Larch 2

 
Welcome to Larch 2!
 
 
2022 - 2023
 
Mrs Clarke/Miss Houghton - Class Teachers
Miss Richardson/Mr Smith - Teaching Assistants
 
 
Spring 2
 
Under the Canopy
 

Year 2 had a fun day on Tuesday when we went to visit Birmingham Botanical Gardens. We learned all about rainforests and the plants and animals that might be found there. We even got to hold some rainforest creatures! Walking through the tropical greenhouse really helped us to visualise what it might be like to live in a rainforest. The plants were so big and the leaves were all sorts of different shapes and shades of green. We are looking forward to creating some rainforest inspired art based on our experience!

 

We also visited Birmingham Central Mosque. This was a really interesting experience. We found out what it is like inside a mosque and why people go there. We were also able to learn more about the Islamic festival of Ramadan.

 

 
In gymnastics, we have learned how to correctly perform a forward roll, as well as revising previously taught rolls (teddy bear, pencil and barrel roll) 
 
 
Before we write a non-chronological report about orangutans, we spent time researching facts about them by using the iPads and reading non-fiction texts.
 
 
Larch are enjoying their Team Games lessons. They are learning to attack and defend whilst changing speed and direction in an attempt to trick the opposition.
 
 
As an introduction to our new theme we read ‘There’s A Rang Tan in my Bedroom’ and looked at why rainforests are being chopped down to produce palm oil. We looked at products that use palm oil and why it is used so much. We created our own conscience alley to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using palm oil and thought about things people could do to help. 
 
Books, books and more books - Larch had a fantastic time on World Book Day! We dressed up as our favourite book characters, had stories read to us by Mr Coleman and Governor, Mr Head, created Reading Rivers, acrostic poems and performed The Sound Collector by Roger McGough to Year 1. 
 
For World Book Day, all pupils will be using the key text ‘Invisible’ by Tom Percival.  Year 2 are creating acrostic poems on some key themes in the text: poverty, gratitude, invisible and empathy.  We learned these terms in class and created freeze frames for them to show their meaning.
 
 
Spring 1
 
Muck, Mess and Mixtures
 
 
Year 2 enjoyed making a jumping bean couscous salad as part of our healthy lifestyle work that we have been doing in science and PSHE. 
 
They practised their cutting techniques, peeling, mixing, stirring and trimming.
 
 
Year 2 have been learning about algorithms in computing. We began by writing our own algorithm for 'how to get ready for home time', before moving onto coding on the Bee-Bot app.
 
 
Year 2 have been looking at abstract artist, Mark Rothko. Today they used different media to create their own colour field by mixing primary colours to create secondary colours. We also used white and black to change the tones of the colour we created.
 
Archie said, 'I mixed red and blue to make purple,' and later added, 'Billy was right when he said if you mix all of the primary colours together you get brown!'
 
Daisy said, 'I mixed blue and yellow and made teal!'
 
 
Year 2 have been reading The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde and have done lots of work building up to writing a persuasive letter to the giant to let them back into his garden. We have practised exclamation sentences, using conjunctions and we also got into role as the children in the story to understand how they might feel. Here are some of our final pieces.
 
 
As part of our science topic, Year 2 learnt about the basic needs for survival and the importance of healthy eating, exercise and personal hygiene through a Now Press Play. 
 

When we arrived back in school, we were tasked to solve riddles to help Paddington identify who the characters were that he had met on his travels. We used our knowledge of stories to identify that they were all from fairy tales/ traditional tales. We then had a discussion about which fairy tales we know, thought about what features we might find in a fairy tale and discussed why they are also called ‘traditional’ tales.

 

 
Autumn 2
 
Significant People
 
 
We’ve had such an exciting couple of weeks counting down to Christmas. We had a really successful nativity performance on Friday and opened our winter books gifted by Friends of Birchwood PTA and chosen by our teaching staff. 
 
 
In Science, Year 2 children were improving their comparative testing enquiry skills by testing materials to see how absorbent, waterproof, opaque and transparent they were.
 
