Year 2 Science-Food Chains
This week, Year 2 explored how food chains work in Science. To help understand the concept, we used the idea of a Russian doll, showing how a food chain begins with a producer and is followed by a series of consumers. We built food chains with up to four consumers. Fantastic work, Year 2!
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Year 2 Class Worship: The Great Big Live Assembly
This morning, Year 2 tuned into The Great Big Live Assembly: Black History Month 2025. We only managed to watch the first five minutes because we got into a lengthy conversation about the symbolism of the St George’s flag — how it can be used to celebrate our amazing country, but also how, sadly, it can sometimes be misused to intimidate or threaten. This idea was linked to the image of a brick: in the hands of a builder, a brick is a tool for good — used to construct homes, schools, hospitals, and other places that serve and support communities. But in a different context — for example, someone walking down the street holding a brick with harmful intent — it can take on a much more negative meaning. In the same way, the St George’s Cross can represent national pride and unity through culture and sport, yet it can also be misused to exclude or intimidate, particularly towards immigrants. The assembly then posed a question: How can we make sure everyone feels welcome in our schools — no matter where they come from, what they look like, or the colour of their skin? Our class had some thoughtful and compassionate suggestions: helping new people find their way around, smiling to make them feel included, offering help if they’re lost or hurt, and using kind words. It was wonderful to hear the children speak proudly about their own diverse backgrounds. Many shared that they have family members from different nationalities such as China and New Zealand and friendships with children from places such as Pakistan. We’re looking forward to watching the rest of the assembly in the coming days and learning more about the inspirational people of colour who have helped shape our country as part of Black History Month.
Harvest Appeal
This morning we launched our Harvest Appeal for this year by hearing from Bishop Philip about his Pedalathon on 17th October where he will be cycling to visit and pray at a school or church in all 14 deaneries across the Diocese. We will be supporting Bishop Philip's Harvest Appeal for Christians in South Africa by joining in with his pedalathon over the next few weeks, including half term. We are encouraging our school family to cycle on bikes or scooters just like we did for the Big Lent Walk and we would love for you to send your photos in and the distance. Donations can be made on parent pay shortly. Our RotaKids are also supporting Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise (DARE) and Darwen Rotary this Harvest by creating Winter Warmer boxes filled with toiletries, packets or tins of food and warm clothing for DARE families, the elderly, isolated, poor and vulnerable people in our community . They are also collecting winter coats for the homeless and poor through Darwen Rotary club. Please send in any donations and thank you in advance for your generosity. We then sang some of our Harvest songs for our Church Harvest Festival this Sunday 12th October at 11.00am- all welcome and our school Harvest Festival on Thursday 23rd October led by our WOW group and Reception, Years 1 and 2. All welcome.
Year 2 - Fundamental Skills in PE
In our PE session this week, we focused on improving our distance in jumping. The children moved from limited arm swings to swinging both arms together in order to launch themselves forward. They also realised that using the front of their feet and bending their knees helped them to go further. We will continue to work on landing on both feet after a full extension of our legs and leaning forwards with our body.
Key Stage 1 Multi- Skills Festival at St Bedes
This morning, ten of our Year 2 children took part in the Key Stage 1 Multi- Skills Festival at St Bedes. We also had three of our wonderful Sports Leaders- Seb, Theo and Luca to support and guide the younger children. The children worked their way round the stations which included an over and under relay, aim game, cone stack high stepper and vortex throw. Our children had so much fun and represented our school fantastically well! They encouraged each other in true St Barnabas the Encourager style, listening carefully to instructions and trying their very best. We even came back to school with a gold medal!
Year 2 Maths- Familiarising Ourselves With the New Tablets
This morning, Year 2 had their first experience with the new tablets now available for Key Stage 1. They did an outstanding job logging into Purple Mash and quickly getting familiar with the device. Students then explored a variety of engaging maths games on the platform, practising times tables, number sequences, and number bonds. Well done, Year 2 – great work!
