Year 2

Curriculum Overview Spring Term 2015

Topic / English / Maths
The main focus of our Spring Term topic will be ‘Bollywood’. We are going to be focusing on Mumbai to learn about a non-European country and compare this to Gateshead. We will be learning about many aspects of India through other curriculum areas such as geography, art, design and technology etc… We will be finding out about India as a place as well as its cultural background and how people live their lives differently there due to their religious customs and culture. / Your child will continue to have daily English lessons. Some of these will be following the Read Write Inc. programme. This will allow your child to develop their reading, writing and spelling skills.
During English lessons, children will be learning how to write both fiction and non-fiction texts including stories, explanations and information booklets. We will be investigating the features of these texts and applying this when writing our own. / Number – We will continue to develop our understanding of numbers and calculating using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. To apply these calculation skills, we will be solving problems and carrying out investigations.
Geometry – To develop our learning on shapes, we are going to find out about the lines of symmetry in 2D shapes.
Measurement – We will be leaning about shape, space and capacity and their units of measurement. With time, we will be learning to read the clock at five minute intervals including quarter past and to the hour.
Science / Geography / Computing
In science, we will be identifying and comparing the suitability of everyday materials including wood, metal, rock, brick and glass for particular uses.
We are also going to find out how forces can changed the shapes of materials by processes such as squashing, bending, twisting and stretching. / The children will be learning about the geographical similarities and differences when studying Gateshead and Mumbai in India. We will be finding out about the climate and human and physical features of these places.
As part of our study, we will be learning how to use simple compass directions and locational and directional vocabulary to talk about the places on a map and to describe a route to a place. / In our learning about computing we are going to learn how to program Bee Bots to give instructions on direction and movement which links to our geography learning.
During our computing lessons, we are going to learn how to program on-screen in order to command objects to move from a starting location to a specific point.
Art / / PSCHE
In art, we are going to investigate art in India and look specifically at Rangoli patterns and designs. We will then create our own using printing and painting techniques. To keep with traditional Indian culture, we will also experiment creating Rangoli patterns using rice grains, flour, sand and chalk. Also, the children will be creating an Indian home on a 3D scale. These will be based on a traditional Indian home. The children will need to think about suitable materials which they will need to complete their task. / Our PSHCE topics will focus on ‘Unity, honesty and Co-Operation’. We will be learning how our differences should be celebrated and how to get along together.
PE / Music / RE
We are very lucky to welcome a specialist tennis coach into school who will be working with Year 2 to practise and develop their tennis skills. We will also start to learn how to create simple sequences of gymnastic movements using floor space and equipment. / In music, we will continue to explore pulse and rhythm using a range of percussion instruments. We are also going to begin to explore pitch where tuned instruments will be used to create simple sequences of music. / In R.E our religious focus will be Christianity and we will find out why Jesus told stories. We are also going to learn about why celebrations are important when thinking about religion.
Home Learning / Your child will continue to have home learning sent out each week. It will go home on a Monday and it should be returned on a Friday. Your child will continue to have ten spellings which they are to learn and then write sentences with five of the words. They will also be given a mathematics activity which will consolidate learning done in class that week. This usually has a number focus. Your child will also be asked to complete an activity linked to the learning they have been doing in their topic lessons throughout the week.
Please read with your child daily, ten minutes each day will make a huge difference to your child’s development with reading. Once your child has read, please ask them a few questions to check their understanding. There are suggested questions in the back of the books. Please could you write a small comment within your child’s Reading Record so their teacher knows how they are doing with their reading at home.