Our Year 2 Class    

A very warm welcome to our Year 2 class page. In Year 2, our children are really starting to fly! Building on previous years they will become confident readers, writers and mathematicians. As school life falls into place, they find themselves our oldest infants and begin to develop a real sense of responsibility. I hope that you find all the information useful and if you have any questions I am available after school for a quick chat or you can message me on Seesaw. As you can understand I need to be in class with the children in the mornings, but if you need to speak to me, an appointment can always be made.

Our Year 2 Class 2023-2024

Class Information

Who's Who

Miss Barton- Year 2 teacher

Mrs Jones- 1:1 Teaching Assistant

Mrs Jackson -  Part-Time Teaching Assistant

Miss Winstanley – Teaching Assistant 

In Year 2 PE is on Monday and Friday, please make sure you send your child in the correct PE kit. 

Reading

The guided reading schemes we use in Year 2 are:

• Read, Write Inc
• Oxford Reading Tree  

Home Reading books

Whilst your child will read regularly in school you can make a big difference by listening to your child read and asking them questions about what they have read for just ten minutes each night. Your child will earn a Reading Ruby each time they read, once they have earned 15 they will receive a token for the reading shop. 

Please note: Your child will only change their books on a Thursday when they will bring a book home to read the following week. This is to allow your child to become a fluent reader and have time to spend discussing the text. 

Phonics

In Year 2 we follow Read, Write Inc

Each day we undertake a RWI lesson. During this time we review the set 2 and 3 sounds and will learn a new sound each day. After the Speed Sounds lesson we look at a key text for the following three days. RWI is really helpful for embedding spellings and during each lesson we come across new 'Red Words' which, we learn how to spell and are encouraged to use in our independent writing. We really enjoy our RWI time (particularly the partner work, actions and rhymes!)

Homework

Homework is sent home on Thursdays and needs to be completed by the following Thursday.

• Spellings will be sent home on paper and will be added to Spelling Shed, a minimum of 5 games need to be played each week.
• A spelling rule video will be uploaded to seesaw with that weeks rule to help with practising at home.
• Handwriting will be sent home in a small yellow book, each week your child will have different letters and words that need to be practised and written out.
• RWI Speedy Sounds videos will be added weekly to watch at home with your child, these will be the same as the Speed Sounds learnt in class that week.
• A maths number bonds sheet will be sent home weekly to work on mastering basic number facts. Maths practise can be completed on Numbots.

Evidence for all homework needs to be added to Seesaw by Thursday each week so that dojos can be awarded to your child.

This half term.... Summer  2  (June - July 2024)

Over the next half term our history topic is Explorers! By stepping back in time, using our historical enquiry skills, we will discover different explorers from the past. Using old photographs and maps we will bring to light who Christopher Columbus was and how he shaped the world today. How would your life be different had he not stumbled on America? By comparing him to Neil Armstrong and Tim Peake, we will look at how the times changed and how the famous moon landing impacted on our lives today. Looking for similarities and differences between the two men, we will discover what traits are needed to become an explorer. Using the terms century, decade BC AND AD we will research other significant explorers in history.    

In English we will be reading completing Lila and the Secret of Rain written by David Conway. The story is set in an African village that is desperate for rain, Lila sets out on an adventure to see if she can help. The children will complete a guided write based on the story and then they will write their own story set in rainy Leigh and the secret of the sun. We are then going to write questions to Neil Armstrong asking him about his journey to the moon. The children will then write answers using the knowledge they have learnt in History.       

In Maths we will be very busy exploring 2D and 3D shapes. The children will be able to explain how many vertices, faces and edges shapes have the differences between each one. We will still be playing TT Rockstars to help us practice our timestables especially 2s, 5s and tens. We enjoy playing numbots and are hoping each child will complete all the levels by the end of the summer term ready for year 3!       

In RE we will continuing our work on the church. We will then compare our church to one from a contrasting faith, looking for the similarities and differences.  We will also look at the bible stories surrounding Jesus ascension back to heaven.        

