Holtsmere End Infant and Nursery School

 Beech Class - Mrs Haris (neé Ashfaq)

Pine Class - Miss Mellersh

Beech class 

Pine class

Year 2

W/c 04.09.23

This week Year 2 have been learning about Hemel Hempstead and different geographical vocabulary in their geography lessons. They labelled some geographical features on a photograph and matched words such as river, hill, forest, cliff, vegetation and harbour to their definitions.

In Science, we took a tour of our outside grounds to find things that are living, dead or have never been alive. The children were so amazed by how our play equipment was once alive as a tree!

Year 2

W/c 11.09.23

This week, Year 2 had their first session playing the Ukulele with their music teacher. They thoroughly enjoyed strumming along to the song and it sounded great! In maths, they explored adding numbers by regrouping through 10.

In English, we used the computers to research facts about Bluebirds and wrote down summarised facts about them.

In Topic, we created our own mnemonics to remember the points on a compass and used them on a map. 

Year 2

W/c 18.09.23 - week 3

In English this week, we explored how we can help birds in our local area. We made class bird feeders and wrote instructions on how to do this. We also created our own ‘creaking, clanking’ dances with accompanying music, based on our book ‘The Robot and the Bluebird’. The children were such proud performers as they showcased their fantastic robotic dance moves.

In Maths, the children investigated some statements using Numicon.

even + even = even

odd + odd = even

even + odd = odd

They had to find out if these statements were always true.

In Science, we learned about microhabitats and explored our school grounds to see if we could find any. We looked under logs and rocks to find minibeasts. We were such excited explorers!

Year 2

W/c 25.09.23 - week 4

In our team building PE session this week, the children had an exciting time guiding their blindfolded partners to the correct coloured cones on the floor. 

In English, we retold the story of ‘The Robot and the Bluebird’ through drama. We got in role as the robot as we took a walk around the school to visit the different settings in the story. The children will be so excited to tell you all about the scrapheap, our bluebird friend and our journey to the sunny south!

Year 2

W/c 02.10.23- week 5

The Wonderful Writers in Beech and Pine classes wrote lovely narratives this week, based on ‘The Robot and the Bluebird’! They used conjunctions to link sentences, expanded noun phrases to describe and conveyed the emotions of the characters accurately.

In maths, we continued to look at the place value of numbers and practised making and ordering 2-digit numbers with base 10 equipment.

In PE, our team building challenge was to use two skipping ropes to lift up a hoop. We needed to keep the hoop in the air for as long as possible.

In topic, we looked at the continents and oceans of the world. We put together a map of the world puzzle and labelled the 7 continents and 5 oceans.

Year 2

W/c 09.10.23- week 6

In PE this week, our team building challenge was to create ‘mood faces’ with PE equipment. The children had a fantastic time racing to collect their equipment and begin creating their faces.

In Art, we created leaf and bark rubbings with wax crayons. The children enjoyed comparing the textures of the trees and seeing how the bark is different on each tree.

Year 2

W/c 16.10.23 - week 7

After learning about kindness in RE this half term, the children made clay ‘pots of kindness’. They decorated these and filled them with acts of kindness which they can pick out and do each day. 

Year 2 

W/c 30.10.23 - Autumn Term 1, Week 1

This week Year 2 have had their seasonal change day. The children enjoyed spending the day outside, noticing the different signs of autumn. We went pond dipping, we went on a colour hunt and we created some amazing nature art using natural objects that we found on our nature work. We even hosted our very own weather forecast! We will have 3 more seasonal change days throughout the year to compare all the seasons.

In history, we looked at photographs of Hemel Hempstead from the past and present day. The children were fascinated by seeing what Hemel Hempstead used to look like!

Year 2

W/c 06.11.23 - Autumn Term 2, Week 2

This week in Year 2 we have started to look at our new story ‘Wild’. We went on a woodland walk outside and noticed what we could see, smell and hear. We then drew a woodland area like the one in the story 'Wild' and we thought of interesting adjectives to describe the setting. We were proud of our work so we shared all our artwork and ideas like a gallery.

