Welcome to the Year 2D class page

Join us on our wonderful adventure as we navigate our way across the sea of successes, over the waves of wonder, through the forests of fascination and beyond the desert of discovery.

This year 2 trip of a lifetime promises an all-inclusive, supportive and nurturing journey full of enriching, exciting learning experiences where every child thrives and succeeds.

Follow our journey regularly and sail amongst the stars that are the children of year 2!

This week we had an amazing trip to Peepy farm in Northumberland to link with our Geography unit 'Where does our food come from?'

We had such an amazing day! Farmer Mark showed us the dairy cows who were ready to give birth and we met some of the calves, some of which were only born the day before. How cute! Farmer Mark showed us where the cows were milked and we spotted the equipment we had been learning about in Geography. After that, we made our own butter by mixing milk and cream then giving it a mighty shake until it churned. 

In the afternoon, we took the coach to the nearby Bywell Estate-  the owners were very kind to let use eat our lunch in their beautiful stately home. After lunch, the housekeeper had put out some crackers for us with the butter we made earlier. We also tried some Peepy Farm cheese and milk. We finished the day with some games on the grass including an egg hunt and nature spotting game. It was a warm day so we relaxed by lying on the grass and taking in the wonderful sounds of nature. 

Sue, the NE Farm Discovery Coordinator, wrote an email to Miss Dodds and Miss Brown after the trip which said, "As always, we had a fantastic time, and it was absolutely fantastic to meet so many curious and confident children, who asked BRILLIANT questions. They were so mature during their tasting session, and very brave in trying new things. Their manners and behaviour were exemplary and they are a real credit to you both."

What a start of the week! Not only did Newcastle United beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley to win their first major domestic trophy since 1955, but we were also given the choice to come to school in black and white to celebrate! How exciting! It was really fun sharing in the happiness (for NUFC supporters anyway). 
 

This week in maths we have been learning to recognise money and understand the value of each coin and note. We have combined coins in different ways to make equal amounts, used mental addition to count the total of mixed notes and coins and solved problem solving activities involving money. We all showed excellent counting and addition skills. 
 

In English, we continued the story ‘The Proudest Blue’ where we made inferences about characters’ feelings throughout the story then wrote a diary extract from the point of view of one of the characters. 
 

On Friday we enjoyed coming to school in non uniform and celebrating Comic Relief by taking part in different activities. 
 

⭐️ Our pupils of the week this week are Mayasa and Miliana.

Miliana you have blown Miss Dodds away with your excellent work in maths when learning to tell the time, which can be a very tricky concept to learn.  You even practiced at home 👍. 

Mayasa, you entered a drawing competition for Young Writers and your picture was chosen to be on the front cover of their book ‘Super Me’. You are truly an incredible artist and very much deserve this win. Good luck in the final 🤞🤞⭐️

In RE, we have been learning about the importance of Easter to Christians. Pastor Eve from the local church came in to visit us. She read the Easter story from the bible and we thought about the true meaning of Easter for Christians and why they celebrate it. We partook in a range of activities linked to the biblical Easter story.

On Tuesday, we had a cricket taster afternoon ran by the Durham Cricket Federation, who will be offering free cricket club places for young children. It was so much fun and we showed great team spirit.

In English, we have been reading ‘The Proudest Blue’ written by Olympic medallist and social justice activist Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali. We made inferences based on the illustrations, created a character description and began looking at features of a diary.

In maths, we have been learning to tell the time to the nearest 5 minutes on an analogue clock. Time can be very challenging but we did amazing! Miss Dodds was very proud of us all.

In Geography, we have been learning about how where our food comes from and looking closely at diary farms. This week we learnt which countries made up the United Kingdom and recorded them on a map. We used an atlas to find the capital cities of each country and then followed some clues to locate different diary farms in the UK; including the farm we will be visiting soon. We loved using atlases. 

We have also been practicing very hard for our upcoming production; ‘Hats Off’. We cannot wait for the parents to come watch us perform- we know you’ll be just as amazed as our teachers have been this week.