Year 2 RE- A Visit From Rev Ben
Today, Year 2 had a very special visit from Rev Ben as part of their learning about the Bible in RE. Everyone really enjoyed the visit and learned some great things! We discovered that the Bible can be like a torch, honey, and gold. Just like a torch helps us see in the dark, the Bible can guide us through life. It’s like honey because it’s full of sweet stories about kindness and love, and it’s like gold because it’s so precious and important to Christians. Rev Ben answered lots of our questions, such as when he got his first Bible, what his favourite Bible story is, when he became a Christian and a Vicar, and whether he reads any other books besides the Bible. He also brought in three of his own Bibles for us to look at—one he received when he became a Vicar, which has a tiny pearl inside, one he reads with his family, and another that has a different part to read each day. We would like to say a big thank you to Rev Ben for visiting us and helping us learn more about the Bible and why it is so special to Christians.
Year 2 English- Features of an Information Text
Year 2 had great fun playing a game of "Fastest Finger First" to spot the features of an information text. They searched for headings, subheadings, captions, labels, and facts— and did a fantastic job! This activity helped them get ready to write their own information texts about an animal of their choice, using all of these important features. Before they begin writing, they will gather facts by exploring non-fiction books and using the contents page, just as they’ve been learning. To finish off their project, they’ll be creating their own quiz questions to test each other’s knowledge!
Year 2 Maths- Missing Number Problems
This morning in Maths, Year 2 tackled missing number problems with great focus and determination. They applied their understanding of the greater than (>), less than (<), and equal to (=) symbols to reason whether the missing number should be greater, smaller, or equal to the given number. The children did a fantastic job, confidently using Base 10 resources to support and scaffold their thinking and explanations.
Year 2 Class Worship- The Story of Andrew
This morning, Year 2 listened to the inspiring story of Andrew in class worship. Andrew was a man who believed deeply in God and showed great bravery by travelling all around the world to deliver Bibles to people who didn’t have any. In some countries, Bibles were banned or very limited, and Andrew knew he could get into serious trouble for what he was doing. But because of his strong faith and his belief that everyone should have the chance to worship God, he overcame his fear and carried on. We were amazed at how courageous Andrew was. He didn’t give up, even when things were difficult or dangerous. His actions reminded us of other brave people like Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks, who stood up for what was right, even when it was risky or scary. We also thought about Mary Jones, the girl who walked many miles and saved up for years just to get her own Bible, as this is a story we have recently learnt in our RE lessons. We talked about how her story led to big changes and helped many more people to get Bibles too. We saw how both Mary and Andrew were driven by their love for God and their desire to help others grow in their faith. Andrew’s story helped us think about the importance of courage, faith, and standing up for what is right, and so we had some beautiful prayers to reflect this to end our worship.
Year 2 Science- Collecting Materials and Building a Microhabitat
Today in Science, Year 2 took a trip to Whitehall Park to gather natural materials for building a microhabitat. The children collected a wide range of items, including pinecones, bark, twigs, logs, grass, leaves, moss, stones, and rocks. Back at school, we combined these with bricks and cardboard to carefully construct a microhabitat designed to attract a variety of minibeasts. We’re hoping to welcome creatures such as worms, ladybirds, slugs, snails, ants, spiders, beetles, woodlice, and earwigs. Just as we were finishing, we were excited to spot our very first visitor—a ladybird! A fantastic team effort, Year 2!
Year 2 Fundamental Skills
In Year 2 today we had a focused fundamentals skills session in which the children developed the skills of both galloping and rolling with aiming and predicting. The children first warmed up and then practised side galloping . We worked towards a moderate pace, vertical lift and with a rhythmical smooth action . Following this the children focused on rolling a ball. We used a target and the children looked at the key pints of bent legs, one handed through and release time. At the end of the session we had a Boccia style competition which the children loved.