In PE, we have started learning to do yoga. We learnt new poses and we even created our own poses imagining that we were creatures under the sea.

We were very lucky this week to have a lady come in to teach us a special dance to celebrate Diwali, the festival of light. We had so much fun doing the dance!

Year 2

W/c 13.11.23 - Autumn Term 2, Week 3

In PE this week, we practised overarm and underarm throws in target games. We used the correct stance and developed our aim. 

Year 2

W/c 20.11.23 - Autumn Term 2, Week 4

The Hardworking Historians in Year 2 went on their Local Area Walk of Hemel Hempstead this week. They wowed the parent volunteers with all their knowledge of Hemel Hempstead. They saw the Charter Tower which King Henry VIII leaned out of and the impressive mosaic of him in the market square! In our history lesson, we sequenced events in Hemel Hempstead in a timeline and discussed how Hemel Hempstead and markets have changed over time.

In Science last week, we began an experiment to observe how egg shells change over time in different liquids. The egg shells represented our teeth. This week, we saw the gruesome results! Blackcurrant squash has 12 teaspoons of sugar which meant the egg shell became rotten and weak. We now know the importance of brushing our teeth and avoiding sugary drinks and food. 

Year 2 

W/c 27.11.23 - Autumn Term 2, Week 5

This week in English, we performed a range of poems. We explored the sounds which water makes in a bowl, in a cup, from a tap and even explored the difference in sound between warm and cold water. We used onomatopoeia words to describe the sound and then wrote our own poems about water, inspired by the poem ‘Voices of Water’ by Tony Mitton.
In History, we re-enacted a day in the life of people living in Hemel Hempstead in the past. We discussed whether they would go to the Marlowes shopping centre or whether they would buy their shopping from markets. We also acted out what people would do for leisure.
In PE, the children had an amazing time practising throwing objects through moving targets. It was very tricky but they showed resilience and performed amazingly!

Year 2

W/c 04.12.23 - Autumn Term 2, Week 6

In Art, we used different grades of pencil to add detail to our sketches. We started with HB pencils and used pencils 2B up to a darker 8B to add our detail. We then created different tones of red watercolour paint by mixing the red with white and black and used these tones to paint our flowers, showing the lighter and darker areas.

A big thank you to all grown-ups who were able to attend our learning celebration! We were so happy to share our learning for Autumn Term with you.

Year 2

W/c 11.12.23 - Autumn Term 2, Week 7

This week, our diligent designers had the challenge of designing, making and evaluating their Christmas biscuits. They produced amazing designs and equally amazing final products!

Friday was our Deco Morning where we created our Christmas crafts. We designed our own snowman Christmas cards, created Santa masks, created baubles and even made some chocolate covered cornflake reindeer. It was such a lovely morning- thank you to all parents who could come and join us! 

Year 2

W/c 08.01.24 - Spring Term 1, Week 1

This week, a plane landed in our field and certain valuables were left behind. We discussed what these valuables were used for in History and later realised that they belonged to Amelia Earhart. We researched facts about her and realised she was the first female pilot to fly solo over the Atlantic Ocean!

In Maths, we began learning about measures. We used appropriate tools to measure different objects. We also explored the scales on measuring apparatus used to show capacity and volume.

In Science, we described the properties of different materials using scientific vocabulary.

Year 2

W/c 15.01.24 - Spring Term 1, Week 2

This week we had our Seasonal Change Day. We spent a lot of the day outdoors looking for the signs of winter. We went pond dipping, created nature art outside and did our own weather forecast.

In Geography, we used atlases to help us plot out Amelia Earhart’s journey across the world onto a map. We saw all the different continents and oceans that she crossed on her flight.

In Maths, we were looking at 3D shapes and we sorted them into different Carroll diagrams based on their properties.

In Science, learnt about different materials and how they change shape when they are squashed, bent, twisted and stretched. We experimented with different materials and we discovered how each material moved.

In English, we used our imagination to create our own alien characters for the story Man on the Moon.