Our Science topic is Feeding and Exercise. To start our new science topic we are going to pretend we are stranded on a desert island and think about what we would need to survive. By looking at our diet we will discover the different food groups we need to eat to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We are going to look at different food labels so that we can understand what is in the food we are and know how to identify if a food has ‘gone off.’  Linked to DT we will investigate dips and dippers and make our very own healthy dip!         

Our Computing topic will cover Understanding what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs on digital devices; and how programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions. We will use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs and recognise common uses of information technology beyond school. We will also understand how to use technology safely and respectfully.          

Our PE value this term is determination. The children will display this value during out annual sports day. The children will be displaying this value during theme will be circuit training, they will complete a circuit of eight activities each based on a different skill. The skills are changing direction, jumping, keeping control, combining movements and balancing.  

In Music the children are going to be learning about pitched percussion. The children will be reminded how to hold a beater and play notes on a tuned instrument accurately. They will be introduced to a pentatonic scale (CDEGA) and through a variety of songs, games and activities, be able to play a variety of pentatonic melodies. They will be able to follow a conductor and be given the opportunity to be a conductor. 

Summer Term 1 NEWS! 

During Summer 1 we were focused on showing everyone how fantastic we are in Year 2 as we prepared for the end of key stage assessments.    

Literacy- We have been learning how to write a persuasive letter. First we read The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and looked at the different reasons why the crayons left. Together we wrote a guided letter asking our felt tips to return. We unexpectedly received a letter from our class rubbers who quit because the children were not looking after them. Independently the children planned and wrote a persuasive letter asking them to come back. Linking to our geography topic of Africa we wrote riddle poems about an animal we would find on safari, the children has to use metaphors to describe the animal and expanded noun phrases.  

Maths - We were very busy mastering all of the skills we didn't feel 100% confident with and have been looking at multiplication and division. We have been trying very hard to learn the 2, 5 and 10 times tables! We have done lots of work on creating equal groups, writing repeat addition sentences and different ways we can divide items. We have been working on out problem solving skills and how we can work out the quickest way to solve different calculations. We have been having lots of fun with our maths!   

Science - We started our work on 'Materials' by finding out the different the properties of materials and what materials items in our classroom are made from. We have worked scientifically to find out which materials are absorbent, which materials are waterproof and how we can change the shape of some materials. We have focused on making predictions before we begin out experiments to see if we get the outcome right! We have made lots of mess but have had fun with our learning!   

RE - In this unit the children learnt about the concept of ‘Gospel’ and the good news of forgiveness, peace and love that Christians believe Jesus brings. They learnt about Matthew the Tax Collector and how Christians believe that Jesus offers forgiveness, looking at their heart rather than what they have done in the past. The children learnt about the instructions that Jesus gives in the Bible and how Christians follow his example and these instructions in order to behave in a Christ like way.

Computing - The children have been learning about animation and began by making their own flip book animation of a bouncing ball. The children spent time getting to grips with The Stop Motion Studio App on the iPads, using space background and items to create a short stop motion animation. They then worked in pairs to plan a stop motion animation with 2 items and at least 10 frames. They had lots of fun working together to make their short stop motion animations. 

Geography - This term we have visited Mugurameno Village in Zambia. We now know the names of all 7 continents and were able to find Africa on a map and on a globe. We talked about how different out weather in the UK is compared to Zambia, some of us said we would love to live in Kenya because it is very hot! We found out that in Zambia the people live close to the River Zambezi and use this river for many different reasons such as washing clothes, catching fish and watering crops. Did you know in Africa wild animals can find their way into the villages? We looked at some of the different ways the people try to keep them out as they can be very dangerous.    

 Art - We explored African colours, shapes and patterns to produce our own tribal designs. After studying the different masks used by the Maasai tribe, we made our own animal masks. By looking at the work of Shirley Shelton & Sarah Shiundu we understood how beautiful the African landscape is and made our own African sunset piece of art using collage. We have loved creating artwork inspired by Africa!  

PE – This term in PE we have been working on mastering skills from previous topics that we did not feel 100% confident doing. In Gymnastics we practised different types of rolls, jumps and balances. We worked hard to put these moves together to create a seamless sequence. We also improved our invasion games skills. We worked hard to attack and defend during small team games and began to move into spaces to receive the ball. We played some fun games of handball!  

