Thank you everyone who made time to join us on Wednesday for our Morning Maths session. Albeit brief, I hope it gave you an idea of the kind of language we use in our Maths learning and some of the strategies we practice to help us with our calculations. Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions about Maths learning in the class.

This week, Class 2 had a great time reflecting on our learning from the Victorian Day last week. We thought about our experience on Friday and compared it to our daily experiences in school. We found a lot of differences between a Victorian school and schools today. However, we were surprised at how many similarities we found.

In Literacy, we have begun writing our own stories about an animal who has lost something just like Augustus. We have everything from a crocodile who has lost his dinner to a zebra who has lost her stripes. I cannot wait to read all the stories when they are finished! In Maths, we explored adding 3 digit numbers and adding to make the next 10.

In Science, we conducted our first experiment of the term. We discussed the importance of exercise for our body (we learned about the happy chemical - endorphin - that our brain releases when we get physically active) and conducted some experiments to find out what else we changes in our body when we get physically active.

Finally, a very well done to:

• Theo for getting the Ready Award for trying his very best and for being ready to learn during RWI sessions.
• Sofia for getting the Respectful Award for always listening respectfully when teachers give instructions.
• Lilly R for getting the Safe Award for always being kind and helpful in the classroom. 

It has been another week full of learning, fun and discoveries in Class 2.

In Literacy, we have continued to look at book by Catherine Rayner and comparing them. Besides "Augustus and his smile," we have read "Solomon crocodile" and "Smelly Louie." We used the language in these books to help us explore similes. In Maths, we have continued with Addition and Subtraction by exploring number bonds. We have had oodles of fun using our knowledge of bonds to 10 to help us understand number bonds to 100.

In Science, we used our knowledge of a healthy balanced diet to design our own healthy balanced menu for the day. In Art, we continue to explore autumn leaves by experimenting with painting wax resist autumn leaves. In History, we continued our enquiry into how schools have changed by learning about what the school was like during the Victorian era.

To help us better understand this, we travelled back in time on Friday and had an entire day of experiencing a Victorian classroom. We had a paperless and screenless classroom. So, the children used slate and chalk for all their lessons while teachers gave / wrote instructions on a "chalk board." In the afternoon, children also got a taste of the life skills Victorian boys and girls learned at school. While Mr Hunt took the boys out for a lesson in woodwork, the girls stayed with me and Miss Connell for sewing lesson. Finally, we ended the day by playing some games children in the Victorian era might have played. Please find below some photos from this experience.

A very well done to:

• Jimmy for getting the Ready Award for his amazing efforts at writing neatly and especially for coming in early to complete his Morning Maths. 
• Harriet for getting the Respectful Award for making time to help keep our classroom neat and tidy.
• William for getting the Safe Award for trying his very best to use kind hands and for his honesty. 

What an amazing end to another busy week!
We had the awesome Rock Steady in for a special assembly followed by a taster session with them. It was so much fun trying out all the different instruments and belting out some popular tunes. 

In Literacy, we have completed our first unit of the half term. Our neat copies look really awesome. Here are two of the many amazing pieces our class produced. On the left is Roux's report with his very detailed illustration of lion cubs (with their spots) and Isabella's beautifully produced neat copy. We have now begun our new fiction unit based on the books by Catherine Rayner. In Maths, we have now moved on to a new unit on Addition and Subtraction. This week, we have had a lot of fun working on our number bonds.

In Science, we had a very lively discussion about why we need to eat a healthy balanced diet. In History, we had Mrs Moyle visit us to talk to us about the school in the 1980s and 90s. We then discussed what our school must have been like in the 1800s. We can't wait for next week when we can learn about Harrowbarrow school in the 1800s. Art lesson was really fun today where we practiced sketching Autumn leaves as we plan and prepare for our final art piece. We had a really good go at drawing on a much larger scale then we are used to, with varying results.

Finally, a very well done to:

• Isla for getting the Ready Award for not only her amazing 2A sentences but how she is applying this skill into every piece of her writing.
• Isabella for getting the Respectful Award for being a super star during our Rock Steady experience - for listening respectfully to all instructions and being a super drummer.
• Darcie for getting the Safe Award for always looking out for everyone in class - always ready with a cuddle and a kind word for anyone who is sad.  

What an awesome week and 2 days we have had after our long, hot summer break! Out first full week back had been jam-packed with oodles of learning and fun outside.

In Maths, we have started our fist unit of work on Place Values. This week, we have been using our part-whole models and place value mats to split numbers into tens and ones. We have also been working really hard on our number formation, focusing on forming number 3 the right way round. In Class 2, we do this by making sure our pencil is on the LEFT hand side of the square and then using a following rhyme to remember how to write the number: "Around the tree, around the tree, that's the way to make a three!"

In Literacy, we are learning how to write a report. This week, we have practiced writing 2A sentences and using conjunctions to add more details. We have also begun collecting facts about a new animal for our own reports.

In History, we have begun a new unit that will help us answer the question, "How was school different in the past?" This week, we had some very heated debates about how schools might have changed. We are so lucky that at Harrowbarrow we have such a rich collection of photos and artefacts that document our school over the years. We spent an afternoon looking at these photos and artefacts. We finished our session by talking about what similarities and differences we could see in the the way children learned at Harrowbarrow in the past compared to our school today.  

In Music, this term we are exploring pulse and rhythmic patterns. This week, we had a very lively session of composing call-and-echo movement sequences for our friends to follow.

Art this term is all about exploring and drawing. This week, we investigated the concept of artists as explorers and collectors - exploring the world and ideas and collecting artifacts from nature and all around them to inspire their art.

We watched a video about Andy Goldsworthy, a British Sculptor who has become know for making art from things he finds in the landscape. In the video, he shared how he takes ice and rocks from the landscape and lets it make a "drawing" as it thaws in his studio. Inspired by this, we went outside to look for colours in nature and experimented with creating colours with our found natural things.