Our classroom is situated within the original school building and is over 600 years old! In fact, it is the oldest classroom in the whole of the UK which is still in use! We are really fortunate to have a large, open work space as well as a mezzanine library and quiet area which we also enjoy working in!

This term, our topic is Ancient Greece and Democracy! We are learning all about this fascinating historic era, with a focus on chronology. We are going to be gaining an overview of significant people, places and events from the Ancient Greek period and considering the impact that the Ancient Greeks have had on our modern lifestyles.

Our English units this term link to Ancient Greeks. We are going to be writing our own myths based on ‘The 12 Labours of Heracles’, ensuring that we include the expected language and structural features to engage and inform our Year 2 audience! Later in the term, we will be writing to persuade by writing persuasive holiday leaflets encouraging tourists to visit Greece. After half term, we are going to focus on democracy and will be reading the fantastic picture book ‘The Island’ by Armin Greder. This will inspire numerous short pieces of writing including a letter of advice, diary entries in role and descriptions, as well as a longer piece of writing: a narrative sequel to the original story. 

In Guided Reading, we are currently reading ‘Who Let the Gods Out’ by Maz Evans – a wonderful book that links to our Ancient Greece topic which we are all enjoying. We are using this text to support our reading comprehension, including our inference, prediction and summarising skills, and will be attempting to answer a variety of questions that apply these important skills in different ways.

In Maths, we are currently working hard on a unit based on Fractions, including learning about converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers; comparing, ordering, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions; finding equivalent fractions and solving fraction word problems. We will then move on to focus on Decimals and Percentages. As well as this, we will be practising our Arithmetic skills every Friday in class and will be challenging ourselves to improve our scores on weekly arithmetic challenges.

Our Science unit this term (taught by Mrs. Lawrence) is Materials, where we are learning about the properties and important characteristics of materials that we use in our everyday lives. We will be investigating soluble and insoluble materials as well as learning how to separate materials effectively using scientific processes including evaporation.

In DT, we are focusing on construction! We have been challenged to design and construct a themed entrance to a new Ancient Greek exhibit at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Within this unit, we have tested the strength of different-shaped columns (inspired by Greek architecture) and will analyse entrances of museum exhibits around the world in order to design and make our own 3D versions to entice people inside…except that we will only be allowed to use paper!

In PE, we are currently developing our team game skills with Mrs. Lawrence on Wednesdays. On Mondays, Mrs. Seymour is helping us to rehearse for our performance at the Oxfordshire Schools Dance Festival on Monday 27th January at the New Theatre in Oxford.  We need to remember to wear PE kits to school on Mondays and Wednesdays so that we can join in with these lessons.

Later in the term (3rd – 5th February), we are excited to be going to Woodlands in Wales to challenge ourselves with some exciting outdoor and adventurous activities, which is also covered in the PE curriculum. 

In other subjects, we are learning…

• To play the ukulele in Music (with Mr. Golec)
• How to create spreadsheets in Computing
• To identify ways in which people show commitment to their faith in RE
• To use clay to design and make our own Greek-inspired vases in Art

Our topic for the summer term will be World War II. 

The children in De La Pole have homework books which need to be handed in every Thursday. New homework (a maths task, a SPaG task and weekly spellings – or a special topic-based project) is then handed out every Friday.