In English we started by focusing on a non-fiction text entitled '100 Facts about Victorian Britain' and wrote our own fact files about Queen Victoria's life and child labour during this period.  We even wrote backdated formal letters to the queen herself complaining about the shocking working conditions for some children at this time.  We also wrote our own fictional stories built around the characters we created in the style of Quentin Blake during Arts Week (more details on the art below).

Our maths topics for both Years 2 and 3 covered multiplication and division and the children are becoming increasingly aware of the close relationship between these two mathematical operations.  They have learnt a range of methods to support their understanding, including repeated addition and drawing arrays, along with using manipulatives and number tracks.  We have also been learning some times-tables by rote to develop quick recall.

In Science the Year 2s have been working on the topic 'Sensitive Bodies' and in the 'taste' part they got to try and categorise a range of different flavours, some which were less pleasant than others!  The Year 3s topic has been 'Light and Shadows' and they really enjoyed working out how the distance of light source affects shadow size.  They recorded this and looked for patterns to form conclusions.

Geography work has been centred around the question 'What is the Weather like in the UK?'  I think we can all answer that in one word: WET!  Our studies have included fieldwork where we have explored the school grounds identifying clues as to the current season.  We found snowdrops, dead leaves, grey clouds and lots of puddles!  We also revised our directional compass work as part of this topic.

'What do Christians believe about Salvation?' has been our RE topic.  We have revised our knowledge of the key parts of the bible, ie, the Old and New Testaments, and how this holy book is like a library full of many stories.  We have explored our school bibles looking for the specific parts.  We have begun to look at specific parables and the children enjoyed re-enacting the 'Parable of the Lost Sheep' in the school hall, which linked in well with our Mental Health Week focus which was 'Belonging'.

In PE, the children have really enjoyed our unit of work on 'Fitness'.  We have learnt a range of exercises using circuits which have focused on upper body, lower body, core and aerobic activities.  They have worked well moving stations and supported and encouraged their team mates whilst resting.

Arts Week was a wonderful time for the children to let their creativity flow with inspiration from the fabulous author and illustrator Quentin Blake.  The children learnt about his career and his methods and followed his video tutorial on how to draw Willy Wonka, which they completed in black ink pens.  They drew and painted backgrounds in his style after looking at many of his and Roald Dahl's books. They also created their own characters using their imaginations which they drew on A3 paper and then used Quentin's watercolour techniques to bring them to life.  We had a brilliant whole-school trip to Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, where the children immersed themselves in numerous exhibits. Much of their own art work was exhibited in our school hall 'gallery' on the Friday afternoon where family were invited to admire their efforts.