Year 2

Thank you to all the Swan families for my lovely gifts at the end of term. You obviously know me very well! I hope you all had a good summer and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Love from Mrs Goodson

Well it is very nearly the end of the school year, so here are a selection of photos for the second half of the Summer Term. The Robins have enjoyed lots of activities, which have included watching our plants grow in our outside area and gymnastics in the hall, when they were practising high and low movements and making bridges.

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Here are some photos of the children drawing pictures of plants growing in the Environmental Garden, when they were learning about Living Things and their Habitats, which was one of their Science topics this term. I have also included some photos of a group of children in the garden.

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The Robins have enjoyed their PE lessons this term. They have been doing athletics with Mrs Patterson on a Wednesday afternoon and Gymnastics with me in the hall on a Friday morning.

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For Olympic Week, all classes learnt about a country, which will participate in the Olympics and counted their daily mile and all exercise towards a school total to reach Tokyo in Japan. Robins learnt more about our nearest neighbour, the country of France. During the week, the children did some art work linked to Japan. They looked at some photos of the famous Cherry blossom trees and created one using tissue paper.

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The children enjoyed making their Father’s Day cards, especially as we returned to the theme of the Moon and they made a card, which featured a rocket.

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The Robins enjoyed practising in preparation for the Bucket Beats performance at Norwich Cathedral and were disappointed when the trip was cancelled due to current restrictions. However, they were still able to join in online and here are some photos of them playing their buckets.

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Some of our Maths’ lessons this term involved learning about measuring length, mass and capacity. The Robins used rulers and metre sticks to measure objects in the classroom, scales to measure the mass (weight) of a variety of things and litre jugs to find out the capacity of various containers. Here are some photos of the children on the playground with buckets/bowls of water.

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At the end of June, the Robins joined in online with two Sing Up events, which proved to be a lot of fun.

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Our Geography and History topics this term have involved learning about The Seaside and Seaside Holidays in the Past. The children enjoyed watching some Magic Grandad programmes, which were lots of fun and taught them more about Victorian seaside holidays. Later our class helper, Mrs Yaxley, came in to talk about her holidays during the 1950s and she brought in some books and photos.

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Sports Day finally took place last Wednesday and the whole school sat outside in their bubbles to support each other. Here are some photos of them practising and then participating in their races.

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Last week, the Robins enjoyed listening to stories about The Killer Cat, by Anne Fine. On Thursday, we had a drama lesson when the children pretended to move around the garden like Tuffy, the cat, and then did some hotseating in groups, when one of them pretended to be Tuffy and the others asked some questions. Here are some photos.

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On Friday, there were two assemblies. First, Mr Shingles and two members of the Eco-Council presented an interesting presentation about the different sources of energy, some of which were more environmentally friendly. Just before lunchtime, there was a whole school assembly on the playing field to present the cup to the winning team of Sports Day, which was Blue, and the Year 6 children were given their Leaver’s sweat tops.

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There are now only two and a half days left of this term, which will be busy, but also more relaxing. Most of the teaching has now been completed, so the Robins can enjoy a little more Golden Time for their last few days in Robin Class!

It will also be my last week as a teacher at Hemblington Primary School. I have very much enjoyed my time at the school, which has seen many changes over the years – the number of classes, building work, which created new areas within the school, new staff, etc. I am looking forward to more free time and hopefully with opportunities for some trips away during term time! However, I intend to keep in touch with the school and my fellow colleagues, who are also my friends. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all the many parents, whose children I have taught over the past twenty years. It has been a privilege to teach your children and watch them develop and gain confidence in their own abilities. Thank you especially to the present Robin Class, who have been such a super group of children to teach.

Mrs Brownsey

As we reach the end of the half term holiday, I hope that all the Robins and their families enjoyed a relaxing week and made the most of the beautiful sunny weather. It was so lovely to spend time outside, going for walks, or just being in the garden.

Here are some photos of the Robins, taken during the four weeks before half term: working in the classroom to produce some block graphs about favourite seaside activities, spending time outside doing some Maths activities, or playing rounders and running the daily mile, and learning to folk dance in the school hall. I have also included some photos of the children’s bean and sunflower plants.

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The children took their bean and sunflower plants home before half term, so I hope they are continuing to grow well. Some sunflower plants stayed at school, so we can watch them grow outside the classroom. Elizabeth’s pumpkin plant is growing well and has been repotted during the holiday. It will now continue to grow in our outside area.

Well done to all the Robins for working so hard, particularly when completing some assessment tasks during the last week of half term. This coming half term, they will be learning about the seaside and seaside holidays in the past. We will also have a busy couple of weeks practising our bucket beats, in preparation for joining in with a performance at Norwich Cathedral on 21st June. It should be a fun half term and let’s hope the sun continues to shine.

Mrs Brownsey

The Robins have had a busy three weeks back in school after the Easter holiday. Due to the lockdown, some of our topics were postponed until the Summer Term, one of which was Two Famous Nurses: Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell. They have all enjoyed this work and can now talk with confidence about why these nurses were famous. Whilst learning about Florence Nightingale, they took part in three drama lessons, which involved freeze frame images, when they pretended they were injured soldiers in the Crimean War, or cleaning Scutari Hospital. Here are some photos.

