Focusing – Primary 2A 2024

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!

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!

And so begins Term 3!

Back to School: Crafting, Creating, and Counting in the Cold!

The first week back after the holidays is always an adventure, but this one came with a frosty twist! With icy playgrounds keeping us indoors, we traded snow boots for glue sticks and got straight to work on some exciting indoor activities that kept our hands busy and our imaginations soaring.

Up Helly Aa Fever!

Excitement is building for Up Helly Aa as the children gear up for the big events later this month! This week, some students got messy with paint, using their hands to create fiery designs for a special display outside the classroom. The buzz around torches, Vikings, and celebrations is contagious – everyone is looking forward to the festivities!

Building the Perfect Home

Meanwhile, another group of budding architects turned their attention to making houses. With the precision of master builders and the creativity of true artists, they assembled and decorated their own homes made from loose parts.

Counting in Cozy Corners

Math enthusiasts spent part of the week brushing up on number bonds. There’s nothing like revisiting these foundational skills to start the term strong. From colorful counting cubes to engaging group games, the children found fun ways to master their sums.

JRSO

Junior Road Safety Officers in Action: Promoting “Be Bright and Be Seen”

This term, our Primary 2 class has taken on the exciting role of Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs), exploring ways to stay safe on and near roads. The children have been enthusiastic participants in various engaging activities designed to teach them how to keep themselves and others safe. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to!

Creative Posters: Spreading the Message

Our budding artists turned into safety advocates during a poster-making session to promote the importance of being visible while near roads. Using bright highlighters, glitter, and bold designs, the children illustrated key messages, ensuring they would catch the eye of anyone passing by.

Here’s what some of the pupils had to say about their creations:

“Be bright and be seen!”
“You need to wear something bright so the cars can see you in the dark”

The finished posters are now proudly displayed around the classroom and will be shown at the school assembly next week.

Learning from the Lollipop Man

Our local lollipop man, Tony, visited the class to share his wisdom about staying safe on the roads. The children listened intently as he explained how he helps people cross roads safely and why it’s important to stop, look, and listen before crossing.

A Crossing Demonstration

The highlight of the afternoon was a practical demonstration where Tony showed the children exactly how to cross safely, emphasizing the importance of waiting for cars to stop before stepping onto the road.

After the demonstration, the pupils practiced crossing under supervision, confidently repeating key lessons:

“It’s safe to cross at a zebra crossing”
“You should not run on the road.”

Why JRSO Activities Matter

These activities are part of our wider road safety focus, helping our young learners develop lifelong skills and awareness about staying safe in different environments. By combining creative tasks, hands-on experiences, and expert advice, the children are not only learning but actively advocating for road safety within their community.

We’re proud of our Junior Road Safety Officers for their hard work and enthusiasm in promoting these important messages. Keep an eye out for their dazzling posters around school, and remember:
Be bright, be seen, and stay safe!

Metacognition skills: communicating, collaborating, leading, creativity, focusing

Block Play

Look at our fantastic block play models from the year so far. The pupils block play has been progressing all term. Pupils are now really motivated to build at height, to make patterns with loose parts and to create stories around their buildings.

So many meta-skills are observed in block play in P2A, communicating, focusing, collaborating, initiative, critical thinking to name a few. Pupils are beginning to link their play to the meta-skills themselves here are some pupil quote from today:

‘We made a castle, with a pool and a rainbow bridge for diving in. Me and my friends were being focusing Fergus a – we couldn’t figure out how to balance the bridge then we moved some blocks and it worked!’

Outdoor Learning – Positional Language

Primary 2 we’re using their knowledge of positional language words (on, under, next to, to the left) in the wildlife area. We took turns suggesting positional language and had to show it with our bodies.
We were using our focusing meta-skills to focus our attention to show positional language using the natural resources.
Pupil voice ‘Look I am on a tree!’ ‘I am on the right of the wall.’ ‘I am under the branch.’
‘look I am on the puddle but only for like a second and then I am in it!’
Our next steps are to use our positional language knowledge to instruct others where to go by writing directions.