Year 2

This term we will be learning about significant people of the past, including Neil Armstong and Mae Jemison, as well as honing our fieldwork and map work in geography.  

We will begin this half term by exploring the lives of selected astronauts, before comparing their accomplishments and concluding what makes them significant and their impact on our lives today. 

Before Christmas, our focus will shift to our building on our geography learning. We will review our learning from year 1 by naming and locating the seven continents and five oceans of the world. Then, we will use aerial photographs to plot a route, draw a map, and construct a simple key. As well as looking at physical and human features of different places and looking at using compass points. 

In phonics, we will spend time recapping alternative pronunciations and spellings to ensure the children are confident and fluent readers! We will also be looking at best-bet spelling and reading strategies to support the children in reading a range of texts. As part of reading, we will be looking at a range of fiction, nonfiction and poetry texts and working closely on developing the children’s fluency. In English, we will be reading Look Up! as well as working on some new grammar skills such including commas in lists and for a short breath in our sentences, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, and including words in our writing with the suffixes –es, -ed and –ful. We’ll also have fun being authors by writing and innovating our own stories! 

In maths we will be continuing our learning on Place Value to 100, including partitioning numbers in different ways and writing two digit numbers in words. We will also be identifying and describing different 2D and 3D shapes. I wonder if you can spot any with your child? A can of beans is a great example of a cylinder! 

To support your child’s learning further, please regularly check in on Tapestry! 

This term Year 2 will be learning all about hot and cold places in Geography, including where the equator, North and South Poles are. After this, we will move onto comparing London and Nairobi in Kenya. We can't wait to uncover the similarities and differences between these places! 

In Science we will continue to learn about animals including humans, including the importance of keeping healthy through hygiene and a balanced diet. Then we will be performing simple experiments and carefully observing how plants grow and change over time. 

As part of our RE learning we will build on the children's understanding of Judaism including understanding why the Torah is important to the Jewish community. Following this, we will look at a range of parables and gospels before studying The Lost Sheep parable more closely. 

In Computing we will work hard on our coding skills and begin to compare and evaluate two programming platforms. 

For our PSHE learning we will make links to our maths learning and learn how and when to spend and save money, as well as what to do in an emergency. 

In Art we will develop our skills as Sculptors, working in clay to produce 3D tiles and Mixed Media collages. This will support our DT learning about Mechanisms and Structures when we design and make a functioning ferris wheel. 

In maths we will build on our measure knowledge, learning about temperature before moving onto fractions and statistics. 

In English we will be looking at a favourite story, The Tiger who Came to Tea, as well as 10 Things to do to help our world where we will be writing a persuasive environmental letter. 

We can't wait to share our learning with you! 

In Year 2 most children start Accelerated Reader. Accelerated Reader is a computer program that helps us manage and monitor children's reading. Your child picks a reading book at their reading level and reads it at their own pace. When they have finished they take a short multiple-choice quiz on a tablet or a computer in school so we can see how much of their book they understood. Scoring 80% or more on their quiz tells us they have understood what they have read. If they score over 80% on their quiz, we call it a pass. When they have passed 3/4 quizzes on each level, we let them choose a book from the next level.

This year, we want you to know how your child is getting on in their Accelerated Reader quizzes so you can support them better at home. We have decided that each month we will print a list of the books they have read and the scores they got on each quiz and stick it in their planner. We will highlight any quizzes that they passed (by scoring 80% or more) so you can see how well they are getting on.

Things you can do to help your child pass their Accelerated Reader quizzes 

• Hear them read as often as you can (and at least four times a week) and record in their planner.

• Encourage them to read each book twice before quizzing so they understand the story or information ready for their quiz (as their confidence grows and their books get longer, this isn't as important, but while their books are short reading them twice is great practice).

• Discuss their book and ask them questions about what they have read. Ask them to find the answers in the book to prove they are right.

• If you have any concerns about your child's reading or their Accelerated Reader scores, speak to us!

Thank you for everything you do at home to support your child with their reading. It really does make a huge difference.