Ms Mitchell – Primary 2A 2024

A Busy Week in P2!

We’ve had a lovely, busy week in Primary 2 full of creativity, curiosity, and a few very special visitors.

On Tuesday, we were joined by some of the Primary 7s to help us plan a STEM activity based on The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch. We haven’t built anything just yet – this week was all about ideas! Together, we talked through how we might use a pulley system to deliver lunch safely across a gap (just like in the story), and we worked in groups to draw our designs and write down the materials we think we’ll need. Lots of brilliant thinking, teamwork and some very imaginative ideas – watch this space for the next stage!

Pupil voice:

“We need something strong to hold the lunch – not just paper!”

“I liked when we worked with P7 – they helped us write the words!”

Our learning about the sea continued in class as we used an aquascope to help us explore life under the water. We imagined what it would be like to peer beneath the waves around Shetland and had some great discussions about what we might see. This tied in nicely with our topic work, where we’ve been learning lots of fascinating facts about sea creatures like jellyfish, puffins, and other animals that live in or around our local waters. Ask your child what a group of jellyfish is called – they might surprise you!

In numeracy, we’ve been working hard on division, using grouping to help us understand how numbers can be shared equally. We’ve used cubes, counters and lots of practical examples to help us get to grips with it – the children have been doing really well.

All in all, it’s been a week full of thinking, sharing and discovering – and we’re looking forward to seeing what next week brings!

Term 4 update!

It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through Term 4 — time really does fly when you’re busy learning!

This term has been packed with activity. In maths, we’ve been focusing on multiplication and division. The children have been using lots of different strategies and are becoming much more confident solving number problems. It’s been great to see them challenge themselves and enjoy it too.

In literacy, we’ve explored acrostic poems and had lots of fun with rhyming words. We’ve also been learning how to write clear instructions — everything from how to brush your teeth to how to build a rocket from junk materials! The class has really impressed us with their imagination and attention to detail.

As part of our work on the local environment, we’ve been learning about the seashore. The children loved finding out about the animals and plants that live there, and they’ve enjoyed making links to our own beach visits. It’s lovely to see them so engaged with the world around them.

One of the highlights so far has been a STEM session with Primary 7. They helped us think about how we might design and build a pulley system for the classroom. There was lots of great teamwork, creative thinking, and problem solving — we’re excited to see what we come up with next!

We’re now busy getting the classroom ready for our Learning Journey next week. The children are looking forward to sharing what they’ve been working on, and we can’t wait to welcome you in.

Last week of Term 3!!

What a fantastic and fun-filled week we had in P2a for our last week of term! Our class has been buzzing with creativity, collaboration, and a strong sense of community as we explored learning both inside and outside the classroom.

We ended off the week with an Easter egg hunt that had everyone excited and eager to work together. Not only was it a sweet treat, but it also gave us a great opportunity to practice our sense-making and problem-solving skills as we followed clues and searched high and low!

We also had a super fun dance party with 2b, where we let loose and enjoyed some joyful movement. Dancing together encouraged creative thinking, and we loved expressing ourselves through music and rhythm. We even had a little boogie in our own classroom with our teachers – such a fun way to build confidence and connection!

As part of our health and wellbeing, we spent time outdoors practicing our ball skills, showing determination and working on our coordination and teamwork. While we were outside, we also explored the changing season by looking for signs of spring. We spotted daffodils, budding trees, and fresh green leaves — perfect for sparking curiosity and encouraging observation.

Pupil Voice: “Look, I see yellow” “I have found new leaves on the trees”

In the classroom, we put our critical thinking to the test by diving into subtraction. We worked hard, helping each other understand tricky problems and celebrating our progress along the way.

A highlight of the week was our group work on school values. We had meaningful conversations about respect, determination, and safety, and created colourful posters to share what these values mean to us. It was wonderful to see how everyone contributed their ideas and worked together — such great collaboration!

Pupil Voice: “Its really important to show respect” “Being respectful helps us be kind”

All these activities helped us develop our metaskills — skills that support all learning. Whether it was creative thinking during dance and art, sense-making while searching for signs of spring, or critical thinking during subtraction, we were always learning and growing.

P2A Weekly Update: Looking Forward to the Holidays!

As we count down to the holidays, P2A has been busy with lots of fun and engaging learning experiences! This week, we continued exploring symmetry through play, using more shapes and patterns. Our learners have been collaborating to create symmetrical artwork, sharing ideas, and helping one another refine their designs.

