Seaside Countryside

Oh the Places You'll Go!

Science Day

What a fantastic day we've had!  We started off with a message from Dr Chris from Operation Ouch. He was very pleased to hear how much we love Science and gave us a tour of his lab.  This was followed by a whole day of Science experiments where the children made predictions, tested them and thought about what they had learnt.  Here are some quotes from the children.

"I think today was a fab day and I wish it would never end!" Rosa

"I learnt that if you put yeast with bleach it rises because the yeast is a catalyst." Maisie

"I think Science is amazing because you learn so much stuff." Lily

"I love Science because it's fun and you learn about what happens when you put salt on ice." Patryk

"It was really amazing when we got to put food colouring on ice." Sebastian

"I learnt that when the sun shines on a snowman it will melt but if we insulate it's body it won't melt." Mable

"I learnt that even if we put a warm coat on ice it takes longer to melt." George

"I love Science because it's fun and you find out loads of exciting things." Emma

"I have learnt that if you put salt onto ice it melts." Miriam

Week 10

We've been looking at fractions this week in Maths.  We've been finding quarters, halves and thirds of amounts and beginning to use our knowledge to answer word problems.

In English, we have been looking at answering questions on a piece of text that we've read.  Before answering each question we underline the answer in the text.

In Science we've been learning about germination.  We predicted that the root and shoot would grow out of the bean seed at the same time.  We recorded the whole thing in time-lapse and saw that the root came out several days before the shoot.

The root grew straight down.  We thought that it might be growing away from the air and down to the deeper soil but when we turned the pot on its side this happened...

Week 8

I hope you all had a great half term.  The children have come back well rested and keen to get stuck in to their learning.  As you all know we've had a 'special' visit this week which gave the children an opportunity to show off their learning which they did with aplomb!

We've not taken it easy as it's the first week back but have got stuck in to learning about fractions and time this week.  We can now find a quarter and a half of an amount by sharing equally; something that you might like to practise at home, keeping the numbers small.

We can also tell the o'clock, quarter past and half past the hour times. Again something that would really help the children if they practised at home.

I'm sorry there's no photos this week as the iPad is busy recording a long term observational experiment we set up to go along side our fair test to find out what seeds need to germinate.

Week 7

The last week of an exciting half term has seen us doing lots more Science and some hands on Maths.

We now know that when we eat we feed the plaque on our teeth and it's pretty disgusting.  We have also seen the effects of acid foods and drink on our teeth.  The good news is that if we clean our teeth twice a day we can keep them nice and clean and white - phew!

In Maths, we have been looking at capacity.

Well we've certainly been to some places this week!

We've been tasting and finding out which apple was the class's favourite but to top it off, we've learnt about why being healthy and doing exercise is important for our hearts!

The only way to really do this is to measure what your own heart is doing and then have a good look at one.  The picture of us all with our hands up was in response to the question, 'Who is a scientist?'

Mrs Collier, our Science leader, was so impressed by our learning that she invited a few children to go and teach year 6 what we had learnt.

Week 3

This week we have started learning about some of the places we can go in the UK.  We have started off by looking at England and its capital city, London.

In Science, we have carried out an investigation into what is the best material to use to make a wind detector.

You could investigate some materials that you have at home and make one for yourselves.

Week 2

We all enjoyed our trip to the seven continents of the world this week!

Where We Live - Now and Then

Week 9

This week in Maths we have been looking at measuring. Can you find things at home that are 1 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm etc.

In English we have been reading all about Traction Man and his amazing adventures.  What adventures do your toys get up to?

Week 7

This week was National Code Week.  We have been using Lightbot to help us understand some of the basics of coding.  You can play with Lightbot at home at https://lightbot.com/hocflash.html

Week 6

This week in English we have had our first go at Free Writing.  This is an opportunity for the children to write about whatever they like and showcase their developing literacy skills.

We also had the results from our germ experiment.  This was a great demonstration of why we need to wash our hands before we eat.  The children were amazed at how many microorganisms there are on their hands. We discussed the fact that many of these organisms aren't harmful in any way but we agreed that washing our hands was a good idea.  I was very impressed with how effective their hand washing was!

In Maths, we are continuing to develop our understanding of addition and subtraction.

Week  5

Thank you to all the scientists involved in developing the nasal flu vaccination. We thought it was a great development: it didn't hurt and we'll be getting less ill.

We took the opportunity to think about germs, or microorganisms, in Science this week.  We used talc to model a sneeze and realised that one sneeze could fill the classroom with germs! We used glitter to model what happens if we don't wash our hands after we sneeze. In no time at all the glitter was spreading all over the classroom and the children.  Finally, we set up some experiments to look at the effect of washing our hands.  The children touched some pieces of bread before and after washing their hands and using alcohol hand wash.  

What do you think will happen and how long will it take?

Week 4

Another exciting week in year 2.  We've been learning about addition and subtraction using the 'bar method'. We've also been combining Science, Maths and English whilst looking at sunflower heads.  We estimated how many seeds where in the huge heads.  We then worked as a team to count them all, using groups of 10s and 20s, to find the actual total.  Finally, we wrote up what we had been doing in our Science books.

Harvest Pause Afternoon

We have also been thinking about Harvest this week.  We focused on the pear harvest in our own school garden.  We looked at the tree, picked and tasted the pears and then wrote poems about them and painted them.  We all agreed that we should thank God for all of the lovely food we eat.

We will be looking at the pear tree throughout the year as part of our Science work on seasons.

Week 3

This week we have had a visit to the train station.  On the way there and back we looked at the buildings we passed. Where they old or new? What types of buildings did we see?

We all loved the Bluebell train. It was a magnificent piece of engineering.

On Tuesday the fire service paid us a visit. We had a good look at the fire engine.  They talked to the children about fire safety. Do you have a fire plan in case your smoke alarm goes off in the night? I think it's fair to say we have some budding fire fighters amongst the children!

Week 2

This week we celebrated some of the great work by one of our favourite authors, Roald Dahl.  Thank you to everyone who helped the children with their amazing costumes.  In year 2 we read part of George's marvellous medicine. The children had requested some Science so we made our own medical potions....

Week 1

Year 1 and 2 enjoyed the 'stunning start' to their new topic 'Where we live now and then'.