Autumn Term 2nd Half

This half-term our Learning Journey has been ‘Marvellous Medicine’ and is based around the nurses from history; Mary Seacole, Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell.

English

We have been learning how to write a non-chronological report and how to set it out correctly using sub-headings and paragraphing. We have used conjunctions to extend our sentences and add detail to our writing. We have written instructions to explain how to make poppies badges linked to our work on Remembrance Day. You could help your child with their English skills by reading with them as often as possible and learning to read and spell the new words each Monday.

Maths

In Maths, we have been learning to add and subtract numbers. Children who have mastered this unit will be able to differentiate between addition and subtraction problems, understanding how to represent the numbers provided within the context in different ways, using different resources. Children should be flexible with the methods they can use to calculate different problems depending on their complexity in order to work efficiently. Children who have mastered this unit will be able to relate each number in a calculation to what it represents within a context. Children will be able to use a variety of manipulatives to represent addition and subtraction and use these alongside the column method. Children will also become fluent at recalling and applying their number bonds within 20 to addition and subtraction equations.

Science

We have been learning how to keep ourselves healthy. We enjoyed finding out how much food, water, rest and exercise a human needs to survive. We now know the difference between wants and needs.

Creative Curriculum

We have done lots of learning about Remembrance Day and enjoyed listening to the poem in Flanders Fields by John McCrae. We used the poem as inspiration to produce our own poppy pictures using a range of media.

This half term in Art, we have also been developing out drawing skills, focusing on shape and adding tone to show light and dark areas in portraits.

We have also enjoyed learning about how Christians celebrate Christmas by singing songs, creating dances and have retold the story of the First Christmas.

Autumn Term 1st Half 

What a busy first term we have had in Year 2! Our learning has centered around the story of “The Jolly Postman” by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.  We have also taken part in a conservation week where the children have learnt how they can protect our planet. As part of this learning we have created posters to explain how to protect endanger species such as tigers (Class 5) and elephants (Class 6). We enjoyed many talks from specialist in these areas.

In school this year we have adopted a maths scheme called Power Maths to support our teaching of maths. Power Maths is a resource that has been designed for UK schools and is built on the belief that EVERYONE can learn maths successfully. Unit 1 focuses on children’s ability to read and understand numbers to 100. They have used their growing understanding of place value to help them sort, compare and order numbers.  In Unit 2 the children have built upon the number bonds to 10 that they learnt in Year 1. The children have consolidated this understanding and applied it to number bonds to 20. They have been introduced to writing fact families of equations, and to relating addition and subtraction operations. As a result, children have learnt to use the inverse of one operation to check calculations using the other operation. We have begun looking at the column method which they will use throughout their time at school, applying mental strategies appropriately. This method is introduced alongside a variety of different visual representations to ensure a strong conceptual and procedural understanding.

Our Grammar has focused on learning different word classes e.g. nouns, verbs and adjectives. In spelling sessions we have been revisiting phase 5 alternative graphemes for ai, ee, igh, ow, ew.  In English the children have written their own innovated fairy tale based on the story Jack and the beanstalk. They have used adjectives and powerful verbs to make their writing interesting to the reader.

In PE the children have linked movements to create a dance based on a quest. In gymnastics we have looked at moving in different ways and at different levels.

Our Science this half term has been around materials. The children have identified and compared the uses of a variety of everyday materials, including wood, metal, plastic, glass, brick, rock, paper and cardboard. They have performed simple tests to compare how things move on different surfaces.