Year 2
Latest Learning 2024-2025
22.11.24 - Reading!
We are absolutely thrilled to share some exciting news about our reading in Yellow Base! Reading is a top priority for us this year, and we are placing a real focus on reading for pleasure. We feel incredibly lucky to have replenished our book corners with an array of beautiful new books. The children are buzzing with excitement as they explore a fantastic range of titles, including fiction, non-fiction, and comic books that have proven to be a big hit!
It's heartwarming to see the eagerness of our young readers; they are grabbing every opportunity to delve into a good book during their free moments. Our lovely adults on base are equally enthusiastic, as they conduct one-to-one reading sessions to support each child's progress. Together, we are fostering a vibrant reading community that celebrates a love of stories. Happy reading!
15.11.24 - Anti-Bullying Week 2024!
We are thrilled to celebrate Anti-Bullying Week! This year, our theme is 'Choose Respect', we have been discussing the definition of bullying and why it's so important to stand up against it. Our time at the KS1 assembly really helped us learn more about how we can choose respect and celebrate our differences as a community.
We can’t wait for Odd Socks Day this Friday! It’s such a fun way to embrace our uniqueness. In class, we’ve been busy designing our own odd socks and chatting about who we can turn to if we ever face a problem. Additionally, we've sorted behaviours into friendly and unfriendly categories, so we can better recognise how to make the right choices in our interactions with others.
Let’s all remember to lift each other up and be kind!
08.11.24 - DT Flapjacks!
Last half term in Design Technology, we had a fantastic time creating our healthy flapjacks. We began by researching various recipes. After gathering our ideas, we explored different packaging designs that would best showcase our delicious treats.
Next, we conducted a taste test to select the fruit we wanted to incorporate into our recipe, which was both fun and quite a tasty adventure! With our chosen ingredients, each student designed two packaging options and voted on the one we would use for our final product.
Once that was sorted, we rolled up our sleeves to prepare the fruit, weigh our ingredients, and bake our scrumptious flapjacks. After they cooled, we carefully packaged our creations. Finally, we evaluated our products, discussing what we loved and what we might tweak if we had the chance to do it all over again!
25.10.24 - PE!
This week in Yellow Base, we’ve been having a fantastic time in PE, focusing on developing our reaction and response skills. The children have been actively engaging in various activities that help us with our quick movements. We’ve all been learning that we can react and move quickly, which is essential in many sports and games.
A key takeaway this week has been the importance of taking up a ready position; we now know to bend our knees and keep our feet apart to be prepared for action. It’s been great to see everyone improving their ball-catching skills too—most of us can catch the ball consistently now!
We've worked on starting quickly and accelerating by pushing off hard with our feet, and equally important, we’re learning how to slow down with control after catching. Bending our knees helps us to slow down safely. Well done, everyone
18.10.24 - History: The Gun Powder Plot of 1605!
This half term in history, Yellow Base has delved into the fascinating events of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. We kicked off our learning by exploring the background of life in England at the time. It was a period marked by significant religious tension, with Protestants and Catholics often at odds. The plot, aimed at blowing up the Houses of Parliament and assassinating King James I, stemmed from frustration over the harsh treatment of Catholics.
We sequenced the events leading up to the plot, discussing the key figures involved, such as Guy Fawkes and Robert Catesby. Our hot seating sessions brought these characters to life, allowing us to engage in lively debates about their motivations. We also reflected on why we still commemorate the 5th of November today, a reminder of the importance of tolerance and the consequences of extremist actions. It’s been an engaging and educational half term!
11.10.24 - PSHE!
We’re excited to share what our Yellow Base learners have been up to in PSHE this Autumn 1! This term, we've been diving into the world of careers and money. To kick things off, we conducted a pre-assessment to gauge what careers our children are already aware of. It was fantastic to see their enthusiasm and curiosity!
We then moved on to discussing the concept of value for money. Through various activities, the children explored different products and services, understanding that not everything that costs more is necessarily better. Budgeting was another key focus, as we encouraged our students to think about how to manage their money wisely.
04.10.24 - Science!
In Yellow Base, we’ve been diving into some exciting science this term! Our Year 2 students have been exploring the fascinating topic of life cycles. Recently, they focused on the life cycle of a butterfly, which sparked plenty of curiosity and discussion among the children.
