Year 2

Year 2 is a very exciting year where we cover the topics ‘The Great Fire of London’, ‘Marvellous Maps’ and ‘The Victorians’. We make sure we have lots of fun while we learn and undertake lots of practical work in groups and pairs but we are also starting to begin more independent and structured learning.

Reading is hugely important and we are developing fluency, understanding and most importantly, we are learning to love books! In writing, we are beginning to write a little more. We love to get really stuck into a good book and then we use this to give us exciting ideas for our own stories, instructions, recounts and poems. Phonics is still very important and we use the sounds we have learnt to help us with spelling. In maths we are continuing to develop our mental arithmetic skills and we also learn how to write down some other methods. Maths is very hands on and we use lots of resources to help us. We enjoy practical work in all of our other subjects and we try to link these with other areas of the curriculum.

Year 2 is the last year of Key Stage One and we take this responsibility very seriously as we know we are role models for younger pupils. We are also excited to be getting ready for Key Stage Two!

Curriculum Intent

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School is a unique and special place where our faith is at the heart of all we do. Our children     learn to live the Gospel values of love, forgiveness and peace.  Within our federation of Aspire London we use the National Curriculum and believe that our children deserve for it to be tailored to their needs.  With this in mind we have prioritised the things we want our children to enjoy, experience and remember during their time with us. 

Our curriculum at Aspire London has a set of ‘drivers’ developed from the deep knowledge of the pupils and their families within our School community.

The drivers which shape our curriculum ensure we give our pupils aspirational opportunities throughout their primary school years.  We provide our children with the wealth of knowledge required to be informed and thoughtful members of our community and wider world.  The breadth of our curriculum encourages pupils to be ambitious, develop an inquiring mind and a life-long love of learning.

Curriculum Drivers

Significant People: Aspire London will: Develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the world and people, past and present, who shape it Provide identifiable role models to raise ambition and aspiration

Community: Aspire London will: Immerse the children in the historically rich and diverse nature of London Give pupils an understanding of the positive impact of migration and a cultural appreciation of our community

Equality & Justice: Aspire London will: Empower pupils to be advocates who address issues of prejudice and discrimination Ensure pupils value fairness and resolve differences through positive discussion

Environmental Responsibility: Aspire London will: Educate children of the need to protect God’s planet from environmental damage Create eco- friendly citizens who are aware of the impact of their individual actions and those of the wider world.

Autumn Term 2024

English This term we will continue focusing on punctuation in English, such as remembering to use capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. We will also go over all of the different handwriting ‘families’ to ensure pupils can use the cursive style in their writing and will continue to learn the many sounds needed to both read and spell words. We will use a number of key texts including, Beegu and The Great Fire of London.  Through these texts, we will focus on the comprehension and understanding of the stories and will use these as a basis for creative writing.

Maths Maths will begin with a big focus on place value. We will look at different ways to represent and partition numbers into tens and ones using lots of different resources and pictures. We will try to make numbers in different ways and will use the symbols for greater than and lesser than. The children will learn to write numbers to 100 in numerals and in words. We will practise counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. Our next topic will be addition and subtraction and will begin with knowing number bonds and number facts to 100 with a big focus on mental calculations. We will use resources, drawings and number lines to firstly add and subtract one-digit numbers and will move to two-digit numbers later in the term. The children will learn to add and subtract ten and will use all of these skills to solve simple problems. We will then learn to recognise and add different coins and notes, calculate totals and change and also work out problems such as finding different ways to make the same amount. Our last topic focusses on multiplication and division where the children will learn about making equal groups and sharing using resources and pictures.

RE We will be learning about chosen people, including Abraham, Moses and Daniel, and understanding why God chose them. We will recognise that God has chosen us and given us special gifts. We will also be learning about the Mysteries, and understand that there are many things about God we are not able to understand. We will begin to learn about the Holy Trinity, and to know that there are three persons in one God. We will continue to learn about Advent and recognise that Advent is a time to prepare for the birth of Jesus. We will also be saying a decade of the Rosary together.

Science We will be learning about the uses of everyday materials. We will be able to identify a variety of everyday materials, including wood, metal, plastic, glass, and cardboard. We will understand that some objects can be made from a variety of everyday materials, which can be used for a range of purposes. We will recognise that the different properties of materials make them suitable or unsuitable for particular purposes. We will learn about people who have developed useful new materials, for example John Dunlop, Charles Macintosh or John McAdam. We will find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.

History/ Geography The Great Fire of London – we will learn about a significant national event beyond living memory which will be The Great Fire of London. We will learn how the fire started including why it spread whilst using a range of sources to help us explain the events. We will be ordering the events of the Fire in 1666 and learning about significant people such as Samuel Pepys and Frank Bailey. We will understand how London was rebuilt and how we fight fires today compared to the 17th century. We will also be able to identify some relevant London landmarks, for example St Paul’s Cathedral and the River Thames.

Computing We will be revising what block code and an algorithm are. We will be able to explain what debugging is and how this applies to computer programs. We will learn about how the Internet allows users to share globally, and introduce Email as a communication tool. We will learn the concept of a digital footprint and how we leave information online

PE Gymnastics – we will be copying, exploring and remembering actions and movements to create our own sequences. Dance – we will be creating a short motif inspired by a stimulus, and use different transitions within a dance motif. We will be moving in time to music and improving the timings of our actions. Games – we will learn how to play striking and fielding games, and to recognise different throwing and catching skills used in different games.

Art Painting and Drawing – we will learn how to mix a range of secondary and tertiary colours, understanding that we can add white and black to alter tints and shades. We will begin to understand the double primary system. We will have the opportunity to experiment with different brushes (including brushstrokes) and other painting tools. We will also explore a range of media such as chalk/oil pastels. We will explore cityscapes, and look at the life and work of artists such as JMW Turner and Mark Rothko.

DT Children will be designing and building their own Tudor house, based on research into buildings around at the time of the Great Fire of London. They will explore and test materials and equipment and decide what will be most effective for their design. They will then assemble and join a variety of materials to produce their own house. Children will then evaluate the house against their original design.

Music We will learn songs using long and short sounds, and recognise which instruments, create long and short sounds. We will be learning about instruments, and understand that they can be sorted and grouped into families. We will use the song London’s Burning to recognise simple rhythms and pitches. We will also learn to sing in simple parts, and how to perform in an ensemble and as a soloist.

PSHE/RSE Me and my relationships – we will be recognising a range of feelings and understand that people have different ways to express their feelings. We will understand what is meant by the terms ‘bullying’ and ‘teasing’ and understand that bullying and unkind behaviour are unacceptable. We will understand that friendship is a special kind of relationship. Valuing difference – we will be learning that a person’s behaviour can affect other people, and to recognise how it would feel to be left out of a group. We will recognise that being kind and unkind can impact on others feelings and learn how to show acts of kindness.

Autumn Term Knowledge Organisers

Useful links:

For speech and language resources and advice and tips for parents working at home with children who have SLCN visit:

https://speechandlanguage.info/parents

BBC Bitesize and Purple Mash are excellent resources for you to use. Click on the icon, have a look and see what you can learn!