Music – This unit was a vocal unit and the children got to grips with Call and Response songs. The children learnt how to warm-up their voices and the importance of this.  They then practised how to stand and sit correctly when singing.  They sang lots of songs and focused on accurate pitch matching, singing in a group, enunciation, performing skills and following a conductor.

Spring Term 2 NEWS! 

During Spring Term 2 we were very busy, here is a snapshot of what we did:   

Maths –This term maths has been all about multiplication and division and mastering the 2, 5 and 10 timestables! We began by understanding what an equal group is and how to correctly add them together. The children began to write repeat addition sentences that then helped them progress onto writing multiplication sentences. The children worked hard to understand the two different ways division can be done, by sharing or by grouping. Next the children began to divide by 2, 5 and 10. The children have used lots of practical equipment to help them understand this new learning.   

English – The children planned and wrote a story based on the book The Crow’s Tale, they included conjunctions and time adverbs. Next they read a poem call When I Am By Myself and then wrote a rhyming poem of their own. They created rhyming pairs and used metaphors to describe themselves. Linking with RE the children wrote a retell of the Easter Story.   

Science - We investigated materials and their properties. Using our working scientifically skills we tried to generate our own questions to investigate. We found out which materials are used for which purposes and explained why materials are suitable/not suitable for a job. We looked at the four different ways of changing the shape of materials and discovered harder materials are more difficult to change shape. We also learnt about recycling materials and why this is important for our planet, setting up a battery recycle project throughout school.  

RE – This term in RE the children have been looking to understand why Easter matters to Christians. As a class we shared the Easter story and discussed the key events that took place from Palm Sunday to Easter Day. We discussed the concept of salvation and how Jesus dies on the cross to save people from their sins. The children looked at many pieces of religious artwork that have been created to retell the Easter Story. Linking with our art topic, the children then created a cross made from clay at added some traditional Easter symbols.  

Art - Our new art topic was focused on sculpture and the work of some famous artists such as Marc Quinn and Brendan Jameson. Using unusual materials such as bread dough and sugar cubes the children created their own sculptures. The children began to work with clay and created some beautiful Easter crosses. They carefully painted them and took them home.   

History - We kicked off our new history topic, The Lives of Children in Victorian Cotton Mills. The children looked at different sources if evidence to help them truly understand what life was like in a Cotton Mill and how this was different to the loves of children from a rich background. The children loved learning about the different jobs the Victorian children had to do and how dangerous the machines were. They created a post advertising one of the many jobs. This unit linked to our computing topic, We are Researchers.   

Computing - We started our work on coding, learning what an algorithm is and how to create our own. We looked at machine learning and how this enables computers to make predictions. We then created our own simple algorithms to allow our character to complete tasks and debugged any errors as they occurred to be successful!    

Outdoor PE – Invasion games – This term we played games that involved attacking and defending a zone to score goals or points. They practiced their dribbling skills in football, played piggy in the middle and had a try at playing rugby. Hopefully next term we can fit in a game of football and rounders.   

Indoor PE – Cityscapes and Landscapes – The children began this unit by learning how to safely do different types of rolls. They progressed onto jumps and balances and used their bodies to create bridges. Once they mastered the bridge they attempted a backwards bridge, they found this very tricky! 

Music – In music the children have been listening to Peter and the Wolf by a Russian composer called Prokofiev. Together they read the story and picked instruments to represent each character. In groups the children wrote a leitmotif for each character and performed it as a piece to the rest of the class.  

This half term.... Spring Term  2 (February - March 2024)     

Over the next half term our topics will be:  

• Maths – We will begin 2 units on multiplication and division. To begin the children will learn what equal groups are and how to add them together. They will start to form simple multiplication sentences using arrays. We will look at the two different ways objects can be divided, by creating equal groups or by sharing. The children will then learn the multiplication facts for the 2s, 5s and 10 times tables, once they have mastered this skill they will look at how to divide by 2, 5 and 10.  
       
• English – The children are going to write a letter to persuade the reader. They will then write a letter independently to a friend to persuade them to visit the cotton mill. Next the children will write a non-chronological report about wild cats.                   
                  
