Spring 1
This half-term our Learning Journey was called ‘Fire and Ice’. We launched our topic with the beautiful text “The Snow Dragon by Vivian French.” The children found some dragon’s eggs in the hall which we have cared for. We have also investigated the historic event, The Great Fire of London.
English
We started this half term learning about warning tales and suspense. We learnt the story, ‘Kazeem and the Fire Dragon’, looking carefully at the story structure and typical plot of a warning tale. We learnt how to create suspense in our stories and practiced using these features. Children then used their knowledge of ‘Kazeem and the Fire Dragon’ to create their own warning tales with suspense. Also, in English this half term, we have written descriptive poems, imagining what it might have been like to be in ‘The Great Fire of London’. We have tried to include adjectives, similes and alliteration to describe the fire. In spelling sessions, we have focused on adding the suffixes -ed and -ing to root words. We have used the rhyme, “Is there a letter we need to drop? Is there a letter to double or swap?” You could help your child with their English skills by reading with them as often as possible and learning to read and spell the tricky words on pages 18 and 19 of their reading diary.
Maths
As Mathematicians, the children have continued to practise their addition and subtraction skills. We have also been learning about 2D and 3D shapes. We have learnt to identify these shapes and describe them using their properties. We have also been learning about money, the different coin and note values and how to add different values, and find change.
Creative Curriculum As Historians, we have been learning about The Great Fire of London. We had a visit from Sir William Petty who was an eye-witness to this famous historical event and he told us how it started and what happened. We did experiments to show how the fire spread and how people tried to put the fire out.
As part of our Design and Technology learning the children have had to design purposeful, functional, and appealing products based on their design criteria. Children in Year 2, made fire engines using a range of tools and equipment to develop their skills such as cutting, shaping, joining and finishing. They have critiqued, evaluated and tested their own and others finished products.
Autumn 2
This half-term our Learning Journey was called ‘Nurturing Nurses’, based on the lives of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. We launched our topic with a special visitor: Florence Nightingale came to visit our class and share her life story, which we later explored through interactive workshops and role play.
English
We have learnt about the life of Florence Nightingale and focused on recounting her experiences. The children practised writing in chronological order, using time conjunctions and carefully chosen adjectives to enhance their descriptions.
We have also been writing a journey tale inspired by the story ‘The Talking Papaya’. The children worked hard to include dialogue and adverbials in their writing.
Maths
As mathematicians, the children have been focusing on addition and subtraction this half term. They have been exploring different methods for adding and subtracting two 2‑digit numbers, including using a number line. We have been applying our place value and number bond knowledge to add to the next multiple of 10 and to add multiples of 10 confidently.
Creative Curriculum
In History, we have been learning about the lives of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, comparing their achievements and their roles in the Crimean War. We discussed the impact they had during the war and their lasting legacy today.
In Art, we explored tone and sketching skills linked to portrait work. The children learnt how to use tone effectively and applied a range of mark‑making techniques when drawing their own portraits, as well as portraits of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole.
In DT, we created our own class scarecrows as part of the school Pumpkin Patch celebration, designing a scarecrow in the likeness of the inspirational David Attenborough. We also used our DT skills to make items to sell at the Christmas Fayre, as part of our Young Enterprise project.
Autumn 1
This half-term our Learning Journey was called ‘Happily Ever After’ and it has been based around the beautiful book, ‘The Jolly Postman’ and Fairytale Land. We launched our topic with a delivery of lost parcels. The children opened the parcels and had to think about and discuss who they should have been sent too. E.g 1 glass slipper.
English We have learnt the story, ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and focused on describing the settings in the story. We practiced choosing adjectives carefully, using similes and including the time of day and weather to really set the scene in our stories.
Also, in English this half term, we have been writing instructions. Our instructional text was, ‘How to Trap a Giant’ and we innovated this to write our own instructions to trap another fairytale villain. Children worked hard to include the features of instructional texts in their writing.
Maths As Mathematicians the children have been focusing on understanding the place value of 2-digit numbers. (How many tens and ones are in a given number) We have practised making, drawing, comparing and ordering numbers to 100.
Also in Maths, we have started to learn about addition and subtraction. We have practised adding and subtracting a multiple of 10, a 1-digit number and have applied our number bond to 10 knowledge to add to the next multiple of 10.
Creative Curriculum
In Geography, we have been learning about our local area. We enjoyed a walk around Kimberworth Park. We talked about what makes it a nice place to live and what we could do to improve our community. We have learnt about the use of symbols and keys on maps and have drawn our own maps of our walk. We enjoyed a visit from BDR Waste who taught about the importance of the 3Rs. (recycle, reuse, reduce)
In Art, we have been learning about the artist, Paul Klee. We looked at his artwork and learnt about his use of shape and colour. We imitated his style to create out own artwork.
In DT, we had the fantastic ‘Great Puppet Sew’ where parents came in to support their child making their own fairytale puppet.
