Welcome to Year 2’s homepage. Year 2 is going to be a jam-packed year of exciting learning, trips and performances. In Year 2 we build upon our love of learning and grow to become more independent – ready for the Juniors! We will follow our varied interests and develop our many talents. On our class blog, you will find photos of all our trips, fun workshops and learning as well as exciting events.

Year 2 Team

Class Teacher: Ms Woolway and Ms Hale

Teaching Assistant: Ms Hall and Ms Sandzi

Summer 2

This term in Year 2 we will be inspired by a topic all about… Japan!
 
Our term will be inspired by a trip to the Japanese Kyoto garden in Holland Park, an immersive ‘day in the life’ of a typical Japanese child and visits from experts.
 
Our reading will explore traditional Japanese folk tales as well as non-fiction texts about Japanese culture. 
 
In writing we will be retelling traditional Japanese folk tales, recounting a day in the life of a Japanese child and creating  and advertising our own inventions inspired by Japanese technology.
 
In maths we will be learning to tell the time and exploring measuring capacity, volume and temperature. We will also consolidate our addition and subtraction knowledge using a range of games and problem solving activities. 
 
In geography we will be using maps, atlases and technology to learn about the human and physical geography of the country of Japan. 
 
We cannot wait to delve into this exciting topic and share all of our learning with you.

Summer 1

This half term we will be inspired by our history question: How did the first flight make the world more connected?

In reading and writing we will first be exploring the story Stardust by Jeanne Willis. We will retell the story with our own innovations inspired by our own dreams for the future. We will then use the text The Great Paper Caper to prompt recounts in role, character descriptions in wanted posters, apology letters from a guilty bear and instructions for using paper airplane machines which we will also design. We will then respond to the poem Night Flight by Laura Mucha which will inspire our own poetry.

In maths we are first finishing our fractions unit and will then move onto learning about length and height and position and direction. We will also be revising our addition and subtraction and multiplication and division units.

In history we will be learning about the Wright Brothers and the first flight. We will investigate the impact of flight on society and we will write biographies for Ameilia Earhart.

In art and DT we will be designing our paper airplanes and plane rod puppets.

In science we will continue our materials unit and will develop our investigative skills.

In RE we will be discussing the messages of the parables of Jesus and retelling them in our own words.

In computing we will be exploring the programme Scratch Jnr and using it to write code.

In PSHE we will exploring the themes of ‘Courage,’ ‘Caring’ and ‘Cooperation.’

Spring 2

This half term we will be inspired by our whole school celebration of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

In writing we will be retelling key scenes, writing dagger poems, brewing up witch’s recipes, recounting parties hosting by the cunning Macbeths, designing feast invitations and writing letters of advice to our troubled characters. We will be focusing on technical aspects of our writing including using conjunctions to extend our ideas, expanded noun phrases to describe, verbs carefully chosen for effect as well as punctation such as question and exclamation marks.

In maths we will be consolidating our understanding of multiplication and division. We will then move onto a statistics unit in which we will explore pictograms and block diagrams and a shape unit where we will explore key terminology such as sides, vertices, edges, 2D and 3D. After that we will begin to explore fractions. We will learn to recognise and find quarters, halves and thirds of shapes, objects and amounts.

In science we will be exploring the uses and properties of everyday materials. This will include numerous investigations into different materials and finish with a task to design a new super suit to fulfil the needs of superhero Elastigirl!

In history we will be guided by the question: ‘What was life like in Shakespearean London?’ We will use a range of sources to gain a better understanding of the everyday lives of people living in London at the time and this will lead up to an exciting Tudor Day.

In PSHE we will be learning about feelings and how we can identify the different feelings we have and manage them if needed.

We will of course be performing our Infant rendition of Macbeth and we cannot wait to show you all of our hard work.

Spring 1

This half term we will be guided by our Big Question in geography: What are the wonders of the world?

