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

'Be Curious!' 

This term the children will be exploring the work of innovators and inventors. They will understand how innovative people think critically and be able to display some of these skills when making designing and creating in various curriculum subjects. 

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 25th April- First Day of Summer 1

Friday 27th May- Last Day of Summer 1

Monday 6th June- Non Pupil Day

Tuesday 7th June- First Day of Summer 2

Tuesday 26th July- 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 the team leader (Mr Wingrove).

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

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

Summer Term - Week 7 - Wk. Commencing 11.6.22

What a busy week we have had! We enjoyed the sunshine during our first proper sports days in 2 years. It was so much fun taking part in the field events and the track races. We especially enjoyed sharing this with our adult and having a picnic lunch together on the field.

Summer Term - Week 10 - Wk. Commencing 4.7.22

This week we got to meet our new Year Three teacher and spend time in our new classroom. We did lots of exciting Year Three learning and Miss Brewer answered our questions about September. We are all now very excited to start Key Stage Two after the holidays.

Summer Term - Week 9 - Wk. Commencing 27.6.22

What another exciting week in Cormorants! This week we became programmers in our Computing lesson with Mrs Broderick. We used Purple Mash to create our own instruction sequences and then used our debugging skills to make sure that everything worked as it should.

Summer Term - Week 8 - Wk. Commencing 20.6.22

In Art this week, we used our observational skills to create drawings. We learned how to create different types of lines using just our pencils. We then went outside to find an object that we could use in our final printing project at the end of term.

Summer Term - Week 6 - Wk Commencing 6.6.22

What a great first week back we have had! In Maths, we have started learning about measure. First, we used non standard units of measure, like cubes, to compare the lengths of different objects. We then moved on to using rules and metre sticks to measure more accurately. 

Summer Term - Week 5 - Wk Commencing 23.5.22

This week Cormorants had an amazing time celebrating Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee. We really enjoyed our whole school assembly and singing our jubilee song to the rest of the school. We made our own crowns and we had a whole school picnic lunch too. The tables were decorated with the printed corgi bunting that we made earlier in the week. After lunch, we joined in with the whole school dance on the field. It was a great day!

Summer Term - Week 4 - w/c 16.05.22

In Science, Cormorants have been learning about what plants need to grow. We decided to test our knowledge by designing our own experiment.  We planted some cress seeds and we are going to give some light, some water and some both water and light to see which plants grow the best. We predicted that the seeds that have light and water will be healthier. Check back here to see what we find out!

Summer Term - Week 3 - w/c 09.05.22

This week in Art Cormorants have been learning about printing. We started by exploring the work of the Japanese artist Hiroshige. We then went out and found interesting natural items that we could use to create our own prints.

Summer Term - Week 2 - w/c 02.05.22

This week we were very excited when Miss Durston told us that we would be learning to play the violin in Music. We were very curious to find out the different types of music violins could play and asked her lots of questions. We then learned how to properly hold the violin. We even got to watch a live performance from Miss Durston! 

Summer Term - Week 1 - w/c 25.04.22

Cormorants have had a busy week back at school after the Easter holidays! In Computing the children were using Purple Mash to create their own music. They had to think of a story to create the music to, for example Alice in Wonderland or The Three Little Pigs. They could use different sound effects to create the beat. Some children used drums and clapping while others used animal noises or scary noises such as doors creaking to really set the scene. They all sounded amazing!

Wk. Beg. 28.3.22 Week 5

This week in Maths, Cormorants have been making 3d shapes! We carefully counted out the correct number of straws to represent edges and Blu Tack to represent the vertices. It was quite tricky at times but we demonstrated perseverance and finally made our shapes. Can you see which 3d shape we made?

Wk. Beg. 21.3.22 - Week 4

This week we were lucky enough to be visited by the Paddleboat Theatre Group. We watched an amazing play with exciting and hilarious characters. Here are some of our reviews...

'It's the best play I've ever seen!' - Poppy 

'I really, really enjoyed that.' - Annabell  

'My favourite character was Mr Whatsit' - Connor

Wk. Beg. 14.3.22 - Week 3

What another busy week for Cormorants! As well as raising money for Red Nose Day by coming to school dressed as Heroes or wearing red, we also got to participate in some fun red-nose themed activities. These included pin the red nose, nose and spoon races and guess how many red noses in the jar!

We also took part in a Sports Festival run by our Year Six Sports Captains. We tried lots of different activities including rugby and throwing and catching.

Wk. Bg. 7.3.22 - Week 2

This week we have been learning about a significant figure in History. We learned that Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon and that he came up with the famous quote 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'. We ordered key events in his life by creating our own timelines.

Wk Beg 28.2.22 - Week 1

This week is World Book Day. Cormorants came dressed up as our favourite book characters. We had lots of fun activities, including a whole school assembly and a shared reading activity with children from Year Three and Year Six.

Wk. Beg. 14.2.22 Week 7

In Computing this week, we used the Beebots to practise our programming. We had to work together and think of the correct directional language to use in order to move the Beebot through the maze.

Wk. Beg. 7.2.22 Week 6

In Science, Cormorants have been learning the difference between things that are living, things that were once alive and things that were never alive.

Which of these do you think is alive, which was alive and which has never been alive?

We found out that in order to be alive, things need to breath, move, grow, get rid of waste, reproduce, react to their environment and eat. We then went on a walk to find examples of each.