On Monday, we enjoyed a trip to Gateshead Library where we listened to stories, designed our own book covers and chose a book to take back to school. As we had been learning about road safety during PSHE that morning, we were able to put into practice staying safe on the roads on the way to the library. 

This week has been Careers Week. All the teachers created door signs with previous job roles they've had and the skills they acquired through these roles- the parents even got involved too! It was very interesting going around the school finding out what jobs our teachers have had previously and asking them questions. We learnt about different careers and drew a picture of what we might like to be when we grow up. 

Friday was World Book Day and we came to school in out pjs. Luckily no-one fell asleep. We had great fun watching the Reading Champion's Masked Reader video and guessing which book they were talking about and who was behind the mask. We enjoyed a day of different activities linked to books such as quizzes, book alphabet challenges, making bookmarks and story cubes, sharing stories and creating our own reading rivers where we drew and wrote about our own, personal reading experiences. What a busy day!

This week has also marked the start of Ramadan. Some of our Muslim children shared their experiences of Ramadan with the rest of the class and we have been taking turns to choose a treat from the Ramadan calendar each day. 

⭐⭐ Our pupils of the week this week are Heidi, Jackson and Yusra. Heidi, you are such a kind and empathetic girl. You are always willing to help out in the classroom, show kindness amongst your peers and support others wherever possible. Jackson, you have been trying really hard to include the year 2 targets in your writing and making good progress. Yusra, you have developed a lot of confidence and contribute well during lessons. You always answer questions and put 100% effort into all of your work. Well done! ⭐⭐

On our final week of term we have been getting creative...

In PE, we have been learning about attacking and defending. We applied our skills in a game of 'cops and robbers' where we used different tactics to try and win the game. 

In art, we have been learning different drawing techniques such as cross hatching, stippling, blending, scribbling and shading. We used a range of materials and especially enjoyed using the messy charcoal. We brought our teddies into school and made observational drawings of them. We experimented with different grades of charcoal pencils to add texture by applying our new mark-making skills. Miss Dodds was blown away by the work we produced. Absolutely amazing! We then explored and create artistic maps through various art forms, including drawing, printmaking, and designing stained glass.  

In computing this week, we explored block coding using  Scratch Jr to follow and create an algorithm. On the Scratch Jr app, we created and programmed animations, drew musical instruments and added sound, created joke animations using voice recorder and used loop blocks when programming to repeat an instruction more than once. 

It has been a fun-filled last week of term but we are all ready for a rest. Happy half term from year 2D. 

This week we began our new art unit which is all about different drawing techniques. We experimented how to mark make using charcoal. We used different techniques to create different marks to represent an adjective word such as  powerful, smooth, fast, slow and rough.

In English, we have been working on using commas in a list. We started with a practical activity where we had to move words into a sentence and put the punctuation in the correct place. The children were great at this and were able to apply this target when writing. We read the book 'Into the Forest' by Anthony Browne and made predictions about what would happen. 

❤️❤️This Friday, for Valentines day, we could come to school in non-uniform. We had a lovely day making flower bouquets, cards and pictures. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY from Year 2D❤️❤️

💝💝💝💝💝💝

This week in PE, we began to put our final dance together where we expressed movement in the role of explorers and jungle animals. We thought of lots of creative ways to move and create a visual story for our dance. 

In English, we have been continuing to look at stories by Anthony Browne. This week we read Willy the Dreamer. We compared how Willy is portrayed in both stories and similarities / differences between the two texts. At the end of the week, we wrote some wonderful narratives about one of Willy's dreams. 

In PSHE, we looked at diversity and how we compare and differ from our friends. We understand that our uniqueness makes us special and it's good to be different. 

In maths, we have been learning a range of methods to help us with addition and subtraction of two two-digit numbers. We found it challenging but really showed our resilience and made excellent progress this week. 

⭐Well done to our pupils of the week Jack and Mayasa. Jack, you have really blown us away this week with your confidence in maths and your excellent verbal reasoning about a range of maths problems. Mayasa, since joining us in year 2, we have continued to see excellent progress being made. This is down to your hard work and the 100% effort you put into everything. Well done! ⭐

In history this week, we have continued learning about ancient Pompeii. This week, we had an exciting archaeologist dig where we excavated artefacts and discussed what they may have been used for, what material they were made from and what it tells us about the past in Pompeii. We had great fun!

In Science we have been observing plant growth in different conditions. After the experiment, we wanted to replant the daffodil so we made our own little daffodil garden outside our classroom. We are so proud of it!

This week we had our stay and learn session which focussed on online safety. We wowed our grown ups and our friend's grown ups with our knowledge of how to stay safe online. We did a carousel of activities linked to e-safety. 

This week, in our PE dance unit, we continued to explore a variety of movements in character (explorer and jungle animal) with a partner. We then extended our sequences to add drama and emotion to our dance performance. In our games unit of PE, we developed simple attacking principles, applying them as a team into a game. It was lots of fun!

In English, we are looking at books by the same author- Anthony Browne. We have really enjoyed reading 'Willy the Wimp' and exploring the character through hot seating. At the end of the week, we wrote some amazing character descriptions of Willy.  

In maths we have all been very excited to learn about different graphs and charts and answering questions about the data. We completed our own tally charts and simple block graphs to show year 2D's birthdays. 

In history, we have continued to learn about Sappho and life in ancient Pompeii. This week we learnt about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and wrote a diary extract from the point of view of a witness from that time. We love history and always ask lots of questions during lessons to further our understanding.

⭐⭐⭐Well done to the children who got involved with the whole school Times Tables Rockstars tournament this week. Year 2 stayed in 3rd place until last minute when year 6 took their spot. Miss Dodds thinks we are amazing for being 4th pace overall! An extra congratulations to Lacey and  Miliana for achieving the award of most valuable and second most valuable player in year 2. What superstars! Lacey was also one of our pupils of the week this week for her commitment to learning both at school and at home - her progress so far this academic year has been outstanding. Well done to Ryan, our other pupil of the week, for showing excellent resilience after being off poorly and returning 100% ready to learn. Finally, a huge congratulations to Muhammad for gaining his pen licence. His handwriting is absolutely incredible. ⭐⭐⭐

This week, we had an exciting trip to Shipley Art Gallery where we participated in two workshops. We began the day exploring different materials and textiles. Our first activity was felt making. We each had a go at creating our own piece of felt and making our own designs. We had great fun smoothing over the felt with soapy water to make sure it stuck together. Our designs looked fantastic.  After lunch, we learnt how to do a running stitch with a needle and thread. It was challenging but we did an amazing job. We cut designs out of felt and made our own pockets to keep small objects inside. We stitched the 3 sides of the pocket together. We had such a fantastic day. 

Thank-you to our trip helpers; Cath, Brenda, Lee and Helen. Hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did. 

What a great start to 2025. It was lovely to see the children again and they were all ready and raring to go with their learning. We started the week with fun PSHE+C resilience challenges to help us develop a growth mindset. We had to build the largest tower without it falling, thread beads onto string and build a house of cards. We recorded our feelings before, during and after the activity but showed we were all resilient as we NEVER GAVE UP!

In PE, we began our dance unit where we imagined we were an explorer and had to express this through movement. 

We enjoyed getting together with year 2B and playing a range of maths games to practice our basic skills such as times tables, addition, subtraction, fractions and logical puzzles. It was fun working with our friends from the other class. In maths this week, we have been learning about position and direction using the vocabulary of half, quarter, three quarter turns and whole turns; clockwise and anticlockwise; and left and right. We have described turns and drawn an object in a new position after a given instruction. 

In English we have been reading 'Dougal's Deep Sea Diary' by Emily Dickinson and learning about recounts. We have been using adverbials in our writing to describe actions, writing in first person and continuing to apply the skills taught from Autumn term. At the end of the week, we re-wrote the story in our own words. 

