Year 2 have been learning about hygiene in Science. They have investigating what will happen to bread when touched with clean and dirty hands. They made a prediction and then carried out their investigation.
They are going to record their results each week for the next 3 weeks.
They can’t wait to see what happens.
This week in Religious Education we compared two faiths in order to find out their similarities and differences. We chose Christianity and Sikhism.
We discussed different symbolic items from the different faiths and their importance.
The cross
The Khanda
The children found it really interesting that different religions believe in different things but they noticed that both Christians and Sikhs believe in a God.
The children were then introduced to the 5 K’s which are articles of clothing that Sikhs wear out of respect for their God.
Kanga– A wooden comb to keep their hair in place.
Kirpan– A tiny sword worn by Sikhs.
Kachera- Shorts worn as underwear.
Kara- A steel bangle that reminds Sikhs to behave well.
The final K is Kesh where Sikhs keep their hair uncut to show obedience to God.
We then explored the question ‘Why do religious people celebrate important life events?’ We looked at the Sikhs celebration of taking Amrit which is a baptism into their religion. Here are some of our answers:
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We have been looking at aerial photos of the physical features of Earth in Year 2 today. We found mountains, rivers, lakes, cities, deserts and islands. We used Digimaps for Schools to zoom in and out of various parts of the world and look at aerial views. Finally, we matched aerial photos to photos taken from Earth to compare the features.
What a fantastic afternoon we had looking at signs of Autumn. Our first of four trips to the park allowing us to identify and explore the different seasons and their unique characteristics. We know that each season lasts around 3 months with Autumn starting in September and finishing at the end of November.
To start our walk we used our Autumn checklist and explored the area looking for items such as conkers, leaves and pine cones. Here are some of the items we found:
During our time at the park. We were brilliant scientists and thought about some interesting questions such as ‘Do trees with bigger leaves lose their leaves first in Autumn?’ and we also did comparative tests such as ‘Which trees have the biggest leaves?’.
One of our favourite activities of the trip was doing an observational sketch of a tree. On our next visit for our Winter trip we will sketch the tree again allowing us to observe the changes overtime.
As geographers this week, year 1 have been discovering facts about deserts.
Lots of year 1 thought that a desert had sand and it was always somewhere hot.
Did you know Antarctica is the worlds largest desert?
We found out that Antarctica is the coldest, windiest and driest place on earth.
We looked at the Sahara desert and compared it to Antarctica.
Year 1 completed a Venn diagram to identify the features of a hot desert and a cold desert. We found out that lots of things are the same in both deserts.
We had lots of discussion about what the deserts are like.
Phoebe thinks that neither of the deserts are nice as one is too hot and one is too cold.
Year 1 have continued our topic on Antarctica this week in our history lesson.
We have looked at lots of pictures from Captain Scott‘s expedition to Antarctica. We found out that Captain Scott was a significant person
We had a game of I spy to see what we could see. We saw big, warm coats and big sleighs.
We discovered that Captain Scott reached the South Pole on 17th January 1912 but he was not the first one to get there. A man called Roald Amundsen and his team had beaten him by only 34 days.
Year 1 were surprised to find out that Captain Scott needed lots of equipment to help him get to the South Pole. We got to look at snow shoes, ice picks and binoculars that are the same as Captain Scott would have used.
Isaac thought the shoes were a bit funny and that now we might use skis to get across Antarctica.
We started by discussing promises we might make to our friends and family. Next, we discussed the promises made by people of different faiths.
We watched videos and looked at photographs of Christian weddings and Baptisms to help us understand the promises that Christians make during these ceremonies.
Finally, we acted out a Baptism and a wedding. We had great fun and developed a fabulous understanding of the promises Christians make.
Year 2 have been discussing their rights and responsibilities in PSHE. We have thought about rewards and consequences and how we can all work together to ensure we all feel safe and learn as much as we can. Some of our posters will be displayed in the classroom. A great team effort. Well done Year 2!
Throughout October, we are celebrating and teaching children about the importance of Black History Month within school. We always openly discuss Black History throughout our day-to-day learning at Christopher Pickering, however it is great to have even more of a focus on celebrating individuals who have overcome adversity during their lifetimes.
We have taken opportunities within whole school and phase assemblies to discuss why it is so important we discuss Black History and how we, as a country, can learn and move forward from mistakes that have been made in the past. We have also been watching videos and discussing individuals such as Rosa Parks, Mary Seacole and Harriet Tubman – 3 amazingly brave and influential black women who stood up for their beliefs and freedom. These assemblies have stimulated powerful and meaningful discussions amongst our children.
Year 2 have been learning about digital footprints and how important it is to be safe online. We shared our ideas about what we should and could share online and how that information was stored before creating posters to help other children.