Living & Learning: healthy eating
Our latest Living and Learning theme has been all about healthy eating.
This video helps to explain the importance of healthy eating as part of living healthily.
First of all, we thought about the 5 a day message. Having at least 5 (ideally different) portions of fruit and vegetables keeps us healthy. These could be different types of fruit and vegetables.
A portion is about a handful.
Here are some tips for achieving your 5 a day.
You could have some banana on your cereal.
If you put some cucumber in your sandwich, that would be an extra portion.
You could add some sweetcorn or peas to your pasta for tea.
Have some fruit or vegetable sticks when you get home from school.
The Eatwell Guide is a key document to show how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet. The bigger the section the more food from that group we should eat. The balance of foods from each group does not need to be achieved with every meal but we should aim for the balance over a day or even a week. We had a go at sorting different foods into the different sections.
Our latest Design and Technology: food and nutrition preparation of our fruit salad linked well to this learning.
Help at home look at the Eatwell guide together and think about any improvements that could be made. This may be having an extra vegetable a day, trying a new fruit or vegetable, switching to brown bread or pasta or having a healthier snack after school.
More healthy eating ideas can be found by signing up to these Healthy Steps emails from Better Health (formally Change4Life).
Design & Technology Food and Nutrition: fruit salad
This week, Year 2 have been using their food preparation skills to create their latest product, fruit salad.
This forms part of our Design and Technology food learning which involves following a recipe to create a product each term.
First, we got ready to cook.
Here are some of the skills we used.
Draining
Peeling and segmenting
Bridge hold and claw grip (for chopping)
We also used measuring skills and mixing too.
Finally, the children got to enjoy their finished product.
I tried kiwi and I really liked it.
Next time, I would make it without raspberries.
I liked the yogurt with the fruit salad because when I stirred it together it turned pink and it tasted good.
I tried raspberries and I liked them with the yogurt.
I wanted even more as it was delicious!
I tried grapes and I would have them again.
I want to eat this every day because it is healthy and tasty.
We had 2 of our 5 a day.
We always evaluated our product afterwards to see how it could be changed it next time.
Well done to all the children who worked safely and sensibly with Mrs Simpson and Mrs Rothery.
Help at home: your child has taken this recipe home. Can they demonstrate some of their food preparation skills by making this again at home.
Topic Drop Down Morning
Today, we’ve had a busy morning re-visiting some learning from Year 1.
The children impressed us with their excellent recall of key facts about the Great Fire of London, as well as their strong knowledge of the continents, oceans, and the countries of the UK and their capital cities. We finished the morning by exploring artwork by George Seurat and Bridget Riley, where the children demonstrated excellent oracy skills as they thoughtfully discussed their likes and dislikes.
Living & Learning: health and prevention
Over the last two weeks, Year 2 have been learning about keeping our bodies healthy.
Firstly, we considered good hygiene. Most microbes do not harm us and some are actually very helpful. However, some microbes can harm us and these are called germs.
We can’t get rid of every single germ but we can think about how to keep them away and stop them from spreading.
Good handwashing is a key part of being hygienic. We reminded ourselves of how to wash our hands properly.
We already use an important technique to stop germs spreading by covering our mouth and nose with the inside of our elbow (the vampire technique).
We also discussed the importance of sleep in our weekly circle time.
All of the children could give a good example of why sleep is important from helping our memory to helping us grow.
This website provides more information about the importance of sleep for children.
Dental health is another key aspect of being healthy.
We thought about teeth-friendly food and drink, how to keep our teeth clean and to understand how our adults and dentists help to keep our teeth healthy.
- For children under 7 years, a pea-sized amount of toothpaste is recommended and brushing should be supervised.
- Children should be encouraged to spit out after brushing rather than rinsing with water, so that the fluoride remains on the teeth.
- It is recommended that water and plain milk are drunk.
- Children aged 5-7 years should visit their dentist for a regular check-up (every 6 months)
Help at home: sleep, dental health and good hygiene are all important aspects of keeping healthy. Discuss with your child which of these they want to improve and the steps to do this.