 
Year 2 enjoyed a visit from the Peel Society to find out all about Robert Peel, a significant individual, who lived in Tamworth. We learnt that he was responsible for starting the metropolitan police force and what it was like to be in the police in the past. We also compared uniforms today to uniforms in the past. 
 
The second visitors were Staffordshire Police who taught us about modern policing and how they help us.
 

 ‘Uniforms now are much brighter and help the police to stand out,’ Isla.

 

Year 2 were able to link their learning in Science to their PE today. In Science, pupils were making changes to materials (plasticine) to show the different forces we can apply to change the shape. We noticed it was hard to do that unless you warmed the plasticine up first. We then linked this to our PE learning all about warming up our muscles.
 
Year 2 have returned to a half term of finding out all about different significant people. We have discussed what the term significant means, used the Dawson's model to help determine if someone is significant, and found out all about Guy Fawkes and his significance to Bonfire night. We have completed a now press play to help understand Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder plot, as well as talk about bonfire night safety! It has been a busy day!!
 
 Autumn 1
 
Bright Lights, Big City

‘God Save the King!’

 What a wonderful end to the first half term of the year. We re-enacted a Royal Tea Party to honour the new King as guests of Paddington, who travelled here in style. We ate our bread rolls (with marmalade of course), learned to curtesy and bow and danced the end of Autumn 1 out in style.

No fires here! Year 2 have been measuring, mixing, kneading and baking bread rolls then shaping them so they’re fit for a Royal Tea Party. Thankfully we managed this task safely and the children made sure the oven was off before leaving the room! 

 

Year 2 had a fantastic day at Selly Manor to support their history learning on the Great Fire of London.  We visited the original Tudor manor to see how houses of the period were made and how this contributed to the spread of the fire. We toured the home with our excellent guide and looked at how the different significant people (King Charles II, Samuel Pepys and Thomas Farriner) from our learning would have dined, slept and dressed. Later we played Stuart games and dressed up in typical clothing of the period. The children amazed us with how much they had remembered from their History lessons but not only that, they could name many materials around the manor due to their Science learning and they were all involved with naming geographical physical and human features on our journey through Birmingham city.
 

After the wonderful Jubilee celebrations in Year 1, we will continue to build upon our learning about our capital city today and what life is like in a modern big city as well as the human and physical characteristics of the UK. 

Fire! Fire! London’s burning! We will then travel back in time to the 17th Century to solve the mystery of how The Great Fire of London started using evidence from Samuel Pepys’ diary to discover more about London at this time. 

 
Welcome to Elm 1!
 
 
2021 - 2022
 
Miss Aston - Class Teacher
Miss Tudor - Teaching Assistant
 
 
Summer 2
 
The Enchanted Woodland
 
This week we have looked at the work of Andy Goldsworthy. After collecting natural materials from outside, we created our own masterpieces. Once finished, we took a photograph of our art work then, after a very hot weekend, we photographed the work again and observed any changes.
As part of our new theme ‘The Enchanted Woodland’, we followed a set of instructions to make a woodland crown.
 
'It was so fun going into the wood to find leaves for our crowns,' Mia.
 
 
Summer 1
 
Rio de Vida
 
We are so proud of you Elm 1. What a fantastic performance for your first assembly. You were all amazing and taught the audience so much about Brazil!
Rio De Vida! Today was carnival day. We had so much fun practising our samba dancing and using the instruments to join in with the samba beat. We also made headdresses and flags to wave at our procession.
 
Spring 2
 
 Castles
 
What a fantastic day we had visiting Tamworth castle. After helping the lady of the manor dress the table we trained as squires, participating in a bill drill and marching with a bill hook. Finally we had a tour of the castle.
 
'Today was the best day ever!' Mia.
Today we have enjoyed celebrating World Book Day. We have read and listened to so many different books - stories, poems and non-fiction.
 
'Today has been the best day! I loved looking at all those books,' William.
 
