Year 2

Year 2 @ Mount Street Primary

Welcome to the Summer Term in Year 2!

English 

This term we will continue to develop our fantastic phonics and reading skills. Reading continues to be a  priority our school and so we will practise reading every day so that we become fluent, confident readers. We will continue to have the opportunity to visit the library in school and in the city - to explore reading books for pleasure!  Stories take us all over this world and into other worlds too! We are enjoying exploring new books, stories and poems.   

At the start of this term, all children will continue to advance their phonic skills further through our Read Write Inc program. If you are in the Language and Literacy group you will be exploring sections from some fantastic new books and reading much longer books together as a group! 

We will focus on answering questions on a range of new texts by using some of the the 6 VIPERS reading comprehension skills. (Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explaining, Retrieval, Sequencing).  

In writing, we will consolidate and build on our learned grammar skills. We will learn how to write stories that will engage the reader with exciting detail and fantastic word choices as well as developing our ability to write non-fiction texts (explanation texts)  and poetry (Kenning poems). We begin the term looking at Poetry, specifically Kenning poetry, which has a very interesting history and requires the use of some strong vocabulary choices. Then we will progress to writing explanation texts. Then later in the Summer term we will explore fiction and learn about stories where  the main characters make a wish! What would you wish for? 

This term we will also continue to practise our writing skills by completing creative writing and imaginative quick writes through the week! We have been focusing on handwriting and our writing is super! Ask us to show you.  will be on hand writing too - our writing has to be a uniform size and neat.

Maths

In maths, we will continue to practice our fundamental skills of place value, simple addition and subtraction to develop our arithmetic skills.  We will begin the term completing our learning on fractions! Then we will move onto position and direction!  The children will perfect  their 2X, 5X and 10X and will be beginning 3X. They will be spotting patterns and learning that there are patterns to be seen in multiplications and corresponding divisions.  Our hope is to make the children confident to spot these patters and use them when problem solving.

Then they will be learning more about Problem solving, time and measurement including weight and volume.

Using the Maths Mastery scheme daily, we will continue to secure our understanding of place value and use a variety of apparatus, mental maths strategies and jottings to represent tens and ones within numbers to solve a range of question types. We will also broaden our understanding of addition and subtraction and a variety of apparatus will be available to support the children with their learning. 

We will also continue to use Numbots and I have set a min of 10 minutes Numbots homework a week. 

Science

In Science, we will learn about plants and growth. We will explore how plants grow - looking at seed and bulbs and what they need to grow successfully. The children will continue to lean about experimenting and what makes a fair test.

We will then progress onto why, how, where and when we use plants in everyday life.  We will learn about the history of  this field of science and explore some key discoveries and some influential scientists of the time. We will also review this area of science with consideration of the impact of a range of global issues upon plant growth and use. Our science skills will include conduction experiments for a range of purposes, carrying out a fair test and how to measure and present our findings. This unit is under review and will be updated in much more detail as soon as possible.

Art

This term we will explore water and waves - we will be looking at some key art from the last 300 years looking at water and wave art. we will then be using our collage skills to build up an image of a wave - we will then be learning how to use water colours to create a range of effects - including the use of wax resist techniques to further explore creating water in art. 

DT

This term we are learning all about axles and movement. We will be creating our own small vehicles and experimenting with joining, building and allowing movement! 

Computing

In Computing, we will continue learning about safety. How to use a computer safely and effectively and  we will  learn what computers are, where we use them in real daily life. we will use basic skills to collaboratively use a computer to produce a simple document collaboratively. Later in the term we will learn about simple programming using Scratch Junior. 

Geography

This term's geography will be a large project comparing Plymouth and the UK to Cape Town and South Africa. we will be exploring art, culture, geography, employment and weather. This is a super project that the children love and really get into! 

Music

In our Music lessons, we will be learning a range of songs and using our voice to sing and accompany others.  We will be learning about all the Foundational Elements of Music with a focus on simple patterns.  Later in the term we will learn about tempo and dynamics where we will work on the application of dynamics and tempo within listening and performing. We will begin to play Instruments and use body percussion with or without Notation . We will also begin to improvise, using our voices and instruments. 

PE

In PE, we will  develop our fundamental skills of throwing and catching effectively. Once we have polished some of these skills we will begin to look at simple ball team games. We will also develop our athletic skills. 

PHSE

For the first half of term we will focus on 'Relationships', thinking about who is special to us and why  -  what we get from relationships and how important all the people around us are. After half term, we will focus on 'Changing Me' - thinking about how we have changed since we were born and how we change as we grow. (Age appropriate). We will also learn correct scientific name for body parts and the differences and similarities between us. 

RE

In RE, we will begin by asking the question ‘What does Good News mean to Christians?’.  We will build upon some of the key Christian beliefs about God found in the Gospels. After Half term we will be learning about what places are special to different people? We will be talking about a range of beliefs and places. 

Useful Information 

Home learning

This will be set at the following times:

Home learning will be given out on a Friday (English and Maths ) and will be due in on the following  Friday. Spelling Home learning will be sent home on a Friday to be quized on the following Friday. 

Home learning will bet sent home in a paper format. Sometimes we will send the learning on Teams. 

Reading – 10 minutes reading daily. We ask that an adult signs the reading diary and it is brought into school every day.  The children will bring home Read Write Inc books that match their phonics group and reading levels. They will be able to decode these independently to you. We encourage them to read the same RWI book 3 times - by the final read their confidence and expression! 

Numbots - an exciting way for your child to practice their maths skills daily at home. I Can't wait to see your child's weekly score! I have set 10 minute targets weekly. 

Games and PE

Children will need their PE kit in school all week as children  MUST have P.E. kit to take part for health and safety reasons.  Lessons are Wednesday and Thursdays. 

Kit:        Trainers, white shirt, blue/black shorts, football/trainer socks.

In colder weather, a plain tracksuit may be worn outdoors for games.

Please ensure that all items of clothing are named. A small named bag containing your PE kit is all that is necessary as cloakroom space is limited.  Please keep your PE kit in school and we will ensure that it is sent home each half term for washing.