Year 2

Welcome

Welcome to Year 2. We have 2 classes of 30 children. Our ethos is simple: we dream, we believe and we achieve! We aim to provide children with many engaging experiences to support their learning and enable them to be their very best.

Who’s Who?

Year Coordinator: Mrs Nicholson

2EC - Mrs Nicholson

2EH - Mrs Tomordy 

Mrs Johal (HLTA)

Mrs Yasin (TA)

 

 

What will we be learning this year?

Autumn 1: What are the differences between urban and rural environments?

Our topic is ‘Street Detectives'. We will be learning about our local community, looking at houses (old and new) and finding out about how our streets have changed from the olden days. We will be going on a walk around our local community and will look at all the different features of this type of environment with an emphasis on new vocabulary. To help us compare the different places we will use both maps and aerial photos as well as understanding what a symbol is on a map by using one. In Art we will be creating pictures of natural objects (see photograph). We will be comparing our local urban and rural environments by visiting Rosliston Forestry Centre. In Art we will be creating pictures using natural objects that we have collected.  In science we will be learning about food chains and we will be learning all about different materials and their different properties such as whether you can bend or squash them.

Autumn 2: What happened during the Great Fire of London?

Our topic is ‘The Great Fire of London’. We will be learning all about the fire and how this was a significant event in time. We will be looking at Samuel Pepys’ diary to help us understand who he was and to find out lots of information about the time he lived in. During this topic we will also be baking cakes as the Fire of London started in a bakery (as seen in the photograph). In Art we will be doing printing, to create our Great Fire of London picture. During our computer time we will learn the very important message about keeping ourselves safe online and start to look at programming.

Spring 1: What is a castle?

Our topic is ‘Baddies, Towers and Tunnels'. In this fascinating topic we will learn about how castles have changed and adapted and learn about the different features of a castle. We hope to visit a castle so that the children can walk along the walls and imagine what it was like to have lived there (as seen in the photograph). We will be meeting fairy tale characters (good and bad) and in particular Sleeping Beauty and adapting this story so we can write our own fairy story to entertain others. Science involves animals and their habitats.

Spring 2: What is the life cycle of a plant?

Our topic is ‘Scented Garden’. We will be learning about growing plants, especially herbs and vegetables. During this time we will grow some potatoes as a class and learn about what they need to be looked after and be healthy. During History we will learn about a famous gardener who created very large and famous gardens for rich people called Capability Brown. Also children will get a chance to design their own garden and create symbols for different things after lots of discussion on what you need or would like in a garden. Then to end this topic we will be creating hotels for the bugs and thinking about how they are helpful to our gardens.

 

Summer 1: How can I be healthy?

Our topic is ‘Human Survival’ and the life cycle of humans.  We look at the changes that happen as we grow from being babies into adults.  We explore a healthy, balanced diet and the importance of hygiene.  We have a food tasting day where we can taste different foods.  We design and make a healthy recipe.  We invite in a health professional to learn more about what makes us healthy.

Summer 2 :  What is it like at the seaside?

Our topic is ‘Land Ahoy’.  As part of this topic we will be comparing the Caribbean with the Uk  (as seen in the picture). We will be learning about different seaside towns throughout England and we hope to visit the seaside.  We will also be learning about Christopher Columbus and how he travelled across the globe to try and find a different way to China but instead found the Caribbean. Then we will compare his life with that of another great explorer Neil Armstrong. To enable us to do this we will learn the continents and oceans of the world as well as where the two poles and Equator are on a map or globe. In our design lessons we will be creating our own lighthouses.  During this half term there will also be a sports day and transition days to our new classes.

English and Maths

We will be developing our English and Maths skills alongside all of our themes. To help children learn a test so that it becomes familiar to them we use text maps where drawings of what is happening are used instead of words (as seen in the photograph). Children will have lots of opportunities to write, read and perform. Some of the text types that we will be learning about are traditional stories, stories from around the world, poetry, letters, diaries and information texts. Children will be developing their reading and spelling skills in their daily Phonics sessions.

 

For our maths we will be continuing to improve our ‘maths in our head’ and our ‘maths on paper’ skills. We will be learning about number, fractions, shape, measures and data handling through Singapore Maths.

You will find our Year 2 curriculum overview below:
To find out more about Year 2, have a look at our Year 2 Parent Workshop (September 2023):

How to help with Learning at Home

We value and encourage parents working alongside their children. We will have many dates throughout the year where parents will be invited into class to work alongside their child. These workshops will be based on all areas of the curriculum. One of the most important ways a parent can help a child is to listen to them read as often as possible and read to them as this means they hear new words and new ways to put sentences together as well as hearing new ideas to create their own amazing stories.

 

We encourage parents to support their children’s learning at home through talk, homework and reading.