Class 2

Welcome to Class 2

Class Teacher: Mr Ord

Support Staff: Mrs Pemberton | Mrs Bowyer | Mrs Mulley

Autumn has arrived, and I hope everyone is excited to be returning to school after a lovely summer.

Please see below to find out what we will be learning in Year 2 this term!

If you need anything, please feel free to contact me via Class Dojo or speak to me on the playground before / after school.

ENGLISH

We will begin the year by going back to basics and developing our understanding of what makes a sentence. This helps us to make sure we know what a sentence needs and that all our sentences make sense.

Recounts:

Putting our developed understanding of sentences to use, we will then be learning how to write a diary recount. This will draw upon our learning of the Great Fire of London as we look to retell the sequence of events and what it was like to have been living through it.

Traditional Stories:

We will also be learning to write a setting description from a traditional story. Our main focus will be describing the delicious-looking gingerbread house from the story of Hansel and Gretel and will provide a great opportunity for the children to show their creativity with the different exciting adjectives they could include.

MATHS

Unit 1: Numbers To 100

To begin with, we will make sure that we know how to represent numbers in a variety of ways focusing on the place value of digits. We always use lots of equipment such as bead strings, place value charts, number lines, Base 10 and 100 grids to help us with our learning.

Unit 2: Addition & Subtraction

Once we understand the value of numbers, we will begin to add and subtract numbers up to 100 using both one and two-digit numbers. Again, we will use our equipment to support the written calculations that we do.

RE

Old Testament Stories & Prayers:

In this unit, we will be exploring the stories and the characters of the Old Testament. We will also introduce important images of God found in the scriptures.

Sharing In The Life Of Jesus:

 In this unit, we will understand the life of Mary and Jesus and the call of the disciples. We will also learn about some saints who have responded to the call of Jesus. We will also introduce the prayer of silence as an opportunity to spend time with God.

Advent:

In this unit, we will develop our knowledge of the time, symbols and characters of the liturgical Season of Advent. It will focus on Advent being a season of preparation for Christmas through the story of John the Baptist and parish activities.

SCIENCE

Materials:

We will be learning about different everyday materials such as wood, metal, plastic, glass, rubber, rock, fabric, paper and brick. We will identify the properties of these materials and conduct investigations to explore how different materials are better suited for different objects through well-known stories. We will also explore how some of these materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching them.

GEOGRAPHY

The UK & Contrasting Coastal Areas:

We are going to begin our unit by learning about the four countries of the United Kingdom and the different rivers that flow across them. As the United Kingdom is an island surrounded by an ocean and seas, we will understand there are unique land features along the coastline as well as different types of animals and plants. We will also explore how the people live and work along the coast too, comparing it to Caverswall.

HISTORY

Events Beyond Living Memory (The Great Fire Of London):

Throughout this term, we will learn who the Stuarts were and explore some of the events that took place throughout their fascinating time period. We will discover more about the infamous Gunpowder Plot and how Guy Fawkes was involved. Comparisons of life then to life today will be also explored and the significant changes that London underwent following the Great Fire of London.

ART

Vincent Van Gogh:

Using the methods of drawing, painting, and collaging, we will lead up to producing a self-portrait in a pointillism style which is inspired by Van Gogh. The Dutch artist created many inspirational pieces of art such as, 'Starry Night', 'Sunflowers' and 'Café Terrace at Night' all of which we will learn about. We will learn how to draw lines and tones to represent objects, build texture and pattern and be able to evaluate our own artwork.

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

Food - A Balanced Diet:

Our first unit this year will be the construction of healthy wraps. We will learn about the different food groups and identify foods that belong to each of them. There will also be a tasting session where everyone is encouraged to describe the taste, feel and smell of a given food. All this will help with designing different wrap ideas, considering different combinations.

PE

PE is on a Thursday afternoon and pupils need to come to school in their PE kits. 

Our first unit this term will focus on personal skills; exploring how we can develop our footwork and one leg balancing. We will then move onto a unit that focuses on social skills; where we will work on our jumping and landing as well as our seated balancing. As well as these units, our PE lessons will include how to play football and also dance.

COMPUTING

Our first unit is Online Safety where the children will learn how to respond appropriately to others by emails. They will also learn about their own digital footprint. In the Coding unit they will concentrate on creating a program and use key skills such as a timer, collision detection, creating events and learn how to debug a program. In the Spreadsheets unit they will learn how to add images and values to a spreadsheet. They will learn how to total amounts in a spreadsheet. 

MUSIC

Pulse, Rhythm & Pitch:

We will explore how music has a pulse (a steady beat) and how music is also made up of long and short and high and low sounds, called 'rhythm' and 'pitch'. We will be singing, playing instruments, improvising and dancing to explore how these elements work together.

OUR AUTUMN VEHICLE

The Maasai:

Throughout this term, the whole school focus for ‘Our Vehicle’ is developing cultural awareness. In Year 2, we will learn about the Maasai people. This will involve exploring where they live, their history, what they eat, how they communicate and socialise and, ultimately, considering what a day in the life of a Maasai might look like.