Curriculum & Homework Update: Pupils in Year 2
September 2015
Welcome to a busy year and exciting term in Year 2!
The children in Year 2 are, in line with all children of this age group, following the Key Stage 1 National
Curriculum. This means that they will spend time studying English, Mathematics, Science, History,
Geography, Technology, Art, Computing, RE, Music, Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education
and PE. The curriculum is taught thematically and many of the different subjects are linked by the key
skills the children will learn. We aim to make our curriculum exciting while giving the children all the skills
they need for success in their future lives. We do this by enhancing our curriculum with visits out and
booking visitors to run workshops and talk to children about the different themes.
Our curriculum theme for the first half of the term is ‘Amazing Adventures!’ Work during this theme
will focus on Science, Geography & History. During the second half of the term the theme will be ‘I
Wonder……….?’ which will focus on RE, History, Geography and Science.
During the Autumn Term, pupils will cover the following areas of study:
Subject
Amazing Adventures
I Wonder...?
English
This term the children will continue to develop their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills through the
Read, Write Inc. (RWI) programme. Spelling will be taught throughout the RWI programme but also as a
lesson on its own. The children will take part in a Big Write every week, when they will combine all their skills.
They will also enjoy listening to a wide range of stories and poetry as well as developing their presentation
skills through drama and the use of computing.
Maths
The main focus will continue to be on number which includes:

Counting, reading and writing numbers to and beyond 100; being able to say one more or one less
than a given number; using a number line or 100 square to identify numbers and know the value of
numbers.

Addition and subtraction. They will learn to interpret mathematical problems and statements
involving addition (+), subtraction (–) and the equals (=) sign.

Using their knowledge of number bonds and learning the related subtraction facts within 20 or more.
They will add and subtract 1-digit and 2-digit numbers from numbers up to 20 or more.

In thematic maths they will learn to handle data, measure a range of objects, use and calculate with
money and work out ‘real life’ maths problems.
The children will practise their skills to become excellent mathematicians.
Science
History
Geography
PE
RE
Music
In Science, children will learn about different kinds of
materials and whether they occur naturally or are
man-made. They will investigate how materials can
change, and find out why certain materials are
suitable for a particular purpose. The children will
also be collecting information about the weather in
our local area.
In History, the children will learn about the life of the
famous adventurer, Jacques Cousteau. They will find
out why he went on his famous underwater
expeditions and how he inspired generations to care
for our world’s oceans and seas. They will also find
out what he invented to help people to swim for
longer periods under the water.
In Geography, the children will learn to identify and
locate the world’s five oceans and seven continents.
We will locate the birthplace of Jacques Cousteau
and study some of the areas he explored. We will
also use maps and atlases to locate, identify and
compare the North Sea and the Mediterranean sea.
In the second half of the term, children will become
Scientists and be introduced to the basic needs of
animals for survival. They will also analyse the
importance of exercise, good nutrition and clean
water for animals and humans. They will notice and
learn that animals, including humans, have offspring
which grow into adults.
This half term the children will find out and wonder
why Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of
Parliament. During the Remembrance Week,
children will remember and wonder at the courage
shown by many people during the two World Wars.
The children will also find out what our houses were
like in the past.
This half term we will find out about our local area
and about Hull. We will wonder what it would be like
without some of the important man- made structures,
such as the Flood Barrier, the Humber bridge, the
Deep, the bridges over the River Hull and the
Prince’s Quay shopping centre.
PE this term will be taught by Mrs Marshall. PE lessons will take place on a Tuesday and will begin with
multi-skills and dance.
To continue our theme, our RE lessons this half term During the second half of the term we will enjoy
will link with our work on Jacques Cousteau, learning about a variety of special festivals,
focusing on Special Journeys. If your child has a celebrated by different groups of people. We will
special Journey that they have been on (could be a learn about the Divali, Eid and the Christmas festival.
recent holiday) then please bring in photos for our We will wonder about special people and how their
display. We will also be taking part in a Harvest teachings have influenced how some people live
Celebration.
today.
In music, the children will be exploring a wide range of musical instruments, as well as listening to a range of
high quality live and recorded music. In October we will be learning harvest songs and as December
approaches, the children will be learning songs for the whole school Christmas Service.
Art / Design
In Art our theme continues and the children will be
painting waves and creating their own images of the
ocean and seas. They will be making a sea collage
by using 2D images of the underwater world. This
will link well with our Geography, History and
Science topic.
Design &
Technology
In D&T this half term we will focus our work along a Using our design (and then woodworking) skills we
watery theme, creating and designing our own wet will attempt to create a replica of famous bridges
suits, aqua lungs, submarines and boats that sail including our very own Humber Bridge.
under and on the water. We will experiment with a We will also look at the foot bridge, which crosses
variety of materials, in line with our science topic, to the mouth of the River Hull, near the Deep.
find the most suitable materials for the tasks.
The children will learn about keeping safe online and learn rules to follow when using our school computers.
They will learn to use internet search engines safely and carry out research linked to our topic.
In PSHCE the children will begin the term discussing We will continue with circle times and discussions
our new school aims and create our own set of throughout the term as and when any issues may
classroom aims. Together we will talk about our likes arise. For example, we will consider, the importance
and dislikes. Then we will discuss what desirable of teamwork, aiming to be the best we can be,
qualities are required to be a school councillor and healthy eating and making the right choices.
later we will vote and elect two suitable candidates!
Computing
PSHCE
This half term we will create sculptures and construct
cardboard food chains, including 3D effect sea
creatures.
We will also explore the work of famous artists and
how they see homes. We will try to create our own
vision and imagery of the importance of our homes.
We will design furniture and wall paper.
More information about the National Curriculum, can be found on the web-site;
www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum
AUTUMN TERM HIGHLIGHTS IN YEAR 2
Enrichments and visits:
Harvest Festival
Christmas party
Remembrance Day
Visiting the deep
Year 2 Routine Issues
In order to enhance learning the government requires us to set homework.
At Rokeby Park School we value our partnership with parents and so your help in supporting the following homework strategies
would be very much appreciated:

