Year 2

This half term in Maths, the children have been developing their understanding of multiplication and division through a range of practical and written activities. We have focused on doubling and halving numbers, both with and without regrouping, as well as multiplying by 2, 3, 5 and 10.

The children have also explored how multiplication and division facts can be represented using arrays and bar models. These visual methods are helping the children to build a deeper understanding of number relationships and the mental strategies they can use to solve calculations confidently and efficiently. By using practical resources alongside written methods, the children are becoming more secure in their mathematical understanding.

It has been wonderful to see the children grow in confidence when tackling a variety of questions and explaining the reasoning behind their answers. They are beginning to use mathematical vocabulary more accurately and are showing resilience when solving problems independently.

Next half term, we will continue our learning by taking a deeper look into different division strategies and exploring how these can be applied to more challenging calculations.

How You Can Help at Home

Here are three simple ways to support your child’s learning at home:

• Practise times tables regularly, particularly the 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables, using quick-fire questions or games.
• Encourage your child to spot multiplication and division in everyday life, such as sharing objects equally or counting groups of items.
• Ask your child to explain how they worked out an answer, helping them to build confidence in reasoning and mathematical vocabulary.

In our history lesson, we recapped the significant people we have already learned about in Year 1 and Year 2. We used retrieval practice to help us remember important facts from our previous learning.

We talked about Queen Elizabeth II, Samuel Pepys, Queen Victoria, Orville and Wilbur Wright and Amy Johnson. These are all significant people because they helped shape history in different ways.

We looked carefully at their photographs and paintings to help us work out how long ago they were born. This helped us think about the past and how people’s lives were different depending on when they lived.

Next, we worked in small groups to create a timeline. We placed each significant person in the correct order from the earliest to the most recent. This helped us understand who lived first and how long ago events happened.

We discussed how Queen Elizabeth II was alive at the same time as us, which means she is part of living memory for many people. We also remembered that when we learned about Samuel Pepys, we found out he was alive in 1666 during the Great Fire of London.

Three Things to Do at Home

1. Create your own timeline of these significant people using drawings or printed pictures.
2. Talk to an adult about someone significant who has lived during their lifetime.
3. Research one of the people we learned about and write three interesting facts about them.

Oh No! The Homework Is Gone! 📚

This week, our Year 2 classroom was full of excitement as we read The Lost Homework by Richard O’Neill. The children were hooked straight away. After all, who hasn’t lost something important before?

Apostrophe Detectives 🔍

We became apostrophe detectives, hunting for two different types:

• Contractions (did not → didn’t)
• Possession (the boy’s homework)

The children loved spotting them and using them in their own sentences!

Super Sentences in Action ✏️

We powered up our writing with subordinating conjunctions like because and when. Suddenly, our sentences got longer and more interesting:

• “He felt nervous because his homework was missing!”
• “When he looked again, he gasped!”

Communities to the Rescue 🤝

We talked about how people help each other in a community. What could the character do? Who might help? The children had brilliant ideas about teamwork, kindness, and not giving up.

Our Own Lost Stories 🌟

Then it was time to become authors! The children wrote their own exciting stories about a character who loses something important. There were lost toys, missing books, and even disappearing jewellery! Best of all, they described how their characters felt – worried, upset, and then relieved when things got better.

We were so proud to see apostrophes and super sentences popping up in their writing!

What a fantastic week of learning, imagination, and storytelling!

Try these at home!

• Apostrophe Hunt: look for apostrophes in books or around the house. Can your child spot contractions and possession?
• Super Sentence Challenge: say a simple sentence and ask your child to improve it using because or when.
• Mini Story Time: ask your child to tell or write a short story about losing something – what happened and how did they feel?

Over the past five weeks in Design and Technology (DT), the children have taken part in an exciting food project all about making healthy dips. They explored ingredients, developed important kitchen skills, and worked together to create their own delicious dishes.

In Week 1, the children began by taste-testing a variety of dips. This helped them explore different flavours and think about which ingredients might be used in each one. They described tastes such as fresh, creamy, and tangy, building their confidence in discussing food.

In Week 2, the focus shifted to hygiene and safety. The children learnt how important it is to wash their hands, keep surfaces clean, and handle food carefully. These are essential skills that will support them whenever they cook.

Week 3 was all about practising chopping techniques. The children learnt three key skills: the bridge, the claw, and fork secure. These techniques help keep fingers safe while cutting and give better control when preparing ingredients.

In Week 4, the children worked together to decide which dip they would make. They discussed their favourite flavours and ingredients before making a final choice. Swan Class chose to make tzatziki, while Herons Class chose salsa.

