Christmas party in school 2011

We had a lovely Christmas party at the school.
As you can see from these photographs everybody had lots of fun and a lovely Christmas dinner too!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

from London Base.

See you in 2012.

D.T Making wheeled vehicles

We learnt about the purpose and parts of different vehicles.
Then we designed and made our own wheeled vehicles.

We were really pleased with our results!

Science. Wheels & Motion

We have been investigating forces.
We devised our own investigations to test what will effect how far a car will travel when rolled down a ramp.
We looked at

• The height of the ramp
• The surface of the ramp
• The type of car

For more fun with forces see BBC Science clips 6-7 Forces

History - Blandford Now and Then.

We wanted to find out what life was like for people in Blandford in the past.
We went to the museum where Mrs. Hixon, an expert in local history was able to answer many of our questions.

We learnt about the Fire of Blandford in 1731 which destroyed much of the town. The town was rebuilt after that and many of the buildings can still be seen today.

We also visited the Victorian garden where Mrs. Hinsley. taught us how the gardens supplied families with food which was preserved by bottling and making into chutney. No food miles there!

What differences can you spot in these photographs of Blandford Now and Then?

Market place 

West Street

 St Peter and St Pauls church

A very big THANK YOU to Mrs Hixson and the Blandford Museum for letting us visit the museum and supplying us with the old and new photographs of Blandford.

Geography - Exploring our home town.

We have been out observing the main features of our home town. We have looked at the natural features.

The river

The meadows 

The woodlands

 and also the man-made landmarks.

The buildings

 Work-places

Roads

and bridges

 We considered how  people have changed and developed the area as the town has grown and the population's needs have changed.

Skatepark

Car parks

Supermarkets

Science. Identifying forces

In science we are looking at forces. First we looked around the school to see which forces we could see being used. We spotted pushes and pulls and some examples of gravity.
In this clip see which forces you can identify.



 Use these words to help you......
force, pull, push, movement.

Geography. Where in the world are we?

This half term we will be learning about our home town Blandford. We will be using Google Earth to locate the town and to begin to explore the area.

For a quick guide to using Google Earth click HERE

First we looked at planet Earth

Then we zoomed right into Great Britain, (2,000 Km up) 

then down to Southern England and the county of Dorset.

(100 km up) 

From 2Km up we could see the whole town of Blandford.  

Geography. Where our foods come from.

We went on a research trip to Tesco. We wanted to know what different fruits and vegetables they sold and where in the world they came from.
We found that Tesco are reducing their air miles by stocking lots of local produce such as strawberries, mushrooms, cabbages, carrots, swedes, lettuces and tomatoes. To increase the amount of choice for their customers, however, they also stocked grapes, peaches and courgettes from Spain. As well as:
Produce                                         Country of origin
Lemons, Figs                                Turkey
Oranges                                          South Africa
Limes                                              Brazil
Kiwi                                                 New Zealand
Bananas, coconuts                    Ivory Coast
Sweet potatoes                           U.S.A.
Blueberries                                 Argentina

Then we had a fruit tasting session.
We tried different fruits from around the world - they were nice!

Thank you Tesco - we had a lovely morning!
Here is a short video clip from the BBC that tells us about where in the world some of our food comes from.

Y2 Science Food groups.

First we learned about food groups. We sorted all kinds of food into five main groups; dairy produce, breads and cereals, fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and alternatives, and foods high in fats and sugar.

Then we discussed which foods we should eat more of and those we should eat less.

We learned that .......

Fruit and vegetables are high in vitamins, good for healing and fighting illness.

Breads and cereals are carbohydrates, they fill us up and give us energy.

Dairy foods contain minerals, good for bones and teeth.

Meats and fish, beans and nuts provide protein to help us grow.

But fats and sugars provide little goodness and should only be eaten occasionally.

Finally we planned our own healthy meals using the right balance of foods from each group.

Healthy lifestyles.

Our topic this half term is 'Food for thought'. We will be researching how our foods are produced and where they come from. We will find out which foods are good for us and why, and then go on to plan healthy menus.
We will also look at the importance of exercise and cleanliness in keeping ourselves fit and healthy.
Parents please use the link on the parents page for useful tips.
Children can click on the children's page for games and activities to support their learning.

Welcome!

I hope you all had a lovely summer and feel fully refreshed and keen to embrace the excitement and challenges of a new school year!

This will be a particularly exciting year for us all as the Olympic games will be inspiring our class activities making our learning relevant, interesting and fun. The Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect will make London Base a fantastic place to learn and grow.



Click on the following link to find out more about olympic and paralympic values.
Olympic and Paralympic values

And play the games to test your knowledge!
Games

Have fun!