In science, we are learning about plants. We have made observational drawings of seeds and bulbs this week and dissected a seed. We will be monitoring and recording the growth of different seeds and plants over the next few weeks.   

In history, we looked at a fresco (painting) showing a woman (named Sappho after the Greek poet) holding writing implements, who lived in Pompeii during the Roman Empire era. We discussed what we could infer about the painting then learnt all about her life. We wrote some excellent fact files all about Sappho. 

Well done to our Young Writers who submitted some artwork in Autumn term and will have their art published in a book (Mayasa, Wael, Hawlan, Yusra, Kenny, Ward, Miliana, Delight, Lacey, Thea, Briella and Jake.)

⭐Our Pupils of the Week this week are Heidi and Alex. Alex, you are really starting to blossom in year 2. You have been participating well in lessons and it's lovely to see your fantastic personality and sense of humour coming out. Heidi, last term you were asked to step in for someone and perform a solo for our carol service. You made us all proud not only for singing beautifully in front of a huge audience, but for having the confidence to sing solo on such short notice. Well done! ⭐

What an exciting, fun-filled festive week we’ve had! On Tuesday, we had our Carol service at the Alive Church. Heidi did us proud with her solo performance and we all sang beautifully. On Tuesday afternoon, we had an amazing time at the ks1 Christmas party and even had a visit from Santa! We must have all been on his nice list as he left us a present. 
 

Thursday was Golden Day and we were excited to come in non-uniform. The day was jam packed with games, crafts, movies, tuck shop and the ‘in it to win it’ shop. Mr Parkin, our fantastic music teacher performed for us in the hall with his band. It was amazing. Some of us went to help him at the front to sing or play musical instruments. Alex was chosen to be the grinch and was a great sport. 
 

On Friday was ks1 Brighton’s Got Talent. Coco, Miliana and Briella did amazing representing Y2D with their dance act. The judges were very impressed by the choreography and their stage presence. You did amazing girls! 
 

We have enjoyed seeing what our Elf on the Shelf Mr. Bojangles got up to each day but had to say goodbye to him today as he’s had to return to the North Pole. However, before he left, he’d magically turned some plastic coins into chocolate coins for us to enjoy. He also said we’d all been amazing. 
 

That’s a wrap for Autumn term. Have a brilliant break and see you all next year in 2025.
🎄 🥳🎉

What a fun and festive week we have had! Alongside our computing unit learning about algorithms and debugging, and our design technology unit designing and making a sturdy chair for baby bear, we have managed to fit in Christmas dinner day, cracker pulling, elf antics, Christmas crafts and watching the wonderful EYFS nativity. 
 

After this busy week, we enjoyed a relaxing pyjama day on Friday where we curled up to watch a Christmas movie whilst enjoying hot chocolate and cookies. 
 

⭐️ Well done to Mayasa and Jake our pupils of the week. Mayasa, despite being new to the UK, you have settled in really well to our class and you are such a joy to be around. Jake, you continue to blow me away with your creativity, imagination and exceptional maths knowledge, stills and ability to problem solve and reason beyond year 2 work. Well done.⭐️

We had such a fun week this week! On Monday, we had Muddy Monsters. As it had been raining, we got even muddier than expected- good job we brought old clothes and had waterproofs on. We even gave Miss Helm muddy cuddles so she could be as dirty as us. We made mud pies, built dents, relaxed on the hammock and used gardening tools safely. 

At the end of the week we had our stay and play session with our grown ups. It was lovely to share our Christmas card and calendar making together. Those whose grown ups couldn't attend were very resilient and happily mixed with their friends parents / grandparents. 

On Monday, we had a special surprise. We had our fist secret reader come read a story to us and it was Thea's mum. We really enjoyed having her in our class and loved the story she chose, which was Thea's favourite book. Thea even read some of it to the class and she read amazingly!

This week, in maths, we have been learning about the properties of 3D shapes. We had a lot of fun taking part in a carousel of activities at the start of the week to investigate a range of 3D shapes. We drew around shapes to explore faces, built 3D shapes out of construction materials, sorted 3D shapes in different ways and played matching games about 3D shapes.

