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

'Around the world in 80 days'

This term our learning is focused around Geography and History. We will be exploring the countries that make up the United Kingdom and learning about key landmarks. In History, we will be learning about the history of flight.

PE AND DANCE DAYS

PE is on a Tuesday and Dance is on a Wednesday.

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

HOME LEARNING DAYS

Home Learning will be set on a Friday and due in on a Wednesday. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

18.04 - First day back

21.04 - National Gardening day

27.04 - Teachers STRIKE day 

1.05 - Bank holiday

02.05 - Teachers STRIKE day 

08.05 - Bank Holiday Kings coronation 

15.05 - KS1 assessments 

26.05 - Last day of term

June - Pride Month

12.06 - Phonics Screening Retakes 

20.06 - Sports day

26.06 - RSHE week

29.06 - Y1 trip to Paignton zoo 

06.07 - Transition day 

07.07 - Summer Fayre 2pm

13.07 - Annual Reports out to parents

25.07 - Last day of term 

MEET THE TEAM 

If there are any issues or concerns, please feel free to come in and see your teacher (Miss Simmonds) or alternatively please contact the Year 2 team leader (Mr Wingrove).

isimmonds@whiterockprimaryschool.co.uk

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

Monday 24th July 2023 - RE 

We finished our RE learning about Judaism this term by having a Condors inspired Shabbat day. Condors designed and made their own candle, as well as making decorations. They also got to make their own Challah bread. They had so much fun!

Tuesday 18th July 2023 - Money Sense

This week as a whole school at White Rock we have been educating children about money by taking part in Money Sense week. In Year 2, we have been thinking about different ways to use money including spending, saving and donating. We have also thought about what is 'a need' and 'a want'. The children understand 'a need' is things like food, water and shelter. They know 'a want' is something they would like but do not need to survive such as toys. The children had a go at coming up with actions to a money poem and also thought about all the things dog owners need to buy for a dog. 

Wednesday 12th July 2023 - Year 2 Learning Celebration

Thank you so much for joining us for the Year 2 Learning Celebration. The children loved being able to share what they have been learning about in Science this term. 

Wednesday 28th June - Dance

Year 3 have been looking at the artwork Naruto Whirlpool, Awa Province by Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige. We have spent four weeks building on to our duet dances. We started with choosing four parts of the picture and adding an action to represent that part, for example a turn for the whirlpool. The following week we added different levels to each picture, then the next week we added different speeds to our four actions on different levels and finally this week we showed our dances to another pair and tried to improve them ready for performance. Take a look at the photos of us sharing with another pair and then the videos of our finished dances. See if you can spot if we have remembered to include a start and end position for our dance.

Tuesday 27th June 2023 - Music

This week in Music, we talked about lots of new vocabulary including rhythm, pitch, tempo, and unison. We listened carefully to a song and used our hands and feet to find the rhythm. Then we created our own rhythms using dots and dashes. After that, we used instruments to create rhythms with different pitches and tempo. We then put all our newly learned skills together to play and sing in unison.

Tuesday 20th June 2023 - Sports Day 

Thank you so much to everyone who came to Sports Day to cheer on the children. They had a lot of fun taking part in the carousel of activities and especially enjoyed the picnic on the field at lunch time. 

Monday 5th June 2023 - Geography 

Today Condors took part in a geography day. They have been learning about map skills including making their own key. To help their learning, Condors used an old map of White Rock and walked around the school grounds to find out what has changed and add this to their map. When they got back to the classroom they had a go at making their own map of their local area including creating their own key. 

Monday 5th June 2023 - History 

This week Condors took part in a history day where they learnt all about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. They learnt about Brunel's life as well as some of his biggest achievements that he designed and built. Condors even got to have a go at designing and making their own bridge. They put their bridge to the test to see if it was stable enough for a train to travel over it!

Monday 22nd May 2023 - Science 

In Science this week, Condors have been learning about food chains. They have learnt that in a food chain each one relies on the other to survive. After this, Condors had a go at ordering different food chains as well as using the key vocabulary 'predator', 'producer' and 'consumer' to describe the food chains.

Monday 15th May 2023 - Art 

Today in Art we started learning about the artist Utagawa Hiroshige. We have begun planning ideas for our own print in the style of Hiroshige. We went outside to the field and chose three flowers to sketch in our art book. Eventually, we will have a go at printing these flowers using a technique called woodblock printing.