Maths: Equal groups
Today in our Maths learning, we explored the idea of equal and unequal groups.
We had lots of fun finding different ways to group 10, 15, and 20 cubes into equal groups.
Help at home: Build with small objects. Use cubes, Lego or coins to make different equal groups (for example: 20 in groups of 2, 4, or 5).
Living & Learning: drug education
A drug is a substance that changes the way the body or mind works.
In year 2, we have been learning about different things that go into our bodies and onto our skin and about keeping safe around household products and medicines.
Firstly, we considered things that are:
- good for our body – fruit and vegetables, clean air, soap and water, healthy foods
- not good for our body – some germs, cigarettes, vapes, sweets, fizzy drinks, berries from a bush, cleaning products
Medicines can be good for our body as they are used to treat people when they are ill and they can help protect people from becoming ill in the future (vaccinations).
Medicines can also be not good for our body for example, if we take too much medicine or if we have someone else’s medicine.
The children had a lot to share in this learning and were very clear about the message of keeping safe around these products.
We even helped Nothing (from our latest class novel) understand how to stay safe around things that might be harmful for our body and how to seek help if needed.
This learning will also be reinforced by a visit from D:side in our Staying Safe themed week in May.
Help at home: please discuss these key safety messages at home. Make sure your child is aware of possible dangers at home, such as medicines and household products, and how to seek help if they need it.
Try to fill in the missing words with your child.
You must never put something into your b_____ or onto your s_____ if you do not know what it is or if you don’t have p________ or c_______ from your adult.
Reading: World Book Day
World Book Day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Today has been filled with lots of opportunities to read and talk about books.
We started the day with a whole school World Book day assembly.
Then, the children had chance to share the books they like to read.
Next, we did some paired reading with Year 5. The children thoroughly enjoyed sharing their books from home and reading to each other.
After that, we took part in a Once Upon a Time British Library workshop with Sarah. We retold the familiar story of the three little pigs using our voices, bodies and lots of great vocabulary. Then, using the four parts of a story (characters, setting, problem and solution), we created a new story.
This afternoon, we explored a book called Wild Book Day where lots of different book characters come to life together.
We used the Authorfy website to learn about a new author, Matty Long, who wrote Croaky. We followed instructions for how to illustrate the character of Croaky.
Finally, we reflected on the books we have read so far in Year 2 and voted for our favourite.
What a fantastic day we’ve had! Keep enjoying lots of books at home daily.
World Book Day Thursday 5th March
Tomorrow is World Book Day and we are looking forward to a day celebrating and enjoying reading.
As part of World Book Day, the children are invited to bring in a favourite book to share with the class. This maybe linked to the character they are dressed as or a different book.
We’re looking forward to a reading filled day!
Topic: Computing
This half term, our new topic is Computing! Here’s the key vocabulary we’ll be learning along the way.
Today, we had lots of fun working together to design our own games. We thought carefully about the commands we would need to create an algorithm that helps the player complete the game successfully.
Help at home: Can you think of any algorithms you do in your daily routine? For example brushing your teeth or getting ready for school.
English: Nothing
This half term, we’ve started reading Nothing by Mick Inkpen. We’re already thoroughly enjoying the story and are very eager to find out what happens to Nothing next.
We began by making predictions about what — or who — Nothing might be:
I think it’s because they’ve left nothing behind.
I think it’s the teddy bear’s name.
We also explored how Nothing might be feeling after being trapped in the attic for many years. The children suggested a wide range of emotions, including frightened, scared, lonely and apprehensive.
Today, we brought the story to life through role play, using a strategy called “thought tracking.” The children imagined they were Nothing’s inner thoughts and described how they would feel after finally escaping the attic. They used the sentence stem:
“I would feel… because…”
It was wonderful to see such thoughtful and imaginative responses as the children deepened their understanding of the character’s emotions.
