Welcome to Year 2

 

 

Meet the Team 

Mrs. Vickerman (Class Teacher), Miss. Berlie (Teaching Assistant) 

Senora Flores teaches our weekly Spanish lesson and Mr Cooke will teach PE on Tuesdays and Fridays. 

 

Woodpeckers

Summer Term 6

This term in Woodpeckers: 

 

As Authors, we will be exploring the brilliant book, Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl. We will immerse ourselves in this exciting, action-packed and humorous story as we follow Mr Fox's clever adventures against the three mean farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean. We will explore the main characters in detail, looking at their appearance, feelings, actions, special attributes and personalities. We will discuss how the characters behave throughout the story and use evidence from the text to support our ideas.

We will be learning to write detailed character descriptions based on the characters in the story, carefully choosing adjectives, expanded noun phrases and ambitious vocabulary to bring our writing to life. We will focus on writing in complete sentences, using punctuation accurately and editing our work to make improvements. We will work hard to capture each character's unique personality and create writing that engages the reader.

As Authors, for reading, we will be developing our reading skills through sequencing events, retrieving information from the text, exploring vocabulary and making inferences to show a deeper understanding of the story. We will use clues from the text to explain our thinking, make predictions and discuss the actions and motives of different characters.

Reading lessons will also focus on developing fluency, intonation and expression through echo reading, partner reading and reading aloud. We will build our confidence as readers by discussing the story, sharing our opinions and justifying our ideas using evidence from the text.

As Authors, we will be learning and applying spelling rules for adding suffixes, including plurals using -s and -es, as well as exploring common spelling patterns. We will continue to practise spelling Common Exception Words and applying them accurately in our writing.

Your child may wish to continue practising their Common Exception Words (CEWs) at home to support fluency and confidence in both reading and writing. Short, regular practice can make a big difference.

 

As Mathematicians this term, we will be learning about Time, Statistics and Position and Direction through our White Rose Maths scheme.

Time

  • Telling and writing the time to the nearest 5 minutes.
  • Understanding o'clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to.
  • Comparing and sequencing intervals of time.
  • Knowing the number of minutes in an hour and the number of hours in a day.

Statistics

  • Interpreting and constructing tally charts, pictograms and block diagrams.
  • Asking and answering questions using data.
  • Comparing and discussing information presented in different ways.

Position and Direction

  • Describing movement and turns, including clockwise and anti-clockwise.
  • Using mathematical language to describe position, direction and movement.
  • Following and giving simple directions.

We will continue to develop our mathematical fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills through practical activities, investigations and mathematical discussions.

Timestables

Please support your child at home by practising their 2, 5 and 10 times tables. This is now a weekly focus in school to develop fluency, recall and speed.

Helpful websites

Hit the Button - Hit the Button - Quick fire maths practise for 6-11 year olds

Mathsframe - Multiplication Tables Check - Mathsframe

 

As Historians, we will be exploring the story of the Titanic and investigating why it remains one of the most famous events in history. We will learn about life aboard the Titanic, compare the experiences of passengers travelling in different classes and discover what happened on the night the ship sank.

We will investigate how the sinking of the Titanic led to important changes in maritime safety, including lifeboat regulations and safety procedures. We will also explore why the disaster captured the world's attention and why it is still remembered more than 100 years later.

 

As Scientists, we will be learning about Living Things and Their Habitats. We will explore a variety of habitats and microhabitats, identifying the plants and animals that live there. We will investigate how living things depend on each other for food and survival and learn about simple food chains.

Through practical investigations and outdoor learning, children will observe, compare and classify living things, ask scientific questions and gather evidence to support their ideas.

 

Reading

Please read with your child at least three times a week. Please sign and initial your child’s reading record each time you read together, as this allows your child to be entered into a raffle for a prize! If you wish to comment as well, that would be most welcome. The children will change their reading books on Friday (unless they haven’t finished it). We encourage children to keep their book for at least a week so they have the opportunity to read it more than once and deepen their understanding through comprehension questions.

During the Summer Term, I will be sending home a weekly 60 Second Read every Friday, accompanied by four short comprehension questions. Each question type has its own canine helper to guide the children on how to approach their answers – I am sure your child will enjoy showing you the actions for each one!
These short activities are designed to support the children in developing their comprehension skills and to build on the excellent work taking place in school. We encourage you to use them in a way that works best for your child. This might include reading the text together, discussing ideas, and talking through possible answers.
There is no expectation for children to write their responses. Instead, the focus is on developing spoken language through conversation, helping children to explain their thinking and deepen their understanding of what they have read. The activities do not need to be returned to school. This read can also be recorded as one of your child’s weekly reads.

 

Home Learning

During the Summer Term, children will also be working through a times tables booklet, beginning with the 2 times table. They can work through this at their own pace across the term, moving on to the next booklet once they feel confident. You can support your child in a range of practical and engaging ways at home. For example, use small objects such as pasta, buttons or coins to make groups of 2 to help them visualise multiplication. Encourage your child to count in 2s aloud (e.g. 2, 4, 6, 8…) while clapping, jumping or marching to build confidence and fluency. Once your child is becoming more secure, you could time how quickly they can complete a column in their booklet or challenge them to beat their own score. Online games such as Mathsframe can also help to develop quick recall in a fun and engaging way.

 

Our PE days this term are: Tuesdays and Fridays