To make learning interactive, we used plates and pasta to represent the different stages of the butterfly’s life cycle. The children absolutely loved this hands-on approach! They worked in pairs to discuss their findings and share their thoughts on each stage, from egg to caterpillar, to chrysalis, and finally to the beautiful butterfly.
This engaging activity not only reinforced their understanding of life cycles but also fostered teamwork and communication skills. It’s been wonderful to witness their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn – we can’t wait to see what other discoveries await us in the coming weeks!
27.09.24 - Literacy!
This half term, our Year 2 lessons have been buzzing with excitement! We've all been diving into the world of Marcus Rashford, crafting our very own fact files about this inspirational footballer. The children have truly embraced the topic, using a technique called Talk for Writing. They've been imitating texts with the help of story maps and fun actions, making the learning experience dynamic and engaging.
As both readers and writers, the pupils have explored various writing tools, developing their skills and confidence. We've also introduced Colourful Semantics to help our budding authors to build fantastic sentences, this approach has encouraged a focus on using adjectives and expanded noun phrases, allowing the children to add vivid description to their writing.
It's been a joy to see their creativity flourish and we can't wait to share more of their brilliant work with you soon!
20.09.24 - Maths!
This week in Yellow Base, we’ve been diving into the exciting world of place value up to 100! The children have thoroughly enjoyed using various manipulatives, including Dienes, 100 squares, and rekenreks, to help them grasp these key concepts. These hands-on resources have made a significant difference, allowing everyone to explore numbers in a practical way.
We’ve focused on partitioning numbers into tens and ones, which has really helped the children understand how numbers are structured. They’ve worked hard to break down numbers, and many have even begun to explore partitioning numbers flexibly, looking at different ways to make the same number. Seeing their confidence grow as they manipulate the resources and engage with their learning is fantastic. We’re excited to continue building on these skills next week, so stay tuned for more updates!
13.09.24 - Reading!
We're excited to share some updates about the reading environment in Yellow Base! Our lovely cosy book corners have been revamped, creating an inviting space where children can snuggle up with a good book. Whether it’s a fantastic adventure story or a heart-warming tale, reading for pleasure is at the heart of what we do.
In addition to our plush surroundings, our little ones have been enjoying reading sessions with their cuddly teddies. It’s a delightful way for them to build confidence as they read aloud and share stories.
Of course, reading for purpose is also essential in our English lessons. We’ve been delving into various fact files to help familiarise the children with different text types, ensuring they’re equipped with the skills they need. Combining a love for reading with purposeful learning makes for a well-rounded experience. Happy reading, everyone!
06/09/24 - Welcome Back to School!
Yellow Base have had an amazing start to our year. We enjoyed taking part in a team building exercise, working together to build the tallest tower we could using different items in the classroom. We had to turn our collaboration cog, we took turns to listen to each other and share ideas. We also turned our resilience cog lots, especially when our towers took unexpected tumbles! We plan to continue using these cogs throughout the year.
Archive - Latest Learning From 2023-2024
05.07.24 - Andy Goldsworthy Artwork!
We have embraced the delightful weather this week at Yellow Base by enjoying the sunshine. Our group embarked on a pleasant stroll to Potternewton Park, relishing the warmth. Besides soaking up the sun, we embarked on a quest to gather various natural materials for our artistic endeavours. We collected leaves, petals, pebbles, and twigs along our journey.
Upon our return to school, we delved into the realm of artistry, drawing inspiration from the renowned artist, Andy Goldsworthy. Before commencing our creative process, we studied several examples of Goldsworthy's work, igniting our imaginations for our own designs.
We thoroughly enjoyed the process of crafting our natural pieces of art, all while adopting sustainable practice.
21.06.24 - Euros themed learning!
We have had so much fun this week! We have gone football-mad and we loved every moment. Each class has been given a different country to research and represent. Yellow 1 represents England, Yellow 2 are researching France and Yellow 3 is exploring the country of Georgia.
In our English lessons, we have been researching our allocated country and we are planning on writing a fact file. We had lots of fun exploring different facts, such as the population, famous foods and landmarks.
In Maths, we have been continuing our work on statistics this week. We have been applying our knowledge of pictograms and tally charts to the Euros. We particularly enjoyed discussing the previous winners of the Euros and completing a tally chart by asking our classmates to predict who would win. We also had fun whilst creating a pictogram to represent our favourite football players.
In Art, we discussed the inspiration behind each country's football kit. We noticed that the flag of the country often inspires the kits. We then looked at the kits of our countries throughout the years and we discussed the different patterns on the kits. We then had lots of fun whilst we created our football kit for our country.
In Geography, we explored the various flags of the countries that are participating in the Euros and we used maps to support our learning.
07.06.24 - PE
This half-term, Yellow Base are incredibly excited to have the wonderful Miss Morgan from the Jason Robinson Foundation teach us PE. During our sessions, there is a big focus on building confidence and showing us how participating in sports supports our physical and mental well-being. We are focusing on tennis this half-term and we have been working on our ball and racket skills. We have participated in multiple activities and games to support our hand-eye coordination. We have had so much fun, and we always look forward to each session!
24.05.24 - Science!
In science, Yellow Base have started to explore plants. First, we recapped what we learnt about plants in Orange Base, we named various common wild and garden plants. This week we looked at the function of each part of the plant including the stem, roots, leaves and petals. Soon we will plant seeds and conduct an experiment to explore what plants need to grow and stay healthy. We are enjoying our topic all about plants and can't wait to record the results of our experiment!
17.05.24 - Maths!
Yellow Base has enjoyed exploring length this week in Maths. We have had plenty of opportunities to practise our measuring skills. We have practised using a ruler accurately, measuring objects in the class to the nearest centimetre. We also turned our collaboration cog by working together to measure and order different lengths.
When exploring metres, we took the opportunity to enjoy the sunshine and do some outdoor learning. With our partner, we used a metre ruler to draw the length and height of various dinosaurs. We couldn't believe how big they were!
In our afternoon mastering number sessions, we have been using our rekenreks to support us with bridging across 10. We have been practising partitioning and using our number bonds to support us with this mental maths work. We have also used the sentence stems on the board to help us explain our thinking.
10.05.24 - Literacy!
In Yellow Base this half-term, we are writing a warning tale with lots of exciting descriptions. Our learning journey is visible in our classroom as we use our washing line to remind the children of what they have explored so far.
This week we have focused on the various tools we could use to develop our descriptive writing. In particular, we have explored how to be clever with our choice of words and use exciting adjectives to describe characters and settings. We also focused on using our sentences to strengthen our descriptions. We immersed ourselves in a video of a cave, thinking carefully about what we could see, hear and feel. We then innovated the main character in our story, describing not only their physical appearance but also their personality. We are having lots of fun, and we can't wait to write our story!
26.04.24 - Dinosaurs!
This week in Yellow Base we have been exploring our new topic of Dinosaurs. We are all incredibly excited to learn about this topic and we all have lots of questions we are eager to discover the answers to.
During our art lessons, we have been exploring different textures. We have created different textures using pencils, experimenting with different pressure and techniques such as shading. We then began to form our paper-mache egg. We used water balloons to form the shape of the egg and then used strips of paper and PVA glue to build layers. We used multiple layers to ensure that the egg was strong enough to be painted and printed on next week. We are excited to experiment with different ways of printing to add texture to our eggs.
This week has been so much fun and we enjoyed creating the base of our dinosaur eggs! We can't wait to paint them next.
15.04.24 - Benjamin Zephaniah Week!
Yellow Base has thoroughly enjoyed exploring the life and work of Benjamin Zephaniah. We have looked at various aspects of his life,such as his childhood, his activism and his poetry. Together we explored his early life, including his school journey and his family unit. With our learning partners, we created a mindmap of all of the information we have learned.
We discovered that many things influenced Benjamin Zephaniah's work, including art from Caribbean artists. We did an artist study on Brianna McCarthy who is a self-taught artist from Trinidad and Tobago. We looked at her mixed-media collages and created our own portraits using a collage technique. We had lots of fun creating these abstract pieces of art!
Benjamin Zephaniah was a passionate animal rights activist and wrote many poems about veganism. We explored what it meant to be vegan and discussed what vegans eat. We tasted different food and tried their vegan alternatives. We enjoyed exploring the different tastes and discussing together.
28.03.24 - Easter Cooking!
To celebrate the end of the Spring Term, children in Yellow Base took part in some Easter cooking. They worked together to weigh and measure the ingredients and to decorate their Easter nests. They look delicious!
