Welcome to F2!

Our school motto is: 

"SUCCESS is in our hands"

Mrs Holmes – Birch Class Teacher

Mrs Downie & Mrs Blackwell – Elder Class Teachers

Miss Ward - F2 Support

Please look out for our termly newsletter which will keep you updated and will include all key dates and events. 

Curriculum Journey for F2 2024/25

Summer 2025

Enquiry Question: "Is art all around us?"

We learnt all about primary colours—red, yellow, and blue—and discovered that these colours cannot be made by mixing others. We then explored secondary colours, which are created by mixing two primary colours, and enjoyed experimenting with paints.

We learnt about local artist Caroline Ashwood, who lives in Sheffield and paints nature scenes using acrylics. We discussed her techniques and shared what we liked about her work.

We discovered that an observational drawing involves drawing what you see. After learning facts about sunflowers, we drew them by carefully observing their size, shape, and colour.

We studied Vincent Van Gogh, his life, and his art. We learned that he used small brush strokes, painted self-portraits and landscapes, and became famous only after his death. He also famously cut off his ear after an argument.

We explored Van Gogh’s techniques—bold brush strokes, energetic lines, and bright colours—and used them to paint our own sunflowers.

We experimented with different mediums like chalk, felt tip, paint, and crayons, then chose our favourite for a final piece.

Using our chosen medium, we created a final artwork incorporating techniques such as observational drawing, colour choices, lines, brush strokes, and use of space.

We learnt about evaluation, reflected on our own artwork, and gave peer feedback to our partners.

To conclude our Curriculum enquiry, we held an art gallery in the hall where parents and carers viewed our work. We confidently discussed the techniques and artists we had studied.

Spring 2025

Enquiry Question: "Where would you like to explore?"

To start our learning, we had a day all about the United Kingdom. We came to school wearing the colours of the flag, had tea and cake, had a go at Morris Dancing and we listened to the national anthem.

We continued our learning about the United Kingdom and England. We looked at a world map. We identified where both places were on a map. We know that the United Kingdom is surrounded by water.

We have also been learning about towns and cities. We know that Sutton-in-Ashfield is a town and Nottingham is a city. Our local town is Sutton-in-Ashfield. We have discussed the features of our local environment and the things that we can see such as; Asda, the library and Mapplewells.

We continued our learning about our local town, Sutton-in-Ashfield and our nearby city, Nottingham. We talked about the similarities and differences between them. We learnt the word population and now we know that Nottingham has a bigger population than Sutton.

We have revisited our learning about maps. We know that there are different types of maps but they all tell us information. We followed a map of the school to find some hidden treasure!

We then began learning about South Africa. We now know that South Africa is a hot country and that it is part of the continent Africa, which is a very big continent. We had a go at writing some facts about South Africa to show our learning. We compared it with what we know about the United Kingdom. We talked about the similarities and differences between the two countries.

We concluded our learning about the United Kingdom and South Africa. We created a poster to show the similarities and differences between them and to share our knowledge about both countries.

Are all celebrations positive?

This term we have looked at a range of celebrations and discussed whether they are positive or negative celebrations. 

To begin our learning in week 1, we spoke about what big events and changes have happened in our lives recently, such as starting school and why this is a positive change. We then celebrated this with a ‘Welcome to Mapplewells’ party with dancing, games and cake!

In week 2, we spoke about how babies being born is a positive event that we celebrate with baby showers and presents. We looked at photos of ourselves as babies and learnt that we were born in the years 2019 and 2020.

In week 3, we learnt that all families are different and that is what makes us special. We spoke about our own families and drew who we live in a house with. We also tried to label our picture and spoke about how we are all unique.

During week 4, we sang a song and learnt the days of the week. We now know the order of the days of the week and know that we are currently in the year 2024.

In week 5 we learnt about King Charles and his coronation. We learnt that a coronation is where someone becomes the King or Queen. The children had a debate as to whether they thought that this was a positive celebration or not, with some children saying that it was because he became King, and others saying it wasn’t as Charles only became the King because his Mum died.

During week 6 learnt about why we celebrate Bonfire Night. We know that the 5^th November is when Guy Fawkes tried to use gunpowder to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James. The guards caught him and he was put in prison in the Tower of London. The children had a discussion as to whether or not this was a positive celebration, with some believing that it was as the King was still alive and others saying it wasn’t because we shouldn’t celebrate someone trying to kill the King.

In week 7 we learnt about Remembrance Day, We learnt when Remembrance Day is, what it is for and why we celebrate it. We also had a discussion about how Remembrance Day is not a positive celebration as it is remembering the soldiers and animals that have fought in the wars.

In week 8, we discussed what we knew about Remembrance Day and Bonfire Night and whether we thought these celebrations were positive or not. We then compared the celebrations, saying what was similar and different about them.

During week 9 we learnt about the celebration of Christmas and why we celebrate. We listened to the Nativity story and were able to use scaffolds to retell this story to our peers. We decided that Christmas is a positive celebration as it is when Jesus was born.  

In the final week, we created a video about all of the celebrations. We talked about the celebrations and decided whether we thought they were positive or not and why.

Autumn 2024

Enquiry Question: "Are celebrations always positive?"