My name is Miss Leach and I am the teacher of Magpie Class in Year 2. The teaching assistants in Year 2 are Mrs Charalambous and Mrs Richards.
I am really looking forward to this school year and am excited about learning lots of things with my new class. We have some fantastic opportunities to learn about castles, some famous explorers and lots of interesting information about minibeasts.
I encourage the children to be as independent as possible, using resources and their peers to help them learn. We take care of the classroom and each other. Every member of my class has an opportunity to be a Busy Bee and there are many classroom jobs to be done!
Finally, I wish the children a happy year and hope they enjoy Year 2!
Maths Challenge - 1
Create your own shop at home. Come up with different items that you could sell and a price less than £1.
Once you’ve done that, can you think of different ways to use coins to make the different values?
For example – 25p could be 20p + 2p + 2p + 1p but it could also be 10p + 10p + 5p.
Take a photograph or keep a record of the prices and how you could use coins to make them and then bring it in to share.
Maths Challenge - 2
Make up your own maths game, to practise your counting in 2s, 5s and 10s or telling the time (in Year 2 we learn the time to the nearest 5 minutes).
Could it be a board game, matching card game, or a game where you need to be a little bit more active?
Once you made your game/created your game, share it with us in school.
Art Challenge
Look at the nature-styled artwork of the Sculptor Andy Goldsworthy.
Talk and discuss what you like about his artwork and why people might enjoy seeing it.
Once you’ve done that, try to create your own nature sculpture, inspired by the style of Andy Goldsworthy.
Take a picture of this or bring it into school to share with us.
English Challenge - Fiction
Write a story about a polar animal.
Plan your story carefully by thinking about the main events that are going to happen.
Then, write it out focusing on the beginning, middle and end.
Don’t forget to use the correct and use your phonic knowledge when spelling unfamiliar words.
How creative can you be?
Can you include some powerful and interesting adjectives which will amaze your teacher?
History Challenge
Research The Great Fire of London and the houses that people lived in at that time.
What did they look like?
What were they made of?
Why do you think the fire spread so quickly?
What differences are there between the houses we have today?
What is the most interesting Great Fire of London fact you can find out to amaze your friends and teacher.
Suggested Reading
English Challenge – Non-fiction
Video yourself making a short documentary about a polar animal in the style of David Attenborough.
Start by watching a few of his videos where he looks at animals in detail.
Then, select a polar animal of your choice and discover interesting facts about them.
For example, did you know an Emperor Penguin is the biggest species of penguin which is alive today?
Show off your knowledge and factual information. You could also use pictures, graphs or other information to really bring your documentary to life.
Once you’ve produced your video, it could be emailed to your teacher so it can be shared with the class.
Science Challenge
Keep a food diary for a week to help you think about the different foods that you eat.
Can you group the foods you eat?
What do you eat the most of?
What is the strangest food you ate throughout the week?
Do you think you have a healthy and balanced diet?
Is there anything you should eat more or less of?
Geography Challenge
Use a globe or world map to locate the equator and North and South Pole.
Look at countries that are near the equator and countries that are near the North Pole.
What differences can you see between them?
Do they have the same types of animals?
Why might they be different?
Explain whether you would rather live by the equator or the North Pole.
Bring your findings into school to share.