Time Travelers is our exciting whole‑school History adventure for the term, where children journey into a brand‑new period in time and build on the skills they developed in Autumn 2. Using our core concepts of chronology and significance, pupils explore fascinating people, events and eras, comparing them with what they already know and making meaningful links across different periods of history. From hands‑on investigations to creative, practical activities that bring the past vividly to life, children learn to think and work just like real historians—asking questions, piecing together clues and uncovering stories from long ago. It’s a lively, imaginative and memorable learning experience that sparks curiosity and deepens historical understanding for every child.
Titanic
Key Question
Was life onboard the Titanic equal for all?
History
This will be our main focus this half term through the topic ‘The Unsinkable Ship’. The children will study timelines and find out about what life was like for people living in 1912. They will learn about the incredible design and engineering which led to such a magnificent ship being built. Finding out about life for the rich and poorer passengers on board will give the children an understanding of the social issues and inequalities facing the passengers, depending on their social class and status. They will also use their skills as historians to study why so many people migrated to America at this time, in search of a new life. Through research and investigation, we will learn about how and why boats have changed over time. The children will learn about the local links to ship building in Wallsend where the ‘Carpathia’ was built. This ship was the first to answer the distress signals and come to the rescue of the survivors of Titanic. A main focus throughout our topic will be exploring sources of evidence. We will look at a range of evidence and begin to think about its reliability. This will help us answer our enquiry question: Was life the same on board for all the passengers on the Titanic?
Key Vocabulary:
- immigration
- reliable
- artefacts
- unreliable
- inequality
English
The children will continue phonics lessons that will help them to learn the sounds needed in their independent writing. They will recap how to spell key tricky words and become more confident in using spelling rules. They will learn about proper nouns and when to use a capital letter. In punctuation, the children will learn when and how to use the apostrophe for ownership (the boy’s shoes) and for contractions (won’t). In writing, the children will continue to refine their skills in diary writing and letter writing. They will do this within the context of our topic ‘Titanic’. Learning about life on board for first, second and third-class passengers will be the inspiration to write letters about their personal experiences on board the doomed ship. Our text ‘A night on the Titanic ‘will give the children the opportunity to reflect on the writer’s craft and how they can use this to inspire their own ideas. They will also read tickets, menus, posters and leaflets when studying artefacts.
Key Vocabulary:
- contraction
- apostrophe
- noun
- proper noun
- verb
- adjective
Maths
The children will continue to learn about multiplication and division. They will develop skills in recognising and counting equal groups to help us both multiply and divide. They will continue to learn and revise our 2-,3-, 5-, and 10-times tables as well as revisiting some important mathematical skills such as recognizing odd and even numbers, doubling, halving and using number lines. We will revisit using money, recognising coins, finding amounts and finding change. Lots of practice with this at home would be extremely beneficial. The children will also learn about mass, measuring in both grams and kilograms then comparing these measurements. We will look at measuring volume and capacity in millilitres and litres and temperature in Celsius. Don’t forget to check out Times Tables Rockstars to practise your times tables at home!
Key Vocabulary:
- multiply
- divide
- share equally
- equal groups
- odd
- even
- double
- grams / kilograms
- millilitre / litre
Science
This half term we will be working scientifically! Whilst exploring our world, we will ask questions and work to find out the answers to our questions. Our big question is 'Which materials keep water the warmest?' We will perform a series of exciting science experiments, whilst learning about the importance of observing closely, using equipment safely and careful measurements. Our measurements and observations will be recorded in a variety of ways, such as tables, pictograms, tally charts and block graphs. We are very lucky to have a year 2 parent visitor coming in to deliver a wonderful scientific workshop in March.
Key Vocabulary
- resources
- prediction
- conclusion
- record results
- interpret results
Computing
We will be learning about coding using the BBC and Microbit software. We will develop computational thinking, looking at patterns, programming and algorithms. We will also take part in a workshop about micro:bits with Gem education
Art and Design Technology
Each half term the children will have a week dedicated to art and/or DT.
Art: This half-term, Year 2 are focusing on printing. We will be exploring the artists Andy Warhol and Lill Tschudi and will appraise their work and explore what inspired them. We will then create our own Andy Warhol inspired repeating prints using famous landmarks. The children will etch their own design before transferring it using rollers and printing ink. At the end of the week, we will celebrate what we have created and appraise our own work. Our disciplinary question this term is 'How does art and design affect people? '.
PE
This term we will be playing invasion games and developing our skills of working cooperatively in a team and celebrating the strengths of everyone within our team.We will use the recent Winter Olympics to learn about strength, practice and resilience within sport. In addition to this, we will be developing our sending and receiving skills including throwing and catching, rolling, kicking, tracking and stopping a ball.
PSHE and Religious Education
PSHE
Our big question this half term is: How do I look after my mental health? The children will continue on their journey to wellbeing through Melva; an interactive digital platform which helps children to develop an awareness of themselves and others. This is done through storytelling and drama and is based on a play written and performed in the North East and developed by North Tyneside Council.
Religious Education
This half term we will continue our learning about the practices of Judaism. We will learn about the Torah and Shabbat and different Jewish beliefs including the stories of Moses. We will visit the Reform Synagogue towards the end of the topic.
Through our ongoing whole school assembly programme, we will learn about respect and our school values: Curious, Caring, Creative and Courageous.
Our Values
Please Instagram us @archibald_1st if you see your child being #AFSCurious #AFSCaring #AFSCreative or #AFSCourageous
If you would like any further details about this half term's curriculum, please speak to your child's teacher.