Year 2

Year 2 Curriculum Report - Spring Term 2009

Dear Parent(s) / Carer(s),

Welcome back to a new term in Year 2. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break and are ready for the busy new year ahead! This term will be packed with lots of learning as always, so it is vital that your child is in school on time and every day. The focus will still be on Literacy and Numeracy, with additional time being allocated to each as we try to raise standards in these key areas.

We are lucky to have several adults supporting the delivery of the curriculum in Year 2; Helena supports the teaching of children with English as an additional language; Jackie Osborne, Christiana Shambi, Karen Livingstone and Otei Chan work in class to support children in Sapphire and Ivory who need additional help with their work.

Literacy

In Literacy, we will continue to do handwriting each morning, practising the ‘Continuous Cursive’ style which has already improved the children’s presentation, spelling and the speed at which they write. We also have a period of quiet reading where the children are encouraged to reflect on what they have read, paying particular attention to characters and settings. Each day, the teacher focuses on a different group and hears all those children read in a guided reading session. We also have a writing workshop once a week. You can help your child to improve by talking to them about what they read and write and making sure they understand what they have read and that their writing makes sense. It is important that your child reads at home and brings their Reading Record book into school. Year 2 are working with Diana Samuels, the writer in residence, to give them the opportunity to explore creativity and become confident writers.

Numeracy

In Numeracy the children will be consolidating ideas and skills learned last term and in previous years, and will be learning how to apply their knowledge in real life situations. You can make a huge difference to their confidence with these concepts by making them a part of everyday life. When shopping, encourage your child to work out how much items cost, what the total cost will be, what the difference in price is between two items, how much several would cost and so on. At home, share the cooking with your child showing them how to measure using scales and jugs. When watching television, discuss programme times and how long their favourite show lasts. A concept that children struggle with particularly is division, so use every opportunity to share objects out and discuss how many each person gets to make it fair.

Science

In Science we are looking at Forces and Movement before half term, and Electricity after half term. Please take every opportunity to talk to your child about science as children are naturally inquisitive and fascinated by the world around them. A trip to the Science Museum is always a good starting point, with lots of hands-on fun activities for children to explore.

ICT

In ICT this term we will be showing information through graphs and charts. We will be thinking about Questions and Answers and using programmes on the computer to develop the children’s skills in this area. After half-term, we will be using Textease to write and edit text. If you have a computer at home, you might like to challenge your child to write something using the word-processing skills they have acquired. Using the keyboard helps children’s spelling, and use of the mouse is excellent for developing fine motor skills.

Religious Education

Our theme in R.E. is water for the term, and we will be exploring this topic through looking at the practices of the six main faiths of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism. If you have anything you would like to share with us about your faith, then why not talk to your child about it and we can discuss it in class. Learning is so much more meaningful when we can associate it with something or someone we know.

Music

In Music we will continue to look at all of the musical elements through using instruments, particularly our voice when learning songs. All these elements are embedded in everything we do in music, whether it’s performing, composing or listening, but our focus will be on exploring pitch in the first half of term and instruments and symbols in the second half.

Design and Technology

In Design and Technology this term we will be making vehicles through junk modelling so it would be very useful if you could start collecting food boxes (egg boxes, cereal boxes, tissue boxes), plastic containers (margarine tubs, yoghurt pots) and tubes (kitchen towel, foil, clingfilm) that we could use. In Art, we will be looking closely at the work of well known artists, using images from books and photographs. We will then create our own pieces of work in a similar style. This will be in the second half of term.

Physical Education

In P.E., Year 2 will be working with a tennis coach to develop coordination skills and learn the basics of the sport. P.E. is on Wednesday for both classes, so please make sure that your child is wearing either a vest or t-shirt under their clothes on that day, and that they have pants on, or shorts to change into. They need to be able to move freely and not be restricted by long sleeves and trouser legs!

Further Information

Homework for Ivory and Sapphire is given out on Thursday and must be handed in on Wednesdays, in their homework folders. A spelling test is given every Wednesday. It is very important that your child always practises their spellings at home.

If you have any questions about routines or the curriculum, or any concerns about your child, then please do not hesitate to make an appointment to speak to the class teacher.

Regards,

Bino Nanthabalan & Anthia Symeou
Year 2 Class Teachers