Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to Year 2! We hope you all had a lovely holiday and are looking forward to another wonderful half term in Year 2! We have lots of fabulous learning planned for the next few weeks and we will continue to revisit our previous learning. We have been so impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and interest in our history topic about Queen Victoria. The children have been brilliant at recalling the key facts and have shown a great understanding about how Queen Victoria influenced life in the UK. We really enjoyed looking at the children’s homework and finding out new facts that we didn’t already know. We have been really impressed with their design technology skills when designing and making a chair for Baby Bear. The children have really good problem solving skills and they were great at testing and evaluating their work. We have also seen great progress in the children’s writing and they really enjoyed writing about their own dragons. Everyone is working hard on their handwriting and spellings. The children have really enjoyed listening to and writing their own poetry. We have been reading ‘The Magic Box; by Kit Wright and also ‘The Sound Collector’ by Roger McGough. The children have enjoyed reading their own poems to the rest of the class.
PE times and kits
Bramble class will do PE on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Fern class will do PE on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Maths
Number: Fractions Children will learn to:
- Make equal parts
- Recognise and find half and quarter
- Recognise and find one third
- Unit and non-unit fractions
- Equivalence of ½ and 2/4 Find three-quarters
- Count in fractions
Measurement: Time Children will learn to: Measurement: Mass, Capacity and Temperature Children will learn to:
- Measure and compare mass
- Measure mass in grams and kilograms
- Compare volume and capacity
- Measure capacity in millilitres and litres
- Temperature
English
Reading opportunities In reading, children will listen to and discuss a range of Traditional Tales. We will be reading the story ‘The Tunnel’ by Anthony Browne. We will also be reading instructions. Throughout the half term children will be: · predicting and discussing events · asking and answering questions about texts · applying phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words · reading accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words · make inferences on the basis of what is being said and done · read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word Writing opportunities: In writing, children will learn to write their own versions of fairy tales, key stories and instructions. Children will be: · Using well-chosen adjectives · Using imperative verbs
- grouping related information
- learning to join letters and ensuring that they can form their letters correctly
- using familiar and new punctuation correctly including full stops, capital letters, exclamation marks, question marks and commas for lists
- using some of the characteristic features of the type of writing used
Reading volunteers!
Thank you so much to the wonderful parents who have been able to come in and hear readers for us. We really appreciate it. Throughout the school, we are always needing more help with this and if there is anyone else who is interested in hearing readers in other parts of the school then please come and speak to us.
Reading
The children are becoming increasingly confident about changing their own reading books and talking to us about the books they are reading. It is great to see that most children are continuing to read regularly at home. In school, we are continuing to have a big focus on comprehension and ensuring that children understand the words they are reading and the nuances of what is happening in their stories. Sometimes, when children are fluent readers, we assume that they are reading with understanding. However, following questioning, we find that they haven’t grasped the more subtle clues in the texts. Please continue to ask your children to summarise what they have been reading and ask them some questions.
Organisation of belongings
Please ensure that all school uniform is labelled clearly with your child’s name or initials. We are continuing to support children with remembering all of their belongings at the end of the day. This term is particularly important as the children start preparing for moving up into Key Stage 2. We are reminding children to change their reading books regularly and to hand their homework to us on the Monday after it is set. Please help us to ensure that children become more independent with this by reminding them about what they need to do. Thank you!
Geography
What is it like living in Mugurameno village in Zambia? In Geography this half term we will…
- know the physical and human features of Zambia
- know that the village of Mugurameno is found in Zambia
- know that the village is near to the Zambezi River and that it used by the people of the village in their everyday life and is different to how we use the River Tyne in Newcastle
- know about food and its preparation in the village of Mugurameno
- recognise the danger to the village posed by wild animals, and measures taken to prevent this
- know about daily life in Mugurameno
Science
Living Things and Their Habitats In Science this half term we will…
- explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive
- identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other
- identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats
- describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food
RE
Judaism-Beliefs and Practices In RE this half term we will learn:
- about Moses and the importance of his contribution to Jewish history
- to reflect on our own feelings and experiences in relation to aspects of the Exodus story
- about the key features of the Purim story and festival
- that the synagogue is a special place where Jewish people meet for worship and keep the Torah, and that the Torah is celebrated in a special festival
- to evaluate and present what we have learned about Jewish beliefs and practices
Music
How does music shape our way of life? In Music this half term we will…
- play instruments musically, as well as using our voices expressively by singing and performing songs
- experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music
- recognise that movement is an essential part of making music with a focus on ‘music we can dance with’
Computing
Information Technology In Computing this half term we will…
- understand that technology can be used to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content as well as recognise common uses of information technology beyond school
- use the book creator app to create an eBook about ‘The Great Fire of London’, recognising that text size and colour can be changed.
- create a micro:bit animation using a sequence of images in a loop.
PSHE
Relationships In PSHE this half term we will…
- identify the different members of our families, understand our relationship with each of them and know why it is important to share and cooperate
- understand that there are lots of forms of physical contact within a family and that some of this is acceptable and some is not
- identify some of the things that cause conflict with our friends
- understand that sometimes it is good to keep a secret and sometimes it is not good to keep a secret
- recognise and appreciate people who can help us in our families, our school and our community
It was lovely to speak to everyone at Parents’ Evening and to share all of the wonderful progress that your children have made. Please let us know if you have any questions or queries about anything and we look forward to having another successful half term together.
Thank you, Miss Bommel and Miss Armstrong
Credits:
Created with images by firewings - "Wild flowers in green grass" • DenisMArt - "Cup of cappuccino with grey wool scarf and diary" • amazing studio - "Math Number colorful on white background, education study mathematics learning teach concept." • Cloudyew - "An open book with colorful illustrations for children" • tan4ikk - "Smiling little girl reading drawn book" • Pixel-Shot - "Female hands with books on color background" • Pixel-Shot - "School uniform on color background" • silvapinto - "small African village with imbondeiros.,Angola." • sezer66 - "Differing stages of life from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly" • Zaleman - "Friends bonding on the beach, community trust support, summer holiday success.,Men, women, and diversity people in solidarity, team building or travel mission success." • Molly P - "Picture of skillful person relaxed craft bunting by lace linen fabric tie with long rope in plane design.,Artwork portrait of creative flag crafted by beautiful string with beautiful material.,AIG61." • Odelia Cohen - "old testament" • bellakadife - "music notes, shallow dof, color effect added" • Deemerwha studio - "Businessman using a computer with Edge computing modern IT technology on virtual screen concept" • Tinnakorn - "Business concept, Group of business people assembling jigsaw puzzle and represent team support and help togethe"