Friday 12th May 2023 - Religious Education

This week, Condors have been learning about symbols. We discussed what a symbol was and where we might see them. We talked about why we have symbols and then used iPads to take photos of symbols that we see everyday in our classroom.

Tuesday 9th May 2023

Year 2 have been enjoying the Dance Club this half term and this week created dances to Katy Perry's Firework. They were trying to use different formations within their dances. Take a look at the photos below.

Friday 5th May 2023 - Kings Coronation celebration

Condors thoroughly enjoyed celebrating the Kings Coronation this week. They have been learning all about the Coronation in assemblies and in their classroom. They also learnt two songs as a class which they sung today as a whole school in assembly. The children enjoyed waving their flags as they sung, which they made earlier in the week. The children also loved wearing red, white and blue to school today.

Wednesday 19th April 2023 - Writing 

This week Condors have started their new writing journey based on the key text 'No-Bot the Robot' by Paul Linnet and Sue Hendra. In their first lesson today, we read the story and talked about the reader and purpose of the story. We discussed how it is a comedy story and it has been written to make the reader laugh. The children then had a go at ordering the key parts of the story with their learning partner. Finally, they had the chance to act out the story pretending to be No-Bot the Robot and do all of the things he does!

Tuesday 18th April - Physical Education

Wet weather kept Condors inside for their first athletics lesson of summer term, but this didn't stop their enthusiasm! Children had lots of practise on their egg and spoon techniques and learning how to hurdle safely. We then combined all these skills together to see who could hurdle without dropping the egg!

Thursday 30th March 2023 - Geography

This week, Condors had a geography day where they learnt all about the world! They started the day by considering the differences between the four seasons and thinking about which months are in which season. The children also looked at the continents and oceans of the world, which we have been learning as a whole school during assemblies using songs to help us. Finally the children were taught the difference between human and natural features. We thought about the human and natural features that are in our local area. 

Friday 24th March 2023 - Library

Every Friday, Condors always look forward to visiting the library! We go down to our enchanted forest library as a whole class, where we enjoy a book together next to our reading tree. The children then have time to choose a new library book to take home for the week. At White Rock, we think it is very important to promote reading for pleasure and encourage all children to develop a love of reading. We are very lucky that our library is filled with a huge range of books so there is something for everyone!

Friday 17th March 2023 - Red Nose Day

Thank you for all the donations for Red Nose Day! Condors enjoyed taking part in different activities such as: a red nose and spoon race, pin the red nose on the celebrity, guessing how many sweets are in the jar and colouring their own red nose.

Wednesday 8th March 2023 - Science

Today in Science, Condors took part in an investigation! They were looking at birds with different size and shape beaks and thinking about how this adaptation impacted the food they eat. We used smarties to represent seeds, jelly tots to represent bugs and spaghetti to represent worms. The children used tweezers and straws as the bird beaks and had to try and fill up a cup with food which represented a birds stomach. After the investigation the children discussed what they found. They talked about which food was easier/harder to pick up and how beaks have adapted to help birds eat their food.

Tuesday 7th March 2023 - World Book Day 

Condors have had so much fun celebrating World Book Day this week! Thank you for getting all of the amazing outfits for the children! They took part in a learn to draw session where they had a go at drawing Dave Pigeon from the books by the author Swapna Haddow and illustrator Sheena Dempsey. They also did a role on the wall focusing on adjectives used to describe these characters. Later in the day the children used clay to make their favourite book character. 

Tuesday 28th February 2023 - PSHE 

This week Condors have been learning about what fair trade means. They have been looking at this in house assemblies as well as in their PSHE learning. The children looked at different food and had a look on a map to see which country it came from. We discussed what fair trade means for the farmers and workers who produce this food. 

Friday 24th February 2023 - Fundraising

This week everyone at White Rock has been fundraising for the ShelterBox appeal to help those in need in Turkey and Syria because of the devastating earthquakes. Thank you so much for the donations for the colouring competition, non-uniform day and the cake sale!

Thursday 23rd February 2023 - Guided Reading 

Each week Condors take part in Guided Reading. Two groups of children will read with an adult where they read a variety of texts including fiction and non-fiction. They will be involved in a group discussion and answer questions led by the adult. The focus of this discussion varies and may include a focus of comprehension, inference, prediction, summarising, language etc. The other children will take part in independent activities when not reading with an adult. Activities may be based around phonics, spelling or comprehension. We also ensure children have an opportunity to choose a book from the book shelf to promote reading for pleasure.

