P2A 2023-24

This week we have played lots of numeracy games. Bingo was the favourite. Here is the spinner we used if anyone wants to try it at home. You just need to write 6 numbers down and get spinning.  0-20 spinner – Random wheel (wordwall.net)

We also played whiteboard games, board games, did lessons from Lloyds Bank on money, did our Chaos in the Snow challenge(see post further below with photos on this), loop cards and we loved having the grown ups in to talk to us about their jobs and do our number notion packs together. Our play areas were all set up with tasks that involved number. We had weighing and measuring, a shop to use money in, matching, ordering, connect 4, shapes, building using blocks, calculators, letter formation and stories using numbers.

Here are some of the games we have enjoyed this week.

Place Value Basketball – Dienes Game for 5 to 8 Year Olds (topmarks.co.uk)

Shark Numbers || To know what each digit in a 3-digit number represents – mobile friendly (ictgames.com)

More excitement this week in the form of a trampette.  This is a miniature trampoline that you use like a springboard.  The pupil steps on and jumps off showing a 1 foot-2 feet-2 feet foot pattern.  Other changes included a double bar, a high bench, a high ladder, obstacles on the beam, the springboard beside our long box and the wide box was another block higher.

Here we are in action.

As part of Numeracy Week we had a whole-school challenge to help the elves. Our elf had been caught in a snowstorm and needed somewhere to shelter. The pupils had to make him a shelter to keep him warm and dry. We had to plan our shelter by drawing a diagram of what we wanted it to look like and list the resources we needed. We had to make sure our shelter matched the criteria the elves had given us.

• The shelter must protect the elf from the wind.
• The shelter must keep the elf dry.
• The shelter must stand on its own.
• The shelter needs a doorway to enter and exit.

Week 2 of the equipment saw a different set up for the pupils to explore.  The main differences were we had the ropes out, included a change of direction, the wide box was slightly higher and the bench up to the long box was flat and lower.

Here are some pictures of us working.

We are doing gymnastics in PE.  We started with 2 weeks concentrating on mat skills including balances, jumps, rolls and bunny hops.   This week the class were excited to see all the gymnastics equipment out.

On the equipment we will be making decisions on how to use each piece.  This week we discussed how the skills we have already learnt are important on the equipment.  For example

• jumping – we know how to jump and land and have learnt the 5 ways of taking off and landing.  On the equipment we jump onto, on, along and off using the techniques we know, like bending our knees to land.
• weight on hands – we take our body weight on our hands on the bars, ropes, boxes, benches and other places.
• rolls – we can roll on, along, around and off.

Here we are exploring the different equipment.

Here is your optional family home learning grid for this term.

P2 Optional Family Learning Grid

Curriculum Information P2 Term 2

We had fun making pumpkins, playing a halloween corners game and decorating the mummy with toilet paper. There was lots of giggling and screeching!

As part of our Night and Day topic we have been learning about nocturnal animals. We are reading about an owl in ‘The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark’. We made our own owls in class out of paper plates and cupcake cases.

We enjoyed learning about the gingerbread man. We watched an orchestral performance of the story as well as hearing it read by Mrs Anderson.

Here is the link if anyone would like to hear it again.

BBC iPlayer – BBC Philharmonic – The Musical Story of the Gingerbread Man

We also made gingerbread men and got to taste them at snack time the next day. We were all brave and tried it. Most of us liked the taste.

We also designed our own gingerbread man and got to play a roll the dice game to build up the parts of the gingerbread man. We have been very busy.

P2 have been doing small apparatus in PE.  This mainly focuses on games equipment like small balls, large balls and hoops.  We finished the block yesterday with a shot of the parachute.

We have had fun learning this Fairy Tale. We have had drawing club based on this tale, including a focus on the character, setting and then a drawing club where we got to use our imaginations to decide what we would do if we had to cross the bridge. We used playdoh to make our own bridges.

We were treated to a performance by the Shetland Youth Orchestra last week in the Sound Hall. The orchestra is made up of children from all over Shetland including both primary and secondary, and their musical talents are amazing!

We were introduced to all the different instrument families including brass, woodwind, strings and percussion. We listened to a mixture of music including classical, swing and even a theme tune or too. We particularly liked the Wallace and Grommit theme tune which they played as we were leaving the hall.

What a very enjoyable way to spend a Friday afternoon!

We have been looking at Hansel and Gretel this week. We have used Drawing Club to look closer at the characters, setting and use our imagination to come up with ideas of our own. We got to design our own gingerbread houses and even make some out of biscuits, icing sugar and sweeties. It was a very exciting afternoon!

In PE we have started the year focusing on coordination and movement, working on developing our body control and awareness.  We have used stimulus like Mr Men, animals and Beans to respond to instructions and move in different manners like slow, fast, low, big steps, small steps, jumping, hopping, skipping and much more.

We used our bodies to make the shapes of letters and using movement, make the shape of the letter on the floor.

With equipment we had to follow foot patterns, changes of direction and height, balance and generally use our body to navigate different obstacles.

P2A have been exploring using wax crayons to make beautiful paths of colour. Here is a very good example by Abi.

Our topic this term is Fairy Tales. We have crammed a lot into our first 3 weeks! We have looked at Goldilocks, The Three Little Pigs and Jack and the Beanstalk. We have made very cute paper plate pigs to go on the wall and have designed our own castles to go on top of our beanstalks. One of our favourite activities included learning about housing types and going for a walk to explore the different kinds of housing – bungalows, semi-detached, detached and terraced.  We have also collected sticks from the wildlife to try and build a house like the middle piggy. We have had lots of play opportunities in our class to tie in with our Fairy Tales such as oats and 3 bowls and 3 teddies for goldilocks and building opportunities involving a variety of bricks – lego and jenga blocks.

We had a  surprise visit from Chilli the Dragon. We had to follow the trail of sequin stars to our library. He has asked us to help save Fairyland by building a Fairyland in the classroom and learning lots of Fairy Tales. The pupils are very excited about this and have all enjoyed cuddles with our lovely dragon friend.

We have been enjoying the lovely weather outside and have enjoyed time in the adventure playground, wildlife area and our P2 outside space. One of the most exciting events was having snack outside on a particularly sunny day. Let’s hope we get to do that again soon.