• Science – The children will name, identify and hunt for everyday materials including wood, metal, plastic, glass, rubber, brick, rock, paper, fabric and card. They will list properties of different materials such as hardness, strength, flexibility and shininess. They will learn that the properties of materials are important to the object they are made from. They will identify suitable and unsuitable materials for different objects and will be able to explain why. They will learn what absorbency means and explore the absorbency of different types of materials. At the end of the topic, they will use all their knowledge to design a nappy. 
  
  
• History - Local Mills and children at work in Victorian Times - We will use digimaps to identify what our local area looked like in 1890's, 1950's and today, discussing the key features of the maps and how the area has changed. Using old photographs from these mills we will look at evidence of what life was like for children working in the mills. By reading the book 'You wouldn't want to work in a Victorian Mill! by John Malam' the children will discover the many jobs children had to do in the mills. They will use this information to compare their day to the day of a Victorian child in the form of two diary entries. We will visit a Mill to investigate real artefacts and role play some of the jobs children did. Linked to our computing unit, 'We are researchers' we will present our findings as digital content.                                                
  
  
• Art – Lets Sculpt – In this art unit the children will be introduced to six sculptors: Marc Quinn, Michelle Reader, Barbara Hepworth, Jill Townsley, Brendan Jamison, and Eva Rothschild. Children will make their own sculptures using a range of unusual materials: bread, recycled materials, boxes, plastic spoons, sugar cubes, and marshmallows. Children will learn about figurative and abstract sculptures, and think about shapes and materials.        
  
  
• RE – Why does Easter matter to Christians? - Within this unit, the children  will recognise that the concepts of God, Incarnation, Gospel and Salvation are all part of the big story of the Bible. They will find out about the key events of Holy Week and Easter, making links with the Christian belief of salvation. The children will learn about how Christians show their beliefs about Jesus being their savior within celebrations and worship in church at Easter. They will learn about the instructions that Christians believe that Jesus gave his followers about how to behave. The children will consider what the story of Easter means for Christians today and why they put their hope in heaven.        
   
• Computing –   Programming 2 – Scratch Jr – In this unit the children will learn about algorithms and how to create one using code. They will do this by using Scratch Jr to create blocks of code to create an animation of a moving animal.  

 PE 

• Outdoor – Invasion Games - We will be developing our understanding of the basic principles of invasion games such as attacking, defending, scoring and teamwork. The children will learn how to dribble with a football, to pass and receive the ball in a variety of ways to use space effectively in a game. They will learn how to dodge to get free from a defender to receive a pass from a team member. 
• Indoor – Landscapes and Cityscapes gymnastics - We will be developing our understanding of the basic principles of invasion games such as attacking, defending, scoring and teamwork. The children will learn how to dribble with a football, to pass and receive the ball in a variety of ways to use space effectively in a game. 

Spring Term 1 NEWS! 

This term our writing in English linked with our science and PE topic, Plants. As a class we read the book Bloom by Anne Booth. This inspired the children to write their own instructions about how to plant a seed and how to care for it to ensure it grew. We focused on using imperative verbs, time adverbs, adjectives and conjunctions. We then read The Disgusting Sandwich by Gareth Edwards and then made our very own disgusting sandwiches. The children added snail slime, mud, sand, bark, rock and grass to their mouldy bread. The children then worked really hard to independently write instructions on how they made their sandwich. We then began writing a narrative based on The Crow's Tale by Naomi Harris.  

In Maths the children explored the features and properties of 2D and 3D shapes. Firstly they began by learning the names of the shapes and how to identify each one. They counted sides, vertices, faces and edges. The children enjoyed using mirrors to understand how symmetry works and how to find lines of symmetry. Our next unit was Money, the children learnt how to count coins and notes, compare different amounts of money, find ways to make the same amount and work out the amount of change needed.  

In Science we became gardeners and planted a variety of seeds and bulbs. We had to make sure we remembered to water our plants and we observed how much they grew and changed each week, recording the growth in our diary. To prove what conditions plants need to germinate, we placed 3 basil plants in different places. The one without water wilted and died, the one in the fridge also died and the one in the dark continued to grow but turned yellow. Plants has been our favourite science topic so far! 

