Y2 DEERS 2021-2022

Friday 1st July 2022

On Wednesday this week, Deer Class visited the Quaker Meeting House in Jordans. We were able to look around the building and grounds and enjoy a picnic lunch outside on the grass. The children sat in reflective silence as the Quakers do. We were invited to look at the beautiful artwork that has been created in response to the 'Loving Earth Project'. Through embroidery and collage, members of the Quaker Faith Group have made pictures of the natural world and contemplated how they can protect it in the light of climate change. Our children made their own responses to this in writing and art.

Artwork

We are so impressed with the children's thoughtful and varied pictures!

Thursday 23rd June 2022

Our thanks to one of our parents who visited Deer Class today to tell us all about his work as a Police Officer.

The children were fascinated and asked many thoughtful questions. He told us about fingerprinting, making an arrest, safeguarding the public and working as a team. The children also enjoyed trying out some of his police equipment.

Friday 17th June 2022

Science

We learned about the different food groups this week and what it means to have a balanced diet. The children sorted food into proteins, carbohydrates, dairy, fruit and vegetables, oils and spreads and those foods that are high in sugar and fat. We talked about how much of each food group we should eat each day. The Eatwell Plate is a very useful guide that shows proportions of the food groups.

R.E.

Our work on Special Places focussed on the mosque. This is the Muslim place of worship. We found out that people who follow the religion Islam pray 5 times a day. They go to the mosque to pray and hear the holy Qu'ran read to them. Cleanliness is very important and Muslim people wash before they enter the prayer hall. They also take off their shoes to keep the beautiful carpet clean.

Story sharing

The children from Owl Class joined us this afternoon in the hall. We had a wonderful session where Deer Class read stories to the younger children. It was heart-warming to see how caring and nurturing the Year 2 children were!

Friday 27th May 2022

What a busy and eventful week it's been! On Wednesday Deer Class visited the Amersham Field Centre. We spent the day pond dipping and bug hunting in the woodlands. The children found the experiences so enriching and were able to consolidate the learning that we have done in our science lessons. Our tutor for the day had amazing subject knowledge and answered the children's questions expertly. Many thanks to our governor, Mrs Floyd, for joining us for the day. Here are some photographs of our trip:

Jubilee Day

Thursday was a fantastic day of celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee. The memorable festivities can be seen in our newsletter.

We were privileged to welcome Mr Morgan from Jordans Village today, who spoke to the children about his memories of Jordans School in the 1950s. He was a pupil here during the Queen's coronation and brought his coronation mug to show us. Deer Class were fascinated to hear about how different the school was back then and had many questions!

Tuesday 24th May

This week we have been writing more poetry! The children are enjoying learning about all sorts of different genres of poems and today we read a beautiful poem called 'I asked a Little Boy who Cannot see'.  We then spent time discussing feelings that colours can emote in us. Finally, we compared colours to other things that are more abstract. Some children still have to finish their poems but below is a small selection of those already completed. We hope you enjoy reading them.

Friday 20th May 2022

English

We have been writing list poems using expanded noun phrases. An expanded noun phrase is created by adding adjectives to describe a noun. We chose our favourite colours and thought of things (nouns) of that colour. By using carefully selected adjectives and more complex names for our colours (magenta, cobalt, emerald etc) we composed list poems.

Here are some examples of the children's poems. Some of them incorporated alliteration too!

Friday 13th May 2022

In P.E. today, Deer Class were learning how to bat and field in cricket. They practised holding a cricket bat, standing sideways on with their hands in the correct position. They hit the ball to a team mate who caught it before swapping places. We are refining our skills in readiness for team matches!

Friday 6th May 2022

We began our topic of 'Our Bodies' in P.S.H.E. this week. Our first lesson was a discussion about consent. We learned the importance of asking permission before we touch anyone and how we need to respect the wishes of people who do not want to be touched. Our bodies belong to us and we have the right to decide what happens to them. We practised this learning by having circle time on the playground. Each child asked their neighbour if they could hug them. Everyone chose to say 'Yes' or 'No, thank you.' The children were very respectful of each other's decisions and acted according to their wishes. I was so proud of their politeness and consideration.