In Science, we have been investigating whether materials are absorbent or waterproof. We made predictions and discussed how to make our test fair. We investigated the best material to mop up a spillage by adding drops of water onto different materials then recorded our findings in a table. 

We have been very enthusiastic about our geography unit this term. This week we compared the Antarctic and the Arctic and were surprised to find out just how cold the Antarctic can be. We used our reading and enquiry skills to decide whether a fact was about the Antarctic or the Arctic and sorted them accordingly. Each lesson, we have been recalling the 7 continents and the oceans of the world and we can now remember them all!

At the end of the week we had a special treat- it was Christmas decoration day. We were so excited to decorate the classroom and make our own decorations. The day was filled with a lot of fun and laughter and a lovely end to the week. 

On Monday, we had an author called Adeola Sokunbi come into school as part of the Children's Northern Book Festival. She is a writer-illustrator from London and she is an obsessive doodler and lover of fantasy stories. She also writes her own graphic novels. The children loved finding out about her inspiration behind becoming an author and drawing their own monster. That afternoon, we also had a visit from two representatives of the NSPCC. We enjoyed taking part in the 'Speak out. Stay safe.'   workshop and learning about how to stay safe. 

In Geography, we compared the Antarctica (the largest desert in the world) and the Sahara Desert (the largest hottest desert). We observed and discussed photos of each place and took notes on a Venn Diagram. We then read statements and decided if they were describing the Antarctic or the Sahara Desert. We love learning new facts!

Friday was a very exciting day as it was STEAM Design & Technology day. In year 2, we came up with a mind map of ideas of what jobs there might be in a fairground. Miss Dodds was impressed with our suggestions. We then looked deeper into the careers of fairground ride designers and became mini STEAM engineers for the day.  We worked in small groups to design a ferris wheel then built a rotating fairground wheel with a free-standing structure using an axel as a mechanism. 

⭐Our two stars of the week, are Delight and Muhammad. Delight, you show huge positivity in all that you do and bring such joy to the classroom. You always try so hard with your learning and are making great progress. Muhammad, you are showing a great attitude to learning and always get on quietly with your work. You ensure that you apply the taught skills in all lessons and produce work that is to a high standard. Well done boys!⭐

Today was Children in Need day and we have had a blast. In the afternoon, after our usual library visit, we enjoyed some biscuits and juice as a reward for our kind donations. We also enjoyed Pudsey bear crafts and activities whilst wearing non-uniform. 

Earlier this week, we have been learning how to divide numbers by sharing, grouping and skip counting. We ended the week with a problem solving investigation. Miss Dodds was very impressed by our use of mathematical vocabulary and the skills we were using to double, half and add numbers together. 

In English, we have been learning the features of traditional tales with a focus on Little Red Riding Hood. We wrote character and setting descriptions using beautiful descriptive language. We created story maps and wrote the story of Little Red Riding Hood during extended writing. 

In science we have been looking at properties of materials. We carried out investigations to test whether a specific material was translucent, transparent or opaque using a torch. We also tested whether the materials were rigid or flexible, smooth or rough and what the best uses of these materials would be. 

⭐ Our two Stars of the Week were Ward and Addis. Ward, you are such a compassionate, kind and caring girl and make people happy just by being in your presence. Addis, you are excelling at everything you do due to your passion for learning and motivation to succeed. Well done⭐

A new half term begins and it has been a lovely first week back. At the start of the week, the children took part in a STEAM resilience challenge where they worked together to build a strong bridge that would hold the weight of a small toy. The children once again proved that they are very resilient and faced the challenge with determination and perseverance. Their bridges were very creative with good structural design.

In PE, we continued developing our skills in gymnastics. We practiced moving along an imaginary zig-zag path suing champion movements, balance and creativity. In the second part of our PE lesson, we practiced dribbling a basketball with our hands. 