Taking our phonics lessons outdoors has been a wonderful way to bring learning to life, and the children have loved practicing their sounds and words in the fresh air. “I like writing my letters outside because it makes it more fun!” one child shared enthusiastically. Our time project has also been a great success as we focused on drawing clock hands and understanding how time is represented. Through this, the children demonstrated great focusing skills, concentrating on positioning the hands correctly.

In our sand tray, we introduced water play, which led to some fantastic sensory exploration. “We made rivers and lakes in the sand!” one child excitedly reported. Meanwhile, our budding mathematicians have been learning about halves and quarters, using real-world examples to make sense of these concepts. Their sense-making skills were evident as they cut shapes and objects into equal parts and explained their thinking.

Writing remains a key focus, and we’ve been sharing the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel, sparking thoughtful discussions and storytelling. We talked about integrity and making good choices, just like the characters in the story. A special highlight of the week was when one of our talented children played Hot Cross Buns on the ukulele—what a lovely treat!

As we approach the holidays, we are excited for the adventures ahead and all the learning yet to come. Well done, P2A!

A week in the life of P2A!

What a week in Primary 2A! We’ve been busy with symmetry, subtraction, storytelling, and even some outdoor learning!

Maths & Magic

The children have been creating beautiful symmetrical patterns during play using loose parts.

Pupil Voice:

“I am making a teddy bear rainbow”

They also became number line ninjas, jumping backwards to master subtraction. “Jump back like a frog!” said one pupil.

Storytelling with a Twist

Our fairytales took a creative spin this week. We have been creating our own characters and changing the ending of old-fashioned fairytales! We have had fairytales involving the Northlink, Pokemon and Vikings!

Learning Beyond the Classroom

We took phonics outside, writing words with chalk and hunting for sounds in nature. “I like being outside when the sun is out!” said a pupil. We also had a virtual tour of Lerwick using Google Maps, spotting different types of houses and discussing what makes each one special. “I saw a house just like mine!” someone excitedly shared.

Shooting Hoops & Daily Mile

We kept active with our Daily Mile and had fun attempting to score hoops. I think we all need some practice though. Only Mrs Henry got one in the net!

Metaskills in Action

From creativity in stories, collaboration in games, sense-making in maps, to critical thinking in phonics, we’ve been learning in so many ways!

Primary 2A Blog – A Week of Magic, Vikings, and Pancakes!

Wow! What a week we’ve had in Primary 2A – we’ve been busy learning, creating, and having so much fun! Here’s what we got up to in our action-packed week:

🥞 Flipping Fantastic Pancakes! 🥞
We started the week by making pancakes, and let’s just say, some of us have a real talent for flipping (and some of us need a little more practice!).

Pupil Voice: “I was really proud of my pancake because I flipped it without dropping it!”

It was a great way to practise our hand-eye coordination and patience – important skills for life!

📚 Book Week Bonanza! 📚
It was Book Week, so we spent lots of time reading in the classroom and sharing our favourite stories.

Pupil Voice: “I loved reading with my friend because we helped each other with tricky words.”

On Thursday, we dressed up as our favourite characters, and the classroom was full of wizards, superheroes, and fairytale creatures. Even the teachers got involved !

🚪 A Magical Door to Fairyland! 🚪
We designed and created a magical door into Fairyland using our creativity and teamwork. This activity helped us develop our imagination and problem-solving skills, as we worked together to decide what Fairyland might look like. The children did a great job and P2A even won the door display competition!

🔎 Character Hunt & Classroom Play! 🔎
We had a character hunt around the school, spotting famous storybook characters hidden in different places. This was a great way to practise our observation skills and teamwork with our families. After, we came back to the class and had a play with our friends.

🛡️ A Viking Invasion! 🛡️
To top it all off, we had a visit from the Bressay UP HELLY AA squad! The whole school joined in, singing Viking songs with real energy.

What a week, Primary 2A! We used so many metaskills – from creativity and collaboration to resilience and confidence. Now it’s time to rest (and maybe practise a little more pancake flipping) before another week of adventures!

P2A’s Busy Start after Half Term!

We are back from our half-term break and have jumped straight into some exciting learning in P2A!

In Numeracy, we have started the Numeracy Project, focusing on telling the time. Right now, we are learning about o’clock and half past, and the children have been showing great enthusiasm in mastering this new skill. It’s been fantastic to see them so engaged and eager to practice telling the time throughout the day!

