Well, it’s been a very exciting couple of weeks in Year Two as we have been on three separate trips out of school!!

Cotswold Wildlife Park

The first trip was with the Year Ones where we went to visit Cotswold Wildlife Park as part of our Science learning this term. The children were very excited to have a special day out and for some of them, of course, it was their first time going on a coach with school due to the pandemic.

Whilst we were at the Wildlife Park, the children got to see lots of different animals, finding out some interesting facts about them and we discussed which animal groups they were from and what their diets were. The children were fantastic at remembering the names of different groups, such as ‘mammals’ and ‘reptiles’ and could even remember the terms ‘carnivore’, ‘herbivore’ and ‘omnivore’ when thinking about their diets.

During the day, we had a talk about ‘life cycles’ which was very interesting and the children learnt lots of new facts. They all definitely enjoyed the experience and were all so enthusiastic throughout – a great day had by all! Check out our photos of some of the day below:

Dodgeball!

The day after our trip to the Wildlife Park, the Year Two’s were off again – this time to an inter-school Dodgeball Tournament! It was a fantastic morning, organised and run by Atlas Sports, involving quite a number of local schools. The children had a brilliant time, all participating with great enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout. Despite it being very warm(!), the children carried on and all tried their best, with both groups winning many of their games. We were all very proud of the class and their attitude and achievement in this great sporting event. Here’s a few pictures from the morning:

Mosque and Cathedral Trip

Our final trip was to Masjid-E-Noor (a Mosque in Gloucester) and Gloucester Cathedral as part of our RE learning. We have been learning about special places and the holy buildings associated with both Christianity and Islam, so we were so pleased to be able to visit these amazing places in reality!

The children had a fantastic time and behaved brilliantly throughout. They were very interested to see all the features both outside and inside the Mosque and enjoyed listening to the very interesting talks given by the Imam. They were able to remember lots of their learning from school to share with the Imam and found out lots of new information too. Some particular highlights for the children were definitely getting to dress in some of the clothes that Muslims can choose to wear, and having a go at the washing routine in the ‘washroom’ that Muslims always do before they pray. The children (and adults) also very much enjoyed watching and listening to the Imam demonstrating the ‘call to prayer’ and some of the prayers used in their worship, which were all sung and sounded beautiful!

At Gloucester Cathedral, after enjoying their lunch, the children then had an opportunity to look around at many of the amazing features inside the building. They learnt lots of new facts, as well as recognising some of the features from their learning in school. They found out some of the history of the Cathedral, learnt that a Cathedral has to have a ‘Cathedra’ (a special chair where the Bishop sits) and enjoyed looking at and discussing the stories and images represented in the beautiful stained glass windows. They were able to take part in a mini baptism ceremony and looked at various different artefacts and found out about their meanings. During their time at the Cathedral, the children also had the opportunity to make several different creative items, such as candle holders, fish and stained glass windows.

The whole day was extremely interesting and the children really enjoyed their time in these two very special buildings. Check out the photos below for a snapshot of the day: