WELCOME TO YEAR 2 CORMORANTS
Cormorants are medium sized coastal birds who thrive in their environment by working in teams, just like one of our school values, teamwork. Cormorants can often be found diving in to the water simultaneously. Just like the bird, in Cormorants class we can be found diving into our learning together and using our skills in teamwork to thrive successfully together.
THIS TERMS THEME
#ExploreMore
This term our focus will be all about the sea. We will be exploring why boats float and the different materials used to make them. We will be sharing our discoveries at the White Rock Science Museum on Wednesday 7th July 2021.
P.E AND DANCE DAYS
PE days are Tuesday and Friday.
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
Monday 19th April 2021 - First day of the Summer Term
Monday 3rd May 2021 - Bank Holiday
Monday 17th May 2021 - Parent's Evening
Thursday 19th May 2021 - Parent's Evening
Friday 28th May 2021 - Last day of Summer 1
Monday 7th June 2021 - First day of Summer 2
Wednesday 7th July 2021 - Science Fair
Wednesday 14th July 2021 - Pupils Reports
Wednesday 21st July 2021 - Sports Day
Friday 23rd July 2021 - Last day of Summer Term
MEET THE TEAM
If there are any issues or concerns, please feel free to come in and see your teacher (Miss Durnford) or alternatively please contact a team leader (Mr Wingrove or Mr O'Sullivan).
sdurnford@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk
swingrove@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk
losullivan@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk
Dance - 02.06.21
This week Cormorants choreographed our very own 'Under the Sea' dance. We used our previous learning about moving as sea creatures and deep sea divers then we practised moving in unison to create the effects of waves. Have a look at the video below to see our finished dance.
18.6.21 - Art
This week Cormorants have been inspired by our learning about Picasso. We designed our very own ships thinking carefully about the different features our ships would need as well as the materials that we might use to build them.
11.6.21 - Science
This week in Science, Cormorants have been exploring the properties of different materials. We came up with our own experiment to find out which materials would be best to make an umbrella - we decided they had to be waterproof. We then decided whether or not those waterproof materials would be good to build a boat. Have a look at the pictures to see how we got on...
14.5.21 - Dance
This week, Cormorants have been exploring the different creatures that live underwater. We thought carefully about how they move and tried to replicate these movements. We then created our own sequences, moving in unision.
21.5.21 - Writing
This week, Cormorants have been using adjectives to describe a scene from our key text - The Sailing Boat in the Sky by Quentin Blake. We learned that adjectives usually come before nouns in a sentence and tried hard to 'show not tell'. This meant that we had to describe what our characters were feeling using adjectives instead of telling our reader how they felt.
7.5.21 Art
Royal Mail have launched a stamp deign competition to say thank you to key workers. Cormorants completed our designs for a brand new stamp this week and are hoping that our designs are chosen as winners.The 4 winning designs will be printed by Royal Mail and used as actual stamps! There are also lots of other prizes to be won by the runners up. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
30.4.21 Science
This week, Cormorants started exploring different types of materials. We thought carefully about what each material could be used for and sorted them according to their properties. Why don't you ask us what the words 'opaque' and 'transparent' mean?
23.4.21 - Maths
This week Cormorants have been learning about fractions. We started by finding half of a shape and then moved onto quarters. We applied our knowledge of dividing by two to help us and even found out that knowing a quarter of a shape can help us to tell the time to quarter to and quarter past the hour!
31.3.21 Geography
This week, Cormorants have been learning about compass directions in Geography. We looked at different compasses and learned about a mnemonic to help us remember the directions...Never Eat Shredded Wheat! We then went onto the playground to see what we could see in each direction.
19.3.21 - Thank You Key Workers
This week, we were lucky enough to video call with two Covid Heroes. We spoke to a midwife who told us all about the changes to her job since lockdown started and a care worker who visits vulnerable people in their homes. We then wrote thank you messages to different Covid Heroes and explain why we think they are so fantastic!
12.3.21 Welcome Back Cormorants!
What a week! We are so excited to be back in school to see all our friends and get back to our learning.
