Ruby Class

Year 2: 2024 - 2025

Ruby Class

Teacher: Mrs Foster

Please check back every week as I will post lots of photographs of some of the things that we get up to over the year.

Here is a termly overview of what our learning will focus on this term.

Friday 10th January

It has been lovely to see all of the children back this week and to find out what they got up to over the holidays. 

This week, we have focused on welcoming the new year and thinking about dreams and goals for 2025.  The children have thought about what they achieved last year and how it made them feel. They have set themselves challenges and thought about steps they needed to do to achieve them. They have taught themselves to dance the macarana, count in 2s to 10 in French and count to 5 in Mandarin Chinese.  We have finished our work on dreams and goals by designing a dream garden.

Friday 20th December

Autumn term is now finished and the children have taken part in lots of activities.  Here are some pictures from our nativity, Christmas party, pantomime and reindeer run.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Friday 6th December

This week we have been practising our nativity and I am looking forward to you all coming and seeing it on Friday 13th at 1:30pm.

We have started a new book in English this week and the children have been learning about why water is important to us.  We had a river in our class this week and the children have written some amazing poems to describe the sound and the movement of the water.

In math, I have been so impressed with the children's knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes.  They have been able to identify lots of the shapes and count their sides and vertices.

In RE this week, after discussing how religious and non-religious traditions are different, the children thought about what advent means to Christians.  They have all made an advent wreath which they will bring home to share with you soon.  In science, the children have been investigating how materials can be changed.  They had lots of materials on their tables and had to find out which ones could be twisted, stretched, bent and squashed.  For geography, the children have been outside to find human and physical features of the school grounds.  I am looking forward to seeing the maps they make next week using their observations from their time outside.

Friday 29th November

It has been a very exciting day in Ruby Class today as we have had some very special visitors.

First we met an artist called Elizabeth who is an artist who works with Sunderland Culture.  The children showed what amazing artists they are by.  They each chose an animal and looked at it very closely to look for shapes and colours.  Then the children drew their chosen animal and thought about the colours they could use to make them rainbow animals.  For a final task, they added pencil and colours to paper and used water to create a painted background then the children add a new drawing of an animal to their background.  Their artwork is amazing!

Next we had a visit from Tyne and Wear Fire Service.  We met Courtney, Simon and Vanessa who came to show us how the fire service had changed since the Great Fire of London and the Great Fire of Gateshead.  Vanessa was dressed in her fire fighter clothes and explained how it all keeps her safe.  Courtney showed us how the fire service had changed.  After this we got to go and explore the fire truck and even use the fire hose!

Friday 22nd November

We have had an exciting week in Ruby Class this week.  On Monday, we went to the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens for a materials workshop which is linked to our science topic this term.

We met the workshop leader who was called Josh.  We investigated lots of different types of materials before sorting them into groups based on their properties. Then we went for a walk in the community garden and Mowbray Park to find out what materials some of the things in the park is made from.  We discussed why some materials were more suitable than others.  After lunch, we explored the different areas of the museum to see what materials we could find.  Before we came back to school, we went looking for dinosaurs in the Winter Gardens.

Everyone had a great time!

Friday 15th November

The children have had a great week.  They have taken part anti-bullying week, worn odd socks, been kind to their friends and had a sponsored silence for Children in Need.  Thank you to Archie's family for the delicious cakes which we all enjoyed this afternoon.

In English, we have been learning about endangered and extinct animals and thinking about what we can do to help protect them. In maths, we have continued with addition and subtraction.  The children have been using their knowledge of number bonds to 10 to add and subtract across 10.

This week in science, we have made paper and wooden boats that we are going to use in an investigation next week.  Next week, we will investigate to see which material is more suitable to make a boat. In geography, we have been learning about the countries of the UK and their capital cities. On Wednesday, the children had lots of fun with Mrs Lawrence and Mrs Rose with their extra OPAL time and den building.

It is our visit on Monday to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens.  We will be spending sometime in Mowbray part looking for everyday materials which is our science topic.  Please check back next week as i will add some photographs so you can see what the children got up to.

Friday 8th November

We had had a great start to the new term and the children loved taking their learning outside for Outdoor Learning day on Thursday.

In English, our new theme is Conservation and we are going to be reading books about endangered animals.  This week, we have discovered mysterious footprints around school.  One set of footprints belong to a mystery creature and the children have been on the look out for it.

In maths, we will continue with addition and subtraction.  This week, we have been using our knowledge of number bonds to 10 to help us add bigger numbers.

We have started our new topic in geography by learning about the continents of the world and next week we will learn about some of the animals which live there.  The children really enjoyed our first gymnastic lesson and had lots of fun trying out different shapes.

Friday 18th October

This week in Ruby class we have been historians and artists.

