As part of Year Two’s Buddhism topic, pupils worked collaboratively, in pairs, to plan and make their own Buddha statue. Pupils had studied whether statues were the same or different and explored why statues of Buddha are important to Buddhists. After ………..
making their finishing touches, pupils then had to describe the features on their particular Buddha to show the different aspects of Buddhism.
What a fortnight we’ve had in Year Two celebrating Sunderland hosting the start of The Tall Ships Race this year. This whole school topic has captivated Year Two (and the rest of the school) and, through an enriching, creative curriculum, pupil learning has been fantastic!
Visiting the port of Sunderland, seeing the breathtaking vessels and venturing on to the deck of a tall ship made learning so real! Our pupils will cherish these memories for years to come.
We even had some of our Year Two pupils being interviewed by a local radio station! WOW!!
Year Two also were very lucky to have had a visit from Pippa Bell, a local historian, who works for Magic Lantern – an educational charity which gives interactive art history workshops in schools. Pippa brought to life our topic in the classroom and used art to help our pupils learn more about tall ships and pirates. Our pupils observed and explored the world around them and were encouraged to think creatively and critically. Pippa stimulated an imaginative use of language and got our pupils involved in role play, which they loved!
Furthermore, Year Two pupils have made a ship in a jar, written wanted pirate posters, been involved in a scavenger hunt with Year Five pupils and thoroughly enjoyed our whole school pirate party!
What a fun-filled fortnight!!
And finally, Mrs Miller, our history lead, held a whole school assembly to celebrate work 
Year Four have been involved in with Craig Richardson, who has been part of a heritage project involving ONLY seven other schools in the authority! This incredible opportunity, organised by Mrs Miller, involved our Year Four pupils finding out about the local ship building of the Doxford Family and producing an ENORMOUS collaborate display which was proudly presented on show in the port of Sunderland during ‘The Tall Ships’ celebrations. It is now on display in school and please feel free to come and see it!
To celebrate National Sports Week, Year Two have been very busy keeping active. We’ve participated in exciting sport activities and events that keep us fit and healthy – from Ceilidh dancing to hula hooping and even skiing! We also enjoyed our annual Sports Day. What a fun-filled fit week we’ve had! 
In Year Two, this term, our science topic has been ‘Materials’. There are many different materials in our world so, practically, we sorted a variety of everyday materials into groups. Then we had an ………… amazzzzzzzing apron experiment!
It is important to use materials that are right for the job so we planned and carried out a FUN experiment.
Which material – cotton, plastic, paper and aluminium foil – would be best for making an apron? Carefully, we compared the different materials before choosing!
Can you guess which material was best and fit for purpose?
School nurses came to visit not only year two pupils but ALL pupils at Mill Hill in March.
Why you may ask?
Well, to raise awareness of the importance of keeping our bodies fit and healthy. This healthy roadshow was linked to the curriculum of science and PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) and got our pupils REALLY thinking!
The nurses posed lots of open–ended questions about four main areas:
- the importance hand washing
- the importance of dental care
- the importance and benefits of exercising
- the importance of eating a well–balanced healthy diet
This road show was very interactive and made learning fun! Fun! Fun!
Quotes from year two pupils:
“Eeeh, I didn’t know you should NOT wet your toothbrush with toothpaste before you brush your teeth! Now I know why. I’ll have to tell my Mam why.”
“Gor……. I can’t believe that magic machine could show us where the germs were on
the door handle – I’m going to wash my hands and thumbs properly now with soap.”
“I LOVED learning about the heart and I can’t believe it’s the size of my fist – that’s tiny! It must be really strong. I need to keep it strong by exercising.”
What does ‘belong‘ mean? Well, during RE lessons, in Year Two, we have been finding out just that! We discovered we all belong to Mill Hill Primary School – we’re just like one big happy family! Year two pupils also drew pictures to show different clubs they belong to, such as: Brownies, Scouts, Sunderland Football Club, swimming clubs, The Youth Box Project and soooooooooooooo many more! Year Two pupils were very keen to tell each other how it made them feel and why it is important to belong to a family at home, school and in the community.
We linked this concept of a sense of belonging with Christianity and the Easter Story and visited our local church – St Matthew’s. It was a very special occasion as Elisha’s dolly was being christened. We all dressed up in our very best clothes to celebrate this very important ceremony. We pretended to be either parents, godparents or friends and family of baby Emily (Elisha’s dolly). Reverend Suzie Thorpe helped Mill Hill pupils understand the importance of this ceremony to Christians and, throughout our visit, identified symbols and practices associated with baptism.
Monday afternoon, our key stage one pupils got involved in an interactive number show. The concept was to have fun learning maths through dance. The Numberbods (groovy dancers) showed us how to make numbers with our bodies, dressed up and made a toy shop then tested our calculation skills by physically making different number sentences. A lot was going on!
FAB FOOD! Yummy!
Today Year Two had very special visitors. Ian and Faye Wong – restaurant owners of Asiana, Sunderland – helped us celebrate Chinese New Year and bring a close to our China topic.
Why did he visit, I hear you ask? Can you guess?
The scrumptious smells drifted along the corridors and filled the busy classrooms. We watched and took part in making Coca – Cola chicken with Ian and sampled lots of new , exciting ingredients!
Chinese celebrations, organised by Mr Wong from Asiana, will take place in The Bridges, Sunderland on Sunday 25th February 2018 at 12pm.
2018 is the Chinese New Year of the dog! Come and join us.