Our Lady's

The Year 2 Team

Miss Newton, Mrs Atton, and Mrs Harding will be in the Year 2 class.

Autumn 1

Coastlines, Geography based unit.

In Year 2, we will be building on our knowledge of the world around us and learning all about coastlines.

• The children will learn the four parts of the United Kingdom and their capital cities, and practise locating them on a map.

• They will discover the seven continents and the five oceans of the world.

• They will explore the physical features of a coastline, such as cliffs, beaches, and rock pools.

• They will also learn about the human features of a coastal town, including harbours, piers, and lighthouses.

This geography topic links closely with our English lessons, where we will be reading the much-loved story The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch. This text will help to bring our seaside learning to life and will inspire a range of reading and writing activities.

By the end of the topic, the children will have developed a stronger understanding of their place in the world and how people live, work and spend leisure time by the sea.

Autumn 2

Movers and shakers, our History unit.

In Year 2, children will learn about significant people from the past, such as Florence Nightingale. They will explore how life changed because of their actions, when these events happened, and how we find out about the past using sources like books, diaries, paintings, newspapers, and objects. This topic also links with our English work, where children will write their own newspaper articles about historical events and enjoy creative stories like The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, helping them think about themes of courage and change.

Maths 

Across the school we look at mastery in maths and use the White Rose scheme. The children have access to a wide range of concrete apparatus but will mostly use Numicon and Base 10 equipment in Yr2. Alongside their daily maths lessons, the children will take part in a maths blast session that will secure basics such as number bonds to 10. Children will also be exploring their times-table knowledge in a range of lessons and practical's using iPad's for TTRS and other resources. 

 
Physical Education
The children have P.E every week on Thursday and Friday. They should come to school wearing full P.E kit consisting of trousers/ shorts, T-shirt and trainers which adhere to the school uniform policy. Earrings cannot be worn during the P.E session therefore it is greatly appreciated if parents take earrings out before school, this will also ensure that jewellery is not lost - staff cannot help to remove earrings.

Home Learning

Children are expected to be as independent as possible by taking responsibility for: handing in homework; changing their independent reading book; as well as taking care of their own P.E kit and school uniform. This will help them to develop increased responsibility for their own learning and the choices they make as they move through the school.

Seesaw

All parents are asked to sign up for Seesaw -  Seesaw is a simple way for teachers and students to record and share what's happening in the classroom. Seesaw gives students a place to document their learning, be creative and learn how to use technology. Each student gets their own journal and will add things to it, like photos, videos, drawings, or notes.

Homework
Homework will be sent out via Seesaw. Topic homework will be projects to complete over the half term. Please see Seesaw for any notes/extra guidance.
Each week the children will have spellings via Seesaw to practise at home.

Reading

Children should read each night with a parent or older sibling. They will be allowed to change reading books once they have completed the book and are able to read and discuss it confidently. Your child’s progress will be monitored through comments in reading diaries as well as reading done with the children in school. The children will move through the reading bands when they have acquired the skill to read the books fluently and understand the text confidently. Reading diaries should be signed a minimum of three times per week at home.

The children will also access Accelerated Reader(AR) in school weekly. Please see below for a summary of the benefits of AR.

Writing

Children  will be developing their writing skills by using adjectives, expanded noun phrases, verbs, and conjunctions to make their sentences more interesting. They learn to structure their writing, use correct punctuation, and spell common words accurately. Children write for different purposes, such as stories, letters, and reports, and practice expressing their ideas clearly and creatively, building confidence and enjoyment in writing.

The 5 steps to reading success
It's all about practise. AR encourages substantial differentiated reading practise to create strong readers. Based on each student's independent reading level, AR helps teachers set personalised goals for each student, and guide students to books that are difficult enough to keep them challenged, but not so difficult as to cause frustration. In addition, AR helps teachers monitor students' vocabulary growth, literacy skills development, and other reading skills.

1.Determine reading level.First, a student’s optimal reading level is determined through the STAR Reading Enterprise assessment. This assessment suggests a range of book levels for each student called the “zone of proximal development”,or ZPD. Children should begin reading books that have a level at the lower end of their ZPD and gradually move up the range in order to make optimum progress.
 2. Set practice goals. Teachers support children to set individualised reading practice goals based on reading quantity, quality, and difficulty and they can then monitor progress toward those goals.
3. Personalised practice. Personalised reading practice means students read books of interest at their own reading level. AR Book Finder makes it easy to find the perfect book.
4. Students take an AR Quiz. AR offers more than 150,000 quizzes of three types on both fiction and nonfiction titles. Students have many different options for taking AR Quizzes, including laptops, PCs and tablets as well as through the AR Student App available on Apple® devices.
5. Receive instant feedback. AR provides teachers with immediate information, helping them monitor the comprehension skills of each student and inform further instruction or intervention. Students and parents get instant feedback to help motivate success with the use of Renaissance Home Connect.

chttps://ukhosted11.renlearn.co.uk/2248093/default.aspx

Numbots

Numbots is an online learning platform which is accessed through the Times Tables Rockstars login. The game is aimed at boosting addition and subtraction skills for all aged children. All children start at the same place in Story Mode, and when they get to a certain stage they unlock Challenge Modes.

https://play.numbots.com

Times Table Rockstars 

Times Tables Rock Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice with a rock star theme. The children log in with their own username and password (reading diaries) and practise their times tables. Tables are currently set for Year 2 (2's,5's and 10's) and will increase as we learn more. Children are inspired to become ‘rockstars’ through fun daily practice.

A majority of maths topics require multiplication knowledge and without quick recall children can fall behind. This can also affect learners’ confidence in maths or cause them to become anxious about their abilities. Teaching higher level maths can become difficult if students lack fundamental skills, such as times tables recall and so it is a crucial aspect of maths lessons. 

https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/8048

Purple Mash 

Purple Mash is used in ICT lessons and Topic lessons. It's a creative online space with lots of projects to complete.

 https://www.purplemash.com/sch/ourlady-st4