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.
Year 2 have been investigating what happens to our body when we exercise. They did a variety of exercises in the classroom and then recorded how they felt after each exercise.
We have been learning how people of different faiths show their religion through actions and objects. We looked at some of the objects, watched some videos of children from the Sikh Faith and the Christian Faith then produced drawings to showcase our understanding. Another great RE lesson with lots of discussion. Well done Year 2!
World Mental Health Day we wore yellow to school and in return we donated money to the charity Young Minds Trust, which helps young people who are struggling with their mental health. In our assembly, we learned about what mental health is, what we can do to improve our mental health and what we should do if we are every feeling sad. Throughout the day, we took part in mindfulness sessions and throughout the week, we will be completing activities based around promoting positive mental health.
In science this week we re-capped our understanding of the human body and focussed on the enquiry ‘are animal’s bodies the same as ours?’. To start off our lesson we looked at a variety of photographs of different animals. I asked the children to identify their different features and characteristics.
After that we created two groups. One group of features we share with animals and one that we don’t. Here are some of the similarities and differences.
Similarities Differences
Eyes, mouth, head, legs and ears. Tusks, trunks, hooves, fur, scales and fins.
We had some great discussions about animal body parts and why they might have certain characteristics. We can’t wait to learn more about this next week!
In English, we have started our new story ‘Lost and Found’. This week we acted out the story as the boy and the penguin and performed it to the class. This really helped us internalise the story ready for re-telling it in our own words next week. We had some brilliant performances, well done Year 1!
