WELCOME TO YEAR 2 CONDORS

Condors are large, graceful and strong birds. They have great hunting skills and travel long distances so they can feed themselves and their families. They have brilliant looking skills and listening skills which we will be using within our own Condors class.

This Terms Theme

                                             is...'Once Upon a Time' 
This term we are learning about traditional tales. We will explore the features of a traditional tales and determine what these stories all have in common. As well as retelling traditional examples we will also be writing and performing our own 'twisted tales'. Stay tuned for our end of term learning celebration where we will be performing these to our parents!

(For more information about this term's theme, scroll down to our curriculum map)

P.E & Dance days

P.E. Days are Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Please ensure that your child has the correct kit in school all week. We will ensure that they are sent home at the end of every half term

Home Learning days

Home Learning will be handed out on a Friday and collected in on a Wednesday. This will give you the opportunity to explore aspects of your child's learning if you wish.

Upcoming Events

Friday 26th March- Year two learning celebration

Meet The Team

If there are any issues or concerns, please feel free to come in and see your teacher (Mrs Walker) or alternatively please contact a team leader (Mrs Dowdeswell or Mrs Jarrett).

nwalker@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

adowdeswell@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

sjarrett@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

Academic Year 2018-2019

Summer Term Curriculum Map

12.7.19 Visit from Above Water

Today we were visited by Brendan Price who shared some important advice on how to stay safe in the water. We pretended to be waves so that we could really see how a rip current is formed. There are three main water safety rules, see if you can find out what they are when you look at the pictures!

WB 1.7.19 Condors were visited by Year 5 readers.

This week, we were visited by the Year 5's who had some amazing lift-the-flap stories to share with us. We then shared our traditional tales with them which we wrote earlier this term.

Condors help to spruce up the planters in the playground! Tuesday 25th June 2019

For our Science learning, we have been looking at what plants need to grow and how we need to care for them to ensure they flourish. Mrs White from the Gosling's class, gave us some flowers to plant outside in the main playground. We worked together as a team to dig the holes we needed and placed the plants into the soil carefully. We then took it in turns to water the flowers and we will be responsible for making sure they are watered and flourishing daily. Have a look at the photos to see how well we worked together!

Wednesday 19.6.19- L.Q: Can I use equipment to solve problems?

Today our help was needed! The mean troll from The Three Billy Goats Gruff has broken the Goat's bridge so we had to build them a new one. We worked with our learning partners to follow a set of instructions and used meter sticks to measure out the correct dimensions for our bridge. We even created a hut at the end of the bridge for the Goats to shelter in during the cold weather. Can you see how well we did? 

Tuesday 11.6.19 L.Q:Can I choose and use the most appropriate measuring equipment?

For our Writing journey we have been looking at how to write a set of instructions. Our final piece of writing will be on 'How to create the perfect porridge' so we had a go at making it ourselves first. We also identified some of the food groups that were included in the porridge. We linked it to our Science learning which is looking at the different food groups and how to create a healthy, balanced meal. Look at the pictures to see how tasty our perfect porridge was!

Wb:3.6.19 L.Q:Can I use measuring equipment accurately?

This week, the Condors class have been looking at different types of measuring equipment and learning how to use them accurately. They were asked to help Snow White solve a problem with the 7 Dwarves as they couldn't decide who was the tallest Dwarf! They worked well as a team to measure each Dwarf and then ordered them from smallest to largest for Snow White!

Thursday 23rd May - Outdoor Learning Day

On Thursday Cormorants took part in Outdoor learning day. They completed leaf rubbings, observational drawings and even made a house for the three little pigs! Have a look at our learning below!

Friday 17th May - Into the forest!

As part of our Art learning we have been looking at the illustrations in Anthony Browne's Into the forest. He is famous for hiding pictures inside his illustrations and we tried to do the same, one Condor even created an 'upside down' picture can you find it?

W.B-6.5.19 Similarities and differences between two versions of The Three Little Pigs. 

We have been working together with our learning partners to complete a Venn diagram which shows what is different and what is the same about two versions of a story. We discovered that one story was from the Wolf's perspective (who was actually really nice!) and the other story was from the Pig's perspective. We sorted phrases and decided which story they belonged to. 

W.B-29.4.19 Code breakers,Early morning work!

The Condors class had a very important job to do because Mrs Walker had muddled up all of her padlocks! The class had to work collaboratively to solve mathematical clues to give them a 1, 2 or 3 digit code on a key. They then had to find the matching code on the padlock to unlock it. Well done Condors you managed to unlock all of the padlocks!

Tuesday 23rd April - Little Red Riding Hood

To start our new whole school journey of 'Once upon a time' we have been looking at the story of Little Red Riding Hood. To really got into the story and characters today we acted out our own versions using props! The children were incredible story tellers using their own exciting vocabulary to add impact to their retell. Have  a look at what we got up to below.

Tuesday 26th March - Year 2 Tea Party!

Today Year 2 welcomed their adults in to school to share our learning from this term. We sang the National Anthem, decorated cakes and shared food before coming back to our classes to look at our learning. Thank you for coming!

WB 11th March - Science Week!

This week has been British Science Week and Year 2 have been tasked with the challenge of designing, creating and testing our own floating gardens. We learned that floating gardens are used to help grow crops in areas partial to flooding. We first had to test the materials bought in to see which would be the most suitable to use. We then designed and made our own floating gardens before testing them at the end of the week. Have a look at what we got up to below!