In Computing we have been learning all about emailing. We received an email from our headteacher, Mrs Hill, asking for our help to solve a mystery. We could open the email and reply to say we would help. We received emails from different witness’ and gathered the clues together. Eventually we solved the mystery by putting the clues into a spreadsheet and found the cake thief! 

Our Geography this term we focused on our local area and to start our new topic we went on a local area walk. We created a tally chart with the different types of houses and recorded what we saw. We completed a scavenger hunt and ticked off what we could see e.g. a vets, a doctors, a cycle lane, a post box and more. We looked at different types of maps of the area and the different symbols used. We then wrote a recount of our walk. 

In DT the children learnt about the different kinds of vehicles with wheels. They designed there own train and created a logo on Seesaw. Using cardboard boxes and tubes the children built their trains and then painted it to match their design. They then reviewed and evaluated their train, picking things they liked about their vehicle and things they would improve.  

In RE the children found out about Islam, the key beliefs and The ways of living for Muslims. The children learnt about some of the key Muslim beliefs about God found in the Shahadah and about the 99 names of Allah. They listened to stories about the Prophet and find out about what these teach Muslims today about ways of living. The children learnt about the five pillars of Islam and how these impact upon the lives of believers. They learnt about the importance of prayer and designed a prayer mat of their own. 

In PE the children completed a freestyle dance unit.  They listened to music with 8 beats and then practised a range of poses which they helped for 8 beats. Each week they added new poses to their dance routine. They performed for the class and discussed that they did well and what they need to improve on. In the outdoor unit of PE the children worked on improving their throwing and catching skills. They learnt how to roll and stop a ball, and how to throw underarm for accuracy and overarm for distance.  

Autumn Term 2 NEWS! 

In Maths  the children have worked very hard to master addition and subtraction and have strengthened their understanding of number bonds to 20. They began to add two 2-digit numbers together and subtracting a 2-digit number from another 2-digit number. To help strengthen this new skill the children used place value grids, part whole models, number lines, bar models and tens frames. We then progressed onto the money unit and how to understand the value of each coin and note. The children were able to count amounts of money and then find how much change was needed. 

In English the children have worked very hard to improve their narrative writing skills. First they read the book Wild by Emily Hughes, they then wrote a wonderful retell of this story using adjectives and repeating sentences. This linked with our Science topic of habitats as the book is set in a woodland and has some beautiful illustrations. The children discussed the animals that would live in a woodland habitat. The children then wrote a magical story about a magic door which when they went through transported them into a winter wonderland. Using expanded noun phrases the children described the setting and used their imaginations to write about an exciting adventure. 

In Science we had a very exciting new topic to get to grips with, habitats. The children talked about different habitats and what they need to provide for the plants and animals that live there. They then discovered that within habitats are micro-habitats such as under rocks and logs. The children went on a school safari to look for worms and we looked closer at pond habitats. We had lots of fun exploring the world around us and learning about the many types of habitats. 

Our enquiry question this term in RE  was "Why does Christmas matter to Christians?" Using their prior knowledge the children talked about the key events from the Christmas story in more detail and created a time line to show these. The children discussed Christmas traditions and how some are secular and how some are religious. The children enjoyed learning about the advent wreath and the meaning behind each candle. This linked with our school nativity play, Everyone Loves a Baby. The children retold this story and had a wonderful time doing so. 

In DT the children looked at types of puppets and how they are different. With lots of practice they successfully mastered a running stitch and a whip stitch. They then drew their own hand puppet design and created it from felt. They were all very proud of their efforts. 

In Computing the children learnt all about algorithms and debugging. The children worked in groups to programme one of their classmates and direct them from the green flag to the red flag, focusing carefully on the instructions they gave and problem solving to ensure they made it to the red flag. They really enjoyed playing a google game called Coding for Carrots, were they had to programme a rabbit to move around a maze and collect all of the carrots. By the end of the unit the children were able to understand what the terms decomposition and algorithm mean, decompose a game to predict algorithms and plan algorithms of their own. 