Tuesday 3rd May 2022

 Today we were finding out why Florence Nightingale went to Scutari and what hospital conditions were like when she got there. The children  got into pairs and one child pretended to be Florence Nightingale, the other the interviewer. The interviewer asked Florence the questions to find out what the journey was like and what she found at the Scutari hospital. They then swapped so the interviewer became a wounded soldier and ‘Florence’ became the interviewer. The children performed enthusiastically and gave some gruesome descriptions! We all agreed that we are very lucky to have clean hospitals and modern medicines available to us.

Friday 29th April 2022

This half term our English work will be centred around the book 'The Day the Crayons Quit' by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers. The story is about a box of crayons that have various complaints which they express in the form of letters. The orange and yellow crayons both think they should be used to colour in the sun and are no longer talking! This week, the children thought about their favourite colours and learnt how to write persuasively to convince others. Have a look at these examples!

The class also had fun drawing pictures and colouring them using the 'wrong' crayons for a change!

Tuesday 26th April 2022

It has been lovely to see the children back in the classroom full of excited tales of their Easter holidays. Today, we have started to learn about Florence Nightingale and the class were fascinated to learn about the differences in her life compared to theirs. We spent time talking about how long a century is,  they all thought 100 years was a very long time ago! We also discussed Florence's determination to become a nurse and the barriers she overcame. They are all looking forward to learning more.

Friday 8th April

Funky Hair Day- The chance to be creative with our hair today was much enjoyed! The children looked resplendent with bunches, plaits and spikes in an array of colours.

P.E.

We were actively practising our aiming skills in P.E. today. The children took part in team games where they played golf, cricket, hockey, football and tennis. The team captains kept score and everyone worked together beautifully. The mad hair added an element of quirkiness to the proceedings!

Tuesday 5th April

In our Art lesson this week, we have been learning all about Fabergé eggs. A Fabergé egg is one of the jewelled eggs made by Peter Carl Fabergé and his company between 1885 and 1917. The most famous are those made for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II. They were Easter gifts for their wives and mothers, and are called the 'Imperial' Fabergé eggs. The children have spent time and care designing their own unique eggs. They are still a work in progress but they are looking beautiful.

Thursday 31st March 2022

While the snow swirled around outside, Deer Class were busy upcycling plastic bags. Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them. This causes intestinal problems and even death. We decided to make jellyfish decorations to illustrate this problem. We followed written and video instructions in our plastic bag workshop and made different designs. The children enjoyed working together to make colourful sustainable creations!

Monday 28th March 2022

Today in Forest School, we spent time sketching nature. The children found there 'sit spots' and took time to look around them at nature. We marvelled at the beautiful bluebells which are beginning to peek through in the woodland, we also learnt some new facts about bluebells. I wonder if you know any of the following facts?

1. The first bluebells are believed to have appeared in Britain after the last Ice Age.
2. In the Bronze Age feathers were stuck on arrows with glue made from bluebells.
3. During Queen Elizabeth I’s reign starch was made from the crushed bulbs of bluebells to stiffen their big ruff collars.
4. It takes at least five years for a bluebell seed to grow into a bulb
5. Bluebells are also called ‘fairy flowers.’ According to an old myth fairies used bluebells to lure and trap people passing by in the woods – especially children.

Friday 25th March 2022

In English this week, we have been writing persuasively. Having researched the problem of plastic pollution in the environment, the children used the features of persuasive writing to convince our readers to reduce, reuse and recycle. In order to write persuasively, Deer Class used the following devices:

Imperative verbs- 'Use water bottles more than once.'

Rhetorical questions- 'Do you want to protect our planet?'

Expanded noun phrases- 'our wonderful wildlife'

Repetition- 'Plastic pollution is killing our sea creatures. Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down.'

Next week we will be making new products from repurposed plastic bags!

Monday 21st March 2022

We were very busy in Forest school today. We relaxed in our special places, built dens, made more rain gauges and decorated wooden plaques. Some children also chose to spend their time planting silver birch saplings. We talked about how planting trees can make a difference to the whole community not just our school. We went through the following points: Green spaces improve physical and mental health, trees and hedges provide homes for wildlife, trees clean the air that we breathe, your trees will be there for future Jordan's children to enjoy.

