Year 2

Class Teachers: Mr Gomersall

Teaching Partners: Mrs Weaver,  Mrs Chilton, Mrs Willis

Learning Support Assistants: Mrs Mulligan, Miss Wilkinson

Welcome to Year 2!

Our class page is your go-to place for all of the key information about our learning journey together this year. The team can't wait to support you in your progress and learning this year, where we will be exploring lots of exciting new concepts and skills!

Please do not hesitate to contact Mr Gomersall with any questions or queries.

Our Timetable - Autumn Term

Please note that our PE day is on a Tuesday with KS1 Team. Please come to school dressed in PE kit on these days. Earrings and other jewellery should be removed for PE and hair tied back where possible.

PE Kit includes:

• Red or dark PE hoodies,  black or grey tracksuit trousers or shorts (unbranded)

• Black, grey or white trainers

• Zip-up sports jackets are suitable for colder weather.

Curriculum Overview

Autumn Term 1:

• English: We will be writing to entertain by writing a short narrative inspired by the text 'Frog and the Stranger'. We will also write to inform, writing instructions based on the text 'How to Make Friends with a Ghost'. We will also explore list poetry. Our class book will be: Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl.
• Maths: Place value (tens and ones), and we will begin our addition and subtraction unit where we will build our fluency within 20.

• Science: Habitats: Considering the life processes that all living things have in common, pupils classify objects into alive, was once alive or has never been alive. They name plants and animals in a range of habitats and recognise how living things depend on each other. Pupils create food chains to show the sequence that living things eat each other.

• History: The children will learn about the work of significant individuals from the past, learning about events beyond living memory and changes within living memory through discovering the work of inventors The Wright Brothers

• Art: Pupils are introduced to the idea that artists are inspired by the world around them. Children are empowered to go out into the world, re-see, collect and re-present through drawing. Pupils will create wax-resist collage art inspired by Monet.

• Computing:  Children will understand the importance of e-safety and recognise uses of ICT. Children will begin to be able to use software to create animations about the first successful flight and create digital art inspired by aeroplanes (throughout Autumn Term).
• Music: In music, we will experiment with body percussion and perform together rhythmically. We will work in groups to play a simple accompaniment to a song or poem selecting suitable sounds and timbre.
• Physical Education: Fundamental movement skills: coordination and footwork and static balances-  including balancing on one leg! In gym we will work on shape and travel.
• Religious Education: Exploring the big question: 'What is the 'good news' that Christians say Jesus brings? (continued throughout Autumn Term)
• Relationships, Sex and Health Education (including Economic Education): The first part of autumn term we will 'Get HeartSmart' and revisit what it means to look after ourselves and others. We will explore where money comes from in Economic Education. In our RSE lesson we will explore what makes our bodies brilliant focusing on positive body image.

Autumn Term 2:

• English: We will be writing to entertain through writing our very own narrative inspired by 'The Last Stop on Market Street'. We will be writing to inform through writing letters and postcards, taking inspiration from the text 'Dragon Street'. Our class book will be: Einstein the Penguin.

• Maths: We will continue with our addition and subtraction unit where we will use our learning to bridging the tens boundary, and explore 2D and 3D shapes, including their names, properties and complete sorting activities.

• Science: Microhabitats: Building on their knowledge of habitats, pupils discover that microhabitats provide what minibeasts need to survive. They learn that scientists use a range of skills to answer questions and plan and carry out an experiment to find out the conditions woodlice prefer.

• Geography: Pupils will name and locate the 7 continents, locate North and South Poles and the Equator. They will describe similarities and differences between the UK and Kenya and investigate weather. Children will be able to recognise features of hot and cold places and locate some countries with hot/ cold climates.

• DT: Explore stability and methods to strengthen structures, to understand Baby Bear’s chair weaknesses and develop an improved solution for him to use.

• Music: Practising songs for our Nativity performance.

• Physical Education: Fundamental movement skills: dynamic balances to agility - jumping and landing, and static balances whilst seated. In gym, we will focus on shape and travel.

• Religious Education:  Exploring the big question: 'What is the 'good news' that Christians say Jesus brings? (continued throughout Autumn Term)

• Relationships, Sex and Health Education (including Economic Education): In Economic Education, we will explore how money makes us feel and in our RSE lesson we will explore why it's important to keep clean.

Homework

Spellings:

We send home 10 words each week for the children to practise spelling. These words are taken from the list for their year group in the National Curriculum. Spellings will be tested on a Wednesday.

Reading

Please read with your child as often as possible, even if only for a few minutes. 

Mr Gomersall will check the children's reading records each Friday, and for each Year 2 who has read 3 times or more to an adult outside of school during the week, they will be rewarded with a dip in the goodie bag! Please date and sign their reading record each time they read to an adult, and encourage them to read a range of text types. Useful documents including key questions to support with hearing your child read can be found below. These will also be sent home with the children at the start of the academic year.

Please note that we encourage the children in Year 2 to take responsibility for changing their own colour-banded books as they come into school each morning. Decodable (Phonics) books will be changed on a Wednesday by Mrs Willis. Please note that children are encouraged to read these books at least twice before being changed.

Key Dates

Parent-Teacher Meetings: 

We offer these termly, dates are included on our weekly newsletters.

Trips and Visits:

Flintham Show - 25th September

Communication

You can contact Mr Gomersall via the below contact forms. Alternatively, please email teachers@archbishopcranmer.notts.sch.uk or the school office (office@archbishopcranmer.notts.sch.uk or schooladmin@archbishopcranmer.notts.sch.uk).