As well as discussing how it feels to be back in school in PSHE, we have also been learning all about lines of symmetry in Maths and even what an apostrophe does in our Writing sessions. We finished the week with an exciting way of remembering all the different types of punctuation we use in our sentences...we became Kung Fu Punctuation experts! Have a look at the video below to see us in action!
Kung Fu Punctuation.mp4
18/12/2020 Christmas Fun!
This week Cormorants enjoyed our delicious Christmas dinner. It was amazing to see the hall so beautifully decorated and we enjoyed sitting together as a class. We have also been learning part of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'. Have a look at the photos and video below to see how we got on! Merry Christmas everyone!
CORMORANTS Twas the Night.mp4
11/12/2020 Science Learning - Fizzy drinks
This week we have been continuing to learn about how our body stays healthy. As part of this learning we have been exploring why it is important to brush our teeth and the reason we shouldn't eat too much sugar. We began by setting up our own experiment putting egg shells in a fizzy drink and water to see what happened!
We checked after 2 days to find that our egg shells had rotted and were beginning to decay. Now we know what happens to our teeth if we don't brush them after eating sugar!
Incredible Rockets 4.12.20
This week Cormorants have been bringing in the most amazing rockets that they have made for Home Learning. In our Writing, we have been learning about Armstrong the Star Nosed Mole who travels to the moon. Can you spot Armstrong in any of these rockets? Thank you to everyone who helped with the design and construction of these fantastic creations.
Number Lines 20.11.20
This week we have been using number lines to add and subtract in 10s and 1s. We have even learned how to draw our own number lines and some people are now jumping in multiples of 2 and 3!
Diwali Celebrations 13.11.2020
This week we have been busy learning about Diwali. After retelling the story of Rama and Sita, we made traditional lanterns, used to light door and windows to show Rama and Sita the way home. We also did some traditional Bollywood dancing which was great fun! Have a look at the photographs below to see us in action!
Diwali 1.mp4
Diwali 2.mp4
Dance 16.10.20
Cormorants enjoyed dance today. They warmed up with the traffic light game. When Mrs Tyson said green it meant the children walked, amber meant walking on the spot and red meant the children all stopped. The children also played other games including the flight game which had them practicing their spatial awareness and moving at different speeds. What a great session. Well done Cormorants.
Makaton Signing - 9.11.20
We have found (thanks to Mrs Howard!) a new way to join in with and enjoy our favourite songs. We have been learning to use Makaton to sign along rather than singing out loud! It is a great feeling to have all of our friends joining in at the same time. We have been learning lots of different songs, but our favourite in Cormorants is 'You've got a friend in me' by Randy Newman. Have a look at the video below to see us in action!
IMG_0135.MOV
Long Ladder Letters - 2.10.20
This week, Cormorants have been practising our letter formation. We looked carefully at the long ladder letters and thought about where each letter starts and finishes, which direction we need to move our pencils in and what size each letter should be. Have a look at our amazing letter formation below...
Action Verbs - 25.9.20
This week in Literacy, Cormorants have been learning about different word classes. We used adjectives to describe our friends and ourselves. We also took to the playground to find out about action verbs and writing sentences with adverbs!
Next week, we will be using our baby photos to create timelines about ourselves - make sure you come back and have a look!
Asking and answering scientific questions - 18.9.20
As part of our Science journey, we used observation to answer the question 'Why is it important to wash your hands for 20 seconds?'.
First we rubbed 'Glitter Bug' lotion onto our hands to show any unclean areas under the UV light.
We then dipped their hands into cold water and looked at our hands under the UV light - our hands were not clean at all! We also saw that some of the lotion had transferred to our clothing and tables.
The next step was to watch the NHS handwashing song and wash our hands for 20 seconds with soap. When we checked their hands under the light this time most of the lotion was gone.
Have a look at the photos below to see how we got on...
Maths Learning From Our First Week Back - 11.09.20
We have had a great first week learning about the value of numbers from 0-50. We have been practising counting forwards and backwards. We have also been thinking about our new key words (tens and ones) and learning how to represent tens and ones using Maths resources. Have a look at the photos below to see how we got on!
