Rowan Year 2

Mrs O'Neill, Mrs Hackett, Ms Fox, Mrs Cox

Welcome to Year 2! I hope you have all had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to being back in school. Our themed curriculum this term will be 'Movers and Shakers', which is a history based theme. We will be learning about historically significant people who have had a major impact on the world. The children will learn to use timelines, stories and historical sources to find out about the people featured and use historical models to explore their significance.

In our Art lessons, we will be focusing on 'Still Life', where we will be learning about about the work of significant still life artists and still life techniques. The children will explore a wide variety of still life artwork and learn about the use of colour and composition. They will create their own still life arrangements and artwork. At various points in the term, I hope to be able to invite you to join us in class to view your child's art work. 

In Science, we will be learning about 'Uses of Every Day Materials' in the first half term, and 'Animals and Their Habitats' in the second half term. We will be learning how to identify the use of a material, grouping and sorting them, comparing their suitability for the use, as well as learning about the inventor John McAdam. We will then move onto learning how to compare the differences between things that are living, dead and have never been alive. We will identify plants and animals in their habitats, as well as learn about how the habitats rely on each other to survive. 

Termly Curriculum Maps

Please note that our timetable is flexible and may be subject to change! 

In Year 2 we are all eager to learn and ready for new challenges. Rowan class are enthusiastic and positive learners who show increased independence and confidence in the classroom.      
​Year 2 is about becoming even more independent and the children taking responsibility for themselves. The children already know the high expectations that they need to show and this will continue to increase throughout  the year.

Useful information:

• PE is on  Tuesday and Wednesday. Please ensure your child wears their named, correct PE kit in school on these days and that earrings are not worn.
• The children have access to their water bottles in the classroom during the day. Please ensure that your child has a named water bottle in school which is taken home regularly to be washed
• Reading books will be changed as regularly as possible. Your child will be responsible for changing their own book - please record the date and title of the book that they have chosen in their reading record. Please also make sure that your child’s reading record is signed to say they have finished their book and read as regularly as you can with them at home. 
• Any questions, please come and speak to me!

Spellings:
Each Friday, your child will be sent a set of spellings to learn/ revise over the course of the week. They will be assessed on these spellings on the following Friday. Please send their sheet back into school on the day of the test. Some spellings will be words they can ‘Fred talk’ to spell e.g. th-i-s = this, however some are ‘red’ words that they will just have to learn e.g. after. Many of these red words are words which have a high frequency in the English language so it is important that children learn to spell them correctly.
In order to practise, the children need to:

• Look at the word
• Say it
• Cover it
• Write it
• Check it and edit it (if necessary)

Additionally, they could write a sentence using the words or write the words out of the order listed for even more practise.

Homework:
The children  will receive a piece of Maths or English homework each week. This will be handed out on a Friday and will be due in on the following Wednesday. We encourage parents to support their children with their homework but prefer that this work is child led as the homework will reinforce the work that we have been completing in class. 

SATs:
I will be responsible for judging the standards that your child is working at by the end of the year. To help inform those judgements, pupils sit national curriculum tests in English and maths, commonly called SATs. These are merely a tool to help measure your child’s performance and identify their needs as they move up to Year 3. The tests will take place during May. I will use the results from these tests, along with the work your child has produced throughout the year, to help me reach my own judgements. As with the phonics screening check in Year 1, your child will not know that they are completing a test.
SATs have been cancelled this year.

Home Learning:

Blended Learning:

In the event that your child has to remain at home, during periods of self-isolation, or in the event of  a local or more widespread lockdown, we will provide blended learning for your child. This will normally be  from the Oak Academy online lessons and will link as closely as possible to learning taking place within Rowan Class. You will be added to a 'Rowan Blended Learning' page on ClassDojo and these lessons will be posted there daily.
Please continue to check ClassDojo daily,  for any new notifications and postings.

 

 

Forest School:
More information  to come soon!
Forest School sessions form an integral part of the broad, balanced curriculum we offer here at Totternhoe CE Academy, and take place as part of our timetabled learning outdoors.