We’ve had a brilliant first few days in Year 2 after the Easter break. The children have settled back into the school routines well.

This term, we will be exploring a new history topic – Magnificent Monarchs. To kick start our learning we shared the photos, drawings and writing that lots of the children did over the holidays. Some children visited the White Horse, created to commemorate King George III visiting Weymouth. Other children looked at the monuments found along Weymouth seafront, such as the Jubilee Clock and the statue of King George III. Some class members visited Sandsfoot Castle during the Easter holidays and researched why it was built (ask your child to see if they can tell you!)

On Monday we discussed what we already know about kings and queens. This prompted lots of discussion and the children knew lots of facts already. Amazing! After this we looked at different vocabulary that we will need to know during this topic such as hierarchy, monarchy, sovereign, timeline, and reign. We completed a matching activity to help us learn the definitions.

On Wednesday, we made a timeline for the classroom. The timeline was labelled with different periods of time relating to the monarchy, such as Anglo Saxon, Tudor, and House of Windsor. We looked at some cards with monarchs on them and noticed the details, such as the years they reigned and the period of time this was in. We put them in order, using the timeline to help. The children had lots of questions about the different kings and queens, and are really excited to learn more over the next few weeks.

The children have been so engaged with this topic already! Well done Year 2, a great start to the summer term.