Year 2 have been enjoying the story Handa’s Surprise as part of their English work, building on their topic about Kenya. The story has helped the children deepen their understanding of Kenyan culture, landscapes, and animals while developing key literacy skills.

The children explored the exotic fruits in the story, using expanded noun phrases to describe them in detail – such as "a juicy, golden pineapple" and "a smooth, creamy avocado." They also looked closely at the animals and how they moved, using adverbs to describe their actions, like "silently crept," "cheekily snatched," and "gracefully leapt."

After retelling the story, the children used their imaginations to rewrite the ending. They asked themselves: Will the fruit make it to Akeyo’s after all? Each child came up with their own creative twist, adding new animals, surprises, and different items. 

This work has been a fantastic opportunity to link storytelling with geography and descriptive writing. The children loved stepping into Handa’s world and thinking carefully about the journey through a Kenyan village.