Autumn 1 -George’s Marvellous Medicine
The children in Colombia and Puerto Rico have already made a tremendous start to life in Year 2 at Rise Park. We have really enjoyed reading the Roald Dahl book ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine.’
We have used this story as inspiration this half term. Firstly, we found a mystery bag that was left in our classroom, and it was our job to investigate the clues hidden inside to reveal who it belonged it. We finally solved the problem and worked out quite quickly that it belonged to Grandad from the story. We used this learning to write a character description in English. The second piece of writing was created using our very own marvellous, magical potion mixtures. The children thoroughly enjoyed mixing together various items to create an object description such as toothpaste, bath bombs, lemon, vinegar and even washing up liquids! We have focused our writing heavily on using effective noun phrases-using powerful adjectives, alongside extending our simple sentences using subordinate conjunctions (when, if, because) to give extra detail.
In Maths, we have been exploring place value. We have used a variety of practical resources such as base 10, part whole models and number lines to represent, order and compare numbers up to 100. We have also been busy recalling our two times table facts and some of us have even been lucky enough to receive our gold awards!
As Historians, we have been learning all about the life story of Jesse Boot and the significance of his work that started in our local city of Nottingham. We have been learning about timelines and plotting key events chronologically. We were even lucky enough to handle some real life artefacts from the past to understand what it is like to be a Historian.
In ICT, we have used the iPads to learn all about taking an effective photograph: ensuring that we hold it firmly with 2 hands, zoom in appropriately and decide if the frame would be better using a portrait or landscape shot. We then edited our images using appropriate lighting and digital effects to make cool and warm tones.
In DT, we were luckily enough to make and taste chilled soups- gazpacho. We liked tasting lots of ingredients such as parsley, chives and onions to decide if we wanted to use them in our own recipes. In this lesson, we learnt about how to hygienically prepare foods alongside using the bridge and claw cutting skills with knifes.
We have taken the time to reflect on what Religious Education means to us as individuals and what important values it promotes such as respect, trust and kindness. Using our art skills, we created a piece to represent what god means to us. We then looked at the Jewish faith and some important symbols, objects and celebrations in their religion such as a synagogue and challah bread.
Our Jigsaw ‘Being Me’ unit has been the perfect opportunity to reflect on our new start in Year 2. We have thought about what a worry is and how this can be managed, and reflected on our rights and responsibilities in school to ensure that we all stay safe and happy, and are able to learn.
PE this term has all been based around throwing and catching. We have been deciding whether to use under or over arm to reach a target most effectively. We have also been thinking about how to work cooperatively as a team – giving out friendly and supportive feedback to our group.
As Scientists, we learnt all about the suitability of everyday materials as well as describing their properties. We also carried out an observational experiment to see which material was the most absorbent.
Summer 2025
English
This term, we have really enjoyed reading two stories that were linked to our History topic. Firstly, we retold our own version of the adventure story using the key features of this text type to write the opening, build up, problem, resolution and ending. We tried hard to ensure that we entertained our reader to match the purpose of the genre by adding in lots of emotive vocabulary and description. We created lots of powerful noun phrases using the thesauruses to up level our choices. Throughout the unit, we also thought carefully about how we could use different conjunctions and fronted adverbials to capture extra details.
This term, we have really enjoyed reading two stories that were linked to our History topic. Firstly, we retold our own version of the adventure story using the key features of this text type to write the opening, build up, problem, resolution and ending. We tried hard to ensure that we entertained our reader to match the purpose of the genre by adding in lots of emotive vocabulary and description. We created lots of powerful noun phrases using the thesauruses to up level our choices. Throughout the unit, we also thought carefully about how we could use different conjunctions and fronted adverbials to capture extra details.
History
We have really enjoyed learning all about 2 significant explores from the past- Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. We learnt all about their life stories particularly what inspired them to become experienced climbers and plotted some key events on timeline using our chronological ordering skills.
Next, we learnt all about what challenges people might face when they take on this tricky challenge including the negative consequences it may have on your health as you pass through each base camp such as frost bite or hypothermia.
We spent some time studying the equipment which was needed and explored how this has changed over time. We noticed that modern day gear is now often made using different materials, is lighter and is much more advanced to support the extreme climates found there such as strong gales and blizzards.
We ended our unit by answering the big question to decide if we would rather be a modern day explorer or one from the past. Take a look at our work to decide whether you would prefer to take an adventure in the past or present day.
DT
For DT in the summer term, our creative Year 2 children designed and made their very own finger puppets! The purpose of the project was to create engaging puppets to help tell stories to Reception children.
Pupils explored a variety of joining techniques, with a particular focus on sewing, developing fine motor skills and patience along the way. The results were fantastic—each puppet was unique, colourful, and carefully crafted with storytelling in mind. A brilliant example of design with purpose!
Maths
This term, Year 2 have been learning about mass, capacity, and temperature, building their understanding of how to measure, compare, and record using standard units. They have also been introduced to statistics, where they have explored how to collect and organise data using tally charts, pictograms, and block diagrams.
The children have been developing their reasoning skills by asking and answering questions about the data, helping them to make sense of information in a clear and structured way.
RE
This term in RE, Year 2 have been exploring important religious stories from Christianity and Judaism. They have learned about Noah’s Ark, Joseph, and Jonah and the Whale, and discovered the messages and meanings behind each one. The children also learned about the Torah.
To help deepen their understanding, the children took part in story retelling using puppets, bringing the characters and events to life in a creative and engaging way.
Throughout the unit, we reflected on how these stories are valued by both Jewish people and Christians, and how they help shape beliefs and traditions. We also discussed the importance of respecting different beliefs and recognising that everyone is entitled to their own views and faiths.
PE
This term we have been learning lots of important skills when working together as a team to play cricket effectively. We have been practising our batting, bowling and fielding skills alongside perfecting our aim using the tennis balls.
Jigsaw
This half term in Jigsaw our topic has been ‘changing me’. We have thought about the way we change throughout the human life cycle from babies to when we are elderly.
We have talked about different types of touch and how some touches people like and others don’t such as tickling or holding hands. We thought about how we can greet someone with a positive touch such as a hand shake or a high five. We also know that sometimes we might not want people to touch us, such as giving us a cuddle and it is ok for us to say “no, I don’t want a cuddle right now”. Finally we have shared our year 2 successes and the things that we are looking forward to in year 3. We know that it is okay if we feel a bit nervous or apprehensive as these are normal emotions that we might experience at times of change.
Science
This term he have been learning all about keeping healthy. We learnt all about the importance of a balanced diet and what each of the 5 food groups provide for our body for example proteins help our body repair when it is injured and carbohydrates give us energy. We completed a practical activity to show how quickly invisible germs can spread if we don’t wash our hands frequently. We then designed a poster with top tips to stay clean and hygienic. Finally, we investigated how exercise helps to keep us fit. We discussed our favourite types of exercise before carrying out an investigation about how movement effected our pulse.
Summer 2025