Friday 18th March

Continuing our science topic on plants, Deer Class have been thinking about plants that we eat. We know that plants have roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds. This week we thought about which parts of certain plants provide us with food. The children have taken on a challenge to see if they can eat all these parts of various plants for home learning. We also planted our own vegetables! We will be observing the growth of our beetroot, beans, peas, lettuces, carrots, rocket and radishes. We look forward to eating plants that we have grown ourselves!

Thursday 10th March

 We had a beautiful, bright sunny day on Monday for our return to Forest school. The woods had lots of signs of Spring and we had to be extra careful not to tread on the emerging bluebells! The children really enjoyed being out in the fresh air and they spent sometime thinking about the changes that had occurred in nature since our last session. We also learnt how to make a rain gauges and next week they will have the opportunity to make their own one. We will use this knowledge in Topic to help us do some procedural writing. We all thoroughly enjoyed the session!

Friday 4th March 2022

We celebrated World Book Day on Thursday! Everyone dressed up as a book character (including the adults!) Deer Class spent the day finding out about the origins of World Book Day and sharing their love of books with each other. The children drew and labelled their characters in the morning and then produced some wonderful writing in the afternoon which we shared with the other classes in assembly. Our knowledge of children's literature was tested in our class quiz too!

Tuesday 15th February

Today we were lucky enough to have one of our parents come in to talk to teach us all about first aid, basic life support and CPR. Dr Gary taught us  to stay calm and get help in the first instance. We then practised putting bandages on each other and there was great excitement about their different colours! The children learnt all about soft tissue injuries and broken bones and how to treat these, the children listened carefully and asked thoughtful questions. We are going to try to remember RICE - rest, ice, compression and elevation. Finally, the children practised putting Dr Gary and their friends into the recovery position. We all agreed it was a session the children wont forget! Many thanks once again to Dr Gary for his time.

Friday 11th February

We have been using the functions of Microsoft Word in our computing lessons this half term.We have mastered changing the font style, size and colour of our writing. We can also add page borders and pictures to a document. Having learned the rules for staying safe while using the internet, Deer Class have produced some safety posters using their Word skills. We are very proud of the results!

Tuesday 8th February 

In English, this week the children have started to write an information text all about crocodiles. Last week, they researched and took notes on appearance, diet, habitats and wow facts and so far they have completed writing the habitat and diet sections. They have all written beautifully. We are focusing on using correct punctuation, varying sentence openers, using super vocabulary and making our writing interesting. Its been hard work but I'm very proud of the work they are producing. Well done Deer Class for all your effort on this so far.

Friday 4th February 

P.E.

We were in training for the Winter Olympics today! Deer Class have been practising their curling skills-albeit without the ice! They were able to adopt the correct stance for launching the stone and aim at the target. We had so much fun learning about this sport!

English

We have been researching crocodiles this week. Here we are labelling diagrams of the awesome body of this carnivorous reptile. Did you know that they can hold their breath for hours under water, but they can't stick out their tongues?

Tuesday 1st February

This week as part of our Topic work we have been learning about the differences between human and physical features. 

Human and physical features are things that you can see all around you. Physical features are things like seas, mountains and rivers and they are natural. They would be here even if there were no people around. Human features  are things like houses, roads and bridges that have been built by people. The children were quick to pick up this concept and they completed a table identifying these features on The Isle of Struay (Katie Morag's home). They also enjoyed the quiz we played to secure their learning.

Friday 28th January 2022

Deer Class are enjoying our newly instituted oracy time each morning. The children take turns to share any news or information with the rest of the class. We use our friend Scruff as an indicator for whose turn it is to talk. He is passed round the circle and we all get to hear about new pets, birthday parties, weekend activities and upcoming football matches! It is a lovely opportunity to practise our speaking and listening skills while getting to know each other better!

P.S.H.E.

This week we discussed our country. We looked at photographs of some of the things that make living in the United Kingdom special.

Having a diverse range of people, foods, wildlife and landscapes featured in our celebratory poster.

Tuesday 25th January 2022

In Topic we have been comparing Katie Morag's island home to where we live.  We have also been learning about maps. A good map will show you everything a place has to offer. We have learnt that you need to read the map the correct way up and that most maps have a compass. This shows you which way is north, south, east and west on the map. Maps also use co-ordinates to help you find what you're looking for. The children carefully created their own maps of the Isle of Struay. In English, we created Wanted posters for the Enormous Crocodile. The children came up with lots of reasons why you should avoid him!