Year 2

W/c 22.01.24 - Spring Term 1, Week 3

This week was our Computing week. The children enjoyed having Computing almost every day! Our unit focus was ‘questioning’ so we thought of sensible questions to ask while playing ‘Guess Who?’, we created Binary Trees and answered questions on Binary Trees to find the names of avatars and animals.

In maths, we finished our unit on statistics by creating block graphs to show how children in Beech and Pine classes travel to school. We thought carefully about the title and label of our axes- just like magnificent mathematicians would do!

In science, we explored what happens to materials when they are heated by testing how fast an ice cube melts on them. We found that metal stays hotter for longer than fabric and passes on heat better. This is why radiators are made out of metal and why we wear fabric, rather than metal, on a hot day!

Year 2

W/c 29.01.24 - Spring Term 1, Week 4

The magnificent mathematicians in Year 2 showed great eagerness when learning the written methods for addition and subtraction. Next week, we move onto regrouping when subtracting!

In Design and Technology, we completed the designing process for our buses. We painted them and added people in windows and our own personalised number plates. We then carefully used a saw to cut dowel for our axles. We attached our wheels and were very impressed with the results!

Year 2

W/c 05.02.24 - Spring Term 1, Week 5

Pine class finished making their buses this week and then all of Year 2 evaluated their final products, just as a diligent designer would do. It was great to see how the children could beautifully reason what they liked about their buses and what they would improve for next time, using technical language.

In PSHE, we had to work carefully in groups to design and create a bird for a ‘garden of dreams’. Each child had a role which emphasised their skills and the end products were fabulous!

Year 2

W/c 12.02.24 - Spring Term 1, Week 6

This week was Art Week. We began the week by learning about our focus artist, Piet Mondrian. We explored some of his most famous pieces of art and said what we liked about them. We then used a computer programme on Purple Mash to create artwork inspired by Mondrian. We made lines and used the ‘fill’ tool to colour in the squares and rectangles with primary colours.

We explored how primary colours can be mixed to create secondary colours and showed this in our colour umbrellas. What do you notice about them?

Lastly, we created our final pieces of art with black strips of paper and paint, ready to display for our grown ups in the gallery.

In Maths, we told the time in a variety of ways. We can now read o’clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past times. We can read the time to 5 minutes and say how many minutes past an hour or to an hour a clock shows.

In Science, we investigated which materials are magnetic and which materials are non-magnetic. We predicted that all metals would be magnetic but were very shocked to find out that not all are!

 

Year 2

W/c 26.02.24 - Spring Term 2, Week 1

In computing this week, we explored effective searching. We learned the meaning of key terminology related to searching and put it into practice while researching about dinosaurs. We then created our own digital leaflets to explain what effective searching is.

In maths, we began doubling and halving numbers. We realised that odd numbers cannot be halved, only even numbers can. 

Year 2

W/c 04.03.24 - Spring Term 2, Week 2

We have had such a busy week in Year 2. We began our topic of Brazil in Geography where we learnt about the geographical features of the country and the city Rio de Janeiro. We learnt Samba dancing and we listened to and played samba music.

In maths, we practised counting in 3s and then moved on to looking at repeated addition.

In RE, we learned about Passover, explored the seder plate and then took part in fun Jewish traditions, which ended with eating flatbread. Yum!

We then had World Book Day, focused on the book ‘The Wildest Cowboy’ where we took part in a fantastic drama session. The children thoroughly enjoyed this! We created sunset and cactus paintings, practised line dancing and made Wanted posters.

Year 2

W/c 11.03.24 - Spring Term 2, Week 3

In Geography this week, the excited explorers learned some more about Brazil. They identified the four layers of the Amazon Rainforest and the animals which live in each layer. They learned about how deforestation is destroying the rainforest. They compared the rainforest with Hemel Hempstead in a Venn Diagram and explained why the city Rio de Janeiro is special!

In Science, the children learned the life cycle of a bean seed and then planted their own bean seeds in a bag. They predicted what will happen after 2-3 days, 1 week and then 2 weeks. We can’t wait to observe how the bean seed germinates over the next few weeks!

Reception                          Nursery                          Year  1