Finally, in Week 5, the children put all their learning into practice and made their dips. They carefully prepared the ingredients using their chopping skills and followed the steps to create their final dishes. It was fantastic to see their confidence and teamwork in action!

👉 Check out our Instagram page for videos of the three cutting methods by scanning the QR code.

3 Things You Can Do at Home to Help Your Child

1. Practise chopping skills
Encourage your child to use the bridge, claw, and fork secure techniques when helping with simple food preparation.

2. Reinforce good hygiene
Remind your child to wash their hands, clean surfaces, and handle food safely when cooking at home.

3. Make dips together
Try making tzatziki or salsa at home and talk about the ingredients, flavours, and steps involved. Let your child take the lead where possible!

Last week, we went to visit the RAF Museum in Hendon on a beautiful sunny day! This trip linked perfectly to our recent learning about the history of flight from last half term, and it was wonderful to see the children bringing their knowledge to life.

There was so much excitement as we explored the exhibits. Seeing a real biplane up close was amazing and then we were even more impressed when we spotted a triplane! As we moved around the hangars, we discovered a wide range of helicopters, planes, and other vehicles that play an important role in the work of the RAF. One highlight was seeing a helicopter that had been used to fly members of the Royal Family.

We also had time to enjoy the flight-themed playground, which was a great opportunity to burn off some energy and continue the aviation theme through play. Later, we took part in an engaging workshop all about the materials used to make planes. The children explored a variety of objects, using their senses to identify what they were made from and describing key properties such as smooth, strong, flexible, and rough.

To build on this learning, we went on a material hunt around the museum, spotting different materials used in aircraft and pilot uniforms. It was fantastic to see the children making connections and applying their understanding in a real-world context.

We were so proud of how much the children remembered from our previous learning. It was a joy to see their curiosity, enthusiasm, and confidence grow throughout the day!

How you can support learning at home:

• Explore materials together: Look around your home for objects made from different materials (metal, plastic, fabric, wood) and discuss their properties—are they strong, flexible, smooth, or rough?
• Learn about flight: Watch videos or read books about the history of flight, including early aircraft like biplanes and modern aeroplanes.
• Design and build: Encourage your child to design and create their own model aeroplane using recycled materials, thinking carefully about which materials would be best and why.

This week, Swan and Heron Class immersed themselves in the world of environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. The children explored how he uses natural objects—leaves, stones, twigs, petals, and water—to create beautiful, temporary artworks that celebrate the outdoors.

Inspired by his creativity, the children experimented with a wide variety of textures and natural materials. They touched, sorted, arranged, and combined objects they collected, noticing patterns, colours, and shapes in the world around them. Using digital media, they also learned to capture their artwork through photographs, just like Goldsworthy does to preserve his fleeting creations.

During our Mini Explorer forest session, the children brought their designs to life. Working both independently and collaboratively, they arranged natural materials to create spirals, lines, and patterns across the forest floor. The sense of pride and focus was wonderful to see, and the children showed great imagination in turning the natural world into their canvas.

This hands‑on experience not only deepened their understanding of Goldsworthy’s art but also encouraged them to look more closely at nature, think creatively, and work as thoughtful, expressive artists.

How to Support This Learning at Home

Here are three simple ways families can extend this learning:

1. Collect leaves, pebbles, sticks, or flowers during walks and let your child arrange them into patterns or shapes at home.
2. Give your child a phone or tablet to photograph interesting textures—tree bark, shadows, water, petals—and encourage them to talk about what they notice.
3. Set up a small outdoor or indoor tray where your child can continue making natural art using materials they gather throughout the week.

In science, we have been exploring the fascinating world of seeds and bulbs. We started by learning that most plants grow from either seeds or bulbs, and we were surprised to discover that many everyday foods, such as onions and sunflower seeds, are actually bulbs or seeds too!

To investigate further, we compared a variety of seeds, looking closely for similarities and differences in colour, size, and shape. Using magnifying glasses made the experience even more exciting, allowing us to spot tiny details we might not normally see.

Next, we explored bulbs. By carefully cutting them in half, we were able to find the hidden shoot of the flower inside. It was amazing to see how a bulb protects a new plant before it begins to grow.

We then planted our own lettuce seeds and gladioli bulbs. Working in small groups, we shared different jobs such as filling the pots with soil, sprinkling the seeds, placing the bulbs, covering them up, and watering them. We also learned an important gardening tip: bulbs should be planted at a depth three times their height!

