Welcome to Year 2

Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
Miss Vickers	Mrs Knapp and Mrs Lyne	Mr McEvoy
class7@langstone-inf.portsmouth.sch.uk	class8@langstone-inf.portsmouth.sch.uk	class9@langstone-inf.portsmouth.sch.uk

 In Year Two we are learning…

ENGLISH

Throughout our English work, the children will be building on skills learned and developed in Year One. We will be looking at the following texts; ‘My Brother’ by Anthony Browne, ‘We’re All Wonders’ by R. J. Palacio and ‘Argus’ by Michelle Knudsen. Our aim will be to familiarise ourselves with these texts and expand on their ideas. We will be recapping and developing the use of grammar features such as adjectives, expanded noun phrases and conjunctions (clauses). We are focusing on the importance of rehearsing sentences before writing, then reading and checking carefully afterwards will continue to be emphasised. We will also be celebrating National Poetry Day and writing our own acrostic poems. We will continue to encourage the children to show their work with neat, correctly formed handwriting and be adding to their Year 1 ‘Toolkits’ for writing.

MATHS

We will be developing the children’s understanding of number and place value, building on from their previous learning in Year 1.  We will be exploring numbers to 100 and the different ways that these numbers can be represented, both pictorially and in written form, in order to develop a deeper understanding of ‘parts’ and ‘whole.’ We will also be partitioning these numbers into standard and non-standard form.  The children will then begin to apply this knowledge to simple addition and subtraction problems.

In Year Two, our sessions will consist of practical elements involving concrete apparatus, pictorial representations, jottings and written methods.  The children will practice writing their numbers as words.  In addition to our regular math lessons, we will also have a shorter session that focuses on number fluency and mastery.

SCIENCE

Humans – the children will recap knowledge learned in Year One and build on this. They will develop their understanding of what humans need to survive, grow and feel safe. We will look at food groups and develop our understanding of what eating a healthy, balanced diet is important. We will also look at why hygiene is important and how this is linked to our health and wellbeing. We will look at the effects of exercise on our bodies and carry out explorations on how exercise affects our heart rate.

TOPIC – The World Around Me

In this Geography based unit of work, the children will be learning about the United Kingdom. They will be exploring the different countries that make up the UK, as well as their capital cities. We will be generating our own questions around our learning and what we want to discover. The children will be using atlases, globes and a range of maps to explore the UK. We will also be looking in more depth at the seas which surround us.

ART

In this unit of work, the children will be exploring the use of sketching. We will begin by focusing on our artist, Leonardo Da Vinci. The children will learn about his life and artwork, before discussing what they like and dislike about his sketches and art. The children will continue to develop their use of sketching techniques, such as cross-hatching and blending before using these to sketch their facial features in isolation. The final piece for this unit is a portrait of themselves, using these different sketching techniques.

MUSIC – Boom Whackers

In this unit we will be learning how to maintain a steady beat, gain understanding of different notes and play these within a group performance. We will experiment with changing tempo in compositions and use the boom whackers to create a short pitch pattern and our own composition as a part of a small group.

COMPUTING

In Computing, we will be learning all about technology around us, including how to keep safe online. We will be looking at the different uses for technology both in school and at home. We will be investigating how IT improves our world, and we will learn how to use it responsibly. It will develop our understanding of technology and how we interact with it. We will become familiar with the term information technology and will be able to identify common features of IT.

RE

We will have a special RE day learning about ‘Belonging’ with a focus on the Jewish faith and the weekly celebration of Shabbat. We will be learning how Jewish people feel a sense of belonging from this weekly period of celebration and reflection. We will be learning all about a Shabbat meal and how this family event is important to Jewish life. We will be understanding about the Jewish place of worship and the feeling of belonging to a community.

PE

All children will be taking part in REAL PE and this half term, we will be focusing on our Personal Cog where we will look to develop our ability to identify our own strengths and weaknesses. We will be exploring our static balances and fundamental footwork through fun, interactive PE Games and sessions. We will begin to challenge ourselves within our lessons through the use of yellow, green and red challenges.

PE is on Monday and Wednesday for Class 7, Tuesday and Wednesday for Class 8 and Monday and Wednesday for Class 9.  Children should arrive at school in their PE kit and remain in this for the day.

PSHE

The children will revisit the Golden Rules and the importance of ‘being excellent everywhere’ in order to develop them as polite and respectful individuals. They will settle into their new classes and get used to working together with new friends and teachers.