Mayfield Primary SchoolYEAR TWO
YEAR TWO
2NM
Teacher: Mrs McFarlane
Take a look below for a review of our year of learning. Download your copy of the termly Curriculum Information Mats & take a look a the Year 2 Reading Spine at the base of the page.
Year 2 is an exciting year of great projects, lots of new learning and some fun new learning characters and ideas to share. Thinking all the time about the journey the children have been on so far and trying to make those adaptations into the next year group, but also considering what is still to come for our children in the years ahead and beginning to prepare them for this. The 'I Dream of Being' curriculum continues to build and run throughout this and we have some real favourites appearing in Year 2 as special projects across many subjects. Read about some of these below as we take you through an important and exciting year.
We use many different ideas and stimulus for our English this year. Some have been focused upon our historical projects, others related to seasons of the year and some drawing inspiration from texts we have shared. We have used Seasonal Snowmen, The Gunpowder Plot, The Jolly Postman by Allan Ahlberg and The Wright Brothers: First Flight for some of these. Like all year groups, we combine our English work between writing focused units (with 'Writer's Craft' grammatical skills embedded within these) alongside a clear writer's process. This runs alongside a parallel focus upon reading via our range of classroom sessions each day, and across the week, using our class texts and our Reading Gang comprehension characters. We have really focused upon adding some spark and challenge to our reading work across school with some new initiatives and new methods. Underpinning each of these are our constant speaking and listening activities embedded within our writing and reading activities but forming a constant thread across the curriculum via our 'Let's Talk' initiative across the curriculum.
Mathematics has a range of key objectives that we are looking to achieve with our children. Some of these include: working with, and ordering, numbers to 100; interpreting pictograms, tally charts and tables in statistics; telling the time to the nearest 5 minutes; identifying and describing properties of 2-D and 3-D shapes. Take a look at the mathematics pages on the website for full details but these are just a few of the goals we have for the year ahead.
Continuing to build our Science knowledge and skills in Year 2 we undertake projects in the following areas: Observing & Describing Seeds & Bulbs; Identifying & Comparing The Suitability of Materials; The Basic Needs of Animals for Survival; Exploring & Comparing the Differences Between Living Things. We will be fair testing, asking questions, classifying, observing and drawing conclusions during our practical science work during the year. We continue to find the balance between 'science knowledge' and the skills of 'being a scientist'.
History in Year 2 sees us focus upon three very different themes, looking at significant individuals, events and times before we move on to our chronological history from Year 3. The Gunpowder Plot, Activitists & Inventors (which considers Rosa Parks, Emily Davison, Tim Berners-Lee & William Caxton) and First Flight (Travels & Tales Part 2) - which looks the exploits of the Wright Brothers amongst others - are our three projects, we visit one each term.
In Year 2, Geography starts with a locality study which builds upon our work in previous years. We ask: Why do people visit St Annes? We then move on to look at ways in which our world is connected and complete the year by comparing our country with a new country and ask whether Australia is just like our home. A busy year with lots of different pieces of geography knowledge coming together. Religious Education learning in Year 2 focuses upon holy books including The Bible, the birth of Jesus as good news, important messages in the New Testament, using symbols to help us understand the Easter story, the significance of holy building to people of faith and what happens during Ascension and Pentecost.
Bonfire relief prints, a first watercolour and clay pots are the focus of Art & Design in Year 2. Studying the work of William Morris, Paul Klee, Emma Burleigh and Clarice Cliff amongst others. Design & Technology visits Food & Diet, Moveable Mechanics and Structures this year in 'Orville's Biscuits', 'Bus Boycott' and 'Firework Rockets'. Music follows our format of Singing, Performing and Composing with a constant Listening and Appraising focus with a careful choice of songs to perform and listen to using the Model Music Curriculum: Appendices all taking place in our dedicated music space: The ABC Theatre. Our lead sports: Football and Cricket continue to take place in Physical Education work with a major emphasis upon fundamental skills, alongside our summer Track and Field work and our Dance and Gymnastics curriculum.
Our Year 2 Computing work continues to develop skills and knowledge through three further projects: 'Algorithms & Loops' (Programming), 'Displaying Data' (Data & Information) & 'Modifying Images' (Creating Media). Our Computer Systems & Networks focus (word processing) and our E-Safety work (trust on the internet) continues each term across the year with specific units and studies. My Happy Mind/PSHE & Relationships keeps our focus upon the themes of understanding our emotions, keeping safe on digital devices, understanding risks, safe and unsafe secrets and making friendships through being kind and respectful.
