On Monday 2CN had another exciting Grow to Schools session, and it was full of fun, learning, and fresh air!

We began by using our science knowledge from this half term to create our very own Eatwell Plates. Instead of drawing or using paper, we collected natural materials from outside—such as leaves, sticks, flowers, and seeds—to represent the different food groups. It was a creative way to show what we have learned about healthy eating while enjoying nature at the same time.

Next, we went on a lovely spring nature trail around the school grounds. We spotted signs of the new season, including budding plants, blooming flowers, and busy insects. The children were fantastic at observing and talking about what they could see, hear, and smell.

After our walk, we visited the garden beds that we had planted earlier in the year. It was exciting to see how much everything had grown! We even harvested some fresh lettuce, which the children were very proud of. It was a wonderful opportunity to see the results of our hard work and learn more about where our food comes from.

Overall, it was a brilliant session filled with hands-on learning, teamwork, and outdoor exploration. Well done 2CN!

This week 2CN had lots of fun taking part in a ukulele workshop! First we learned about the different parts of the ukulele and what they are called including the head, neck, body, sound hole and strings. To help us remember the letter names of the strings, we learned a rhyme: “Good Children Eat Apples.” It really helped us!

After that, we got to have a go at strumming the ukulele. We listened carefully and practised playing the strings. Then we learned some chords so that we could play along to songs. We tried playing along with We Will Rock You and Songbird, which was very exciting!

We all enjoyed making music together and can’t wait to play the ukulele again next week!

This week, we had a very exciting visit from the York Bird of Prey Centre! In our assembly, we learned all about owls and saw three different types. One of the owls was a beautiful 10-year-old barn owl called Angel. We learned lots of interesting facts about how owls hunt, what they eat, and how their amazing wings help them fly so quietly. We were also given the opportunity to ask questions and find out even more about these amazing birds.

After the assembly, we went in smaller groups to meet the owls up close. We were even given the chance to hold them! We had to wear a special glove to keep our hands safe while the owls perched on them. It was an amazing experience and we loved seeing the owls so closely.

We had a fantastic time and learned so much about these wonderful birds of prey. Thank you to the York Bird of Prey Centre for visiting us!

In our computing lesson this week, Year 2 had lots of fun learning how to program our Bee-Bots. First, we talked about what an algorithm is and how it means giving clear instructions for something to follow.

We worked in small groups to plan a route for the Bee-Bots across the mat. We had to think carefully about which buttons to press to make the Bee-Bot move forwards, backwards, and turn left or right. Sometimes our Bee-Bot did not go where we expected, so we had to debug our program and try again.

We loved testing our ideas and helping each other solve problems. By the end of the lesson, we were much better at giving clear instructions and thinking like programmers!

This week we were very excited to finish making our Moon Buggies in our DT lesson. Most of the children had managed to make their wheels and axels last week and attached them to the box to create a moving vehicle. This week we could focus on adding some details and decoration such as flags, seats, windows, doors and controls.

This week in maths, 2CN have been busy exploring multiplication in a very hands-on way! We used practical objects like counters and cubes to make equal groups, helping us really see what multiplication means.

First, we built groups and counted them using repeated addition (for example: 4 + 4 + 4). Then we learned how this can be written as a multiplication number sentence (3 × 4). The children did a fantastic job explaining their thinking and making the links between grouping, adding, and multiplying.

Well done, 2CN — great teamwork and brilliant maths thinking!

2CN had a fantastic time visiting the Space Dome this morning! We travelled through space without even leaving school.

We learned about the space race and how countries worked hard to be first in space. We saw the moon landing and were amazed that astronauts walked on the Moon. We also learned about the International Space Station, where astronauts live and work together high above Earth. We finished by learning about Artemis, NASA’s new spaceship, which will help astronauts go back to the Moon.

We finished our session with the children asking some really insightful questions about all the things that we had been told about during our time in the space dome. 🌙✨

This week, 2CN has started an exciting new DT project: designing and making our very own moon buggies! We talked about how astronauts need special vehicles to travel across the Moon and discovered that wheels and axles are an important mechanism that helps vehicles move smoothly.

Today, the children became designers. They sketched their moon buggy ideas, carefully labelled the parts, and listed the materials they think they will need to build them. We talked about how the wheels must turn freely on the axle so the buggy can roll across the Moon’s surface. There were lots of creative ideas and some brilliant thinking already!

We can’t wait to start making our moon buggies and testing how well our wheels and axles work. Watch this space for our next steps! 🌟🛠️

2CN have had a truly fantastic Arts Fortnight. A huge thank you to all the parents who joined us for today’s celebration, we hope the children wowed you with their dance performance and the incredible artwork they created. Please do take a look at the ACE Art blog for a more detailed post about everything we have been exploring in the studio over the past two weeks.

2CN have had a wonderfully creative start to the first week of their Arts Fortnight, with a special focus on fantasy maps and expressing imagination through art, geography and design.

We began the week by creating heart maps, a thoughtful and personal activity that encouraged the children to reflect on what brings them happiness. Using watercolours, the children carefully painted their hearts before filling the lines inside with words representing things they love, such as family, friends and school. The results were both beautiful and meaningful, giving everyone a chance to share a little of what matters most to them.

The children then moved on to exploring maps on a larger scale by creating a world map of the continents. Instead of cutting, we ripped the paper to form each land mass, helping the children notice that ripping creates no straight lines, just like real coastlines. This led to great discussions about why maps look the way they do and how natural features are formed.

As our focus shifted to fantasy maps, the children learned how to draw and use symbols, thinking carefully about both physical features (such as mountains, rivers and forests) and human features (like towns, bridges and roads). We talked about where these features might appear on a map and why, encouraging the children to explain their choices and think like real map makers.

To end the week, 2CN began constructing a 3D relief map, using paper and tape to build up the landscape. Next week, we will take this even further by covering the models with Mod Roc to create a hard surface that can be painted and detailed, bringing their fantasy worlds fully to life.

Alongside our art work, the children have also enjoyed learning a new dance with Mrs Fox, showing great enthusiasm and teamwork. In addition, they took part in some cooking with Mrs Elliott in the café, where they learned how to make delicious croutons and cheese straws – a big hit with everyone!

It has been an exciting, busy and creative first week of Arts Fortnight, and we are very much looking forward to seeing how the children’s ideas continue to grow and develop next week.