Spring 2

This half term, the children in Year Two will begin learning within the concept ‘Success’.  To begin this learning journey, the children will focus on developing their spelling skills and strategies.  The children will practise using speed sound charts, applying their phonic knowledge and the spelling rules they have learned during their spelling lessons, throughout their extended writing.  They will learn to use word mats to check their spelling of common exception words and will learn to apply these strategies both during writing, and after writing, during the proofreading process.  The children will apply what they now know and can do whilst revisiting some forms of writing they have previously learned.  They will therefore write a letter, a recount and some instructions.

The children will then learn about the roles of an apostrophe.  They will learn how to spell words with contracted forms (e.g. couldn’t, didn’t, they’re etc.)  In addition to learning to spell these, the children will learn about the times when contractions should and shouldn’t be use.  They will consider the purpose, the audience and the register of a piece of writing and will begin to write in an appropriate style accordingly.  When applying what they know about contracted forms, the children will write a range of diary entries.  Once children are secure with using apostrophes for contracted forms, they will also learn to use a singular possessive apostrophe (E.g. Mrs Young’s cat).  The children will then practise and apply this skill by writing a fictional story to recount the events of the Great Fire of London and a non-chronological report.  Key pieces of writing from this half term will form the pages of the children’s non-fiction book for the school library.

 

 

Reading

This half term, we are focusing on the concept of comprehension. This means helping children understand not only the books they can read independently and fluently, but also the stories or information they listen to. We will encourage them to make inferences—using clues from the text and what they hear—to better understand the deeper meaning of what is being said and done. This approach will help them connect ideas, develop critical thinking skills, and become more confident in both reading and listening. In addition, in reading comprehension, the children will continue to develop their vocabulary and fluency, focussing on their word reading accuracy, their ability to read words automatically and building prosody (appropriate tone and intonation) within their reading. They will explore a number of short texts and use these to develop their comprehension skills – both asking and answering questions to secure their understanding.

 

 

Maths

 

In maths this half term, the children will begin by continuing to develop their understanding od division and its inverse relationship with multiplication. Once this knowledge is secure,they will begin a fractions learning journey, during which they will build upon their knowledge of equal groups (or equal parts) as they learn to recognise, find, name and write fractions ½, 1/3, ¼, 2/4 and ¾ of a length, shape, set of objects or a quantity, whilst recognising the equivalence of ½ and 2/4

 

 

Science

 

In Spring Two, Year Two children continue with their Biology learning journey in science.   The children will be learning about habitats and how they provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants. They will explore the suitability of different habitats for different creatures, and understand why they will not always be suitable for every creature. They will also develop their knowledge of different plants and animals and their habitats, including micro-habitats. By the end of their learning, they will be able to answer their big question: Would a polar bear survive in the desert?

 

Geography

In Geography this half term, the Year Two children will focus on the question ‘Can it snow in August?’ by exploring how weather changes throughout the year. The concepts of physical processes and environmental impact will guide the children to understand the temperate climate of the United Kingdom (linking back to their prior Year 2 knowledge). They will show curiosity about the weather and use their skills to observe the weather around them for a period of time, using this date to inform predictions about the future weather.

 

History

This half term’s History learning builds upon what the children already know about using different sources of evidence to investigate life in the past.  The children will now learn about the Great Fire of London, because it is a significant historical event, beyond living memory.  The children will research the event, building upon their understanding of ways we can learn about the past and ways in which the past can be represented.  They will learn to compare and contrast different sources of evidence and will apply their knowledge and skills to compare and contrast life in 1666 with modern day society.  The children will use what they know to answer questions, create a timeline, discuss and debate.  They will apply their knowledge of the events that unfolded in 1666 to produce a film, set in the style of a news report, which will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.

 

Art

The children will continue their learning on abstract Art. Having explored the work of different artists and experimented with a range of media, the children will now apply their knowledge and skills to create their own abstract paintings of the Titanic before reflecting and evaluating on their progress.

DT

In DT, the children will study ‘structures’. They will learn about freestanding structures and their features before creating their own design specification. They will apply their skills by creating a building from 1666, making links to their history learning, before evaluating their creations against their own design criteria.

Computing

This half term the children will continue their learning around the substantive concept of Computer Science by using simple algorithms to program a robot in the programme; Lightbot. This will challenge the childrens computational thinking, building upon prior knowledge where they have previously used Beebots to create coding, they will now need to work in a logical manner to debug and recode in order to achieve a successful outcome. In addition, the children will explore the concept of digital ownership in their e-safety learning, understanding that even when content is shared in the public domain, it still belongs to someone and we should respect that ownership

Music

This music unit explores timbre (identifying the way sounds are made) and texture (recognising and responding to the different layers of sounds used in music). The children engaged in activities for developing understanding of different timbres and textures. In addition, the children will undertake African drumming lessons with Hampshire Music Service.

 

RSHE
 

In RSHE, the children will learn about the crucial concept of Safety.   The children in Year Two will learn to keep themselves and others safe, including in their online relationships, making cross-curricular links to computing.  They will also look at the things we need in order to be able to do our best in school.

 

RE

The children start with identifying and talking about the concept of belief. They then move on to learn about and describe ways in which the concept of belief is expressed by Christians at Easter. They will revisit the Easter Story from year one and identify examples of how belief relates to their own lives and those of others.

 

PE

In PE lessons, the children in Year Two will revisit the Creative Cog.  During this unit of work, the children will learn to select and link movements together to fit a theme.  The fundamental movement skills for Real PE this half term are: coordination (ball skills) and counter balance (with a partner). In addition to their Real PE unit, children will also learn and enhance their ball skills through the sport of netball, developing their team work, co-ordination and technical skills.