World Book Day 7.3.19

Today was world book day! We all came dressed up as our favourite book character. It was hard to tell which teacher was which as they were all dressed up as Where's Wally! We have enjoyed several book based activities today including: a world book day word search around the school, reading with year 6 pupils and creating our own book covers based on who we came to school dressed as.

Friday 1st March - Year 2 visit Longleat!

On Friday Condors left bright and early to make the journey to Longleat. We had lots of fun singing on the way and thinking about all the animals we might see. We arrived on time and went straight to the house, but unfortunately we were a bit too early so went to look at the animals first. Everyone was amazed at the animals especially the meerkats who ran over our feet! We then went on the boat and were extremely lucky to see the hippos out for their morning swim! We even got to see the gorillas who are normally inside watching tv! The seals came up close to the boat hoping for fish. We spent the rest of the morning looking at the animal enclosures before eating lunch downstairs in Longleat House. After lunch we had a look around the house and many of the children said this was their favourite part of the whole day. We didn't want to leave! The staff commented on how well behaved and inquisitive the children were as they asked thoughtful questions throughout. We then got back onto the bus and headed on safari. We saw rhinos, giraffes, lions, tigers, cheetahs, camels and wolves who were very interested in the food below the bus! After a long day of exploring we headed back to Paignton. The children had an amazing day and I was very proud of their enthusiasm throughout the duration of the day. A huge well done to all of the Condors class who were split between two groups and behaved perfectly all day long. A wonderful day was had by all and I am so proud of everyone!

Monday 11th February - Blubber glove!

As part of our Science learning we have been looking at living things and their habitats. We wanted to investigate how animals in the Arctic survive the extreme temperatures so we made our own 'blubber glove'. We learned that this layer of fat acts as an insulator to keep the heat in! Have a look at our learning below!

Monday 28th January 2019- Creating different shades of colour

Year 2 have been looking at how stamps comprise of different shades of the same colour. We created our own stamp by drawing a self portrait first, then filling it in with different shades of the same colour. We used blue or black to darken our base paint and yellow or white to lighten it. Some of our stamps are on our learning journey wall, feel free to come in and look at them!

Monday 21.1.19 - The Queen comes to visit

Today, we had a very special visitor in our school! We all stood for her entrance and hummed along to the national anthem. We asked her some questions and found out that she does not travel in a taxi but in a royal carriage! We also found out that the Queen has two Dorgis which go with her to every house she lives in (which is quite a few!). She also brought in  bag which weighed 2kg so we could feel how heavy her Coronation crown was!

Friday 11.1.19- Science: Classifying living, not-living and was living objects

For our science learning we looked at how to classify objects and decide if they are living, not-living or was living. First we sorted pictures into Venn Diagrams, then we took our learning outside to observe which things around our school environment could be classified into the categories listed above.

Thursday 10.1.19 -Literacy features of a newspaper

This week we have been looking at the features of a newspaper. We got into groups and looked at real age related newspapers. We identified; the title, headline, photos, paragraphs and captions.

Tuesday 11th December - All aboard The Polar Express!

Today we started our new festive learning journey where we will be learning about the story of The Polar Express. Today we turned our courtyard into a train and with the other passengers retold the story. Have a look at what we got up to below!

Thursday 22nd November - Learning Celebration

On Thursday we invited parents and adults into class to watch our class poem 'We're going on an alien hunt'. The class did so well learning their actions and words. We then shared our learning from the Autumn term so far. Have a look at what we got up to below! If I can condense the video file I will add it to the page!

Monday 19th November - Will it absorb?

In Science this week we have been investigating what happens to water when it is wiped away. We looked at different materials and tested them to see what would happen. We learned that the water is absorbed but different materials can hold different amounts of water. Have a look at our learning below!

Performance Poetry 28/10/18

This week we have been busy performing poetry ready for our open classroom event. We hope you can come and share our learning on the 22nd November. 

Science Materials -11/10/18

This week we have been using interactive QR codes to research facts about materials in our environment. We were able to scan the codes and this gave us a quiz that helped us find out more about materials in our environment.

Thursday 4th September - Space Odyssey comes to White Rock

Today Year 2 were very lucky to be visited by the space dome. We went up to space with Tim Peake and learned all about the planets. We also looked at the stars and constellations! We made rockets using different shapes and straws. Have a look at our great day below!

Science Waterproof and Non-Waterproof  26/09/18

This week we have been learning about waterproof materials. We conducted an investigation to find which materials were waterproof. We found that foil and plastic were two materials that did not let water pass through them. Well done to all the children for their fabulous home learning which supported this!

Paper Mache Planets 20/09/18

This week we have enjoyed working in groups of three to create our own planets. We are going to make our very own solar system for Condors classroom. We used teamwork when covering the balloons with paper mache and are then going to paint the planets appropriate colours after researching facts about our planets.

Place Value 10/9/18

This week we have been learning about place value. We have learned language such as tens and ones and have represented different two digit numbers.

An Astronaut's Diet 6/9/18

This week we have looked at how our lives vary from that of an astronaut. We looked at how they eat in space and how food is transported to the International Space Station. We got to try some dehydrated food.