Our topic for this term is: Into the Unknown! 

Here are some of Starfish on their first day of year 2!

English

In this term, we will be focusing on a book called ‘The lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch.’  We will look at a range of punctuation including full stops, capital letters, exclamations and questions.  We will begin to look at speech punctuation thinking about who is talking and how we show want is being said.  At the end of this unit, we will write our own version of the story choosing the elements we would like to change.

We will have weekly guided reading sessions, where your children will develop their fluency and comprehension knowledge.

Here are some of our children reading one of our old texts ‘Augustus and his Smile’. It was a class favourite!

Phonics

We will continue to follow the Monster Phonics programme to reinforce our knowledge of all phonemes and graphemes as well as our recall of High Frequency and Common Exception Words.

In December, the children will sit the phonics screening check that the children would ordinarily have completed at the end of Year 1.

Maths

In Maths, we will continue our focus on number work, developing our knowledge of inverse operations.  We have looked at the link between addition and subtraction and will also start thinking about the link between multiplication and division. We will also be looking at fractions this term.  We will start by looking at fractions of shape before moving on to fractions of number.  As part of this topic we will also look at lines of symmetry.

Here is some of the fun we have been having in Maths this half term!

Understanding Science and Technology

Science: In Science, we will be exploring Materials and their properties. We will identify the suitability of a variety of every day materials for a particular use based on our understanding of their properties. We will be investigating how things can be kept cool, warm or dry by designing functioning objects for an explorer.We will find out how shapes of solid objects can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.

Here are some of Starfish conducting their own research!

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Computing: We will developing our understanding of what emails are and their role within society. As well as this, we will continue to develop our understanding of technology in the world around us.

Understanding the World

History: This term, we will be completing a project about significant individuals who have contributed to international change. We will be learning about significant explorers throughout History such as James Cook.

RE: In RE, we will be looking at prayer and developing our knowledge of prayer within different religions, including Islam and Christianity.

In the Autumn term we looked at  Harvest and how it is celebrated in the United Kingdom and comparing this to traditions in China. ​

Understanding Arts and Culture

Art: This half term we will be looking at our painting  project. We will look at how to mix colours to make tints and shades, taking inspiration from Matisse in order to create our own wonderful artwork. Here are some of the children mixing colours to make tints, tones and shades. 

Understanding our Health and Well-Being​

PE: In PE this term, we will be focusing on orienteering.  We will be thinking about using a map from a bird’s eye view, reading legends and keys and following simple instructions such as forward, backwards, left and right.​

PSHE: Our topic in PSHE is called Relationships. We will be learning about how families can be similar and different. We will be looking at what makes positive friendships and how to solve conflict as well as trusting relationships and keeping secrets.

Home learning

In line with the rest of the school, we encourage your child to spend time reading at home each evening. This can be recorded in their Reading Record by an adult or by the child.

Each Friday, we set homework on Education City. We post a selection of activities and ask that your child has a go at completing.

Link to Education City

We will also be sending out Spellings, from our Monster Phonics books, every Friday, ready to be checked the following Thursday.

Water bottles

We ask that your child brings a named water bottle to school each day. These are kept by our sink so that your child has free access to them throughout the day. Your child can refill their bottle at one of the water fountains when they need to.

PE kits

We ask that your child has their PE kit in school each day of the week as our timetable is subject to change due to the weather and the availability of space. In line with our school uniform policy, they require a pair of plain blue jogging bottoms for the winter months as we may have our lesson outside.

Reading

We would ask kindly that you please read together with your child every day as it really does make such an enormous difference to their ability to read with fluency, confidence and understanding; reading records should be in book bags daily.

Stars of the week

Zayn for confidently sharing his ideas during our class discussion on climate change

​ Freya