In English, the children have worked hard on their descriptions of the Big Bad Wolf.  They have used some amazing vocabulary and remembered full stops and capital letters.  We have finished reading Cinderella - an art deco fairytale.  This week, the children have been learning to make inferences about the characters and support their answers with events which have happened in the story.

In maths, the children have moved onto addition and subtraction.  They started the week by reviewing bonds to 10 before using the rekenreks to make bonds to 20.   Then they have been using the facts that they found to create fact families before making numbers ten times bigger to find related facts.

This month is Black History Month and the children have been learning about John Kent who became the first black British police officer.  The children found out about his life in the early 1800s and then compared a police officer from the past to a police office today.  In art, the children have finished their unit of tints and tones and learned about Wassily Kandinsky.  Yesterday the children created their own artwork inspired by what they had learned.  Their artwork is amazing and I am so proud of what they have achieved.

Friday 11th October

It has been another busy week in Ruby Class.  This week, the children have been sharing their fabulous posters about the Great Fire of London that they made at home. Mrs Hill came along to look at them and we were both so impressed. On Thursday, we met Natalie Denny who share her Keisha Jones books with us and encouraged us to Take 10 with a book for world mental health day.

In English, we have been reading a new book called Wolves by Emily Gravett.  We have been learning about the difference between fact and fiction and finding out all about wolves so that we can write a leaflet to help Little Red Riding Hood.  Since September, we have been trying really hard to develop our handwriting and this week I have seen some beautiful handwriting in the children's books - they are doing amazingly.

In maths, we have finished our Place value topic and the children have made so much progress with their knowledge of the number 1 - 100. Next we are going to use what we have learned through addition and subtraction.

The children are really enjoying using Numbots in school. It is an online game which will help the children to develop their number fluency and they receive certificates when they have completed the levels.  The children can use it at home and it would be great if you could encourage them to log in for 15 minutes each week.  I will send the login details home with the children on Monday.

Numbots - click on Numbots and it will take you to the site to log in.

This week we have developed ball skills in PE by learning how to travel with the ball while we are bouncing it.  Everyone enjoyed the pirate game at the end where we got to apply our skills. In science, we have learned about the 5 food groups and the food which belongs to them.  We used this knowledge to plan our healthy meals.  In history, we have moved on to learning about the Great Fire of Gateshead and Newcastle.  Did you know the explosion could be heard in Hetton!  Please ask the children to tell you what they have learned.

Friday 27th September

We have had lots of fun on Ruby this class this week.  On Tuesday, we were visited by a historian who came to help us learn all about the Great Fire of London.  John gave us a map of London from 1666 to explore and find the significant landmarks. Then we dressed up as the fire marshals and created a line to get water from the River Thames to the fire so that we could put it out.  Next, john told us about Samuel Pepys who wrote a diary in code during the fire. We had to crack the code to find out which belongings he saved. Finally we used quill pens and ink to create a list of the belongings that we would save.

Also this week, we have planned a sequel to Goldilocks and the Three Bears where Bear gets into trouble when he gets lost in the city. In maths, we have been working hard at partitioning numbers in tens and ones and doing this in different ways. We ended the week by adding 10s to number lines - the children did a great job.

There has been lots of art this week. In computing, we have been learning about impressionism and pointilism and using 2Create a Picture on Purple Mash to create pictures in these styles.  Then over the last 2 weeks, we have been learning about primary and secondary colours and learning to mix them. Yesterday, we were learning about tints and tones by adding white and black to colours.

In PE, we have continued to develop our ball skills by rolling, throwing and catching balls.  We have also been learning to throw at a target.  We have finished PE with games of dodgeball which have been lots of fun.

Friday 20th September

It has been a great start to the year for all of the children in Ruby Class.  On Friday, we visited the library for the first time and all of the children were able to choose a book to take home and share with their family.  The books will need to be returned in 2 weeks so that the children can swap them for a new book.

Our theme for English this half term is A Twist in the Tale.  The children have been enjoying reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the poem The Spider and the Fly.  Last week, the children wrote a great retell of the story that they know and we will be moving onto reading a different version of the story.  The children are enjoying the classic poem The Spider and the Fly. They have researched spiders and flies and have been learning to make inferences about why the spider and the fly act the way that they do.

We have started our maths topic around place value and the children are showing that they have a good understanding of numbers to 100.  They have been using a range of resources to partition the numbers into tens and ones and writing them as numerals and words.

The children are enjoying their PE lessons. They have been developing their ball skills and we had lots of fun throwing ball at a target before playing dodgeball this week.  The children have started to learn about The Great Fire of London. We have used Now Press Play to learn about the events and created timelines to show what we remember. In science, the children have been learning about the lifecycles of animals including humans. They have been learning about the stages of human development.

Please check back here next week for more updates.