Caterpillar and Spider Classes

Welcome to Year 2

 

Caterpillar and Spider classes are our Year 2 classes at the Isle of Ely Primary School.

Who works in our classroom:

Miss Georgia Russell         Mrs Amy Wreathall            Mrs Jacky Pattenden      

  

 Mrs Claire Harrison          Mrs Samantha Lambert       Mrs Cherry Lock

 

In Year 2 this half term, we will be learning:

Subject	Content
English	In English this half term we will be focussing on creating action within our writing. We will once again we using the Talk4Writing approach, beginning with our cold write, before moving through the imitation, innovation and independent stages. Our model text this half term is ‘The Story of Pirate Tom’ which will provide us with a high-quality example. We will be working on consistently using on our non-negotiables of full stops and capital letters. Furthermore, to improve the content of our writing, we will be using tools such as dramatic fronted adverbials such as “suddenly”, “unfortunately” and “at that moment” at the start of our sentences, using sentences of three and choosing verbs that have emotion. During this half term, we will be reading two chapter books; ‘Mr Majeika’ by Humphrey Carpenter and ‘The Hedgehog’ by Dick King-Smith We will be developing our reading fluency and intonation, as well as all of the VIPERS skills (vocabulary, inference, prediction, evidence, retrieval and summarise).
Maths	In Maths, we will be focusing on two main areas of learning. The first is ‘statistics’ where we will look at tally charts, pictograms and block diagrams. Next we will explore ‘problem solving and efficient methods’. During this unit, we will be applying methods we have been practicing throughout the year to solve word problems. We will use the remainder of our maths lessons to consolidate our Year 2 learning including time, money and word problems.
Science	In science will be learning about astronomy. We will cover the order of the planets in our solar system, orbit and rotation, the phases of the moon, stars and constellations and also space exploration.
Geography	This half term we are focusing on Northern Europe. To begin with me focus on the continents of the world and recap our knowledge of the continents and oceans. We then focus directly on Northern Europe and the Scandinavian countries, exploring how these countries differ from the UK and why. We focus on physical features of Northern Europe including, geysers, volcanos, mountains, waterfalls, fjords and how the climate is different in this part of Europe due to its positioning to the equator. We finish the topic by looking at animal migration and how animals have adapted to survive these harsh climates.
RE	In RE, we will be looking at stories from the bible which are special to Christians. We will learn why parables are so important and look in more detail at some of the stories and their meanings.
Music	In Music, the theme for this half term is ‘Myths and Legends’. Some of the key skills the children will be learning and developing are; create rhythms and arrange them in a particular order or structure, identify the structure of a piece of music and write it down, describe whether a musical texture is thick or thin, explore ways of writing down different textural layers, follow a given structure for a composition, write a structure score accurately, compose music with several layers and perform their composition accurately, following the structure score.
PE	During PE this half term, the children will be focusing on two areas: Athletics and Striking and Fielding. In both areas, the children will be building on their skills from previous years as well as developing and applying PE skills they have learnt in other areas of PE this year.
Computing	Stop Motion Animation: The children will begin to understand that an animation is made up of a sequence of photographs. They will learn that small changes in my frames will create a smoother looking animation. Finally they will understand what software creates simple animations and some of its features e.g. onion skinning.
Art	In art, we will be learning about landscapes and seascapes. We will be focussing on the artwork of Turner.  We will discuss his artwork using Rob Taylor’s Content, Form, Process, Mood model and use it as inspiration to create our own seascapes. We will also recap our knowledge of colour in this unit of work.
PSHE	Changing Me – Children will look at different life cycles in nature including that of humans. They reflect on the changes that occur (not including puberty) between baby, toddler, child, teenager, adult and old-age. Within this, children also discuss how independence, freedoms and responsibility can increase with age. As part of a school’s safeguarding duty, pupils are re-taught the correct words for private parts of the body (those kept private by underwear: vagina, anus, penis, testicle, vulva). They are also reminded that nobody has the right to hurt these parts of the body, including a lesson on inappropriate touch and assertiveness. Children practise a range of strategies for managing feelings and emotions. They are also taught where they can get help if worried or frightened. Change is taught as a natural and normal part of growing up and the range of emotions that can occur with change are explored and discussed.

 

Our class text is: The Hodgeheg by Dick King-Smith and Bees and Wasps

Knowledge Organisers:

At the Isle of Ely Primary School, we use knowledge organisers as a tool to enhance our students learning and to allow parents and carers to support their child's learning. In our knowledge organisers you will find essential knowledge, key dates, vocabulary and key figures where relevant. These can be used as a fun assessment tool which will ensure that students remember more and learn more in the upcoming unit of work.

Art

Computing

Geography

Music

Science

RE

 

Newsflash!

Week Commencing 8th July

It has been another fast paced week in Year 2 for both Caterpillars and Spiders. We cannot believe that next week is the final week before the summer holidays! The children have planned and written their own journey stories and began editing them ready for their Best Book next week. In maths we have been consolidating prior learning of using the column method to add and subtract two, 2 digit numbers. Next week is going to be an exciting one, starting with sports day on Monday. We look forward to welcoming many of you from 11am! 

