Spring Newsletter

To begin the term we finished off adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers where we do not cross the tens boundary. Over the first couple of weeks we quickly moved on to using apparatus to help us work out equations that would cross ten boundary when adding and then moving on to exchanging numbers to subtract. We then moved on to looking at the properties of 2D and 3D shape. 

We continued to look at money and the coins we can use to make an amount. In year 2, we spent some time looking at using our knowledge of adding to create amounts using the coins on tables before looking at and including notes.

To finish off the spring term, we have begun to look at multiplication and the language of factor and product. We have looked at arrays and groups of a number before linking multiplication with division. This is something that we will continue to look at moving on into the summer term.

Our first topic this spring term, saw us trying mustard sandwiches. Some children, surprisingly, loved them but others thought they were disgusting, just like the seagulls in the story that we were reading, 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch'. Using this text we learnt and rehearsed and imitated. We eventually created some amazing work from this text where the children have really thought about their writing and what they need to include.

After this text, we received a letter from the Lighthouse Association complaining of the amount of mess that was being created from the seagulls eating lighthouse keeper's lunches. In the letter they also explained that the wives of the lighthouse keepers were not very happy as the lighthouse keepers were going hungry. In the letter they asked if we could write some instructions to follow so that the lunches would be protected. Again the writing that was produced was very good.

Our writing wasn't finished there! We then had a leaflet from Mr Grinling, who had decided that he didn't want to be a lighthouse keeper anymore and instead moved to Cardiff to open his very own zoo. We decided that after reading his leaflet and our trip to Marwell Zoo, we would write a leaflet based on what we saw at Marwell Zoo. The children have done very well in their writing this term, thinking about many different ways of writing and the organisation of each piece of writing.

Our trip this year to Marwell Zoo was a great success! We are so thankful we have managed to finally go on a trip to a place where the children have enjoyed and got so much out of.

Our work in science has helped this term, where we have been concentrating on habitats and classification. This showed in Marwell Zoo where they managed to use their own knowledge to answer questions about this subject in the Science & Learning Centre. 

In History this term we have been looking at what STEM is, but also concentrating on women in STEM. We looked at a variety of important and influential women in STEM and found out what they did to have an impact on our history.

In Geography, we recapped over our prior learning of UK seas and cities before looking at human and physical features of Portsmouth. We did the same then for another city in another country. In year 2 we looked at Mombasa in Africa. We looked at the human and physical features that could be found here before finally comparing both places.