NewsletterYear 2 September Newsletter

This half term our learning topic will be ‘Great People who Changed the World’. Please read this letter to find out more about what we will be teaching in each subject area during this half-term. Our website also has more detailed information of how each of these subjects are taught progressively (click on the ‘curriculum’ tab).

We will be learning elements of English through our Read, Write Inc. scheme. The children will be using their phonic knowledge to make careful spelling choices and continuing to develop their pace and accuracy of reading. In our separate English lessons, we will be using a video stimulus ‘A cloudy lesson’ to create instructions, a diary entry and speech bubbles.

In Maths we will be focusing on place value, addition and subtraction. We will use our prior knowledge of numbers to 100 to partition into tens and ones, in different ways. We will be developing recall of number bonds to twenty and we will recap counting in 2’s,5’s and 10’s before learning how to count in 3’s. We will learn how to add and subtract 2 two-digit numbers.

Throughout our history lessons we will be comparing objects from the past to the present and observing how they have changed. We will also be learning about a number of significant people and events in history. These include Karl Benz, Rosa Parks, Emmeline Pankhurst, Charles Macintosh and Nelson Mandela. We will use different sources to research and learn facts to help us understand the significance of each person and place them on our class timeline.

In Art we will be observing the artwork of ‘Kei Meguro’; an artist who creates self-portraits. We will then experiment with creating different tones using graded pencils and different amounts of pressure. We will use this learning to create our own self-portraits, thinking carefully about shape, texture and tone.

Our PSHE focus is based on understanding feelings and emotions. We will explore a range of different emotions and focus on learning different strategies to help with big emotions. We will start to understand the physical effects of emotions and recognise the importance of asking for help when experiencing big emotions. We will also focus on change and loss and identify feelings associated with this.

We will be looking at the faith of Christianity this half-term. We will read and discuss different parables, including the Good Samaritan and Jesus heals the Paralysed man. We will be recognising how Jesus showed kindness and forgiveness in the parables and thinking about how Christians also try and show kindness.

In science our focus for this half-term is ‘materials’. We will learn all about different materials and classifying them depending on their properties. We will also carry out a simple investigation to develop our ‘working scientifically skills’ of prediction, observation and recording. We will link this learning to our history when we learn about the significance of Charles Macintosh.

In computing we will be developing our coding skills. We will start by recapping how to programme a bee bot before starting to use the programme ‘2 code’ on a website called PurpleMash. We will learn how to create and debug algorithms. We will also continue to learn about Internet safety and the importance of keeping ourselves safe online, including how and why we ‘log on’ to our devices.

In geography we will be learning about human and physical features in our local environment. We will also be comparing and contrasting our local area with an area in a different country (Paraguay), recognising the similarities and differences.

Our PE topic this half-term is uni-hoc. Children will learn to pass, dribble and shoot using hockey sticks. With our coach (Mr Bourne) children will be focusing on develop multi-skills.

Homework is a vital way in which children can practise key knowledge and skills that they have learnt in school. Please can you support your child to read at least three times a week and engage with any homework they receive. All we ask is that you initial the record sheet at the front of the homework book. If your child struggles with any home learning task, please just make a note of this in the book so that we can support as necessary.

We would like to take the opportunity to say well done to the children. They have settled in really well with our Year 2 routines and we look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Kind regards,

The Year 2 Team