Spring 1
 
No Place Like Home
 
We came into school on our first day back from our Christmas break to find a crime scene!!  We used our inference skills and discovered that Goldilocks had eaten all of baby bear's porridge.  She found it so delicious that she asked year 1 to write a set of instructions of how to make more!  This half term, year 1 will be joining the Jolly Postman on an adventure and visiting lots of other traditional tale characters including one that lives at the top of a beanstalk, one that wears a red clock, one that plants a seed which grows into an enormous turnip and two children that discover a house made of sweets!
We came into school on our first day back from our Christmas break to find a crime scene!!  We used our inference skills and discovered that Goldilocks had eaten all of baby bear's porridge.  She found it so delicious that she asked year 1 to write a set of instructions of how to make more!  This half term, year 1 will be joining the Jolly Postman on an adventure and visiting lots of other traditional tale characters including one that lives at the top of a beanstalk, one that wears a red clock, one that plants a seed which grows into an enormous turnip and two children that discover a house made of sweets!
 
Autumn 2
 
School Days
 
Following a map, we went for a walk in our local area. We saw lots of interesting places including the high school, local shops and the doctor's surgery.
As part of our school day's theme, Elm 1 stepped back in time to Victorian times. We had to sit in rows and complete the 3 Rs then went outside for our daily drill. We all did our very best work as we didn't want to have to wear the finger cuffs, a back straightener or the dunce's hat! We all decided that we would much rather go to school nowadays!
 
Autumn 1
 
Moon Zoom
 
 
Buckle up and come with us on our journey as we blast off into space to learn about the 'space race' and Neil Armstrong's moon landing.  We discover what it takes to become an astronaut and develop our scientific skills as we explore the mysteries of the solar system.  We identify space nouns and use adjectives to describe space objects and aliens.
 
 
Welcome to Acorn!
 
 
2020 - 2021
 
Mrs Smith - Class Teacher
Mrs Spong - Teaching Assistant
 
 
Summer 2
 
Why do Zebras have spots?
 
 
Summer 1
 
Why Do Ladybirds Have Spots?
 
 
Spring 2
 
Are All Dinosaurs The Same Size?
 
 
In celebration of Census Day, Acorn Class carried out lots of counting. We counted Acorn’s favourite colours and how many boys and girls there are in our class. We also analysed the data using ‘star words’ such as, more than and less than.
 

Winter Wish Lists - Reading for Pleasure

At Birchwood, we have been working extremely hard to promote the power and enjoyment of reading for our children, as we know that being a successful reader is one of the key indicators to future success in life.

We pride ourselves on nurturing skilful and enthusiastic readers within school, providing children with memorable experiences such as exciting activities. Although we work diligently to promote reading within school, we value your support greatly in creating a positive reading culture at home; it is vital that children are encouraged to read high quality texts.

At the moment, we know that many of us are spending more time indoors than we normally would, providing our children with even more opportunities to read for pleasure in the comfort of their own home. For this reason, we have compiled a list of inspiring, excellent books for both you and your child to enjoy – both independently and as a shared reading book. On this list you will find some children’s classics, as well as some new bestselling books, and some award winning texts which have been celebrated widely within the reading community. We have selected these books to cater for a variety of reading tastes, and we have included books ranging from wild adventure stories, spooky ghost tales, books which celebrate diversity and difference, and those which promote kindness and emotional wellbeing.

Please click below to view your child's Winter Wish List. 

 
Autumn 2
 
Why Do Squirrels Hide Their Nuts?
 
 
Autumn 1
  
 Do you want to be friends?
 
 
WE HAVE STARTED SCHOOL!
 
Acorn Class have made a super start to their time at Birchwood. We have been very busy. Have a look and a read of what we have been up to.
 
We went on a very special walk around the school to speak to people who help us.
 
It was lots of fun seeing Mr Coleman's office; he gave us a very special sticker and even showed us a picture of his dog, Alfie!  

 

 
Mrs Jackson, Mrs Grinham, Mrs Ferris and Mrs Ryle told us about all the hard work they do in the School Office. 
 

 

We were very lucky to have a story read to us by Mrs Hooper. 

 

 
We have also had lots of fun getting to know our new friends and making the most of the sunshine!