Wednesday 8th February 2023 - Maths

In Maths this week, Condors have continued learning about shape. They have been focusing on identifying and counting faces, edges and vertices for different 3D shapes. Condors were then able to have a go at making their own 3D shape. The paper straws represented the edges and the blu tack represented the vertices. They had so much fun!

Wednesday 8th February - Computing

This week Condors have been using the algorithm action and singing the algorithm song. They have been following an algorithm to draw a Strange Character designed by Mrs Broderick.

Tuesday 7^th February – Computing – Safer Internet Day assembly

Today is Safer Internet Day and we marked this by holding a whole school assembly.

During the assembly each year group shared their own online safety song or poem with the rest of the school. They had all worked really hard to learn their pieces and this level of effort was clear to see in their confident performances.

The Digital Leaders had written their own poem, which will appear on the school website once they have filmed and edited it into a video.

Friday 3rd January 2023 - Writing

We started a new Writing journey this week. Our key text is Mrs Armitage and the Big Wave (link to story below). We started by listening to the story and thinking about how the author wanted us to feel. We talked about how he achieved that and which parts of the story made it funny. We made a class story map to help us retell the story in our own words. Finally, we came up with freeze frames to show different parts of the story.

Friday 3^rd February 2023 - Numbers 1-15 - Spanish

Señorita Head was so impressed with Year 2 this week. iMaravilloso!

We re-capped numbers 1-10 and we learnt 11-15 in Spanish. We noticed that 11-15 have a “th” sound at the end of the word.

We practised the numbers using different voices. The children really enjoyed this.iQué fantastico!

We listened to a Spanish number song and Señorita Head used three puppets (Pedro, Carlota, and Rocky) to help!

The children were excited to sing the CHOCOLATE song in Spanish. We also talked about Churros and that Spanish people like to dip them into CHOCOLATE. iQué delicioso!

Here are numbers 1 to 15 for children to practise at home. iVamos!

1= uno

2=dos

3=tres

4=cuatro

5=cinco

6=seis

7=siete

8=ocho

9=nueve

10=diez

11=once

12=doce

13=trece

14=catorce

15=quince

We played lots of Spanish interactive games  using Babelzone. Don’t forget you can access Babelzone at home. Children should have the username and password in their reading records.

Friday 27th January - DT 

This week we have been using our DT skills to make a stable structure. Using the book 'Outdoor Wonderland' as inspiration we have been making miniature dens. We also had to consider our current Maths focus - shape to form shapes from the wooden rods in order to build a pyramid. Joining the rods was tricky so we had to work hard on our persistence skills and make sure we worked as a team. After we knew we had a stable structure, we had lots of fun collecting leaves from the woodland area to camouflage our dens. We glued them on to the plastic sheet that covered the structure. Look how proud we are of our finished dens!

Spring Term - Week 3 - w/c 16.01.23

This week in PSHE, Condors have been learning about earning, saving and spending. We have discussed how adults can do lots of different jobs to earn money, which is called wages. The children have considered different ways to keep money safe including: the bank, a purse or wallet, piggy bank and a trusted adult. There was lots of different scenarios and the children worked with their learning partner to decide the best place to store their money to keep it safe.

Spring Term - Week 2 - w/c 09.01.23

In Science, Condors have started learning about living things. Condors went outside and explored the woodland area to find different microhabitats and minibeasts living there. The children have learnt all microhabitats need to provide food, water, air and shelter. We took some microscopes with us to have a closer look!

Spring Term - Week 1 - w/c 02.01.23

Condors have had a brilliant start back to school after the Christmas holidays! In Maths, they have started learning about Money. This week Condors were focusing on recognising different coins and putting them in order, starting with the smallest value to the biggest. They have also looked at different notes and looking at how much they are worth. 

Autumn Term - Week 14 - w/c 12.12.22

In History, Condors have been learning about the Victorian era. They have been comparing what school is like for children today compared to Victorian children. They have been considering the similarities and differences between them. At the end of their learning, Condors took part in a debate to argue whether Victorian schools were better than schools today. The children had a go at debating from both view points and made sure they explained their reason why.

Autumn Term - Week 13 - w/c 5.12.22

This week we had a music day! We spent the whole day exploring different musical instruments including drums and xylophones. We learned about low and high pitch, and even learned some new music vocabulary. We now know that lento means slow, allegro means fast, piano means quiet, mezzo forte means medium volume and forte means loud! In Maths, we are now learning about subtraction. We have been using our dienes and a number line to help us work out the answer to different subtraction calculations. 