This week was Green Careers Week which is a national campaign to promote green jobs and skills in the UK. We enjoyed being introduced to the jobs of real-life scientists who work in the Polar regions. We thought about our future and jobs that we could do as scientists that have a positive impact on the planet. 

In maths, we have been learning different ways to represent multiplication such as repeated addition and arrays. We have impressed Miss Dodds with the progress we have made in our recall of the 2, 10 and 5 times tables. 

In English, we have been learning about the features of fairy tales, with a focus on the well-known story of Little Red Riding Hood. Throughout the week, we built up a bank of adjectives to describe the main characters in the story and wrote amazing character descriptions of the Big Bad Wolf during extended writing. They were so well written and descrtiptive that they almost scared Miss Dodds!! 

⭐ Well done to our two pupils of the week Wael and Hawlan. Wael, since starting Brighton Avenue Primary School last term, you have continued to impress Miss Dodds and Miss Helm with your enthusiasm for learning and hard work. The progress you are making is fantastic! Hawlan, you always go above and beyond to make sure your work in all areas of the curriculum is the best it can be. You are a wonderful girl that exudes positivity every day. ⭐

We have come to the end of our first half term in year 2 and it has been an amazing and fun journey so far. This week, Briella, Thea, Ward, Jake, Jay and Hawlan brought in their fabulous creations for the book character competition. Miss Dodds was so impressed by their creativity, imaginative ideas and the hard work they put into their characters at home. Well done! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

 In maths, we have been learning to subtract single digit numbers and multiples of ten from two digit numbers. We are doing really well with our maths and beginning to record our working out pictorially. Amazing! We finished off our maths unit by completing a traditional Chinese tangram puzzle, which is a lot harder than it looks!  However, we all showed great resilience and didn’t give up until we had all succeeded. 
 

In music, we had a fabulous time learning some Halloween songs 🎃 accompanied by musical instruments. We also had our first try of boomwhackers. So much fun! 
 

At the end of the week, we were rewarded for all our hard work this term with the Brighton Avenue tuck shop, ‘In It To Win It’ shop and Golden afternoon. We enjoyed making Halloween 👻 🎃 crafts, playing Lego and eating our sweets from the tuck shop. Some of us had even ‘bought’ a voucher for biscuit making and hair braiding. What a busy but fantastic day to end our term. Now for some well earned rest and family time…. Happy half term!!

This week, the children had their first visit to Gateshead Library. The children enjoyed listening to spooky Halloween stories then working in pairs to carry out a book scavenger hunt. The children spent some time looking at books then  and chose a book to take back to school to read for pleasure. What a great time we had! Thank you to Alex's grandparents and Briella's mum for helping out on our trip. 

We enjoyed celebrating the Harvest Festival by singing the 'Harvest Samba' for the parents. Some children were able to use the instruments to play along in time with the music and their singing and effort was brilliant. 

In English, this week, the children have been reading the story ' How to wash a Woolly Mammoth'. We have looked at features of insructional texts and wrote our own instructions on how to wash a woolly mammoth. In reading, we worked in groups to read facts and make notes about woolly mammoths then presented arguments to support Kate (the book character) with reasons why washing a woolly mammoth would be a difficult thing to do. 

In maths, we have been developing our fluency with number bonds and number facts and using different strategies to help us add two digit numbers. 

In Science, we finished our animals and their habitats unit by learning about food chains. We had a great time playing a matching predator, prey and producer game then worked with our matches to create a paper chain food chain. 

Our two stars of the week are Jay and Emilia. Jay has made us very proud with his development of a positive mindset and resilience. He faces challenges with determination and has made excellent progress with his writing and mats as a result. Emilia has shown a great improvement with her work ethic. She contributes well in lessons and tries really hard with her work. Well done stars!

This week we took part in World Mental Health Day. We learnt not only about taking care of our own mental health but also about showing awareness of others. Year 2 created some positive messages to spread some happiness amongst the staff. The teachers were delighted and the children felt all 'warm and fuzzy' inside for making someone feel good. We had great fun writing the messages and listening to some funny and uplifting music. 

