trip highlight wasn't our lunches!

Autumn 1 Week 5

 

SOOO much has happened this week in our topic lessons. In Science we put our knowledge of what animals need to survive to create our own amphibian habitats... hopefully next week we'll have lured the odd frog! In COJO this week Steve and the crew had to rescue animals that were stuck in a tree. Should we coax them down with treats or climb the trees to rescue them? No thank you! Let's poke them with a massive stuck until they fall and then catch them when they eventually fall. Great teamwork to make sure that they were caught safely in our nets. In D&T we have started sewing and have practiced our running stitch; we started off using hoops and bodies before using needle and thread. We were so good Mrs Marks has said that we don't even need our sewing driving licences! In R.E., to finish off the week, we learnt about the Jewish New Year celebration Rosh Hashanah. We ate apple with honey to bring in the New Year which starts today - October 4th. 

Autumn 1 Week 4

 

This week we finished our Autumn 1 art project and  we will hopefully be making a display of our creations next week to share with you all. We will also next week be starting our D&T project that will run for the next few weeks. In COJO this week Steve managed to lose his keys to the van... this meant Year 2 were forced to create a shelter or risk being attacked by some of the Bhutan wildlife. In Science this week we have moved onto learning about fish. Although Year 2 were already pretty confident in identifying fish; we looked in a little more detail at the special physical properties of fish. We used magnifying glasses to study scales, fins and the gills. 

Autumn 1 Week 3

 

This week we have continued with art project and have been focusing on charcoal. We looked at various techniques using charcoals and how to create different shades of black / grey. We used this knowledge to practice creating baby penguins. Next week we will be drawing our own penguins, using the charcoal to colour them before adding them to our Antarctica sunset. We have also this week been fortunate enough to have RockSteady in for a workshop focusing on being in a rock band! Hopefully Orchard Primary will be forming their own band in the next few weeks. In CoJo Steve and the gang (Year 2) have been rescuing endangered snake eggs from crocodile infested waters (as you do on a Friday afternoon). Year 2 had to work in a team in a tricky situation or risked being eaten alive!

Autumn 1 Week 2

 

This week we have continued with our animals topic and have focused on birds. What makes a bird a bird? Do all birds fly? What do birds need to survive? Once we had learnt a little about the common features of birds we created some binoculars to go bird watching (thank you all for the loo rolls). This week in COJO Steve Backshall and his team (Year 2) had to work as a team to rescue endangered turtles. In art we started a project that we'll be working on over the next few weeks. This week we focused on an Antartica sunset and put our knowledge of colour to good use to create a spectrum of purple for our night skies. Year 2 also were the first winners of the top attendance trophy; with a class attendance for the week of over 97%. We celebrated our achievement with an extra 15 minutes play time with the playground all to ourselves. 

Autumn 1 Week 1

 

It's the first week of Year 2! This week, as well as getting to know the new routines, classroom and re- familiarising ourselves with school life, we have jumped straight into our Autumn 1 topic. On the first day of term we were presented with a mysterious egg. We made predictions about what might be in our egg and what our new story might be about. As the week continued our egg hatched to reveal a baby penguin and our new story for the 1/2 term... Geronimo! In topic we spoke about our ideal classroom and wrote some pledges to make this year our best ever; we created some symmetry portraits to accompany our promises. In COJO we started our first Steve Backshall mission where we had to decide on the resources we'd pack on a jungle adventure! Our first mission encouraged collaboration and communicating as a team as we were only allowed to pack a some of the items on offer ... we sadly weren't able to pack everything. 

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