Autumn Term - Week 12 - w/c 28.11.22

This week Condors have been learning how to spell different homophones. The children have learnt homophones are words which sound the same but have different meanings. They have learnt 'be' and 'bee', 'to' 'two' and 'too' and 'blue' and 'blew'. They have practised this by putting them into sentences using the correct word. They have also had a go at some pyramid spelling where they spell the word letter by letter in the shape of a pyramid.

Autumn Term - Week 11 - w/c 21.11.22

This week in Maths, Condors have continued learning about addition. They have been using their dienes to help them add two 2-digit numbers. They added the tens before adding the ones.  After this they would then write their addition calculation in a number sentence on their whiteboards. Keep up the hard work Condors!

Autumn Term - Week 10 - w/c 14.11.22

This Friday it was Children in Need. Condors had an assembly where they learnt about the importance of Children in Need. After the assembly they got to design their own Pudsey bear! There were also some brilliant Pudsey inspired outfits. Thank you again to everyone who has donated. The final amount raised will be announced in Monday's assembly!

Autumn Term - Week 9 - w/c 07.11.22

On Monday, Condors had an art day. They were learning all about Vincent Van Gogh. Condors looked closely at his famous paintings and had a go at experimenting with different line marks. We discussed the effect this had on Van Gogh's self-portrait. At the end of the day, the children drew their own self-portrait in the style of Van Gogh. Have a look at some of our amazing work!

Autumn Term - Week 8 - w/c 31.10.22

On Thursday, it was Outdoor Learning Day. We decided to do our Spelling lesson outside in the woodland area. The children are learning to spell words with the 'ee' phoneme in. The children had to go on a hunt to find all the words with alternative graphemes in that all made the 'ee' phoneme. They all had lots of fun!

Autumn Term - Week 7 - w/c 17.10.22

In Design and Technology, Condors designed, made and ate their own fruit kebab! They made sure they were healthy but most importantly delicious! This was cross curricular learning with our Writing journey where the children wrote instructions on how to make a fruit kebab.

Autumn Term - Week 6 - w/c 10.10.22

This October at White Rock we are celebrating Black History Month. We are really enjoying learning about different inspirational black people and the impact they have had on the world. This week we had an African Dance Day. Year 2 were lucky enough to have a workshop where we learnt some of the dance moves. We all had so much fun! Ask me if I can show you any of the dance moves at home.

Autumn Term - Week 5 - w/c 03.10.22

In Science, our current topic is Animals including humans. We are learning about what humans need to survive such as food, water, etc. Condors were very excited to take part in an investigation this week! They wanted to be able to answer the question 'Why is it important to wash your hands for 20 seconds?'. To start the investigation, the children put glitter bug potion on their hands which showed up all the bacteria. They then washed their hands with just water and used our special UV torch to see the germs on their hands. They then washed their hands for 20 seconds using soap and used the torch again. The children found that after washing their hands properly for 20 seconds with soap nearly all of the germs were gone!

Autumn Term - Week 4 - w/c 26.09.22

In Dance this term, Condors have been practising some Zumba! This links to our science learning about being healthy and active. We have noticed that when we dance, our heart beats faster and we get out of breath. Each week Condors have been able to remember more of the moves. We are already looking forward to our next Dance lesson!

Autumn Term - Week 3 - w/c 19.09.22

Every Friday afternoon Condors are taught Spanish by Senorita Head. They will continue to be taught by Senorita Head every year at White Rock. They have been learning how to say their name, say different colours and learning some Spanish songs. The children love dressing up and using the puppets Pedro and Rocky to help them with their learning. 

Autumn Term - Week 2 - w/c 12.09.22

In Writing this week, we have started our new journey based on the book 'This is how we do it' by Matt Lamothe. At the end of this journey the children will write their own autobiography. Condors have been learning some kung fu punctuation moves to help them when writing their sentences. They have learnt moves for a capital letter, full stop, comma, exclamation mark and question mark. Ask me if I can show you this at home!

Autumn Term - Week 1 - w/c 05.09.22

Condors have had a very busy first week back at school! They have all been amazing at getting settled back into school and getting stuck in with their learning! In Maths this week, Condors have been learning about place value. They have been using dienes and counters to represent different numbers up to 20. They are confident at describing these numbers using the words 'tens' and 'ones'. Keep up the great work Condors!