14/09/2015
Dear Parents,
We hope you have all had a lovely summer holiday. The children have returned fresh and eager to
learn which is fantastic!
Just to let you know:

P.E will be on Mondays and Fridays. On those weeks that the weather is good, P.E may
take place outside, so please can you ensure that your child has pumps or trainers with
them every week and as we are hoping to get outside some joggers and a jumper would be
useful too so the children do not get cold.
Here is an outline of what will be covered in each of the curriculum areas this half term. This year
the work done in Class Two will be based on various topics. Where possible we will try and link
subjects.
Literacy
We will be working from a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. In particular we will be looking at
stories with familiar settings and writing recounts. The children have already shown confidence in
having at go at writing and will be ask to do a lot more independent writing. We will also be
focussing more on handwriting. As always we emphasise the need to use capital letters and full
stops in their writing and to leave a finger space between words. Spellings will be on a weekly
basis. As the spelling test will be on a Tuesday and the new spellings will be sent home on the
Wednesday. During intervention the children are doing much more comprehension work and need
to be able to answer questions about the text they have read. As always the importance or reading
at home still remains a high priority in year two and question your child about texts they have read
benefits them immensely when it comes to activities in the classroom.
Numeracy
In Maths this half term we will continue to count in ones, twos, fives and tens. The children will
use these skills to help them to tot up coins. They will use mental strategies
to add or subtract one-digit numbers to or from two-digit numbers. The children will use their
calculation strategies to solve word problems involving these operations.
The children will undertake practical measurement activities, estimating first. For example,
they use a balance to find how many pencils or counters weigh the same as a 100 g weight or
they use a measuring jug to measure a litre of water to find how many yoghurt pots could be filled
from 1 litre.
They read a measurement to the nearest centimetre on a metre stick or ruler. The children
will become familiar with minutes and seconds. They estimate and time how long activities
take. For example, they estimate how many times in 1 minute they can walk across the hall or jump
on the spot, then use a minute timer to check. They will consolidate reading
the time to the hour and half hour on a clock with hands. They will also work on co-ordinates this
half term.
We will develop our understanding of fractions, finding halves and quarters of amounts. The
children will also be introduced to multiplication as repeated addition and division as grouping and
will carry out lots of practical activities to support these concepts.
The children will continue to work on their ‘KIRF’ (Key Instant Recall Fact). This will be their maths
target. Further information to follow.
Science
Could you be the next Lighten McQueen?
We will be looking at Forces and Movement and describing how things can move at different
speeds, speed up and slow down, using simple comparisons. The children will be experimenting
with a variety of vehicles to check how to slow, change direction and stop moving objects.
Topic
What would Dora the explorer find exciting about Knaresborough?
We will be using our geography skills to produce a map of Knaresborough. We will be linking our art
in with topic and producing artwork on Knaresborough following a walk around town.
Religious Education
Our RE topic for this half term is called ‘Chosen People’. The children will learn that we are chosen
by God and learn that God chose certain people tolead and guide his people. They will learn that
God called Abraham and that God chose Moses to be a great leader. They will also learn about
how Samuel responded to God’s call and find out about the story of Daniel in the lions’ den.
French: Mrs Lang will be taking our French lessons on a Friday. We will be learning’ All about Me’.
Reading is just as important a focus in Year Two as it was in Year One, we would encourage you
to listen to your child read on a frequent basis. Please record this in their reading record, along with
your comments on how they are getting on. The children will be able to change their books on a
regular basis as long as it states in their reading record that they have ‘finished’ with the book they
were on previously. The children will be heard read on a regular basis in school and will also read
weekly as part of a guided reading group. When reading with your child at home, please discuss
the book with them, what do they think might happen next, why did they enjoy that book etc. These
comprehension skills will support the children with the work to come during the year.
Home Learning We will be giving out learning logs as a home learning exercise. We will be
continuing with the weekly spelling tests. If you could practise 2s, 5s and 10 times tables, we would
very much appreciate this.
We hope that this outline will help you to support your child in their learning.
If you have any ideas, suggestions or concerns please do not hesitate to come and see one of us
after school. We thank you for your support with your child’s learning.
Yours sincerely,
Paula Conroy, Gillian Delahay and Jeanie Neale-Smith.