We loved getting our hands dirty and learning through doing. After just one week, our lettuce seeds have already started to sprout! Our gladioli bulbs haven’t appeared above the soil yet, but we know they can be a little more particular about the conditions they need to grow.

Through our investigations, we learned that plants need sunlight, water, air, soil, and time to grow well. We also explored how to spot a healthy plant: standing upright with firm green leaves and signs of flowers or fruit. We’re excited to keep observing our plants and can’t wait to experiment with changing their growing conditions to see what happens next!

How to help at home:

Here are a few ways to continue the learning at home:

• Be a Seed Detective: Look for seeds in your kitchen (like pumpkin, sunflower, or pea seeds) and compare their shapes, sizes, and colours.

• Grow a Plant: Plant a seed in a small pot on a sunny windowsill and watch how it changes each day.

• Healthy Plant Hunt: On a walk or in your garden, see if you can spot plants that look healthy. What clues can you find?

  

  

  

  
  

Our Sustainable Celebration of World Book Day 📚🌍

This year our school celebrated World Book Day with a special theme: sustainability. We thought about how we can enjoy books while also looking after our planet. It was a day full of creativity, sharing stories, and showing how small choices can make a big difference.

Sustainable Costumes 👗♻️

Instead of buying new outfits, everyone was encouraged to make their costumes by hand or borrow them. Some children used clothes they already had at home, while others made amazing costumes using recycled materials. It was fantastic to see so many creative ideas while helping to reduce waste.

Sharing Our Favourite Books 📖

Children brought in books from home to share with their friends. We spent time talking about the stories we love and recommending them to others. It was a great way to discover new books and celebrate reading together.

Playground Chalk Posters 🎨

We also made sustainability posters outside on the playground using chalk. Using chalk meant our artwork was fun and colourful but also temporary and environmentally friendly. The playground was filled with drawings and messages about caring for the Earth.

Whole School Assembly and Costume Parade 🎉

One of the highlights of the day was our whole school assembly and parade. Everyone had the chance to walk around and show their costumes. It was wonderful to see so many book characters come to life!

Guided Reading in Year Two 🏴‍☠️🐶

During guided reading, Year Two enjoyed the story Pirate Pug by Laura James. We talked about the characters and enjoyed the funny adventures in the story.

To make the day even more special, the Year Two teachers dressed up as characters from books written by Laura James. She is actually the auntie of a special little girl in Heron Class, which made the connection to the author even more exciting for everyone!

At the end of the day we also had a surprise reader!

 Sustainable Book Day Activities to Try at Home 🏠📚

 Swap Books with Friends
Instead of buying new books, organise a mini book swap with friends or family.

Create Chalk Story Art Outside
Use chalk to draw your favourite book characters or scenes on the pavement or driveway.

This week in English, we began exploring the wonderful and thought-provoking story Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. The story introduces us to Julian, a little boy with a huge imagination who dreams of becoming a mermaid. It has already sparked some fantastic discussions about feelings, identity and self-expression.

To deepen our understanding, we brought the story to life through role play and freeze frames. We carefully thought about how the characters might move, speak and feel in different moments. By stepping into their shoes, we were able to explore the emotions in the story in a meaningful and memorable way.

We also took part in an energetic verb movement game. Instead of simply walking or running, we soared, floated, whirled and twisted around the classroom! Afterwards, we transformed these verbs into their present progressive (-ing) forms — soaring, floating, whirling and twisting — to make the action feel immediate and alive for the reader. This linked perfectly to the -ing spelling rule we have been practising in our spelling lessons. It has been great to see how our grammar skills strengthen our creative writing.

We are really looking forward to discovering more about Julian’s journey and using everything we have learned to write our own imaginative stories at the end of the unit.

Things to Try at Home

1. Verb Transformer
   Find five interesting verbs in your reading book and change them into their -ing form. Can you use them in exciting sentences?

2. Freeze Frame Fun
   Choose a favourite character and create a freeze frame to show how they are feeling. Explain how your body and facial expression show that emotion.

3. Imagination Inspiration
   Draw yourself as something magical or extraordinary. Write a short paragraph describing what you are doing using powerful -ing verbs.

We can’t wait to share more of our learning soon! ✨

This week we have been learning two powerful mental maths strategies to help us add a two-digit number and a one-digit number more easily:

• Think 10

• Rebalancing

We used our whiteboards and pens to work through the problems step by step. We also used a part-part-whole model to help us see how numbers can be split and adjusted. These strategies help us solve tricky additions in a smart and efficient way!

⭐ Strategy 1: Think 10

Example: 72 + 9

When we use Think 10, we look for a way to make the next multiple of 10 because adding to a multiple of 10 is much easier.