Reading books will be sent home every night and changed when appropriate. Please listen to your child read several pages of
their reading book and talk to them about the story. Feel free to write any comments you may wish to make in their reading
diary. Please return the books to school every day. If your child reads other texts at home such as a comic or a book of their
own, you can also write this in their reading record to show us the range of texts they are reading at home.

In Year 2 we will continue the ‘reading at home reward chart’ which will be displayed on the classroom wall – for every
3 times that your child reads in the space of a week, they will be awarded a treat on a Friday and will be moved up on a
numbered chart. Once they reach the top, they will receive a prize. The children are very enthusiastic about this, so
please help them to gain their prize!

Spellings & Handwriting: These will be sent home each week. Please follow the ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’ method
of learning, which is a very successful way to help your child remember how to spell the words. We will send the spellings home
each Friday as part of their homework and the children will take part in a spelling quiz during the following week. Your child will
also be asked to write sentences, using some of their spellings during their morning work sessions.

During the second half term, we aim to send further homework each week. Normally this will consist of either a piece of
Maths or a piece of English or topic work depending on what we have been learning about that week. All homework will always
be sent out every Friday and collected by Tuesday of the following week, when we will spend time going through what the
children have completed and any problems they have experienced. Such homework will be linked to work we have been doing
within the classroom and so it is hoped that it will help consolidate prior learning. However, your child may still require some
help to complete his/her work. Should you have any questions about the work set, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
We would also like to take this opportunity to outline the school’s policy on PE kits. The school requires that, for indoor PE, all
children wear a plain white t-shirt (not polo shirt), and plain black shorts. For outdoor work during colder weather pupils should wear
a tracksuit (or jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt) and trainers.
As previously stated, we will normally have PE on a TUESDAY. However, please help your child by ensuring they have the
correct indoor and outdoor kit in school at all times. We advise that the children bring their full kit on a Monday and take it home,
if required, on a Friday.
Please make sure your child has appropriate footwear, i.e. trainers, for PE. Slip on shoes or sandshoes are not safe for PE
lessons. On our PE days, for the safety of your child, earrings must either be removed or taped over.
We look forward to working with you to help your child meet his/her full potential. We thank you for your past help and for your
support in the future. If you have any questions, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Best Wishes from,
Mrs. Harrison: (Monday – Wednesday), Mrs. Myers: (Thursday & Friday) & Mrs. Such-Mcleavy.