Friday 21st January 2022

Science

We have been experimenting to find out if plants need light to grow. The cress seeds that we put in a dark place did germinate and grow, but they were spindly and yellow. The seeds we put in a sunny place had not grown as much, but they were healthy and green.

We concluded that although plants can grow in the dark, they cannot photosynthesise and make food from the sunlight. We will continue to water the plants and see how they get on.

Tuesday 18th January 2022

In Art this week we have been learning about creating monochrome artwork. The children created Scottish hill scenes and then carefully cut silhouettes of deer to put on them. The results were stunning, we hope you enjoy seeing them. 

Thursday 13th January 2022

PSHE

We are studying the concept of community this half term. Today we looked at our neighbourhood as a community. This includes people we know in our local houses, shops, schools, churches and parks. We had a lively discussion about how we could all be good neighbours. Through the medium of mime, groups of children presented different ways that we can be good neighbours.

Science

We planted our cress seeds this week! We are hoping to help Scruff the dog with his problem of dying plants in his kennel. We sowed the seeds and some were placed in the dark inside our pretend kennel. The rest of the seeds have been placed near a sunny window. Do plants need light to germinate and grow? We will find out soon!

Tuesday 11th January 2022

Some super work this week in Maths. The children have been using arrays to help them learn their times tables. An array is a way of showing amounts in a diagram or picture. It is always rectangular and made up of rows and columns. In the pictures, the children were matching up the arrays with how many groups there were. They all worked really hard to try and grasp the concept.

Friday 7th January 2022

It was heart warming to see Deer Class so excited to be back at school for the start of the new term! We have had a busy week full of learning.

Science

We have a new member of the class in Scruff, the dog, who has presented the children with a scientific problem to solve. He has been trying to grow a plant in his kennel, but unsuccessfully. We discussed why this might be and the children thought that perhaps there wasn't enough light. To test our theory, we will be growing some cress seeds in dark and light settings and recording our results. This week the class drew pictures of how we will set up the experiment. We will let you know what we discover!

English

Roald Dahl's The Enormous Crocodile is our text for this half term. We researched Roald Dahl and were thrilled to find out that he spent much of his life in Great Missenden, not far away from Jordans! We have begun looking at Dahl's use of adjectives in his story. To find out the definitions we used a thesaurus. Knowing about alphabetical order is crucial to using a thesaurus or dictionary, so we have been practising this skill by ordering the months of the year alphabetically. 

Music

For our topic 'The Best of British' we learned to sing The National Anthem. Many of the children had heard this special song being sung before England's football matches and other sporting events. We know that it will be a big part of the Queen's jubilee celebrations this year too. The whole school enjoyed listening to us sing 'God Save the Queen' in assembly.

Thursday 16th December 2021

Our Science objective this week was to investigate how we could change the shape of some materials by squashing, bending, twisting or stretching them. We manipulated play dough, pipe cleaners, rubber bands, sponges, paper drinking straws and tea towels. We recorded our results in a table to show which actions affected the materials. Our hands-on learning was great fun!

Using different media, the children produced calendars for 2022 on the theme of seasons. We thought about how a tree changes its appearance throughout the year. We hope you enjoy putting up the calendars at home!

Tuesday 14th December 2021

This week the children have been focussing on  Art and DT. They have sewed the most wonderful Christmas decorations. I was so impressed with their concentration and their skills, sewing with a sharp needle! They all took  time and pride in their work and couldn't wait to hang it on their trees at home. We also made deer Christmas decorations using wooden discs that they had cut themselves earlier in the year at Forest school. Each deer was unique and I hope will remind them in years to come of their time in Deer Class.

Friday 3rd December 2021

We have a very special Advent calendar in class! The pockets are filled with messages of positivity to put smiles on our faces.The children came up with their own ideas for happy thoughts. Each day one child will open a message and read out the uplifting comment.

PSHE

We looked at some social stories today to stimulate discussions around coping with losing. The children described the emotions they experience when they win games- joy, pride, happiness, excitement. We also talked about the feelings we might have when we lose- disappointment, sadness, jealousy and anger. It is important that we learn how to manage these feelings and be kind to each other.

Here we are playing noughts and crosses while practising kindness and understanding.

