What a wonderful half term we’ve had exploring the second half of our exciting theme: ‘Soaring High and Diving Deep’!
This half term was kicked off with an exciting trip to Slimbridge Wetlands Centre in Gloucestershire! Luckily the sun was shining and we had a brilliant day. We saw a huge variety of birds including flamingos, geese, swans, ducks and moorhens. We loved learning all about the story of Ava and how we can become Guardians of the Wild.
We began our half term with an exciting Discover and Do afternoon focused on penguins. In Science and Technology, we explored why penguins have waterproof feathers by colouring in penguin pictures with wax crayons—representing the oily coating on real penguin feathers—and then spraying them with water. To our amazement, the water ran right off! Curious to learn more, we discovered that penguins have a special preen gland that produces oil. They spread this oil over their feathers to keep themselves waterproof.
We also wanted to understand how penguins stay warm in icy climates. Through our research, we learned about blubber, a thick layer of fat beneath their skin. To test this, we created an experiment using a glove filled with oil to mimic blubber. When we placed one hand in icy water and the other inside the oil-filled glove, we found that the “blubber” hand stayed much warmer!
This half term in Literacy, we’ve been busy researching penguins and using our findings to write detailed non-fiction reports. We explored a range of exciting vocabulary—adjectives to describe penguins, verbs to show what they do, and adverbs to explain how they do it. When we combined all of these, we produced some brilliant pieces of writing.
We also enjoyed reading Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers, a story we absolutely loved! Using our imaginations, we innovated the tale by changing the characters, the places they visited, and even the ending. World Book Day was another favourite moment; everyone’s outfits were amazing!
In Maths, we’ve been learning how to tell the time on both digital and analogue clocks, including o’clock, quarter past, half past, and quarter to. We’ve also mastered number bonds to 20 and applied them to real-life problems. Using different strategies, we tackled addition and subtraction with numbers like 9, 11, 19, and 21. We explored symmetry by identifying lines of symmetry in various shapes and developed our measuring skills by making accurate estimations of length.
This half term, we’ve been developing our oracy skills and growing in confidence when writing independent sentences. One of our favourite moments was taking part in the Eisteddfod at the start of the half term. It was a fantastic celebration of Welsh culture, and we had some very well-deserved winners in the Year 2 competitions—da iawn pawb!
In Humanities, we explored Antarctica using Google Earth and discovered where different types of penguins are most commonly found around the world. We then plotted their locations on a world map, helping us build a better understanding of global geography.
We looked closely at penguins in our art lessons, focusing on line, shape, and texture. We created sketches of different penguin species—one before learning about them and another after—to see how our understanding had improved. The progress was amazing! We then used clay and special tools to craft detailed 3D penguins, paying close attention to the texture of their feathers.
In PE, we’ve been learning a variety of traditional Welsh dances, which was so much fun! We also continued developing our gymnastics skills, working both individually and in pairs to create impressive movement sequences. We’ve started practising for Sport’s Day too, which we are so excited for!
To end this brilliant half term, we got creative with some lovely Easter crafts, made delicious penguin cupcakes (which we sold at the hatch), and enjoyed showing off our incredible creations in a joyful Easter bonnet parade. What a wonderful way to wrap up our learning!