22.03.24 - Computing!
In Yellow Base this week we have been exploring algorithms in our computing lessons. Initially we discussed what an algorithm is and how they are used in code. We then practised creating precise instructions to move the “flurb” to the fruit. We had a lot of practise orally, saying our instructions to our partner before translating the instructions into symbols. This gave us an opportunity to get experience of writing in short-hand code. We then were able to run a programme created by somebody else and address bugs or errors in sequenced instructions.
We had lots of fun experimenting with code and we are excited to use our new skills when we begin to code on the chromebooks!
15.03.24 -Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Learning!
We have had lots of fun this week in PSHE! We have been focusing on how we can respect each others differences and celebrate our uniqueness.
In particular, we spoke about and challenged stereotypes around gender. We initially discussed the definition of a stereotype and spoke about possible stereotypes of boys and girls. A statement that sparked lots of conversation was ‘boys don’t like pink’. We discussed our male role models that wear pink, including Leeds United who currently have a pink away kit! We soon realised that boys and girls can have the same interests and there are many things that boys and girls enjoy doing.
Later in the lesson we sat in groups and sorted statements that we thought belonged to girls, boys or had no gender. We listened to each other and respectfully challenged ideas if we had a different opinion.
We had lots of fun having meaningful conversations and understood how we are all different and that is something to be celebrated!
08.03.24 - RE!
This half-term in RE, Yellow base have been exploring how different people pray. This week we focused on how Christians pray. We enjoyed watching lots of videos and having discussions about the thoughts, actions and feelings of Christians during prayer.
01.03.24 - Art
Last half-term we researched the artist Paul Klee. We were inspired by his art ‘Castle and the Sun’ and wanted to create our own interpretation. We experimented with colour mixing and then cut out various shapes to create our collage.
This week we took the opportunity to reflect on our amazing artwork that we created last year. We evaluated our own work, we reflected on what we liked about it and how we would improve it next time.
We also took the time to move around the classroom and discuss other people’s work, leaving a compliment on a post-it note to read at the end of the lesson. We had lots of fun, and we are proud of our work!
19.02.24 - Pirates!
Our topic in Yellow Base this half term is Pirates. As part of this we are exploring the different parts of our world, from the continents to the countries and capital cities of the UK.
This week we have been researching the continents of the world. We have been practising naming the continents, we have learnt a fantastic song which helps us to remember them in size order! We have also practised locating the different contents on a world map and a globe. We had lots of discussion about the location and the key features of each continent. We are really excited about continuing our learning in Geography as we look at the different oceans next week.
09.02.24 - PE!
In PE this half term, Yellow Base have had a focus on health and fitness. We have been learning how to use different equipment appropriately such as balls and benches. We have also been learning how to move and land safely. Additionally, we have been discussing how our body feels before, during and after exercising. We have noticed the difference in our heart rate and breathing after we have 'warmed up' our body. We have had so much fun in PE this half term!
01.02.24 - Understanding the World
At the end of last week we visited Skipton Castle. This was an exciting opportunity for the children to expand their understanding of the world around them. We have learnt about why castles were built and the defences they have to protect themselves. We got to explore the entire castle, from the look-out tower to the creepy dungeon! We had so much fun and it was an amazing experience!
22.01.24 - Marvellous Maths!
In maths this week we have been exploring division! We have done lots of practical learning using cubes whilst also turning our collaboration cog as we worked with our partners. We have been investigating different ways to divide, and we found that we can share or group numbers. Lots of us turned our enquiry cog as we began to recognise patterns and noticed the relationship between multiplication and division. This then helped us to do some problem solving, and we explained our thinking to our partners. Yellow base have really enjoyed learning about multiplication and division so far!
15.01.24 - Focus on Literacy!
In Yellow Base, we have been looking at instructions within our literacy lessons, with a focus on “How to protect your castle”. This week we read our instructions. We looked at key vocabulary within the text, discussing what the words meant, and we drew pictures or created actions to help our understanding. We then looked closely at the sequence of the instructions. We worked together in partners to sequence the instructions, then practised reading them together. Then, we looked at lots of different instructions to recognise the key features of them. In partners, we highlighted the various features, including the title, introduction, you will need, method, time words and bossy verbs. As a class, we have made an instruction tool kit that we can use to help us when we begin to create our own exciting instructions next week!