'Congratulations! You played well!'

'Let's play again. You might win next time!'

'That was a great game. I enjoyed it!'

Monday 29th November 2021

We had a fun lesson learning about Samuel Pepys diary and historical sources. We learnt that Samuel Pepys wrote his diary in a secret code that was only solved 150 years after the Great Fire. We talked about codes and that some people still use them today. We were very lucky that Mrs Delnevo came to our class to show us a special code she uses called shorthand. The children were fascinated to try to uncover what her messages meant!

Friday 26th November 2021

The Deer Class scientists were investigating materials again this week. Our objective was to  consider the suitability of materials for certain purposes. We looked at a selection of plates made from china, plastic and paper. The children discussed and wrote about which ones would be best for a picnic, a young child and a restaurant. They had to qualify their choices with good reasons.

We were very active in our P.E.lesson today, practising our balancing skills and playing dodgeball. We were concentrating on the skills of aiming and playing together as a team. The inclement weather meant that our learning took place in the hall today, but we were able to have 10 minutes outside when the rain abated. The children enjoyed a drink of water afterwards!

Tuesday 23rd November 2021

It has been a busy couple of days for Deer Class. We started a new topic in maths on Money, we have been doing super diary writing on our class text, Vlad and the Great Fire of London and this afternoon we all thoroughly enjoyed watching the school pantomime Cinderella. The children all got involved in clapping, singing and having lots of fun. It feels like Christmas has started! We also had an exciting letter from St Paul's education department praising the children on their fantastic behaviour last week, I shared this with the class today and they were all very proud! I hope you enjoy seeing the certificate and a small selection of writing from last week.

Friday 19th November

Our trip to St Paul's Cathedral ignited the children's interest in Samuel Pepys. We have been finding out how important he is for historical information about The Great Fire of London. We will be writing our own diaries next week, in character as Boxton the rat (from our story, 'Vlad and the Great Fire of London'.) In order to write these diary entries,we will need to be familiar with the features of a diary. Armed with a checklist of diary features, we analysed Samuel's diary to identify them. Here are Deer Class hard at work!

Tuesday 16th November

There was great excitement on Monday on our school trip to St Paul's Cathedral. The coach journey was filled with a buzz of excited chatter and we spotted lots of different London landmarks out the window. When we arrived we were met by our guide and we began our workshop. The children got to see statues that had been in the Great Fire, role play as fire fighters using long hooks and leather buckets and admire the beauty of the cathedral itself. They also learnt about how St Paul's was built and about  its architect,  Sir Christopher Wren.  We boarded the coach home exhausted but full of lots of new information. The children were all so delightful and well behaved throughout the trip, we hope they enjoyed it as much as we did!

Friday 12th November

As scientists, we have been exploring our surroundings for different materials. The children investigated the classroom and the playground for evidence of glass, plastic, paper, wood, stone, fabric and metal. They recorded their findings in a table. Next,we will be thinking about why certain materials are suitable for making particular items. We will consider durability, strength, comfort, transparency and weather resistance. 

Tuesday 9th November 2021

This half term for DT the children will be evaluating a range of Christmas decorations in preparation for making their own one. They will explore colour, materials, texture and shape. Thinking carefully about each individual aspect. This week the children had the opportunity to practise their cutting skills. This is an important skill in any DT project and I was so impressed with the children's concentration and accuracy. I'm sure this will be evident in their final decorations.

Thursday 4th November

Deer Class really enjoy sharing their experiences and opinions with their friends. We were able to put our expressive skills to great use by discussing how to keep ourselves safe in various situations today. We looked at photographs of children in different situations and asked 'Is he/she safe?' Everyone agreed that having a trusted adult nearby was important. Safety equipment like cycling helmets and climbing harnesses also ensured safety. We all agreed that we should always ask our grown ups if we weren't sure.

Wednesday 2nd November

Our Science topic this half term is Materials and their Properties. For our first lesson we revised our knowledge of different materials by sorting objects into groups. The children had fun dividing the objects into wood, glass, paper, plastic, metal and fabric. We then made our own labelled drawings of everyday things that are made from these materials. We are looking forward to investigating this topic further by describing the properties of materials and how they are suitable for different purposes. Here are some photos of the Deer Scientists at work!