In reading and writing, we will explore the stories of The Lonely Beast by Chris Judge and Pattan’s Pumpkin by Chitra Soundar. These texts will inspire story retellings in which will work be working on developing our descriptive writing as well as technical aspects of our writing such as our use of past tense, different sentence types for effect, conjunctions to extend ideas and speech. We will be publishing our stories so that we can share them with our families and friends. These texts will also inspire diary entries, letters in role, lullabies and poetry.

In maths we will be consolidating our addition and subtraction skills and then moving on to a unit on multiplication and division. We are continuing to practise our use of the column addition and subtraction method, as well as our mathematical fluency in key number facts such as doubles and halves, near doubles and bonds to numbers up to 20.  We will then begin to explore the concept of multiplication and division; starting with an exploration of equal groups, the x symbol and arrays. We will learn the 2, 5 and 10 times tables and apply this knowledge to dividing numbers.

In science we will be finishing our unit on animals and humans, which will include learning about life cycles. We will then move onto a unit all about plants. We will be making paper seeds, starting our own hydroponics farm in the classroom and planting cress seeds. These activities will all inspire investigations in which we will be encourage to ask questions and make observations to answer them.

Our geography focus will inspire an exploration into landscapes, buildings and places in different continents across the world. We will learn the names of the continents and those of the oceans and seas.

In R.E. we will be thinking about what it means to belong to groups, including the church. We will think about why Christians make promises before God in baptism, marriage and in prayer.

In art we will be inspired by our geography learning and will be using collograph printing to portray oceans.

We looking forward to sharing our learning with you.

Autumn 2

This half term, our learning will be guided by our Big Question in geography: Why does the weather change?

In reading and writing, we will explore several stories from Joan Aiken’s collection A Necklace of Raindrops and Sean Taylor’s A Winter’s Sleep: A Hibernation story. These texts will inspire a range of writing including letters, recipes, setting descriptions, adverts, information texts and stories.

In maths, we will be furthering our understanding of addition and subtraction as well as money. We will begin to explore practical representations of the column method, the foundations of the abstract method. When exploring money will be learning to recognise different notes and coins, compare amounts of money and calculate change.

Our geography focus will inspire a range of fieldwork exploring weather and the seasons. We will draw simple maps with keys, identify the different weathers associated with each season, revise capital cities and compass directions and even perform our own weather reports.

In our science learning this half term, we will be exploring the topic of living things and their habitats. We will look at different types of habitats in the UK and wider world, find microhabitats in our local area and draw food chains to understand the interdependence of living things within habitats.

This half term in RE, we will be learning the story of Noah and its importance for Christians and Jews. We will then finish the half term with an exploration of the symbol of light at Christmas.

In art, we will be exploring impression and pointillism through the works of Monet and Seurat.

Autumn 1

This half term, Year 2’s topic is ‘History of Camden Canals’. We will look at photos and paintings of the canals from the past and present and make comparisons between them, talking about their original purpose and how that may have changed over time. We will also use drama and related picture books to explore the history of our local canals and to inspire our writing.

For the last two weeks of the half term, we will be celebrating Black History Month by learning about Rosa Parks and her part in the struggle for civil rights, as well as taking part in the whole-school art focus studying the work of black artists.

In Maths, we will explore place value and different ways of representing 2-digit numbers. We will also begin exploring different methods for addition and subtraction.

In Science, our focus will be ‘Animals (Including Humans)’ and we will be exploring the different things that all animals need to survive, as well as the importance of a balanced diet and exercise. In Computing we will concentrate on online safety, as well as some basic coding skills with our new computing teacher, Mr McIntyre.

In Art, we will be exploring starting the term working on our drawing skills and during Black History Month we will explore the work of the artist, Alma Woodsey Thomas.  In RE, we will be learning about Judaism and in particular the various festivals in the Jewish religion. The children will be able to explain their beliefs as well as learn about the ideas of others.