In maths we have been learning about fractions. We can recognise halves, quarters and thirds and can find fractions of amounts by dividing using cubes or pictorial representations. 

In English, we studied the text Amy Wu's Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang. We looked at features of instructions / recipes and wrote our own instructions for creating the perfect bao bun. The children were so interested in the recipe that they may be asking their parents this weekend to cook some bao buns. Good luck! 

in science, the children used their newly acquired knowledge of animal habitats and animal adaptations to invent their own animal and write a fact file. Their creations were very imaginative and I'm relieved some of them don't actually exist! 

Well done to our two pupils of the week Aaron and Briella. Aaron, you have shown amazing work ethic and enthusiasm for learning these last few weeks. Miss Helm and I are so proud of you. Briella, you are such a positive role model in the class and an asset to Brighton Avenue School. 

We are not even halfway through the first term, and the children in year 2D are already making fabulous progress! They are such a wonderful class and work so hard each and every day.

This week in English, we have been reading the story Clean up! by Nathan Bryon and describing settings. Today the children rewrote the story in their extended writing lesson and WOW!!! The children have really took on board feedback and are applying all the new skills in their writing. They are also trying really hard to join up their handwriting. They are complete superstars and I couldn't be more proud of them. 

In maths, the children have been exploring number sequences that count in multiples of 2, 5 and 10. It has been challenging but their positive attitude and resilience has been remarkable. 

In history, we have continued to learn about the Great Fire of Gateshead, 1854. This week, we became mini judges and decided who we thought was to blame for the fire starting. We had a great discussion about who we thought was to blame and came up with some good reasons to justify our opinions. 

In science, we have continued to study living things and their habitats. This week, we were posed the question; 'Would a camel survive in the Arctic?' We carried out research to learn how different animals have adapted to live in different habitats. We found out about a camel's features and then wrote about how they have adapted to be able to live in the desert. We looked at polar bears and were able to discuss the reasons why a camel, unlike the polar bear, would not be able to survive in the arctic.

It has been another wonderful week in year 2, finished off by our regular visit to the school library, which we love, and a very creative Golden Time at the end of the day. 

⭐️ A big well done to our pupils of the week. Kenny, you have shown a great improvement in your work ethic. You are working really hard in lessons and it was lovely to hear that you have been wanting to do homework as soon as you get home. Fantastic!  Thea, you are such a hard worker and always put 100% into your learning. You are a star pupil. Keep up the good work! ⭐️

Another successful and busy week in year 2 this week. In maths, we have been continuing to secure our knowledge of place value of two-digit numbers (some of us even investigating 3-digit numbers ) by representing, partitioning and comparing numbers as well as developing our problem solving and reasoning skills. 

In English, we have written some amazing narratives retelling the story 'Look Up!' by Nathan Bryan. We have tried really hard to make our stories interesting by adding exciting noun phrases, rhetorical questions and exclamatory sentences. Some of us are even beginning to join our handwriting! 

In History, we had a lot of fun dressing up and using props to retell the story of the Great Fire of Gateshead. Miss Dodds was amazed at our knowledge and recall of information. 

In Science, we have continued learning about animals and their habitats. This week, we learnt about micro-habitats. We worked as a team to make our own micro habitat consisting of four different areas; dry and light, damp and light, dry and dark, damp and dark, and made predictions about which area we thought woodlice would prefer. We went out into the forest school to gently collect some wood lice which was very exciting! We observed the woodlice every 4 minutes and recorded which area they preferred. We were a little bit sad to let the woodlice go but understood they needed to go back into their natural habitats. 

This week, we also took part in European Languages Day where we went on a Spanish scavenger hunt. We were really good at reading and pronouncing the Spanish object names. We also learnt a Spanish greetings song and joined in CABEZA HOMBROS (Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes).

After all our hard work this week, it was a lovely treat to come to school in non-uniform this Friday and bring some money to buy cakes to raise money for McMillan. Our school councillors Ryan and Briella did a great job helping out  at the McMillan coffee morning for the parents. 