This term in history the children took a step back in time to The Swinging 60s. They looked at how England began to change and became bolder and brighter. They looked at how the clothes changed over the years, listened to music by The Beatles, explored artefacts and understood the conflict between the Mods and the Rockers. 

In PE the children built on their knowledge of Throwing and Catching gained in year 1 whilst also learning new skills. The children learnt how to roll and stop a ball, throw a ball underarm for accuracy and overarm for distance. They then moved onto practising their catching skills both independently and with a partner. They played some simple team games to help them gain experience of following rules, competing and supporting each other. This term the children had some PE lessons from Reel Education which taught them some basic fishing skills. They learnt how to hold a rod correctly, how to hook a fish and how to transfer the fish to a net once caught. They also learnt about the impact litter can have on our wildlife and how it can end up in out food chain. The children really enjoyed these lessons and could not wait to take part each week. 

Autumn Term 1 NEWS!

In Maths we have been mastering place value to 100, using lots of different resources. We have been using the part whole model to partition two-digit numbers into tens and ones and to deepen their understanding of place value. Using this new knowledge, the children order and compare numbers. We then moved onto to counting forwards and backwards in steps of 2, 3, 5 and 10. Once the children have mastered this, we will begin to explore times tables.

In English the children enjoyed reading Poo! Is that you? written by Clare Helen Welsh, the story follows Lenny the lemur on his adventures through the jungle and the animals he meets along the way. The children were able to sequence the main events from the story and retell the story in their own words using adjectives and verbs. The children then wrote an alternative ending for the story of Grandad’s Island Benji Davies. We spent time reading Wild by Emily Hughes about a young girl who grows up in the forest but is then taken away by humans to be looked after. The children really enjoyed this story and the beautiful images. They have been using their predicting and inference skills when reading the story and using clues from the text to help with their understanding. We have been introduced to the 'Writing Rainbow' and the different FANTASTIC symbols, which we included in our retell of the story. We now follow the Read Write Inc spelling scheme and the weekly spelling zone videos have helped the children learn the weekly spelling rule. They have gained lots of new reading skills from following the Read, Write, Inc phonics scheme and improved their sounds knowledge.

In Science, we have discovered how items can be categorised into alive, dead or never alive. The children sorted and compared animals, plants and non-living things to help them create a list of the features of a living thing. The children enjoyed creating lifecycles for different animals and plants, this allowed them to discover that not all offspring resemble their parents at birth. The children loved looking at pictures of themselves as a baby and comparing it to a picture of themselves now to see how they have grown and changed. To complete the unit the children created a mock museum display board and add the facts they had learnt.

In RE we have been seeking the answer to the question Who is a Muslim and how do they live? They have enjoyed learning about the differences and similarities between this religion and Christianity. They have learnt and recited the Shahadah and how this is the most important belief for a person of this faith. They then created some beautiful artwork based on the 99 names of Allah and recreated some of the unique calligraphy. 

The class topic in Art was seascapes. Each week the children have looked at artwork by famous artists such as Monet, Turner and Hokusai. They have experimented with shape and tone, painted in the style of Monet and used different materials to make a colourful collage of the sea.

In PE, we have been developing our gymnastic skills by learning new balances, jumps and rolls. Applying all our new skills, we made sequences on the apparatus and on the mats in pairs and in groups. This helped the children to improve their team-work skills and improved their confidence when performing Infront of others.  In our outdoor PE Lessons, we have been getting ready to play tennis so each week the children have learnt new and important skills. They can now hold a bat correctly, drop a ball to the floor and hit it and volley a ball between themselves and a partner. Each week they have improved greatly and really enjoy tennis.

This term we have started a new Computing unit called What is a computer? Using the Chrome books the children have been able to identify the different parts of a computer and how the information is input. The children had a lot of fun completing a technology safari around school and finding different examples of technology that as a school is used everyday. The children even got to pretend they were inventors and designed their own invention with a computer inside.

In Music the children have been listening to and composing their own folk music. They have developed their listening and thinking skills. The children began playing the recorder, understanding how to hold it correctly, make a good sound and how to play different pitches. They really like to sing and dance along to the folk music!