Spring 1

Reading

This half term, the children will be revisiting the concept ‘Reading for meaning’.  During this learning journey the children will develop their understanding of different types of text by first exploring a range of non-fiction texts and understanding how they are structured in different ways. They will further go on to look at how they can use their existing knowledge as well as other helpful devices such as word banks and glossaries to better improve their understanding of what they are reading. Finally, they will explore a variety of fiction and non-fiction books and answer comprehension questions to develop their reading for meaning skills. 

Writing

As we enter the Spring Term, the concept for the children’s next writing learning journey changes from ‘Communication’ to ‘Creativity’.  The children will develop their writing skills through a carefully planned sequence of learning, using Luna Loves Gardening by Joseph Coelho as our key text driver. We will begin by engaging the children with a “hook”, using a bag of words, making predictions, generating questions and sharing the story to spark curiosity and support understanding. In the first stage, children will revisit how to use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions to join ideas in their writing. They will then learn how to add -ly to verbs to create adverbs, helping them to describe actions more clearly, as well as learning how to use commas correctly in a list. As they build confidence, children will learn to use expanded noun phrases to describe and specify people, places and things in more detail. Finally, they will apply all of these skills by planning, drafting and editing a narrative description based on their own personal experiences, encouraging them to write with greater accuracy, detail and creativity.

Maths

This half term the children will be furthering their understanding within their learning journey of multiplication and division. They will start with multiplication where they will revisit their knowledge of groups and equal groups from year 1. They will then use their understanding of repeated addition and be formally introduced to multiplication in its own right, including the complex vocabulary for this and the written sign. Children will use build on what they know about repeated additions to write multiplication sentences, build arrays and then work at their multiplication knowledge within their 2’s, 10’s and 5 times tables. They will problem solve within these and learn to skip count to support their pace when solving problems. They will then move onto a learning journey focussing on division, where they will revisit their understanding of sharing between groups from year 1. They will learn the more complex vocabulary for this and the formal written division sign. By the end of the learning journey children should be able to solve division problems independently.

Science

This half term the children will be exploring the big question ‘Is a deciduous tree dead in winter?’ The topic will start with the children going on a ‘wellie walk’ in the nature trail to identify things that are alive or dead. This will link to previous learning where children learnt what living things need to stay alive. The children will that living things can move by themselves addressing the misconceptions that plants can’t move on their own.

Following on from this, children will learn to describe how animals obtain their food from other animals and plants using the idea of a simple food chain. During this step children will learn that a food chain shows how energy is passed through plants and animals. The children will then understand that if something is taken away from the food chain, animals will find it hard to hunt for food.

History

The children’s history focus for Spring 1 is to acquire knowledge about the sinking of the Titanic, a significant historical event, with relevance to the children’s own locality.  The children will learn about the events that unfolded from setting sail in Southampton to the tragic incident that took place when the vessel struck an iceberg and sank four days later.  The children will create timelines to share their understanding of the event, as well as studying where this event occurred within a wider chronological framework.  The children will use their understanding of the Titanic, to learn more about life in the early 1900s, contextualised by learning about first class and third-class passengers and the different experiences they would have had on board the ship.  The children will also visit SeaCity Museum and take part in tours and interactive hands-on workshops to develop their historical understanding further.

Geography

The children will focus on a new learning step this half term, focussing on using pictorial representations to better understand the human and physical features of the world around us. We will begin by looking at a small scale area – that of our school – and how maps and aerial photographs can both depict the geography of a place. This will progress to looking at the landscape of the United Kingdom and also use our Step 1 knowledge of compass directions, as learnt in the Autumn term.

RE

The children will learn about the concept of ‘Remembering’. They will discuss what it means to remember and will then explore how Jewish people remember a special story during Passover and celebrate this by using the Cedar plate. The children will apply their learning by thinking about what they remember and why remembering is important.

RSHE

In RSHE, the children will learn about the crucial concept of Safety.   The children in Year Two will learn to keep themselves and others safe, including in their online relationships.  The children will learn about using medicines safely, they will revisit the NSPCC PANTS rule, which they learned in Year One, and they will learn about appropriate and inappropriate touch.   Through the context of helping Harold the giraffe and his friends (SCARF – Coram Life Education), the children will develop their assertiveness as they learn to say no.  The children will also revisit the difference between secrets and surprises, as well as learning more about privacy and consent.  The children will revisit learning the proper names for parts of the body and they will consider which of these are considered private parts.  For a more detailed breakdown of the knowledge, skills and vocabulary the children will be taught, or to view our Relationships Education and RSE (relationships, sex, health Education) Policy (December 2020), please view the RSHE page, within the curriculum tab of the school’s website.  If you have any concerns, questions or would like further guidance on how to answer any questions your child may have about their RSHE learning this half-term, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

PE

The children will revisit the ‘cognitive’ cog, during which they will learn to recognise similarities and differences in performance.  They will practise explaining why someone is working or performing well. Alongside developing this cog, the children will learn to develop their dynamic balance skills on a line and static balance through the use of stance. They will apply their knowledge and skills in their gymnastics lessons, when they will learn about flight and rotation.

Music

In music this half term the children will focus on the structure of music, thinking about how repetition is often used in songs. They will listen and respond to different pieces of music before creating their own storm inspired music from the Titanic.

Computing

This half term the children will begin a unit of Computer Science, focussing on programming using the Scratch Junior app. They will have the opportunity to edit their own sprite and background, as well as program it to follow simple instructions.

Art

The Year Two art learning journey continues with the children learning about abstract art.  They will do so by exploring the work of Wassily Kandinsky and Chris Ofili.  They will practise using different techniques and will learn to use paint, in order to create tone and contrast, and focus on using shape and line to represent their ideas. The children will apply their knowledge and skills to create their own abstract paintings of the Titanic .