Welcome to Year 2! 

Class Teacher: Miss James 

HLTA: Miss Saunders 

What has been happening in Blwyddyn Dau this week?

10.03.25

This week, Blwyddyn 2 got stuck in with their recount writing- identifying a success criteria, drafting and redrafting their recounts to the National Roman Legion Museum. In Math, we have been busy exploring data, including creating our own graphs from data we collected and interpretating this data. On Monday, we were challenged to apply our knowledge of Aqueducts, water transportation systems and materials to design and label a water transportation device ready for our Immersion Day next week- we got really creative with our ideas! On Wednesday, we explored Roman musical instruments, including learning their names, where they would be played, what they were made out of and comparing them to modern instruments. On Thursday, we had an exciting visitor from Louby Lou's who shared the story of Romulus and Remus with us- we enjoyed learning all about the formation of Rome through this interactive storytelling experience. 

17.03.25

This week, Blwyddyn 2 delved into their new narrative, The Mysterious Doorway. They engaged in a class debate, making predictions about what might happen next and questioning the behaviour of a selfish character. As the week unfolded, the learners explored their characters’ motivations through role-playing in the hot seat and created detailed story maps. In math, they practiced halving and doubling using concrete and pictorial methods before applying their learning to problem-solving activities. On Wednesday afternoon, the children learned about Fornacalia, the Roman celebration of the Goddess Fornax. They enjoyed crafting paper wreaths and baking Roman Wheat Biscuits, inspired by how the Romans marked the occasion. On Thursday the children took part in their second immersion day for their A Window to the Past topic. The children applied their understanding of aqueducts, water systems, and materials to the build water transportation structures they had planned the previous week. They also designed and conducted a fair test to determine which structure could transport the most water from Point A to Point B. Finally, the class explored The Curious Why, discussing the benefits and drawbacks of curiosity. They then shared their own questions and wonders on a class Padlet.

24.03.25

This week Blwyddyn 2 took their second exploration into time as they compared digital and analogue time. As the week progressed, the learners began exploring 5-minute intervals in time, applying what they had learned to problems. On Monday, the learners explored the sotry of Palm Sunday in RVE and evaluated their water transportation structures- identifying how they would improve them. In LLC, the learners boxed up their renditions of The Mysterious Doorway, identifying the beginning, build-up, dilemma, solution and ending.  On Wednesday, the learners reflected on what makes them unique, exploring their outward and inward differences and creating their own diagrams to celebrate what makes us marvellous. Also, we had an exciting visit from Mrs Ashton who led us in a relaxing and reflective yoga session. Finally, we explored Roman music, identifying differences between two pieces of music such as dynamics, texture and rhythm. 

31.03.25

This week Blwyddyn 2 put their storyteller hats back on as they retold their LLC text The Mysterious Doorway. Within their retell they were challenged to use a simile to describe their setting, explore synonyms for vocabulary and write each of the parts of their story in clear paragraphs. In Math, the children recapped their bonds within 10, applying their knowledge to add/ subtract 10s and 1s along a number line. In Welsh, we explored answers to 'Beth yw dy hoff fwyd?' with many of the learners showing off what they had learned at lunchtime. As the week progress, we explored the story of Easter using our story mapping structure, continued with our Roman Fact Files and created a piece of body percussion music inspired by what we have learned about Roman music. 

07.04.25

This week, Blwyddyn 2 continued their journey with the story of Easter, finalising their story maps and reflecting on the message Easter brings to Christians. In Math, they recapped their knowledge of 2D shape properties, applying what they recapped to continue 2D shape problems and recognise shapes within pre-created patterns. In LLC, the learners used Book Creator to redraft their retells of The Mysterious Doorway, applying the edits they had made and inserting/ drawing engaging images. In PE, we practiced, performed and evaluated our Gymnastics performance, celebrating the small group sections created by the learners. The learners collaborated in teams to create Roman inspired body percussion/ chants and shared what they would like to learn in their summer term topic Where the Wild Things Are. 

28.04.25

This week Blwyddyn 2 got stuck into their new topic Where the Wild Things Are. In Math, they showed off their multiplication skills, applying their knowledge to identify multiplication facts and fix equations with gaps. To start our journey with Haiku poetry, they explored the work of two famous poets, explored their natural surroundings and used what they had learned to create their own Haiku poems. As the week progressed, the learners identified what makes something a living thing, what human beings need to survive and ranked what living things need by order of importance. In RVE, we delved into our learning on Islam, discovering where and how Muslims worship, comparing it with what we know about Christianity. On Friday, we explored the technique used for long jumping and created/ delivered instructions to a peer on how to jump/ land safely. 

