Hello and welcome to Year 2's class page! We are looking forward to keeping you up-to-date with all of the amazing, fun activities and learning we get up to this year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.
Mrs Bloomer and Mrs Cunnimgham
![IMG_3497[1]](/warrington/primary/st-albans/arenas/websitecontent/web/img_3497[1]_20231231155501992.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE "IMG_3497[1]")
ENGLISH
We follow the Pathways to Write scheme at St. Alban's and the book to inspire our writing for Spring 1 is 'The Dragon Machine' written by Helen Ward.
The final writing outcome for this unit is to write a fictional story with an adventure focus. We will work towards writing a story based upon the model text using our own ideas for a change of character and machine. During this unit we will be learning how to:
- Write sentences with different forms: statement, question, exclamation, command
- Use subordination (apply because, introduce when)
- Use present and past tenses correctly and consistently (some progressive)
- Use punctuation correctly - exclamation marks, question marks
In Spring 2, we will be writing a recount of historical events inspired by the book 'Major Glad, Major Dizzy' by Jan Oke.
In this unit we learn how to:
• Use the progressive form of verbs in the present and past tense
• Use present and past tenses correctly and consistently
• Use subordination (apply because, when; introduce that)
• Use punctuation correctly – introduce apostrophe for the possessive (singular)
MATHS
How do we teach maths?
At St Alban’s we follow a Mastery Approach to teaching Maths, ensuring children have a firm understanding of the different Mathematical concepts through Varied Fluency, Reasoning and Problem Solving.
Furtnermore, in Year 2, we follow a concrete, pictorial, abstract (CPA) appraoch to learning. This is where children explore new concepts using mathematical equipment first before learning how to represent these with pictures and drawings before finally using written calculations and symbols eg:
Spring Term
Year 2 will be completing the following units during the first half of the Spring term:
- Geometry-Shape
- Measurement-Money
- Multiplication and Division
Each White Rose unit is broken down into small steps that ensure breadth and depth of learning. The sequence of learnign for our Shape unit is below:
Reasoning and Problem Solving
Each lesson has an element of reasoning and/or problem solving and children are supported to verbalise and record their ideas.
This week Year 2 began our Multiplication and Division unit looking at recognising and making equal groups. We had fun investigating grouping numbers in different ways using some of our maths equipment:
RE-Come and See
As a Catholic School, the teaching of the church is at the heart of everything we do. As well as daily worship, we follow the Come and See Scheme.
Our first RE topic of the new year will be 'Books'. We will have the oppurtunity to explore the Bible and listen to stories from the Gospels and learn about each Gospel writer.
History/Geography
In history, we will be learning about how technology has changed over time. We will consider how we can learn about the past, how technology has changed the way we communicate and discover some key inventors of technolgy.
In geography, we will be comparing two coastal areas. We will study similarites and differences between Formby and The Seychelles.
Art/DT
In art, we will be developing our drawing skills. We will study the work of modernist, abstract artist - Bridget Riley. We will explore the use of lines and patterns and experiment with pressure to see how that can change tone. We learn new shading techniques and apply them in our final piece inspired by Bridget Riley.
In DT, we will be learning how to prepare fruit and vegetables. We will study the Eatwell plate and learn about important food groups to keep us healthy.
We will plan and make healthy food products while applying knife skills that we have learnt.
Science
Our Science topic for the first term of Spring is called 'Living Things and Thier habitats'. The children will have the chance to create their very own microhabitats to encourage minibeasts to take shelter in. We will post photos of these in week 3 so stay tuned!
Have a look at our amazing bug hotel! We had great fun working together to build it up and are looking forward to seeing lots of minibeasts settle in over the comign weeks!
COMPUTING
We follow the Kapow scheme of learning for Computing.
Our current unit is 'Word Processing' using Microsoft Office 365 to develop skills in the following areas:
- touch typing skills
- basic keyboard shortcuts
- using simple editing tools
The children are encouraged to switch their own laptops on, log in using the school password and locate/open the desired software independently.
Last week we learned how to use some useful keyboard shortcuts on Microsoft Word such as:
ctrl+a to select all of our sentence, ctrl+b to make it bold, ctrl+i to make it italic, ctrl+z to delete our sentence, and ctrl+y to bring it back!
We also had a go at changing our font style and size!
PE
Year 2’s PE day is Tuesday, please can you ensure your child comes to school on this day wearing appropriate footwear and the correct PE uniform each week.
Throughout the year, Year 2 will experience a range of sporting activities where they will develop their skills, learn the rules of games and improve their fitness levels.
In autumn term we developed our ball skills and learnt how to play hockey which Year 2 absolutely loved!
In spring term, we will develop our gymnastics skills and then will move on to rugby.
Music
We use the Charanga music scheme at St. Alban's. The clearly sequenced lessons support the key areas of the English Model Music Curriculum; Listening, Singing, Playing Composing and Performing.
In the second term of Spring, Year 2 will be exploring their next music unit which is called 'Exploring dynamics and Tempo'. The core question for this unit is: 'How does music teach us about the past?'. The children will explore a wide range of musical styles and get the change to play glockenspiels and recorders.
We can't wait to get stuck in!