Another highlight of our week was taking part in our Leadership Assembly. As Kindness Officers, we shared how we have been spreading kindness in our school. We wrote our kind actions on sticky notes and read them out at the end of the day, reminding each other of the importance of being kind. We also created a kindness flower, writing ways we can be kind on its petals. Our class made beautiful posters with messages like “Kindness makes us happy” and “Kindness is respectful”—a wonderful reminder of the positive impact kindness has on everyone.

Pupil Voice;

“Kindness makes us happy”
“Manners are kind”

“O’clock at the top”

Our Magical Week in Primary 2!

This week in Primary 2, we have been diving into the world of fairy tales! Our story of the week was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We had lots of fun reading about Goldilocks and thinking about how she could have made better choices. As Kindness Officers, we wrote letters pretending to be Goldilocks, apologizing to the bears for eating their porridge, breaking Baby Bear’s chair, and sleeping in their beds! We talked about how being kind means thinking about how our actions affect others.

We also continued working on our 5+ facts and linking them to our interests—some of us even used Pokémon to make our facts more exciting! Did you know Pikachu’s tail looks different depending on whether it’s a boy or a girl? That was one of the cool facts we learned!

In writing, we practiced our uppercase and lowercase letters, making sure our letters were neat and clear. It’s been great to see everyone improving their handwriting!

There were lots of extra fun activities this week too! We had a visit from Childsmile, reminding us how to keep our teeth strong and healthy. We also got to play outside in the wildlife garden, exploring nature and enjoying the fresh air.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, we made beautiful Valentine’s cards for our families and friends. Some of us even got creative and started making our own stuffed toys using paper and pompoms—so fluffy and fun!

It’s been an exciting and creative week in Primary 2, and we can’t wait for more fairy tale adventures next week!

Dogs against Drugs and Fairytales!

This week has been packed with excitement and learning in our class! We ended the week with a very special visit from Dogs Against Drugs. A friendly dog named Bravo came to see us and shared some important messages about making safe and healthy choices. The children were thrilled to meet Bravo and asked lots of questions about how dogs help us stay safe.

After our visit, we got creative during our play time. The children wrote little notes for our stuffed toys, sharing kind messages about how they’ve been looking after their friends. They even designed a beautiful castle for Dizzy our Dragon—a project that has really brought our fairytale world to life in the classroom. Dizzy now has a proper home where he can join us on our adventures!

We also spent time listening to more fairytale stories, which filled our imaginations with magical worlds and brave characters. The stories inspired our writing and drawing activities, and we even talked about what makes a good hero and a magical setting. It was wonderful to see how excited everyone was to share their own ideas about these enchanting tales.

In numeracy, we had fun exploring numbers by adding on ten. The children were very enthusiastic about seeing how numbers grow when we add ten more, and they enjoyed using their creative thinking to solve little challenges during our activity.

To wrap up our week, we have had insightful show and tell sessions. A few children brought something special to share. Their presentations were full of enthusiasm and helped us all learn from one another.

Here is what we have been up to in week 2 of the term:

Fact Families Fun

In maths, we’ve been learning about fact families. They’re groups of numbers that all work together to make different sums and differences. For example, 2 + 3 = 5, 3 + 2 = 5, 5 – 2 = 3, and 5 – 3 = 2. By the end of the week we were getting the hang of it and doing a great job with our sums.

Archery Adventures

We also had our first-ever archery lesson this week. The kids said they had a “great time.” It took a while to load our arrows and learn the basic technique. However, practice makes perfect and in our next session this process should be a bit easier.

Fairy Tales & A Dragon (Yes, Really!)

We’re diving into fairy tales this term, and this week, we read Jack and the Beanstalk. We spent the week reading the book and focusing our writing on the story. During free time some of us have been helping to paint a beanstalk to our wall so we can “climb” into fairyland. Talking of fairyland, our class got two visits from Dizzy the Dragon! He left footsteps on the floor, a trail of glitter and two letters! Dizzy has tasked us to read as many fairytales as possible throughout the term, along with turning our classroom in to a fairyland! The process has begun. 🐉

Kindness Officers On the Job

Our new role this term is being Kindness Officers. We’re coming up with ways to spread kindness in our class, like helping friends who need it, cheering people up, and giving out compliments. This ties nicely into our school values of respect and inclusion for the term.

—Primary 2