05.05.25

This week Blwyddyn 2, were immersed in their topic with an exciting visit from Falconry UK. They enjoyed learning all about bird adaptations, flight, the eating habits of owls (through dissecting pellets) and habitats. In Math, we made connections between multiplication and division, explored division through sharing using natural resources and used picture to support our division. In LLC, we were introduced to our losing tale Night Flight. We made predictions based on the title of our story (including what we might find on our front cover), created Emotion Graphs linked to key moments in our story and began to map our story. As the week progressed, we planned and started our Hydration Experiment, identifying how we could fairly test how much water is needed to grow a sunflower and predicting which plant will grow the tallest. In celebration of National Deaf Awareness Week 2025, we talked about how people that are hard of hearing communicate, recapped the BSL we have already learned and explored how you can communicate different emotions in BSL. 

12.05.25

This week, Bwlyddyn 2 delved into their losing tale Night Flight with their boxing-up ready to write their own renditions. They also created their own exciting book covers and compared their two settings. At the start of the week, we identified parts of our bodies that should be kept private, discussed how we can keep them private and what we should do if anyone breaks our privacy. In Math, we revisited symmetry through a variety of activities including symmetrical dances and exploring symmetrical shapes, patterns, pictures and letters. We also explored related vocabulary such as asymmetrical and identical. In RVE, we continued our journey with Islam as we learned about the 5 Pillars of Islam and the duties Muslim people undertake. As the week progressed, we analysed the work of Welsh photographer Drew Buckly, identifying techniques used within his photography and how it makes us feel. 

19.05.25

This week, Blwyddyn 2 immersed themselves in their LLC text as they wrote their renditions of Night Flight. The learners captivated their audience using a variety of openers, exciting synonyms, double adjective sentences and striking onomatopoeia throughout their writing. On Monday, the learners applied what they have learned about birds and their habitats to identify food chains/ webs, developing and applying their understanding of key vocabulary such as energy transfer, prey, predator, carnivore, herbivore and omnivore. In Math, the learners revisited and built upon their understanding of time, taking their learning outside as they physically made whole, half and quarter turns on a clock they had drawn in chalk. As the week progressed, the learners applied their understanding to make connections between analogue and digital time. In RVE, the learners completed their final investigation into Islam, gaining a greater understanding of the Qur'an and its importance to Muslims. In Wellbeing, Blwyddyn 2 continued with their learning into their rights as they explored key terms such as personal space and asking/ giving permission through roleplay scenarios. Finally, the learners reflected on what they had learned when they analysed Drew Buckley's photography last week to take and edit their own nature photographs. Wow, what a busy week we've had! 

02.06.25

This week, Blwyddyn 2 fully immersed themselves in their learning as they explored capacity and volume. Throughout the week, they measured the capacity of containers, identified the difference between capacity and volume and explored the impact volume has on capacity. In LLC, the learners began their preparation for their Non-Chronological Reports on what they have learned about birds, their habitat and human impact on their lifestyle. They identified the difference between formal and non-formal learning, using their understanding of contractions to create their own examples. The learners continued their Where the Wild Things Are journey, researching where birds live, how they live and why they live in different habitats. We explored the parable of The Good Samaritan and discussed the qualities that Christians want to develop. The learners created a Role on the Wall linked to the Samaritan, delving into his selflessness, compassion and humility. The children have also been very busy preparing for Sports Day next week, practicing their races and building upon previous skills. In celebration of our Where the Wild Things Are topic, we went on an exciting trip to the Bristol Wild Place Project with Reception and Year 1. 

09.06.25

This week, Blwyddyn 2 have been very busy indeed! We started the week by exploring temperature and thermometers, learning how to read a thermometer and comparing the temperature of capital cities around the world. In LLC, we created a success criterion for our Non-Chronological Reports then planned our headings, subheadings and sections. On Wednesday, we enjoyed a fantastic Sports Day, taking part in heats during the morning, a family picnic at lunchtime and showing off our skills to family and friends in the afternoon. On Thursday, the learners dived into their first Immersion Day for their Where the Wild Things Are topic, coming to school dressed as their favourite bird, engaging in a nest building workshop with Gwent Wildlife and creating collaborative presentations on what they have learned about birds to present to their peers. We have been incredibly proud of the resilience, determination, sportsmanship and creativity demonstrated by the learners this week. Bendigedig pawb!