⭐️Finally, a huge well done to our pupils of the week Lacey and Ryan. Ryan, you have worked really hard in year 2 so far and have a great attitude towards learning. Lacey, you bring such positivity to the classroom with your friendliness, helpfulness and caring nature. You are both an asset to the school. ⭐️

We have been so lucky in year 2 to go on not just one, but two trips this week! Our first trip was to Saltwell Park as part of our science learning where we went on a nature hunt. We spotted lots of minibeasts, pinecones, plants, squirrels and even a hedgehog! We had fun talking to the parrots and peacocks at Saltwell Park and observing the ducks and swans in the lake.  

On Thursday we went to the Quayside to learn more about 'The Great Fire of Gateshead - 1854' for history. We walked around the Gateshead and Newcastle side and over the Swing and Millennium Bridges. Miss Dodds was very impressed with our enthusiasm and the questions we asked to improve our knowledge. In the afternoon, we went right to the top of the Baltic Centre and made observational drawings of the bridges over the Tyne. We are amazing artists and paid attention to detail in our sketches. After that, we used problem solving skills to construct a bridge out of card. This was tricky but we showed excellent resilience and didn't give up. We really enjoyed our trip to the Quayside and even got a few compliments from members of the public about our excellent behaviour. Thank-you again to the wonderful parent / family helpers that came on our trip. 

⭐️ Well done to our two pupils of the week Jack and Lacey. You have both worked so hard in year 2 and made your teachers proud. Keep up the good work! ⭐️

We have had another wonderful week in Year 2. On Monday, we enjoyed the beginning of our new PE unit; gymnastics and ball skills. We developed our rolling skills where we linked different rolls together and learnt how to do a teddy bear roll. We moved on to learn some dribbling skills; moving the ball around a maze of cones with our feet then competing in a dribbling challenge. 

Mr Parkin visited us on Tuesday. We had lots of fun using the different musical instruments and practicing our song for the Harvest Festival. 
 

In computing, we started the unit by recapping what we knew about staying safe online. We really impressed Miss Dodds with our prior knowledge. We learnt about the SMART rules for staying safe online and what personal information should be kept private. We then worked in pairs to read different scenarios and decided if the information the characters posted was safe to share or not. We have also been learning about computer networks. We drew computers and labelled the main parts; describing their function and purpose. We moved on to develop our knowledge of inputs and outputs and went on a technology hunt around the school. It was very exciting! 
 

In history we compared photos from the Quayside and River Tyne from the past and present. We can’t wait for our trip to the Quayside next week to see the bridges and buildings with our own eyes and learn about the Great Fire of Gateshead. We will keep you updated with how our trip went…

⭐️ Well done to Miliana and Kyrie who received pupil of the week. You've both made a very positive start to year 2⭐️

Wow! What a first few days back we've had! It's been so lovely to see the children walk in with beaming smiles on their faces ready to take on the challenge of Year 2! The children have all settled in beautifully to Year 2 life and shown great attitudes towards their learning. Also, as a new teacher to the school, the children have made Miss Dodds feel very welcome and settled here at Brighton Avenue Primary School. 

This week, we have been working on our art unit; Painting and Mixed Media. The children have been learning about primary and secondary colours. We discussed how we mixed the primary colours to make the secondary colours and then the children mixed them on their pieces of paper by dampening it and tilting the tray from side to side. We looked at the artist Romere Bearden who created different collages through overlapping different textured paper. Therefore, we had a go at creating our own textured paper to create our own collages of the Angel of the North. They turned out amazing! 🤩 

The children elected the school councillors for our class. Ryan and Briella delivered some brilliant speeches on how they were going to make our school better whilst supporting their peers and the children voted to have them represent our class for another year. They are very worthy representatives for our class. Well done to you both, we can't wait to see how you help our school be even better than it already is!  

We also chose our Reading Champions to help promote reading across the whole school. Well done to Ward and Jake who were elected for the class. I'm sure your love for reading will shine through! Super stars! 🌟 

A busy few days and we can't wait to see what next week holds!!