Wk. Beg. 31.1.22 - Week 5

Cormorants have been making weekly visits to our school library. We get to choose from a huge selection of story books that we can take home and share with our adults and siblings. We also enjoy sharing these stories with our friends in school, and sitting in the super comfy library seats.

We visit the library every Monday afternoon, please remember to bring your books back in to school so you can exchange it for a new one!

Wk. Beg. 24.1.22 - Week 4

It's been another busy and fun filled week for Cormorants. We are extremely proud that after all our hard work at home, we won the Mathletics trophy for the second time!

We have also been learning new skills in Design and Technology where we designed and built our very own stable structures. We thought really carefully about how our designs would be 'fit for purpose' then followed our own instructions to build them. Have a look at the photo's to see our amazing miniature dens!

Wk Beg 17.1.22 Week 3

This week we have been exploring adaption in Science. We found out that animals adapt to their environment over many years. We completed an experiment to find out how a layer of fat/blubber can help animals who live in cold habitats. We placed our hands in ice water and tested to see how long we could stand it. We then put our hands into a 'blubber glove' and found that we could leave our hands in the water for much longer! 

Wk Beg 10.1.22 - Week 2

In Art this week, Cormorants used our colour layering skills to create stunning sunset pictures. We learned that you need to blend two colours together to create a smooth colour join. Have a look at the results below!

Wk Beg 03.01.22 - Week 1

Cormorants have had a fantastic first week back after the Christmas holidays. We have been looking at money this week. We reminded ourselves about the value of each coin and came up with some 'Top Tips' to help us count different amounts of money. We also used base 10 to show the value of different coin combinations. 

Merry Christmas from Cormorants!

We have started learning about different types of poetry and today we looked at some performance poems before creating our own...we found it VERY DIFFICULT not to sing and some of you may recognise the words!

...The one where we forgot not to sing along!

Autumn Term - W/C 13/12/21

Today was our eagerly awaited Christmas Dinner and the hall looked amazing. We were all very excited and enjoyed listening to the Christmas music as we tucked into turkey and all the trimmings and pulled our crackers. We even had gingerbread men and ice cream for dessert! Have a look at the photos below to see what happened...

Autumn Term - W/C 6.12.21

This week Cormorants have been getting in the festive mood in our Dance lesson. Mrs Tyson taught us part of the 'Hot Chocolate' dance sequence from the Polar Express, we then added our own movements in small groups. Have a look at the video below to see how we got on!

 Autumn Term Two - Week 1 w/c 1.11.21 - Outdoor Learning Day

This week Cormorants took our Science learning outside to celebrate Outdoor Learning Day. We have been exploring animal habitats and today we learned what a micro-habitat is. We found lots of micro-habitats in our school field as well as the mini-beasts that live there!

Autumn Term - Week 7 w/c 18/10/21 - Design and Technology

This week Cormorants combined our Science and Design and Technology learning to make our very own fruit kebabs. We learned two new grips for chopping using a knife...the claw and the bridge! We also thought carefully about the safety and hygiene rules we needed to follow to keep ourselves safe when cooking.

Autumn Term Week 6 W/C 11th October 2021 - Music

This week, Cormorants explored the new vocabulary allegro and lento in Music. We discovered that lento means 'slow' and allegro means 'fast'. We used this new knowledge to play patterns of different tempos on the drums.

Autumn Term Week 5 w/c 4th October 2021: Glitterbug Science Experiment

This term in Science, Cormorants have been learning all about what animals, including humans, need to stay healthy. This week, we answered the question 'Why is it important to wash your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds?' Cormorants conducted their own experiment using a special 'glitterbug' solution that shows up under UV light. We washed our hands quickly without soap and found it was not as effective at killing bacteria as washing our hands for 20 seconds with soap and water.

Autumn Term Week 4 w/c 27th September 2021: Plastic Pirate Workshop

Year 2 experienced another exciting workshop this week. We were visited by Alex from Recycle Devon. The workshop took place in our woodland area. Alex showed us the actions to the 3 Rs (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse) and we talked about why it is important to reduce, recycle and reuse. Then, Cormorants were transformed into pirates and 'Captain Alex' led us on an adventure across the seas. Along the way, we saved some sea animals that were trapped or injured by plastic pollution. We chanted a pirate song as we sailed along - "plastic isn't fantastic, save our seas!". The children were fantastic at giving suggestions on how we can take action to prevent plastic pollution to keep the sea animals safe.

Recycling Week Autumn week 3 wc 20/9/21

This week we having been learning more about recycling, reusing and reducing. We thought about how we can help our planet by making small changes in our everyday lives. Poppy was elected as our class representative for the Eco Committee and we finished off a fantastic week by reusing some recycling to create our very own musical masterpiece. We used all different kinds of 'rubbish' to play along to our assembly song 'Hall of Fame'. 

Music Workshop Autumn Week 2 wc 13/9/21

Year 2 were lucky enough to be joined by a group of local musicians for a performance and workshop this week. We watched them perform 3 of their favourite songs and then split off into groups to learn how to use boomwhackers. We enjoyed performing the music altogether at the end and sharing what we learned with the other classes. 

Place Value Autumn Week 1 wc 6/9/21

What a fantastic start to our year! We have all settled quickly in to our new classroom and are already doing some incredible learning. This week, we have been using diennes to show the place value of numbers up to 20. We are confidently using the words tens and ones to describe each number.