Y2L had a fantastic day at The Oriental Museum to learn more about China as part of our English and Geography topic this half term.
We loved using our drama skills to find out about the story of the Chinese Zodiac, taking a quiz to learn animal representations, investigating artefacts to answer questions and creating our own shadow puppets. We then had lots of fun exploring more artefacts, taking part in the story of Nian and even having our own dragon dance.
Year have been working hard this half term in science, investigating materials. Last week we were challenged to find the best material to build a toy boat. We knew that that material had to be waterproof so that it didn’t absorb any water and by testing how long it took each material to absorb water and sink, we found that the aluminium foil was the best material tested.
This week, we were asked by a Goomba to help him build a strong roof that would help keep her eggs safe from predators that were trying to stamp on his home. We took part in a fair test to investigate which material could hold the most weight and would therefore be strong and sturdy enough to protect the eggs.
Year 2 have started our Statistics topic in maths this week. We know that there are different ways to gather information and record it. First we looked at tally charts. It was lots of fun using a tally chart to find out how many of each colour Smartie was in each tube.
Online video calling with random strangers. It’s hardly a new internet phenomenon – but the recent demise of Omegle has prompted the creation of several similar platforms bidding to fill the vacuum. One such contender is Monkey – a service that randomly connects its users for video calls, using their mobile numbers and Snapchat account details
Monkey has surged in popularity since Omegle’s shutdown in November 2023: visits to the site more than doubled within a month and have been climbing steadily ever since. Regrettably, it also seems that Monkey suffers from many of the same pitfalls as its notorious predecessor – our #WakeUpWednesday guide highlights these possible risks to young people in more detail.
With Omegle finally shutting down in late 2023, the top spot among video chat services is up for grabs – and Monkey has its eyes set on the crown. Randomly matching its users for 15-second conversations, the platform’s developers claim to have created a dynamic online space for people to make new connections and, potentially, even some new friends.
Despite these innocuous-sounding intentions, however, Monkey has been criticised for moderation which may not be comprehensive enough to defend against the obvious dangers that unregulated, random video calls pose to the younger element of the site’s userbase. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide tells trusted adults what they need to know about Monkey.
Another month has past us by and the children continue to impress us with their super reading abilities.
This month’s readers we were chosen for their AMAZING reading abilities but also because staff have noticed them working well with others, being good reading partners, helping others to choose new texts and always giving 100% effort with reading at home and in school.
We continue to be impressed and find it tricky to choose just one child a month!
As always the children got to pick a prize to take home, selecting a book from our collection. They were very excited to see the huge new range of texts which had been delivered and spotted some of their favourite authors!
A special mention to Scarlett from Y2 who has just started using AR but is trying really hard on her quizzes, to Lyla from Y1 who always helps her partner to correct mistakes when reading, to Dexter from Y3 who helps others to find new Non-fiction texts and quiz on AR and to Louie from Y5 for his fantastic AR results and for reading at home frequently.
Well done to all of our ‘Readers of the Month’. We hope you enjoy your new books.
Year 2 have been testing and recording how different materials change. We used a range of objects, identified what they were made from and tested to see if they could bend, twist, squash, stretch and/or rip.
“The #1 teen dating website in the world” That’s the claim of MyLOL, which offers 13 to 19-year-olds the chance to rate each other’s pics, send private messages and contact strangers online. If that sets your alarm bells ringing, you’re far from alone: law enforcement agencies and schools in several countries have seen fit to issue warnings about the platform.
Among the main issues is the fact that MyLOL doesn’t have a reliable age verification method – meaning there’s no foolproof way to stop anyone outside the platform’s intended 13–19 audience signing up for an account under a false age. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide also highlights potential concerns around in-app purchases and the use of geolocation for sinister reasons.
Teenagers’ blossoming interest in romantic relationships and their devotion to online networking is a potent combination – and, regrettably, not always a safe one. It raises all kind of worries about the possibility of sharing intimate images or deeply personal information; and that’s simply with contacts their own age – to say nothing of the chance of connecting with an older stranger.
MyLOL – a site which specifically facilitates interaction between 13 to 19-year-olds – has amassed around a million users worldwide, but sadly its safeguarding protocols can’t match that level of success. The ease with which an adult could pose as a teen under a bogus birthdate makes grooming a realistic threat – and that’s far from the platform’s only risk, as our guide explains.
In maths this week, Year 2 have been grouping and sharing amounts. We have used counters and blocks to help us to work out division sentences. We know that each group must be equal when dividing.
This half term in Science, we are learning about everyday materials. Y2L created Material Munchers for six everyday materials; wood, paper, plastic, glass, cardboard and metal. The munchers were very hungry so we had to identify and classify lots of different images and objects to feed them to the correct munchers.
The children in year 2 had their first lessons using the Bee-Bots (robots that can be programmed using simple directional instructions). They were tasked with writing algorithms using the instructions: forwards, forwards, left and right.
They kept a record of the end position of the Bee-Bot and noticed that even though they gave it different instructions, it did end on the same few spots of the map.