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The children also pretended they were in a boat travelling to the Crimea and afterwards worked in small groups to create a talking poster, asking for volunteers to travel with Florence to nurse the injured soldiers. Here are further photos.

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Our Science topic about Growing Plants was also delayed until the beginning of the Summer Term. During the first week, the children planted Sunflower seeds with Mrs Caldwell and they have begun to record their growth in a booklet, with photographs to show how how they are growing. Here are some photos.

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The following photos show the Robins completing a Maths worksheet, reading books and playing Connect 4. Many thanks to Elizabeth’s parents, who gave this game to the class/school. The photos show the children reading whilst they were waiting for their turn to play the game. It has been a real success and the Robins have had lots of fun playing against each other.

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Our PE lessons have involved learning some folk dances and so far, the Robins have performed the following: Clap and Tap, All at Sea and Hold On. The dances are quite energetic, but I wait with baited breath for the final dance – The Snowball, which always proves to be very challenging! It involves performing a star with four children, a Dosey Doe and casting off, with the formation of an arch! Here are some photos showing the nautical All at Sea dance.

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Finally, the Robins completed their Kenyan animal puppets, with the assistance of Miss Barrett, Mrs Caldwell and myself. Their designs included a few additional details, such as a striped skirt and handbag! The puppets are now on display on a string across the classroom. Here are some photos of the children making their puppets and showing them on display.

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Many thanks to all the parents who have provided some plants for our outside area. We should certainly have a good display of flowers during the Summer Term.

Hope you’ve all enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend and managed to get out and see family, or visit a local attraction, now we are able to meet up outdoors.

Mrs Brownsey

After three weeks back in school, the Robins were ready for the Easter holiday. They were enjoying being together again in class and worked hard on a variety of activities, which included completing some information sheets about Kenya and answering Times Tables Rock Star questions in the Computer room and some writing, drawing and 2D and 3D shape activities in the classroom. They also began to make their African animal glove puppets, by using blanket stitch to sew around the edge. Here is a selection of photos.

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Friday 19th March was Comic Relief Day, so many of the children were dressed as superheroes. Here are some group scenes, showing their costumes, and a few photos of those superheroes running around the track after their PE lesson.

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During the last week of term, the children completed their topic work about the country of Kenya, although they will be continuing with their African animal glove puppets after the Easter holiday. They had an opportunity to learn more about the country from someone who has lived there. This was Miss Collier, who visited the class to talk about Kenya and show the children her collection of things she bought there and some pictures of the country. Here are some photos of this session.

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The last day of term provided a further opportunity to dress up, but this time with an Easter theme, so out came the Easter bonnets, bunny ears and flowery outfits. Here are some photos.

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During the morning, all classes took part in an Easter egg hunt in the Environmental Garden in the presence of an Easter bunny! Here are some photos of the Robins and Kingfishers in the garden.

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At the end of the day, the Robins went home with an Easter egg from the Friends and an Easter card basket with some mini eggs and a creme egg. Star of the Week certificates were awarded in the Celebration Assembly and some children received their class Writing certificate. It won’t be long until the rest of the class receive their certificates after the holiday. Here are a couple of photos of the children holding their certificates.

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I hope the Robins are having a fun Easter holiday and that they enjoy this weekend with more chocolate eggs and perhaps an Easter egg hunt in the garden!

Mrs Brownsey

The Robins had a great first week back at school, after two months of home schooling. It was lovely to be back in the classroom and for the children to be learning together once again. They all settled well and were soon ready to focus on their work.

We began by chatting about their time during lockdown, when they shared various experiences of completing their school work at home. Certificates were also awarded to those children who participated in the World Book Day challenges. Here are two photos.

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It was British Science Week, so they were able to listen to some Zoom presentations by several scientists about electricity and sound. Following on from their work on Materials during lockdown, we carried out an investigation about waterproof materials. The children were given a number of resources: card, paper, foil, plasticene and tape, with the aim of making a waterproof boat, which also floated. Here are some photos, which show the children making their boats and then testing them using a tray of water.

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After testing their boats, the children made several conclusions. The shape of the boat was important and foil was the best waterproof material. Some of the boats had plasticine placed in them at one end, which made them sink. A plasticine boat was waterproof and would float, as long as it resembled a boat shape! Card and paper absorbed water and became soggy.

Later in the week, the children learnt about a famous scientist – Charles Macintosh, who invented a waterproof fabric. This was used to make a raincoat – the Mackintosh, commonly known as a Mac! The Robins carried out another investigation, by testing five different materials, to see which were waterpoof.

Alongside their Science activities, the Robins managed to complete their Maths work on 2D and 3D shapes and continue with their topic on Kenya, learning about different types of transport, or moving around the country. One of their PE lessons had an African theme and the photos below show them working on a farm in groups.

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Finally, during their Art lesson, the Robins produced these beautiful Mother’s Day cards.

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Well done to all the Robins for working hard and being ready to learn.

Mrs Brownsey

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