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St John's Catholic

Primary School

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St John's Catholic

Primary School

Autumn Term Overview

 

Welcome to Year 2

 

All the Year 2 team are looking forward to working with you and your children this year.

Year 2’s are now ‘Top Infants’ and we hope their behaviour in and around school reflects this. Pupils are expected to concentrate for longer periods and to work more independently. We will be giving children more responsibility in school and expect a greater amount of personal organisation. 

 

R.E.

In R.E. our topics for this term are ‘Creation and Covenant’ and ‘Prophecy and Promise'. During our first half term, our topic is 'Creation and Covenant'. We will be looking at the Bible and how it is separated into the old and new testament, the story of Noah's Ark and his covenant with God, being stewards of God's earth and all living things and the Sacrament of Baptism. During our second half term, our topic is 'Prophecy and Promise' and we will be focusing on the infancy of Jesus and the stories in the Bible that lead to His birth as well as introducing John the Baptist. We will also explore the liturgical season of Advent. 

 

The children will also begin to prepare their own celebrations of the words as well as saying the more formal prayers such as ‘The Sign of the Cross’, the ‘Hail Mary’ and the ‘Our Father’. We will be saying grace before and after meals. We will be celebrating Harvest, Advent and Christmas with appropriate liturgies, hymns and drama.

 

English

READING

Children will be encouraged to respond to poems, stories and information texts in a group or shared reading situation. Now that their reading skills are developing well, we will be concentrating on developing their fluency, expression and understanding of what they have read. Books will still be sent home and we request that you hear your child read every day. Your child will be reading every day in school, but not always from their individual ‘Reading’ book. We will also be including comprehension exercises in our practiced reading sessions. Please ask your child questions about the characters, setting and content of the story in the book they are reading and most importantly PLEASE sign your child’s reading diary to say what they have read. 

 

PHONICS

We will continue to have direct phonics lessons dealing with alternative sounds, more complex words and spelling patterns. Later in the year, we will also be sending spellings home which will be tested weekly. It is important that you help your child learn these spellings every week. 

 

HANDWRITING

We are now concentrating on developing a neat cursive handwriting style following the 'Letter Join' Scheme. 

 

ENGLISH

In the first half term we will be looking at bridging our learning from Year 1 to Year 2 using a Lancashire Unit called 'The Way Home for Wolf'. During the creating interest and reading phases of the narrative unit, children will share and explore in detail the text 'The Way Home for Wolf' by Rachel Bright. They will take part in a range of reading response lessons, during which short writing opportunities, both modelled and independent, will feature. As part of the gathering content section, a non-fiction unit has been embedded within the sequence, in which children will have the opportunity to create a page for an information book based on a chosen animal. This will be facilitated through both modelled and independent writing. Upon returning to the narrative unit, children will then use this content about their chosen animal to inform the writing of their own story based on the original text The Way Home for Wolf.

 

In the second half term we will be looking at a Lancashire Unit called 'Fighting Fit'. This topic will consist of two units. The first unit will be traditional tales with a twist. We will explore a range of traditional tales where we will make predictions on the text and of the characters. We will also identify repetitive language and use story maps, images and role play to orally retell these stories. We will finish the unit by writing our own traditional tale with a twist. The second unit will be instructions. Our outcome will be to write a set of instructions for a new playground game.
 

 

MATHS

Our Maths work, both mental and written, will include work on place value, addition, subtraction, and shape and we will use White Rose Maths to support our learning. We will work on securing number facts and how to use these facts to solve mathematical problems.

SCIENCE

During the first half term our topic will be 'Plant Growth'. We will be looking at both seeds and bulbs, what a plant needs to grow and what it needs to stay healthy. 

During the second half term our topic will be 'Needs of Animals'. We will be looking at how animals reproduce, how humans grow as well as what animals and humans need to survive. We will look at what we need for a healthy balanced diet and the importance of exercise.

ART

In Art, out topic will be 'Our School'. In this topic, we will be exploring architecture and urban landscapes. We’ll use photography to capture buildings and record different surface textures. We will also look at the exciting designs of Zaha Hadid and the creative work of The Boyle Family to inspire our own artwork. This project will give us the chance to experiment with different ways of recording, designing, and responding to the world around us.

 

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

In Design Technology, out topic will be 'Salads'. Pupils will develop their understanding of healthy, balanced diets through the preparation of salads. This will involve exploring ingredients, nutrition, and food hygiene, alongside the practical development of key food preparation skills, including chopping, peeling, and grating.

GEOGRAPHY

In Geography, our topic is called 'Mini Mappers'. We will be studying both the human and physical geography of the local area, with an introduction to scale and fieldwork. Pupils will develop practical skills such as drawing routes, creating sketch maps, and using the four points of the compass. Fieldwork will be conducted in the school grounds, guided by an enquiry question to support geographical investigation and understanding.

HISTORY

In history, our topic will be our 'Local History'. We will be learning how our local community has changed over time. This study will include examining both primary sources, which are created by people who experienced events firsthand, and secondary sources, which analyse or interpret primary sources.

 

P.E.

In the first half term, our topics will be looking at fundamental skills and how to bounce a ball whilst using these skills in games. Our second topic will be, games focusing on striking and fielding games.

 

In the second half term, our topics will be looking at games and in particular 'Piggy in the Middle' type games where we are having defenders and attackers. Our second topic will be, gymnastics where we look at different types of travel, jumps, balances and rolls which the children will put into a sequence.

 

Throughout all our P.E. lessons we will be learning to follow instructions and work together as part of a team and learn the importance of exercise as a way of keeping healthy. 

MUSIC

During the first half term, our topic will be 'Questions and Answers'. The children will learn two songs; 'Hello', which celebrates different greetings from around the world, and Hey Friends, a jazzy, upbeat song about making friends and respecting one another. The children will learn what 

timbre means and identify percussion instruments by their sound and also improvise using Question and Answer phrases on untuned instruments.

 

During the second half term, our topic will focus on singing and will be 'The Christmas Story'. The children will be practicing and preparing songs to perform as part of the KS1 Nativity. 

PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION (P.S.H.E)

Our topic for P.S.H.E. is 'Created and Loved by God'. Created and Loved by God explores the individual. Rooted in the teaching that we are created by God out of love and for love, it helps children to develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for personal relationships. This will include people in the school community and the wider world. 


 

COMPUTING 

In the first half term, our topic will be 'Computing Systems and Networks - IT around us'. In this topic we will be looking at IT in the home. We will explore how it benefits society in places such as shops, libraries and hospitals whilst also discussing the responsible use of technology, and how to make smart choices when using it. 

 
In the second half term, our topic will be 'Creating Media - Digital Photography'. In this topic we will learn to recognise that different devices can be used to capture photographs and will gain experience capturing, editing and improving photos. The children will then use this knowledge to recognise that images they see may not be real. 

May I take this opportunity of thanking you in advance and I look forward to your support in this very busy term. If there is anything you need to talk to me about, you are welcome to make a telephone appointment and I will contact you as soon as I am able, or contact me via email.  

 

h.parkinson@poulton-st-johns.lancs.sch.uk

 

Many thanks,

Miss Parkinson

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