Year 2

Welcome to Year 2

Autumn 2 2023

Year 2 Autumn 2 2023

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I am wishing you all a warm welcome back after the October holidays. I hope you have had a restful break with your families.

This term we will continue to remind children about our school values of Respect, Good Manners, Patience, Perseverance and Honesty.  We will use our reward system 'Brookhouse Monster's University' to recognise good behaviour and attitudes.  If your child is in the winning University team, they will be given a reward at the end of the term.  

PSHE plays a key role in our school, this will take place through class and assembly sessions.  The topic for autumn 2 is called 'Healthy Lifestyles.'

The autumn 2 term topic is called 'Fighting Fit'.

Homework

Please encourage your child to complete their homework each week. Homework is given out on a Friday and is expected to be completed and returned no later than the following Wednesday. 

Your child's weekly homework tasks can be found in the Autumn 2 Homework Grid, which is glued into your child's homework book - a copy of which can also be found above in the important document section. 

An optional termly project is also sent home, a copy of which can be found in the important document section above, along with online optional homework available through Purple Mash, Reading Plus and TT Rockstars.

Daily reading is crucial, so please can you listen to your child read as much as possible at home to support their learning and also their understanding of different texts.

English

To begin with we will studying a non-fiction unit called instructions, before leading into a fiction unit called traditional tales with a twist. We will do this through the use of the ‘Talk for Writing’ strategy of imitate, innovate and invent.  As well as this, we will be focusing on the skills needed to invent their own piece of writing and look at writing through other subject areas.  

Whole class reading will continue to take place every day, through which we encourage children to focus on new vocabulary in the text and the comprehension of the text.

To further support your child's skills in reading comprehension, please support your children in their reading of school books, at home for ten minutes every day.  We will also continue to encourage children to improve their oracy skills through continued application of Voice 21 strategies.

Mathematics 

Maths lessons will provide pupils with the opportunity to learn using concrete, pictorial and abstract models. They will then learn to apply this knowledge to reasoning and problem solving (QUACK - Please ask your children what this means).  We will start the year with a focus on place value, before moving onto addition and subtraction.

Please encourage your child to practise their timetables at home, completing to achieve Bronze, Silver or Gold in counting in 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 8s and 10s. Please begin with the 2 times table, before leading to hopefully securing the 2,3,4,5,8 and 10 times tables.  In order to aid them with this, your child can use the online program 'Times Table Rockstars' or complete set activities on Purple Mash. 

Science

We will continue to study animals, including humans (Biology). They will find out about and describe the basic needs of animals for survival. Children will then describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food and hygiene.

In order to help your child remember the key knowledge, please encourage your child to learn their Knowledge Organisers.

Physical Education

In Year 2, P.E will take place every Thursday so please make sure your children come to school in their full P.E kit - Yellow P.E shirt with the school's logo, black joggers, shorts or leggings and their school green sweatshirt. In their P.E lessons (athletics) they will focus on fundamental skills, focusing on improving their ability to run, hop, skip and throw with increased consistency, accuracy, confidence, control and speed.

Computing

In our computing this half term pupils will continue to learn about Computer Science (coding).  They will learn how to read and understand code, including how to remix code to achieve a particular outcome. Importantly the children will also learn how to debug code, before independently creating a brand new program. 

History

In our history topic the children will learn about how toys have changed from the 20th to 21st century. They will develop an awareness of the past and begin to understand some of the ways that we can find out about the past. This will also include a visit to Blackburn Museum to participate in a Toys workshop, playing with antique toys and creating a toy of our own from the past. 

DT

In our DT project the children will make a healthy pasta salad. To begin with we will explore existing pasta projects, discovering their nutritional value and evaluating their taste. Before the children design and then create their own healthy pasta salad. 

Oracy - Voice 21

As a school we are developing our Oracy, learning through talk and learning to talk.  In class, we will create discussion guidelines in order to aid meaningful discussions.  We encourage children to fully participate by taking on a range of roles and utilising sentence stems to articulate their ideas.  We will provide opportunities for discussion in all areas of the curriculum.

Every school day is important, therefore it is vital that they are punctual in the mornings and they attend school every day, as much as it is possible.

Any queries feel free to talk to us in the morning or at the end of the day or arrange an appointment through the school office.

Parents evening will occur on Wednesday 8th November, I look forward to seeing you at that time. 

Thank you in advance for your continued support, it is much appreciated.

Mr G Owen (Year 2 Teacher and Lower School Leader)

Mrs S Ali (HLTA)

Mrs N Saleem (SSA)

Mrs Y Hussain (SSA)