Week Commencing 1st July

It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Isle Fest on Saturday. Thank you so much to everyone who came, and of course to all of the children and grown ups who took part in performances! This week in Year 2, the children continued consolidating methods for addition and subtraction in Maths.  In writing, we began the week by writing a variety of story openers and endings. Then we continued to learn our new model text 'The Story of Pirate Tom'.  In science,  the children learnt about space exploration. 

Week Commencing 24th June

This week in Year 2, the children began consolidating methods for addition and subtraction in Maths.  In writing, we began the week by writing a 'cold task' piece about a pirate who goes on an adventure. Next we began to learn our new model text 'The Story of Pirate Tom'.  In Geography, they learnt about the some physical features of Northern Europe.  In P.E, the children developed their jumping for distance and over arm throwing technique.  Have a great weekend. 

Week Commencing 17th June

This week has been assessment week across the school. The children in Year 2 completed assessments in writing, spelling, grammar, maths and reading. They have worked super hard during the assessments, they showed resilience throughout the week even when they were challenged by questions. Well done Year 2! On Friday, it was Green House charity day. The children thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the events, it was a nice way to end a hard week of learning. Rest up and see you Monday! 

Week Commencing 10th June

This week in Year 2 the children worked really hard to plan and write a poem. They are all really proud of the poem they wrote and so are we! They used lots of similes to describe the reader of their poem, many of them about their parents and siblings! In maths, the children focused on drawing and interpreting pictograms and they completed an end of unit check on Thursday. In PE, the children practiced their throwing and catching skills and learned how this skill helps when fielding. In Geography, the children focused on finding countries in Europe. Take care and enjoy the weekend!

Week Commencing 3rd June

Welcome back to the final half term of the year! We cannot believe how quickly the year is flying by. This half term we will be helping to prepare the children for their transition into KS2 as well as all of the exciting curriculum learning. This week the children began the astronomy unit in science. We revisited learning from Y1 by naming all 8 planets in the solar system (9 if you include Pluto)!  In Maths, we started the statistics unit and will continue into next week. In Writing, we moved on to the innovation stage and ended the week by planning and writing our 'Hot Write'. Have a great weekend. 

Week Commencing 20th May

Arts week has been absolutely amazing! We have enjoyed many workshops, including singing, dancing, printing, drumming, painting and sculpting! Thank you to all of the artists who came into school to deliver these inspiring experiences to our children! They thoroughly enjoyed every workshop and felt proud of the pieces of art they created! It was parent share on Tuesday, we would like to say a big thank you to all of the grown ups who helped the children with their sewing! Every child went home having made and decorated a pouch with a running stitch! Have a wonderful half term week and see you for the final half term of Year 2. 

Week Commencing 13th May

The penultimate week in Year 2 has been a little different than usual. The Year 6's have been busy with their SATS, so KS1 altered their timetable to help with this. The children have adapted brilliantly and shown great resilience. In Maths, the children began their unit of learning on 'Position and Direction', which has some links to their computing knowledge from the Autumn Term. In writing, the children started to internalise our model text, as well as learning two new writing tools. Have a great weekend and we look forward to Arts Week from Monday! 

Week Commencing 6th May

It has been a short but busy week in Year 2. The children continued learning about time in Maths. They moved on to telling the time to 5 minutes, which was a tricky concept so they will need to practice lots at home to help them secure their understanding! In Writing, the children wrote their 'Hot Write' about a magical object found by a character chosen by them. We will now move on to a piece of persuasive writing, our model text is 'Rockabilly Island'. In this unit, the children will learn how to use contracted forms of words and expanded noun phrases. Have a great weekend everyone. 

Week Commencing 29th April

This week in Year 2, the children began learning about time. They started by recapping their knowledge of 'o'clock' and half past, before moving on to quarter past and quarter to. In writing, they continued to embed our new model text and practiced writing tools including; conjunctions, past progressive tense and handwriting, before moving on to innovating our story to become 'The Magic Drum'. In history, they learnt about the layout of Must Farm, including the features of the settlement. In P.E, the children developed their skipping skills along side their knowledge and understanding of fitness, some of them even managed to do a double hop between skips! Have a great weekend. 

Week Commencing 22nd April

This week in Year 2, the children continued learning about fractions in Maths. In writing, they continued to embed our new model text and practiced writing tools including; conjunctions, past progressive tense and handwriting. In history, they learnt about when, where and how the Bronze age settlement 'Must Farm' was discovered. In P.E, the children developed their skipping skills along side their knowledge and understanding of fitness. 

Week Commencing 15th April 

It has been a great week to kick off the summer term! The children have began new units of learning in all areas of the curriculum, as well as enjoying the virtual reality experience on Thursday. The children wore special headsets which allowed them to explore the lands of Ancient Egypt, which is directly linked to the learning they did in History earlier in the year. In Maths, we began learning about fractions, starting with recognising and finding half. In writing, the children learnt what a 'Finding Tale' is and had a go at writing one independently as part of their 'cold task.