Step 1: Look at 72

We know that:

• 72 needs 8 more to make 80.

Step 2: Break apart the 9

Using our part-part-whole model:

• 9 can be split into 8 and 1

Step 3: Add in parts

• 72 + 8 = 80

• 80 + 1 = 81

So,

72 + 9 = 81

By thinking about making 10 (or the next multiple of 10), the calculation becomes much simpler!

⭐ Strategy 2: Rebalancing

Example: 59 + 8

Rebalancing means we add 1 to one number and take 1 away from the other number to make the calculation easier — without changing the total.

Step 1: Look at 59

59 is very close to 60. That makes it a good number to adjust!

Step 2: Move 1

• Take 1 away from 8 (8 becomes 7)

• Add 1 to 59 (59 becomes 60)

Now the calculation becomes:

60 + 7

Step 3: Add

60 + 7 = 67

So,

59 + 8 = 67

The total stays the same because we balanced the numbers — we just made it easier to calculate!

🧠 Why These Strategies Help

• They make mental maths faster.

• They help us understand how numbers work.

• They build confidence with bigger numbers.

• They show that numbers can be flexible!

Using whiteboards helped us try ideas, make changes, and clearly see how part-part-whole modelling works.

🏡 Home Learning Targets

Here are three targets to practise at home:

1. Use Think 10
   Solve:

   • 64 + 8

   • 73 + 9

2. Use Rebalancing
   Solve:

   • 48 + 7

   • 69 + 6

3. Explain Your Thinking
   Choose one question and explain:

   • How did you split the number?

   • Did you make a multiple of 10?

   • How did you rebalance?

Try using a piece of paper to draw a part-part-whole model just like we did in class!

This half term in History, Year 2 have been soaring through the exciting history of flight! We kicked off our learning by becoming history detectives, exploring a range of mysterious sources and objects to help us uncover our new topic. We examined a passport, photographs of people who served in the RAF during the World Wars, aviator licences and model aeroplanes. The children loved using their prior knowledge and new clues to solve the mystery!

We then travelled through time to discover how flight has changed over the years — from hot air balloons floating gently through the sky, to airships, biplanes, and the modern monoplanes we see flying today. We took a closer look at biplanes, researching their key features and spotting how they have changed from their first invention to the aircraft we know now. We also explored the clever technology that makes flight possible and learned how it helps planes stay up in the air.

Next, we learned all about the famous Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, and their incredible achievement in inventing the aeroplane. Did you know the very first flight lasted just 12 seconds? It then took two whole years before a flight lasted longer than 30 minutes! Today, aeroplanes can fly for hours at a time, even faster than the speed of sound!

This week, we discovered how the history of flight links to our local area of Bushey. We learned about Bentley Priory and its important role during the Battle of Britain as the Headquarters of RAF Fighter Command.

All this fantastic learning has made us extra excited for our upcoming trip to the RAF Museum. We can’t wait to see the aircraft up close and bring our learning to life in the real world! 🚀

Try This at Home! 🏠✈️

1. Make Your Own Flying Machine
   Create a paper aeroplane or a model using recycling materials. Test different designs to see which one flies the furthest or stays in the air the longest!

2. Flight Fact Finder
   Research a type of aircraft at home — this could be a hot air balloon, biplane, or modern aeroplane. Can you find out when it was invented and one interesting fact to share in class?

3. Sky Spotting
   Look up at the sky when you’re outside and see what you can spot. Can you identify different types of aircraft? Draw a picture or write a sentence about what you saw and how it was flying.

4. Visit Bentley Priory Museum

Our Rapunzel Story Project

Over the last three weeks, we have been learning about the traditional tale Rapunzel and a modern version of the story. We compared the two stories and talked about what was the same and what was different.

We then planned our own stories with a beginning, middle and end. We thought carefully about our main character and our villain. We planned how the character would be captured, how they would escape, and how they would later go on to capture villains themselves.

Our audience and purpose were to write an entertaining story for the Nursery children. Writing for an authentic audience is at the heart of our English curriculum as it really inspires the children to write and feel like a writer.  On Monday, we excitedly visited Nursery and read our stories to them. They absolutely loved listening and were a fantastic audience!

While writing, we learned how to use:

• Expanded noun phrases (e.g. the tall, golden tower)

• Commas in a list

• Subordinating conjunctions (e.g. because, when, if)

We are very proud of our hard work and our storytelling skills!

Three things to do at home

1. Read a traditional tale and talk about the characters and villains.

2. Write your own short story with a beginning, middle and end.

3. Practice using expanded noun phrases to make your writing more exciting.